document_title: Bear in the Big Blue House

question_text: when was bear in the big blue house made

text: Bear in the Big Blue House

text: Plot

text: Bear lives in the Big Blue House with his friends Ojo, Tutter, Treelo, Pip, Pop, and Shadow. He and his friends have many adventures together. Those normally include solving problems, sharing, cooperating with each other, and developing social/life skills.

text: Each episode opens with the welcome song. The other characters in the show then make their appearance, and the theme and plot of the show then comes to place. Throughout the episode, the theme (ex; "sleep", "doctors", "Thanksgiving") is learned about, and a lesson is learned at the end of the episode. Songs and jokes accompany the episode. Bear acts as a caregiver towards Ojo the bear cub, Treelo the lemur, Tutter the mouse, and Pip and Pop, who are two otters. The character "Shadow" narrates a segment with shadow puppets in each episode. Most of the segments are in song, while some are simply a short story relating to the episode's theme. At the end of the program, Bear then sings the goodbye song with Luna, the moon.

text: Characters

text: Main characters

text:
Bear (performed by Noel MacNeal) – The protagonist of the series, he is a large bear who is very kind and lovable. He is tall and has light brown fur. Bear acts a caregiver to Pip, Pop, Ojo, Treelo and Tutter. He was designed by Paul Andrejco.
Tutter (performed by Peter Linz) – A small light blue mouse who loves cheese. He lives in a mousehole in the kitchen of Bear's house. He is considered the show's breakout character. He was designed and built by Paul Andrejco.
Pip and Pop (performed by Peter Linz and Tyler Bunch) – Two purple otter twins who live in the otter pond by the Big Blue House. They were designed by Paul Andrejco.
Ojo (performed by Vicki Eibner) – A curious red bear cub who has a wild imagination and is good friends with Treelo. She was designed and built by Paul Andrejco.
Treelo (performed by Tyler Bunch) – A white, blue, and green lemur who is playful, loves to dance, always active and good friends with Ojo. He was designed by Paul Andrejco.
Shadow (performed by Peter Linz, voiced by Tara Mooney) – A shadow girl who is always laughing, telling stories, and sneaking up on Bear.
Luna the Moon (operated by Peter Linz, voiced by Lynne Thigpen) – A talking moon. At the end of every episode Bear walks out onto the balcony and discusses the episode's theme with her and sings "The Goodbye Song" with her at the end while a montage of the day's events play. She was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Ed Christie. "Luna" means "moon" in Italian and Spanish.
Ray the Sun (operated by Peter Linz, voiced by Geoffrey Holder) – A talking sun who would often rise (or set) at the beginning of some episodes, starting from Season Two. He will also occasionally tell Bear what the weather will be like throughout the day. He was designed by Paul Andrejco.

text: Supporting characters

text:
Grandma Flutter (performed by Alice Dinnean in 1997–1998, Vicki Eibner from 1998–2003) – Tutter's grandmother who has a dance called "The Grandma Mambo". She has a granddaughter named Baby Blotter. She was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Michael Schupbach and Kip Rathke.
Cousin Whiner (performed by Victor Yerrid) – One of Tutter's cousins.
Uncle "Jet Set Tutter" (performed by Tim Lagasse) – Tutter's uncle.
Doc Hogg (performed by Tyler Bunch) – A pig who is the local physician. He was designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Eric Englehardt.
Benny the Bat (performed by James Kroupa) – A fruit bat living in the attic of the house. He is a recycled version of Leah the Fruit Bat from "Jim Henson's Animal Show."
Jeremiah Tortoise (performed by James Kroupa) – An elderly tortoise living in Woodland Valley. He is a recycled and hair-added version of Penelope the Yellow-Footed Tortoise from "Jim Henson's Animal Show."
Lois (performed by Vicki Eibner) – A Blue-footed booby living in Woodland Valley. She usually mishears things that her friends are saying. She is a recycled version of Milton the Blue-footed Booby from "Jim Henson's Animal Show."
Annette (performed by Vicki Eibner) – An armadillo who runs the Woodland Valley Cinema and is very shy. She is a recycled version of Dooley the Armadillo from "Jim Henson's Animal Show".
Henrietta Vanderpreen (performed by Vicki Eibner) – An ostrich who is the editor of Woodland House Wonderful, a magazine of interest to residents of Woodland Valley. She is a recycled version of Lydia the Ostrich from "Jim Henson's Animal Show".
Skippy - A blind red squirrel living in Woodland Valley that wears sunglasses and uses a cane. He is good friends with Treelo. He is a recycled version of Gabe the Squirrel from "Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola".
Big Old Bullfrog (performed by Peter Linz) – A bullfrog living in Woodland Valley. He is a recycled version of Bufo the Toad from "Jim Henson's Animal Show".
Jacques the Beaver (performed by Peter Linz) – A French beaver living in Woodland Valley. He is a recycled version of Morton the Beaver from "Jim Henson's Animal Show".
Miss Maxwell (performed by Jennifer Barnhart) – A mouse who is a teacher at the Mouse School.
Rita Mouse (performed by Anney McKilligan) – A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter. She needs some help with painting but is very good at soccer.
Keisha (performed by Vicki Eibner) – A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter.
Moss (performed by Noel MacNeal) – A mouse who attends Mouse School with Tutter.
Cousin Titter (performed by Sean Choi)
Harry the Duck (performed by Eric Jacobson) – A duck who has been seen several times through the show who addresses bear as "Mister Bear" and quacks repeatedly when he is upset. He was designed by Paul Andrejco.
Otto and Etta Otter (performed by James Kroupa and Vicki Eibner) – Pip and Pop's grandparents who run the Woodland Valley Library.
Ursa (performed by Carmen Osbahr) – Bear's old friend from Mexico that appeared twice in "And to All a Good Night" and "You Never Know."

text: Several of these characters appeared in a music video for the We Are Family Foundation. Bear also appeared as a celebrity in the 2002 revival of The Hollywood Squares; he notably appeared in Whoopi Goldberg's final episode.

