Drexler, Curry & Takemura On-Board the TNG-R Team

Doug Drexler (Make-up Artist & Visual Effects Artist, TNG) has announced on his blog the DrexFiles that he will be working on the Star Trek: The Next Generation remastered project alongside Dan Curry (Visual Effects Supervisor, TNG), David Takemura (Visual Effects Artist, TNG) and Michael & Denise Okuda. In his blog, Drexler announces the commitment of the project to remain “100% true to the original.”

You heard right, this time around Paramount is bringing in a team that lived TNG as it happened. Dan, as I’m sure you know, was the visual effects supervisor on Next Gen. Unlike the remastering of TOS, this job will be 100% true to the original. Visual effects shots will not be reinvented, pulling you out of the show. What’s about to happen is truly extraordinary. The studio has saved all the original footage, and VFX elements from the good old days.. We will be recompositing them, and then outputting them in high definition. Here and there, elements have been lost, and we will recreate only those missing pieces, and with this promise: aside from looking like you had your windshield cleaned, you won’t know the difference. Star Trek: The Next Generation is Gene Roddenberry’s legacy, it is culturally significant, and we will rejuvenate the show with curatorial eyes only. Paramount Picture deserves a round of applause, and I can’t wait to dig in with my friends.

It’s very exciting news to hear that the original team is being taken on my CBS/Paramount for the project. It seems as though CBS is going out of its’ way to ensure that this project remains as true and authentic to the original show as possible, and hiring these guys to work on it is testament to that. Drexler’s assurances that fans ‘won’t notice the difference’ should allay a lot of peoples’ fears that the project is trying to “reinvent” the show, and at the same time disappoint those people who wanted a complete reboot in the style of TOS-R. Personally, I’m very happy to hear that so much care and attention is being invested into ensuring the end product is faithful to the original show we all know and love so much.