When Is It A Good Idea To Take Kids Abroad? - Taking A Closer Look At ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ And ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’
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In the height of the third wave of content for the Star Trek and Star Wars fanbases, a push has emerged to expand the reach of both franchises’ audiences. A new generation has started watching these classic films and shows, driving demand for family-friendly stories. What’s better than putting a kid in the pilot’s seat, literally?
Star Wars has a history of animated shows that could be enjoyed by tweens or teenagers, like Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, but these weren't specifically marketed for children. In 2023, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures was created specifically for 2-7 year olds on Disney Jr., but it doesn’t hold a candle to the brilliance showcased in the first trilogy, or even The Clone Wars. The newest addition to this roster is the live-action Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which recently completed its first eight-episode season.
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Star Trek took a different approach with Star Trek: Prodigy, premiering on Nickelodeon in 2021 as the franchise's first 3D-animated series and definitely its first to be created for younger viewers. Set in the Delta Quadrant first explored in Star Trek: Voyager, Prodigy introduced fresh faces: Dal R'El, Gwyn, Jankom Pog, Rok-Tahk, and Zero. Their lives are monotonous and, quite frankly, depressing; the characters are slave laborers in a mining colony before discovering the Starfleet vessel USS Protostar. They then attempt to leave the prison planet, never to return.
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There are some parallels between the crews in both shows, but one could certainly argue that there are always predictable tropes: “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.” Ring any bells? Upgrade that for a science fiction adventure and maybe we’re closer to something like “the brain, the heart, the bold, the curious, and the tech guru.”
In Skeleton Crew, the curious one, Wim, goes exploring when he discovers what he thinks is an old, abandoned Jedi temple on their home planet, At Attin. The main characters all go to school together and their parents seem to at least be familiar with one another. They don’t mean to take off (most of them have never even seen stars), but they accidentally punch their vessel, The Onyx Cinder, into hyperdrive without realizing what they’ve done until it’s too late. Before the end of even the first episode, they’re desperate to get back home, anxious to return once they realize how dangerous the galaxy is beyond At Attin’s barrier.
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One is a story about children trapped in a prison colony with no heroes (or notion of anything better at all, really). None are human, and they take off in search of new lives, hoping to get across the galaxy to be successful in Starfleet. The other starts off with the kids raised in a hidden suburban paradise, with nothing but regulations and strict role models. As they meet outsiders, they start to discover that they haven’t been taught the truth for their entire lives, and that the universe can be very scary and unpredictable. Ironically, if you didn’t know much about the shows, maybe you would even think that ‘living in a suburban paradise’ would be shown in Star Trek and ‘mining a prison colony’ would be written for Star Wars, based on each franchise’s typical plots and settings.
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The ships that both groups find come ready for their upcoming odyssey with a mentor of sorts. Prodigy’s Admiral Kathryn Janeway is voiced by the legendary Kate Mulgrew, renewing her role from Voyager. While Admiral Janeway is introduced as a hologram, she influences the crew with guidance about flying the ship as well as science lessons along the way. One perhaps obvious positive to Admiral Janeway having a large role is that there is a big nod to past Star Trek canon, something that Skeleton Crew doesn’t pull in as obviously.
In contrast, droid SM-33 onboard The Onyx Cinder has been trying to protect the ship itself for quite some time, almost disregarding the ship’s new guests, but at least he kicks ass when the crew has their first run-in with space pirates. SM-33 has multiple connections to Peter Pan’s Mr. Smee, down to his name. Another mentor, Jod Na Nawood, joins the kids early on in the Star Wars series. The Protostar explorers don’t have a second “adult” mentor like him in the beginning of their travels in Prodigy. Jod Na Nawood is played by Jude Law, who, interestingly enough, has portrayed Captain Hook before (in Skeleton Crew director, David Lowery’s, adaptation, Peter Pan & Wendy, no less).
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Viewers are used to seeing animated kids shows, so although Prodigy is evolving Star Trek with its blend of humor, heart, and creative storytelling, it wasn’t necessarily surprising in its first few episodes. Skeleton Crew leaves the audience reminiscing about classics like E.T., The Goonies, and even the 1980s vibes present in Stranger Things. Both of these coming-of-age series follow a group of young teenagers poking around where they shouldn’t be, and then needing to get everything back to normal before the adults find out. There’s also a fantastic intrigue of mystery with Skeleton Crew’s premiere episode that Prodigy doesn’t quite match.
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Ultimately, Prodigy is a complex narrative that particularly rewards long-time Star Trek viewers, but is very different from Skeleton Crew’s uplifting entertainment that appeals to the whole family. Both shows have the means to connect young minds to their beloved fandoms. Both subcultures succeed in translating their core themes for younger audiences, whether through Prodigy's emphasis on discovery, diversity, and scientific problem-solving, or Skeleton Crew's focus on adventure, friendship, and coming-of-age in a vast galaxy. Star Wars and Star Trek have made two extraordinary shows that prove that putting kids in the pilot's seat can work wonderfully, even if they take different paths to get there.
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Sources: CBR, Collider, Screen Rant
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