text: Locations

text:
Woodland Valley – Woodland Valley is the area/village in which events on the show are situated. The Big Blue House is the main landmark, but there is also a general store, post office, mall, library, movie theater, mouse school, and many other locations. Many of these are not seen (or not seen in much detail) until the fourth season. In "History, Herstory, Bearstory," Jeremiah Tortoise reveals that his grandfather Hepahestus Tortoise was the town's first settler. He initially decided to call it Who'd Have Thought I Would Land in This Valley Valley, but decided it was too long and changed it to Would Land Valley. Jeremiah says he's been trying to get the official spelling changed for years. Sequoia City is a neighboring town of Woodland Valley.
The Big Blue House – The Big Blue House is where most of the main action of the series Bear in the Big Blue House takes place. Located in Woodland Valley, it looks somewhat small from the outside, but large and roomy on the inside. Bear lives here and runs a sort of daycare/group-home. Tutter has his mousehole in the house, while most of the other young characters only spend the day here. The Big Blue House is often described as warm and cozy. The Big Blue House has five rooms. The kitchen and the living room are downstairs. Bear has his very own swing where he sometimes sits and reads in the living room. Tutter's mousehole is in the kitchen. The front-door, where Bear greets the viewers at the beginning of each episode, is also downstairs. Upstairs are the bathroom and Bear's bedroom. Finally, Bear stores various items in the attic. There's also a landing there where Bear visits each night to talk with his friend Luna, the moon. Bear once gave the following directions on how to reach the Big Blue House: just take the path that leads into the woods, make the right past the big oak, go right, past the pond and then you're there.
Otter Pond – Pip and Pop often hang out at the Otter Pond. It is also home to Harry the Duck, his mom, and his sister, Hallie. Additionally, various other creatures sometimes hang out at the Otter Pond, including Benny, Christine, and Big Old Bullfrog. The general area of the Otter Pond is filled with plants, including bushes filled with berries. Bear and Ojo visit there to pick berries for triple-berry pie in "If at First You Don't Succeed..." The Otter Pond was the site of a special nighttime party in "And to All a Good Night."
Woodland Valley Library – The Woodland Valley Library is a place for everyone in Woodland Valley to go for research and resources. It is managed by Otto and Etta Otter. It is located directly in the center of the town. In addition to books, it also offers DVDs, CD-ROMs, Internet access and various other resources. Woodland Valley Library is featured in the two-part "Welcome to Woodland Valley" story. A tree falls on the library and the entire community works together to help get it cleaned up. There is damage to the collection and so donations are made. When Ojo discovers two unnamed opossums (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried and Brad Garrett) living in the tree that fell, the tree itself is made into a part of the library as the Book Nook. The library is featured in the song, "Everything's Great About the Library." Harry the Duck wonders what's so great about the library and so Tutter, Treelo, Pip and Pop sing a song to explain it. They tell him that there's something for everyone at the library, but the library is a place to read, so you have to keep your voices down; no disturbing allowed.
Woodland Valley Cinema – The Woodland Valley Cinema is a local movie theater for everyone in Woodland Valley to relax and watch films. Annette is the owner of the movie theater and does all the jobs from box office to ticket taker. The screening room has three rows of seats in the auditorium and a concession stand. The concession stand accepts dollars and cents as payment instead of clams, Woodland Valley's official currency. Woodland Valley Cinema was first introduced in "Welcome to Woodland Valley." However, in "Words, Words, Words," the Woodland Valley Gazette says the movie theater is named "Woodland Valley Multiplex."
Woodland Valley Post Office – The Woodland Valley Post Office is Woodland Valley's own facility for posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail. The post office also sells stamps for stamp collections and does clammygrams if asked. Jeremiah Tortoise works there in addition to running his general store. Most of the mail ends up arriving late due to Jeremiah Tortoise, who is slow at delivering the mail. In "A Strange Bird," Bear received a two-week-old postcard from a penguin named Puck from the South Pole and finds out Puck is paying a visit to the Big Blue House today. The store accepts clams, Woodland Valley's official currency, as payment and it has to be exact change only. Woodland Valley Post Office was first introduced in "Read My Book" and was seen more in later episodes.
Mouse School – The Mouse School is a fun place to learn for Tutter and his classmates, including Keisha, Luke, Lily, Rita, and Moss. Learning and other activities are overseen by Miss Maxwell. It's a one-room schoolhouse, but there's plenty of places to play and an occasional field trip. Tutter first begins attending Mouse School in the fourth season. He joins the school soccer team, coached by Bear, but considers quitting in "Show Your Stuff." In "Teacher Appreciation Day," Tutter joins with Lily to figure out a way to show Miss Maxwell how much the mice kids all appreciate her. Tutter holds a sleepover for his Mouse School classmates in "Tutter's First Big Sleepover Bash."
Doc Hogg's Office – Doc Hogg's Office is where Doc Hogg treats his patients on Bear in the Big Blue House. Bear, Tutter and Ojo visited the office when Tutter hurt his tail in "That Healing Feeling." The office has a waiting room with toys and books to keep children entertained.
Sequoia City – Sequoia City is a neighboring town of Woodland Valley, and Woodland Valley may be considered a suburb of it. They are known to have a baseball team called the "Big Bats." Sequoia City is the hometown for two radio stations that reach Woodland Valley; WWTL (a news and weather station) and Bear's favorite music station WCHA-CHA. Sequoia City was one of the locations on a signpost in "The Great Bandini." The other location names on that signpost (other than the library) have not been used again, but Sequoia City has been mentioned in other episodes. Bear and the kids of the Big Blue House went on vacation at a nice hotel in Sequoia City in "This Is Your Life, Bear."
River City – River City is a town mentioned on Bear in the Big Blue House. Not much is known about it, but Grandma Flutter was an all-star player for their baseball team: the River City Rodents.

text: Episodes

text: Cancellation

text: Bear in the Big Blue House was initially produced from 1997 to 2006. The voice actress for "Luna" the moon was played by Lynne Thigpen, who abruptly died due to a cerebral hemorrhage. Thigpen's death led to a three-year hiatus of Bear in the Big Blue House. A planned film version of Bear was also put on hold. Two years after Thigpen's death, Tara Mooney, who voiced the character Shadow, in an interview with Ray D'Arcy on Today FM stated: "The crew's hearts just weren't in it anymore".[citation needed] Thigpen's friends and family established a non-profit foundation, The Lynne Thigpen - Bobo Lewis Foundation, to help young actors and actresses learn how to survive and succeed in New York theater and to mentor the next generation of Broadway stars. After the hiatus and the spin-off Breakfast with Bear, new episodes returned to the Disney Channel in April 2006, with the last episode airing on April 28, 2006. Thigpen was posthumously nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for voicing Luna the moon in Bear in the Big Blue House, but lost to Jeff Corwin.

