Star Warp'd (2001)

Clay animation and computer animation cobine as do the Star Trek and Star Wars universes in a child-oriented fan film - the first of its kind.

Star Warp’d is a rather pioneering film as it was a very early (and maybe the only) blending of clay stop-motion animation with computer animation. The stop-motion scenes were shot on 16mm film.

 

It is a spoof of sci-fi genres, mainly Star Trek and Star Wars. But furthermore it’s a “Celebrity Deathmatch” of sorts with other notable characters from sci-fi epics like Robocop, Terminator, E.T, Predator and more.

 

As a project it was a big success, scoring an early Internet distribution deal with GalaxyOnline and then later a DVD distribution deal with Synapse Films with rental through Netflix. Rather incredibly, it was again picked up only recently by Wild Eye Releasing and can be found streaming on Amazon Video and elsewhere, remastered in HD.

 

Pete Schuermann comments:

 

The lure of making a movie can overcome reason in some cases, but Star Warp’d was something that was just too fun in concept to ignore. A love of science fiction fueled the effort. In retrospect I feel so much could be done differently, mainly in an approach to project management that could have allowed me to pay more attention to the creative elements over administration and just plain keeping the project moving forward.

 

In the end, the project was successful in many ways as a business endeavor, which really is what counts at an early stage.

The critics weigh in...

Nichelle Nichols
Nichelle NicholsLt. Uhura, "Star Trek"
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"Simply hilarious! The best sci-fi parody ever."
Eric B. Stein
Eric B. SteinCinemaNow
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“Outrageously funny and visually appealing! One of the best parodies I've seen! You don't need to be a Star Wars fan to appreciate this film.”

Distribution

Star Warp’d has had a strange history, falling into many different hands at different points in time.

 

Galaxy Online, the first buyer, paid a lump sum for distribution rights. They released it through what was then thought to be the best way to distrubute – online, though they did create a VHS as well. The VHS included a parody they made themselves starring Walter Koenig and Tim Russ, both of Star Trek fame(!).

 

Additionally, Galaxy commissioned the filmmakers to make a sequel in episodic form. They paid for two episodes and then when bankrupt during the economic upheaval with the internet in the early 2000s. All releases of Star Warp’d since have included the two episodes from the sequel.

 

Shortly after, Synapse Films acquired the rights for VHS and DVD. Subsequently Netflix offered the film up for DVD rental through most of the 2000s.

 

Today, through a distribution deal with WildEye Releasing, Star Warp’d can be found on many online portals including Amazon Prime.

 

NOTE picture of a Hong Kong release poster to the left.