text: Songs

text:
"Welcome to the Blue House"
"What's That Smell?"
"The Bear Cha-Cha-Cha"
"Dear Grandma"
"Happy, Happy Birthday"
"Good Morning"
"Brush, Brush Bree"
"Look at You Now"
"That's My Name"
"Everybody Say Ah"
"Great to Be at Home"
"Go to Bed, Sleepy Head"
"Take Time to Smell the Cheese"
"Clean Up the House"
"Oops! I Goofed Again"
"Quiet Time"
"Otter Love"
"Shape of a Bear"
"Baby, Baby"
"When You Make Yourself a Friend"
"Oh, Boy"
You Go, Ojo"
"Need a Little Help Today"
"Goodbye Song"

text: International airings

text: The show was shown throughout the world including in the United Kingdom on five and Playhouse Disney UK, on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Australia and on RTÉ Two in Ireland.

text: Awards

text: Daytime Emmy Awards

text:
Parent's Choice Gold Award Winner – 2000,[5] 2002[6]
Director's Guild Award – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs - "Episode 225: Love Is All You Need"


document_title: Tear down this wall!

question_text: where was the tear down this wall speech given

root

text: Tear down this wall!

text: Background[edit]

text: The "tear down this wall" speech was not the first time Reagan had addressed the issue of the Berlin Wall: in a visit to West Berlin in June 1982, he'd stated "I'd like to ask the Soviet leaders one question [...] Why is the wall there?",[2] and in 1986, 25 years after the construction of the wall, in response to West German newspaper Bild-Zeitung asking when he thought the wall could be "torn down", Reagan said, "I call upon those responsible to dismantle it [today]".[3]

tag: p

text: On the day before Reagan's 1987 visit, 50,000 people had demonstrated against the presence of the American president in Berlin. During the visit itself, wide swaths of Berlin were closed off to prevent further anti-Reagan protests. The district of Kreuzberg, in particular, was targeted in this respect, with movement throughout this portion of the city in effect restrained completely (for instance the subway line 1 was shut down).[4]

text: The speech was also a source of considerable controversy within the Reagan administration itself, with several senior staffers and aides advising against the phrase, saying anything that might cause further East-West tensions or potential embarrassment to Gorbachev, with whom President Reagan had built a good relationship, should be omitted. American officials in West Germany and presidential speechwriters, including Peter Robinson, thought otherwise. Robinson traveled to West Germany to inspect potential speech venues, and gained an overall sense that the majority of West Berliners opposed the wall. Despite getting little support for suggesting Reagan demand the wall's removal, Robinson kept the phrase in the speech text. On May 18, 1987, President Reagan met with his speechwriters and responded to the speech by saying, "I thought it was a good, solid draft." White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker objected, saying it sounded "extreme" and "unpresidential", and Deputy US National Security Advisor Colin Powell agreed. Nevertheless, Reagan liked the passage, saying, "I think we'll leave it in."[5]

text: Chief speechwriter Anthony Dolan gives another account of the line's origins, however, attributing it directly to Reagan. In an article published in The Wall Street Journal in November 2009, Dolan gives a detailed account of how in an Oval Office meeting that was prior to Robinson's draft Reagan came up with the line on his own. He records vivid impressions of his own reaction and Robinson's at the time.[6] This led to a friendly exchange of letters between Robinson and Dolan over their differing accounts, which The Wall Street Journal published.[7][8]

text: Speech[edit]

text: Arriving in Berlin on June 12, 1987, President and Mrs. Reagan were taken to the Reichstag, where they viewed the wall from a balcony.[9] Reagan then made his speech at the Brandenburg Gate at 2:00 pm, in front of two panes of bulletproof glass.[10] Among the spectators were West German president Richard von Weizsäcker, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and West Berlin mayor Eberhard Diepgen.[9]

text: That afternoon, Reagan said,

text: We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall![11]

text: Later on in his speech, President Reagan said, "As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, 'This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.' Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom."[11]

text: Another highlight of the speech was Reagan's call to end the arms race with his reference to the Soviets' SS-20 nuclear weapons, and the possibility "not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth."[10]

text: Response and legacy[edit]

text: The speech received "relatively little coverage from the media", Time magazine claimed 20 years later.[12] John Kornblum, senior US diplomat in Berlin at the time of Reagan's speech, and US Ambassador to Germany from 1997 to 2001, said "[The speech] wasn't really elevated to its current status until 1989, after the wall came down."[9] The muted response in the Western media contrasted with the reaction from the East: East German Politburo member Günter Schabowski considered the speech to be "absurd",[13] and the Soviet press agency TASS accused Reagan of giving an "openly provocative, war-mongering speech."[10] It was Schabowski who two and a half years later, on 9 November 1989, became the person to open the wall by providing a slightly mistaken answer on a press conference about changes in travel regulations for East German citizens.

text: Former West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said he would never forget standing near Reagan when he challenged Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. "He was a stroke of luck for the world, especially for Europe."[14]

text: In an interview with Reagan himself, he recalls the East German police not allowing people to get near the wall, which prevented the citizens from experiencing the speech at all.[12] The fact that West German police acted in a similar way has, however seldom, been noted in accounts such as these.[4]

text: Peter Robinson, the White House wordsmith who drafted the address, said its most famous line was inspired by a conversation with Ingeborg Elz of West Berlin who had remarked in a conversation with him, "If this man Gorbachev is serious with his talk of Glasnost and perestroika he can prove it by getting rid of this wall."[15]

text: Despite Reagan urging Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, there are some such as Romesh Ratnesar of Time who commented that there is little evidence that the speech had any impact on the decision to tear down the wall, let alone an impact on the people he addressed.[12] Another critic was Liam Hoare in a 2012 article in The Atlantic, who pointed to the many reasons for the tendency for American media to focus on the significance of this particular speech, without weighing the complexity of the events as they unfolded in both East and West Germany and the Soviet Union.[16]

text: Author James Mann disagreed with both critics like Hoare, who saw Reagan's speech as having no real effect, and those who praised the speech as key to shaking Soviet confidence. In a 2007 opinion article in The New York Times, he put the speech in the context of previous Reagan overtures to the Soviet Union, such as the Reykjavik summit of the previous year, which had very nearly resulted in an agreement to eliminate American and Soviet nuclear weapons entirely. He characterized the speech as a way for Reagan to assuage his right-wing critics that he was still tough on communism, while also extending a renewed invitation to Gorbachev to work together to create "the vastly more relaxed climate in which the Soviets sat on their hands when the wall came down." Reagan, claimed Mann, "wasn't trying to land a knockout blow on the Soviet regime, nor was he engaging in mere political theater. He was instead doing something else on that damp day in Berlin 20 years [before Mann's article] – he was helping to set the terms for the end of the cold war."[17]


document_title: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

question_text: who played young spock in star trek 3

question_tokens: who played young spock in star trek 3

text: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

text: Plot[edit]

text: The Federation Starship Enterprise returns to Earth following a battle with the superhuman Khan Noonien Singh, who tried to destroy the Enterprise by detonating an experimental terraforming device known as Genesis. The casualties of the fight include Admiral James T. Kirk's Vulcan friend, Spock, whose casket was launched into space and eventually landed on the planet created by the Genesis Device. On arriving at Earth Spacedock, Doctor Leonard McCoy begins to act strangely and is detained. Commander-Starfleet, Admiral Morrow visits the Enterprise and informs the crew the ship is to be decommissioned; the crew is instructed not to speak about Genesis due to political fallout over the device.

text: David Marcus (Merritt Butrick)—Kirk's son, a key scientist in Genesis's development—and Lieutenant Saavik (Robin Curtis) are investigating the Genesis planet on board the science vessel Grissom. Discovering an unexpected life form on the surface, Marcus and Saavik transport to the planet. They find that the Genesis Device has resurrected Spock in the form of a child, although his mind is not present. Marcus admits that he used unstable "protomatter" in the development of the Genesis Device, causing Spock to age rapidly and meaning the planet will be destroyed within hours. Meanwhile, Kruge (Christopher Lloyd), the commander of a Klingon vessel, intercepts information about Genesis. Believing the device to be potentially useful as a weapon, he takes his cloaked ship to the Genesis planet, destroys the Grissom, and searches the planet for the survivors.

text: Spock's father, Sarek (Mark Lenard), confronts Kirk about his son's death. The pair learn that before he died, Spock transferred his katra, or living spirit, to McCoy. Spock's katra and body are needed to lay him to rest on his homeworld, Vulcan, and without help, McCoy will die from carrying the katra. Disobeying orders, Kirk and his officers spring McCoy from detention, disable the USS Excelsior, and steal the Enterprise from Spacedock to return to the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body.

text: On Genesis, the Klingons capture Marcus, Saavik and Spock and before Kruge can interrogate them their ship signals that the Enterprise has arrived and Kruge immediately beams back to the Bird of Prey.

text: In orbit, the undermanned Enterprise is attacked and disabled by Kruge. In the standoff that follows, Kruge orders that one of the hostages on the surface be executed. Marcus is killed defending Saavik and Spock. Kirk and company feign surrender and activate the Enterprise's self-destruct sequence, killing the Klingon boarding party while the Enterprise crew transports to the planet's surface. Promising the secret of Genesis, Kirk lures Kruge to the planet and has him beam his crew to the Klingon vessel. As the Genesis planet disintegrates, Kirk and Kruge engage in a fistfight; Kirk emerges victorious after kicking Kruge off a cliff into a lava flow. Kirk and his officers take control of the Klingon ship and head to Vulcan.

text: There, Spock's katra is reunited with his body in a dangerous procedure called fal-tor-pan. The ceremony is successful and Spock is resurrected, alive and well, though his memories are fragmented. At Kirk's prompting, Spock remembers he called Kirk "Jim" and recognizes the crew.[3]

text: Cast[edit]

text: William Shatner reprises the role of Admiral James T. Kirk, Starfleet officer. Shatner remarked that being directed by Leonard Nimoy, his longtime co-star and friend, was initially awkward, although as the shoot went on, it became easier as Shatner realized how confident Nimoy was.[4] To reduce weight, Shatner dieted before the start of production, but as filming continued, he tended to "slip"; the costume department had to make 12 shirts for him.[5] In his book with Chris Kreski, Star Trek Movie Memories: The Inside Story of the Classic Movies, he believes that the scene where he learns of his son's death is "Kirk's finest celluloid moment ever".[6]

text: Nimoy, in addition to his directing duties, appears towards the end of the film as Spock, but only appears in the opening credits as the director. Nimoy found the most difficult scene to direct was one in which Leonard McCoy talks to the unconscious Spock in sickbay, en route to Vulcan. Nimoy recalled that not only was he in the scene, but his eyes are closed, making it difficult to judge the quality of the shot or the actor's performance: "It drove DeForest Kelley crazy. He swears that I was trying to direct him with the movement and flutter of my eyelids." Nimoy was thankful the story required him to appear in a minimal number of scenes.[4] The rapidly aging Spock, at the ages of 9, 13, 17, and 25, was portrayed successively by Carl Steven, Vadia Potenza, Stephen Manley and Joe W. Davis. Frank Welker provided Spock's screams, and Steve Blalock doubled for Nimoy, so that a total of seven actors contributed to the role.[7]

text: DeForest Kelley returns as Leonard McCoy, doctor and the carrier of Spock's living spirit. Kelley has the majority of the film's memorable scenes, but admitted to occasional difficulties in acting with and being directed by his longtime co-star. However, he has declared that he had no doubts about Nimoy's ability to direct the film.[3] Responding to suggestions that Star Trek copied Star Wars, Kelley asserted that the opposite was true.[8] Playing the other crew members are James Doohan, as Montgomery Scott, the chief engineer; George Takei, as Hikaru Sulu, Enterprise's helmsman; Walter Koenig, as Pavel Chekov, navigation and acting science officer; and Nichelle Nichols, as Uhura, the ship's communications officer. Nichols had always insisted on wearing a skirt; although the standard female uniform used trousers, the costume designer created a skirted version specifically for her.[7] Takei was dismayed to hear that his character was called "Tiny" by a guard at McCoy's cell during the film, and argued with the film's producer to have the line cut. When Takei saw the first screening of the film, he changed his mind and promptly apologized.[7] He would later admit in his To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei that "without that snipe from [the guard], the scene [where Sulu eventually beats up that same guard] would not have played even half as heroically for Sulu."[9]

text: At the age of 87, and after an acting break of 14 years, Dame Judith Anderson accepted the part of T'Lar—a Vulcan high priestess who restores Spock's katra to his body—at her nephew's urging.[7][10] Nimoy wanted someone with "power and magic" for the ethereal role.[11] Anderson claimed to be 5 feet 2 inches (1.57 m) tall, but her true height was closer to 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 m), which presented a problem when the designers needed to make her look appropriately regal. The solution was to dress her with an overlong hem and built-up shoes which, combined with a crown, added 6 inches (15 cm) to her height.[12] Kirstie Alley, who had played Saavik in The Wrath of Khan, did not return to reprise her role because she feared being typecast.[13] Robin Curtis had arrived in Los Angeles in 1982; she became friends with the head of Paramount's casting department, who recommended her for the role. Nimoy met with Curtis, and gave her the assignment the next day.[11]

text: Nimoy had admired Christopher Lloyd's work in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Taxi, and was impressed by his ability to play powerful villains. Lloyd was given the part of Kruge, a Klingon interested in securing the powerful secrets of Genesis for use as a weapon. Nimoy said that Lloyd brought a welcome element of theatricality to the role.[11] Mark Lenard plays Sarek, Spock's father and a Vulcan ambassador. Lenard had previously played the role in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Journey to Babel" and the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Yesteryear". Merritt Butrick reprises his role as David Marcus, Kirk's son and a scientist who had helped develop the Genesis Device, from The Wrath of Khan.

text: Other roles include Robert Hooks as Admiral Morrow, the commander of Starfleet; James Sikking as Captain Styles, the Commanding Officer of the Excelsior; Miguel Ferrer as the Excelsior's First Officer and Helmsman;[14] and Phillip R. Allen as Captain J.T. Esteban, the captain of the ill-fated Grissom. John Larroquette plays Maltz, a member of Kruge's bridge crew whom Nimoy describes as "the thoughtful Klingon".[11] Catherine Shirriff plays Valkris, Kruge's doomed lover. Grace Lee Whitney, who played Janice Rand in the Star Trek television show, made a cameo appearance (wearing a wig) as "Woman in Cafeteria". Scott McGinnis plays a young man whom Uhura forces into a closet at gunpoint.[15]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text: The Wrath of Khan was a critical and commercial success, and Paramount Pictures quickly prepared for a third Star Trek film. The Wrath of Khan's director, Nicholas Meyer, would not return; he had disagreed with changes made to his film's ending without his consent.[16] Upon seeing The Wrath of Khan, Leonard Nimoy became "excited" about playing Spock again. When asked by Paramount if he wanted to reprise the role for the third feature, Nimoy agreed and told them, "You're damned right, I want to direct that picture!"[4] Studio chief Michael Eisner was reluctant to hire Nimoy because he mistakenly believed that the actor hated Star Trek and had demanded in his contract that Spock be killed. Nimoy was given the job after he persuaded Eisner that this was not the case.[17] Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's first reaction to the news was that producer Harve Bennett had "hired a director you can't fire".[18]

text: Paramount gave Bennett the green light to write Star Trek III the day after The Wrath of Khan opened,[19] the fastest go-ahead the producer had received. He began writing the screenplay, noting that "seventeen other people could have written [it]" after the hints at Spock's resurrection in the previous film.[13] Bennett and Nimoy used the open thread of Spock mind melding with McCoy at the end of The Wrath of Khan as a way to explain Spock's restoration.[17] The idea and name of the Vulcan "katra" came from Bennett's discussions with Nimoy. The actor referred the producer to an episode of the television series, "Amok Time", that suggested to Bennett a high level of "spiritual transference" among the Vulcans.[20] Bennett admitted that the idea of Kirk and company going back to the Genesis planet to recover Kirk's "noble self" stemmed from a poem he read in a Star Trek fan magazine.[18] The film's production acknowledged certain expectations from fans—Nimoy remarked that if Spock had not been resurrected and, instead, "Captain Kirk turn[ed] to the camera and [said] 'Sorry, we didn't find him,' people would throw rocks at the screen."[21] A major issue Bennett wrestled with was how to introduce the story for people who had not seen The Wrath of Khan. Bennett said that his television producer mentality "won out"; he added a "previously in Star Trek ..." film device, and had Kirk narrate a captain's log, describing his feelings and sense of loss.[11] Aware of the story's predictability, Bennett decided to have the USS Enterprise destroyed, and intended this plot element be kept a secret.[13]

text: Nimoy wanted The Search for Spock to be "operatic" in scope; "I wanted the emotions to be very large, very broad, life and death themes [...] and the [look of the film] and everything about it derives everything from sizable characters playing out a large story on a large canvas," he said.[11] In addition, he wanted the characters to have significant scenes, however small, that made them grounded and real.[11] Bennett started writing the script with the ending, where Spock says, "Your name is... Jim", and worked backwards from that point.[13] Elements such as Kruge killing his lover were added to establish context and add drama and intrigue.[11] Originally, the Romulans were the villains, but Nimoy preferred the more "theatrical" Klingons,[22] feeling that their pursuit of Genesis was analogous to the Soviet race for nuclear weaponry.[17] Bennett took the opportunity to flesh out the alien race, who he felt were ill-defined in the television series.[11] The name of the class of the antagonists' ship, Bird of Prey, remained unchanged.[24]

text: The script was completed in six weeks.[17] The production's estimated budget of $16 million[2] was slightly larger than that of The Wrath of Khan, but still much less than 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture.[n 1] Since elements such as many sets and uniforms had been established, more money was available for special effects.[11] Assistant producer Ralph Winter described the extra money as a "toybox" that allowed more leeway and "fun" in planning the scope of the film.[26]

text: Design[edit]

text: Nimoy and Bennett worked with effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) to produce special effects, models, and live-action scenes. ILM received a two-page story treatment in November 1982, titled "Return to Genesis". Production supervisor Warren Franklin said that the script they received in early 1983 was "one of the best scripts we read" out of the submissions that arrived weekly. Although ILM had provided the effects work for The Wrath of Khan, they had only been approached after effects storyboards had been completed. For The Search for Spock, ILM were brought in much earlier, meaning that visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston and his team were involved from the planning stages.[27] Nimoy credited this early involvement with increasing the amount of creative input into the film's design and execution.[28]

text: It became apparent to ILM that The Search for Spock's script required more design and model work than had been necessary for The Wrath of Khan.[26] A merchant ship destroyed by Kruge early in the film was a kitbash—a design made of combined model pieces. Effects cameraman Don Dow reasoned that since the ship was destroyed so quickly it did not make sense to spend a large amount of time building it.[29] The USS Grissom was named for astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom; the same model would be used to depict other science vessels in the spinoff television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.[7]

text: The Excelsior was a new design that ILM felt was a better rendition of a Federation starship—sleeker and more modern than the Enterprise.[30] The art department created concept sketches to show to Paramount, and at an art director's urging model maker William George submitted another design, based on what he thought the Enterprise would look like if designed by the Japanese. Nimoy picked George's angular and simplified take for production.[26] While in the film, the Excelsior is supposed to be larger than its predecessor, the physical model was 12 inches (30 cm) smaller than the Enterprise.[30]

text: The Earth Spacedock was a design intended to expand the scope of Star Trek. After approving a small three-dimensional maquette of the final design, the effects team created an exterior Spacedock model measuring 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. Rather than painstakingly wiring thousands of small lights, ILM made the model out of clear Plexiglass and painted it; scratching off the finish created windows,[26] and an inner core of neon lights illuminated the resulting holes.[31] The inside of the dock was simulated by an additional model, 20 feet (6.1 m) long, with a removable center section.[32] The interior illumination was generated by outside fiber optics and 2,000–5,000 watt lights.[30]

text: Art directors Nilo Rodis and Dave Carson designed the Klingon Bird of Prey, while George constructed the model.[33] Nimoy wanted the ship to be reminiscent of an attacking bird, with movable wings that changed depending on whether the ship was in a cruising or attack posture. George took design cues from sketches of bodybuilders and football players, incorporating the starship equivalents of down-stretched, threatening arms and muscular shoulders, together with what looked like shoulder pads and a chin guard on the ship's outstretched neck.[26] Although the stolen Romulan ship thread was cut from the film, the Bird of Prey design had incorporated elements of Romulan design. "It has some of the basic bird shape, but it's more ominous", Ralston said. A graphic bird design was integrated into the ship's underside.[33]

text: To save money, many sets, particularly interiors,[34] were redresses of existing sets. The Enterprise bridge was reconfigured to stand in for the Grissom, with the chairs reupholstered and the central computer consoles moved to modify the floor plan. An Earth bar and the Klingon medical bay were redresses of the Enterprise sickbay.[7] The Klingon bridge was a set that Nimoy appropriated from another production.[11] Many blinking consoles were rented from a props company rather than being fabricated.[7] The Enterprise bridge itself remained largely unchanged from its appearance in the previous films, though the floor was repainted from black to grey to make it photograph better. The most drastic change was made to Spock's quarters.[35] Nimoy had felt the previous grey color scheme did not express a Vulcan style, and had it brightened with yellows and oranges.[36]

text: Adding local color to the Klingon bridge was a ragged doglike creature the effects team derisively called "Fifi Rebozo".[33] Ken Ralston thought that giving the Klingon captain a pet would add atmosphere,[37] and sculpted a reptilian dog worked into the script as Kruge's mascot.[33] The animal's hair was made from cheap wig clippings; creature supervisor David Sosalla sprayed the material with adhesive and laid clumps of the distressed fur onto the painted puppet body to make the animal appear "beat-up and moth-eaten". During filming, Sosalla and crew sprinkled the creature with water to make it look more unpleasant.[38] The animal was a hand puppet; Ralston operated the head and body by placing his arm into an opening on the creature's side while hidden inside Kruge's command chair.[33] Three helpers operated cables that opened the animal's eyes and made it snarl;[38] the creature's head was large enough for Ralston to fit his hand inside the spring-loaded jaw to operate it.[33] Many of the animal's intended movements were minimized; the crew did not move its ears because it made the supposedly repulsive creature "cute". For the animal's demise during the Klingons' fight with the Enterprise, an additional "dead" puppet was created, but Ralston used the "live" one for the scene instead.[38]

text: Many of the props in The Wrath of Khan had been reused from The Motion Picture, or scrounged from other productions, but for The Search for Spock Winter wanted to design uniquely Star Trek items. George and artist Phil Norwood collaborated on many of the prop designs, creating updated and sleeker versions of the original television series communicators and phasers. Many props were created out of wood and embellished with small pieces from model kits. While the Federation tricorder was created using a model race car body, the Klingon props were intended to look dirtier, with sharp surfaces that looked uncomfortable to carry. George was insistent on using the shapes and materials, rather than blinking lights, to suggest the props were real and manufactured.[26]

text: Costumes and makeup[edit]

text: Robert Fletcher, costume designer for the previous Star Trek films, was responsible for The Search for Spock's wardrobe. Fletcher's job was to sketch outfits, choose the necessary fabrics, and complete the fittings for principal characters. He collaborated with costumer Jim Linn, who clothed extras and managed the logistics of cleaning, repairing, and tracking costumes. Most of the Starfleet uniforms had already been designed for the previous film, but Fletcher wanted to dress the main characters in civilian clothes.[39] Fletcher developed a mythology behind each outfit; the stone ornaments on Sarek's robe, for instance, were intended to be representative of a Vulcan's level of consciousness.[40] The costumer had the advantage of access to Paramount's store rooms, which contained literal tons of expensive fabrics.[12]

text: The designer and production staff were satisfied with the feudal Japan-inspired Klingon costumes Fletcher made for The Motion Picture, but they had to make new versions;[37] of 12 original costumes, half had been destroyed during publicity tours. The remaining six were loaned out for an episode of Mork & Mindy and badly damaged; Fletcher spent three months salvaging what remained.[40] Additions to established clothing included an officer's vest for Kruge, and jewelry.[7]

text: In addition to his costume chores, Fletcher designed the Klingon and Vulcan makeup. Makeup artist Thomas R. Burman suggested that Fletcher was asked to help because the studio neglected to contract the work out; Burman received a contract only three weeks before the start of photography. Burman's bid of $160,000 was much higher than Paramount's $50,000 budget, but he secured the job when his competitor dropped out close to the start of production. "It didn't come down to money in the end but to who could do it quickly [...] we had a [reputation] for working fast and doing quality work," Burman explained.[8] Fletcher and Burman agreed that the cragged foreheads of the Klingons in The Motion Picture were too prominent, obscuring the individuals' faces. "It was just too cartoonish, and I didn't want a Star Wars look in [the] movie. There had never been a good marriage between the forehead appliance and the actor's faces. We tried to keep them in character rather than have these obtrusive things on their heads," Burman said. The resulting Klingon makeup took two hours to apply.[8]

text: Filming[edit]

text: To guard against leaks that had prefigured Spock's death during production of The Wrath of Khan,[n 2] Paramount took precautions to secure the sets.[41] Set designer Cameron Birnie noted that the production's security was highly unusual; sets were built out of sequence and the crew given only as many pages as they needed to fabricate each locale. Security guards checked the picture identification cards of production staff. Any mention of the production was removed from stationery and documents, and "Trois" (three, in French) was written as a code word. Offices and workshops were bereft of identifying signage, with doors double-locked for extra protection. The Search for Spock's scripts were chemically treated so that copies could be traced to the original;[42] as a further canary trap, subtle changes in wording distinguished each copy.[43] Nimoy's name never appeared on call sheets, and Spock was referred to in the script as "Nacluv" (Vulcan spelled backwards).[7] Despite the precautions, word of the Enterprise's destruction leaked out before the film's release.[11][n 3]

text: Principal photography commenced on August 15, 1983.[7] All but two days of production were filmed on Paramount soundstages, by cinematographer Charles Correll.[28] The Search for Spock was one of the first major feature films to use Eastman 5294, a color high speed negative film stock. The film allowed Correll latitude in choosing a broad range of exposure indexes. Since The Search for Spock was shot with anamorphic lenses and many theatergoers would see widescreen 70 mm prints, Correll needed to produce a crisp depth of field, a difficult task on many sets. For scenes on the bridge, Correll pushed the exposure index above the Eastman recommendation to keep the image crisp at less than 50 foot-candles.[44]

text: Many of The Search for Spock's dialogue sequences feature tight close-up shots. During Kirk and Sarek's mind meld, Nimoy chose cuts that focused on accentuating the dialogue; "Instead of watching people's faces, all you see is the mouth or the eyes and you have the tendency to hear better," Correll explained.[32] Correll was unhappy that every scene save one was filmed on a soundstage. Feeling that recreating everything on set resulted in a fake look, the cinematographer suggested that Genesis be filmed on Kauai in Hawaii,[17] and that Red Rock Canyon stand in for Vulcan.[34] The production did not have the money to shoot on location, meaning that Nimoy was preoccupied with making sure the various outdoor settings felt believable.[11] While the various vessel exteriors were handled by ILM, Correll was responsible for the look of the interior sets. He preferred to treat these as actual locations inside the ships; although the sets' ceilings were designed to be removed so that lights could be rigged in the rafters, Correll used other lighting methods. In the Bird of Prey, he used fluorescent tubes to pick up the walls' metallic paints, and kept the set smoky to convey a dirty atmosphere.[45]

text: Before McCoy is arrested by security, he attempts to charter a spaceflight to Genesis in a bar. The scene opens with two officers playing a World War I-era dogfight video game. The wireframe biplanes were created using black lines on clear paper printouts placed on an overlay cell. "It was really just a gag shot", effects artist Charlie Mullen explained, "the idea that people in the future would be playing an old war game."[46] To accommodate the effect, Correll had to use a large amount of exposure without making the bar appear overlit. Much of the lighting was provided by tables rigged with fluorescent tubes to provide an effect different from other parts of the film. Correll could not add smoke to the scene to enhance the bar "feel", because the disturbed atmosphere would have made ILM's game hard to insert. The scene was intended to end in a barroom brawl when security tried to take McCoy into custody; Nimoy decided that "it didn't feel right" and there was not enough time or money to achieve the scene successfully.[11]

text: The Genesis planet was produced via matte paintings and soundstages on Paramount lots under art director John Edward Chilberg II. Much of the planet occupied Stage 15, known as the DeMille stage in honor of the director's Parting of the Red Sea on the stage during filming of The Ten Commandments (1956). The space measured 300 by 100 feet (91 by 30 m).[47] The perceived boundaries of the scenes were extended via matte paintings created by Chris Evans, Frank Ordaz, and Michael Pangrazio.[7] Because parts of the set had to literally collapse during the planet's destruction, the set was built 16 feet (4.9 m) off the ground and featured trapdoors and pyrotechnics in the floor. The hundreds of 10,000 watt lights in the rafters were covered in silk for day scenes to soften the light, and fitted with blue filters for night; dimmers eased the transition between periods. Since the doomed planet was no longer a paradise, the art director, Nimoy, Bennett and Correll considered constant changes to the colors on the scenes, but decided not to get "fancy photographically".[48] While many of the scenes appeared lit with minimal light sources such as flickering fires, Correll tried to use as much light as possible. To get the fire to reflect on the actor's faces, Correll used a variety of tricks with normal lights; using natural fire would not have provided the required intensity.[49]

text: A significant feature of the Genesis planet are the alien worms that rapidly evolve from microbes on Spock's coffin. The creatures start as small, slimy crawlers, then grow to lengths of 8 feet (2.4 m). The small worms were created by injecting molten "Hot-Melt" vinyl into epoxy polymer molds that were immediately put into cold water to create a translucent product. The resulting hundred or so creatures were painted and coated with methacyl,[7][50] a slippery, slimy coating. Each worm was attached to an elevated platform by a piece of fishing line; the lines were tied to rods underneath the set. Offscreen helpers pushed the rods or pulled fishing line to create motion; the scene required many takes because the fishing line would periodically flash at the camera. The larger worms proved more problematic, with filming taking place at ILM and Paramount Stage 15. Similar to The Wrath of Khan's parasitic Ceti eels, the worms featured cobra-like cowls and a ringed mouth of teeth. ILM built one of the worms with more articulation than the others; Ralston operated the creature through a hole in the set floor with his hand stuck inside the creature. The other worms were animated using pneumatic bladders that caused air to pass through hoses in sequence, creating an undulating motion. During the scene the worms attack Kruge, who kills one of them. The usual method for achieving the effect of the creature wrapping itself around Kruge would have been to film the sequence in reverse, but this posed problems: the slime coating Kruge would have been out of place with reverse filming, and multiple takes would ruin the Klingon makeup Lloyd wore. ILM's solution involved rigging the worm with fishing lines that were pulled in a choreographed fashion by multiple off-screen helpers to simulate the wrapping movement.[50] When small pieces of the Klingon uniforms caught or snapped the fishing lines, Ralston resorted to steel cables.[51]

text: The fiery breakup of the Genesis planet involved fire, smoke, and earth upheaval. "The main part of the floor was rigged so that rocks would shoot up out of the ground [on catapults]. Trees were rigged to fall and start fires," Correll explained. Producing the shots required meticulous direction and between 20 and 30 helpers were on hand the day of shooting.[48] Correll shot simultaneously on nine cameras; the hope was to get as many usable shots as possible in one take, in case all the trapdoors and pyrotechnics had to be reset for another round of filming. This entire sequence was completed in three weeks.[11]

text: The Vulcan stairs were filmed at Occidental College—the production's only location shooting.[17] To create the orange atmosphere, Correll used a large 15 by 15 feet (4.6 by 4.6 m) floodlight, created for the 1983 Peter Hyams film The Star Chamber, placed on the top of a 110-foot (34 m) crane. The location's blue-grey sky was replaced with a matte painting that covered the top half of the stairs shot.[45] Many ornamental touches Nimoy wanted for the procession scene ultimately never materialized. The background of the set was simply a painted piece of canvas; Nimoy had the background out of focus in all the shots as a way to hide the shortcomings of the scenery.[11] Elements removed from the Vulcan sequence included a procession through the "Vulcan Hall of Ancient Thought", a space dominated by large heads atop columns and a sculpture towering to a height of 20 feet (6.1 m). The scene was cut because the procession dragged on for too long.[52]

text: Production on the film was temporarily shut down after a fire destroyed several soundstages at Paramount Studios, one of which was adjacent to the set for the Genesis planet. Initially, the set's pyrotechnics were suspected of causing the fire, but the cause was ruled to be arson. Shatner was among the cast members who grabbed fire hoses to stop the flames.[7] Correll hoped the place would burn down so that he would get his chance to film in Hawaii. While most of the set was undamaged, holes in the side of the building had to be covered with heavy black curtains to prevent outside light from leaking in.[17]

text: Special effects[edit]

text: As with previous Star Trek films, time and money were major constraints for special effects. The effects artists were concerned about producing the right look no matter the time involved. While effects cameraman Scott Farrar and his assistants constantly traversed the 400 miles (640 km) separating ILM from Paramount, teams at the effects house organized post-production effects and photography. The constant travel took a toll on Ralston, who began to forget which airlines he was taking and what city he was in. As a pause in work meant wasted time, effects editors Bill Kimberlin and Jay Ignaszewski produced usable effects shots for the live-action editors at Paramount; these half-finished, monochromatic composites gave the editors an idea of scene pacing.[29] ILM contributed 120 shots to the film.[12][44] Like Correll, Ralston used Eastman 94 for all shots that did not require bluescreen and chroma keying.[49]

text: ILM filmed starships using motion control for timed and computer-assisted model movement. The ship models required multiple camera passes because different parts of the ship and its lights were filmed at different exposure levels. The Excelsior required eight passes to supplement the main "beauty pass", the Enterprise six. ILM could have combined passes with multiple exposures, but not without risk; "If anything got out of synch, or somehow we dropped a frame, we would have to reshoot—and then you're stuck. You've ruined two pieces, two elements," Farrar said.[30]

text: The Klingon Bird of Prey's cloaking device required a new effect. The original concept featured the layers of the ship forming up from the inside out, requiring a series of overlaid elements filmed with an Oxberry animation camera. ILM decided the effect appeared too "animated-looking", and defied common sense: "if there was a fanfare to decloaking, everyone would know the Klingons were coming and blow them out of the sky before they could even finish materializing," Ralston said. The supervisor decided on subtlety, throwing color separations out of sync to create a blurry ripple effect. While simple, the sequence was more effective than the elaborate planned scene. Effects such as the destruction of the merchant ship were created using projected explosions, a technique perfected during the production of Return of the Jedi.[29] Simulated zero-gravity explosions were filmed and reflected onto a card using the same motion control program used for the models. The result was an explosion that moved with the model.[33]

text: The most laborious effects sequences took place inside Spacedock; months were spent completing the station's interior shots. The effects crew tested different looks to make sure the dock interior seemed appropriately vast. "We found the interior demanded some degree of atmospheric haze, even though there probably wouldn't be any in space," Farrar said. To create a slightly degraded look, the crew used blue color gels for lights and shot through smoke for fill shots. They switched to diffusion filters for light passes, as using smoke for longer shots would have required time-consuming smoke level monitoring. Due to difference in the scales of the dock and ship models, it was impossible to film the Excelsior and Enterprise inside the set.[38] Opening the dock's space doors was problematic because the lights illuminating the inside of the dock from the exterior had to be hidden from the camera to prevent lens flares. Massive fans were used to keep equipment cool and prevent the lights from melting or warping the dock's interior artwork. The realism of the dock scenes was heightened by live action footage of a cafeteria, with windows overlooking the dock interior.[30] The cafeteria was a set built at ILM and filled with 40 extras in front of a bluescreen so that the dock and Enterprise could be composited in later; matte paintings extended the ceiling of the set.[7][53]

text: Ralston, who considered the Enterprise ugly and the model hard to shoot, delighted in destroying the ship. Several shots were combined together for the complete destruction sequence; while Ralston would have preferred to take a mallet to the original $150,000 model, a variety of cheaper models were used. The first part of the ship to be destroyed was the bridge, a separate miniature with stars added to the background. The shot switches to the Bird of Prey moving away as the top of the saucer burns, where explosions (filmed upside down to simulate the absence of gravity)[26] were superimposed over a motion control pass of the ship. The camera cuts to a closeup of the ship's registration number being eaten away by inner explosions. George created a light Styrofoam model that was dissolved by acetone dripped on the saucer from above. By shooting at less than one frame per second and keeping light off the model, the drips were not visible in the print.[54] Burning steel wool on the inside of the saucer created a glowing ember effect from the ship's inner decks being destroyed.[12] The saucer explosion was simulated by blowing up a talcum powder-covered plaster dish.[54] Two and four ounce bombs and gasoline were used as pyrotechnics in live action scenes of the bridge being destroyed. Stuntmen used spring-loaded platforms to launch themselves in the air.[47]

text: For the final destruction of the Genesis planet, footage from the Paramount set had to be carefully matched with ILM effects footage.[46] ILM built scale miniatures[7] cut into sections to portray parts of Genesis' upheaval (rock slides, fissures opening in the ground) that live-action scenes could not easily replicate.[47] One of the largest miniatures, measuring 20 by 16 feet (6.1 by 4.9 m), had trick trees and trapdoors that could be reset, propane jets for gusts of fire, and solenoid-triggered rockfalls.[46] For scenes where Kirk and Kruge battle at a precipice over a pit of lava, the shot combined animated lava, clouds (really cotton daubs on black), lightning, and a matte painting.[55] Overhead shots of the lava were created by lighting a piece of clear Plexiglass with colored gels and covering the plate with methacyl, vermiculite and charcoal; the mixture dripped off the surface and coated the crew underneath. ILM simulated Kruge's demise, a long plunge into the pool of lava, with the help of a stop-motion puppet. Lloyd fell a few feet onto a black mattress; during a lighting flash the actor was replaced by the puppet that fell the rest of the distance.[56] Because the shot was filmed on black instead of the traditional bluescreen, the animators had to remove or rotoscope the black background around Lloyd one frame at a time.[57] The transition between the footage of Lloyd and the puppet was hidden by a single-frame flash as a bolt of lightning struck Kruge. The scene of Kirk and Spock beaming away as the ground collapses was another created at ILM, as the level of destruction was simply not possible for the live action crew.[55]

text: Among the other effects ILM had to produce were the transporter beam and the warp speed effect. Mullen noted that the effects' look changed depending on who was directing the film; "everyone wants something distinctive, but nobody wants to get far enough away from the TV series to startle the Trekkies." The effect was produced by cutting out or rotomatting the individual to be transported, then making a vertical slot through which a high-intensity light was positioned. A computer-controlled move would cause the light to spread from the center and fade away, then reset its position and repeat the movement on the opposite side. Handmade acetate filters and gels were applied to give the transporter beam color and patterns, followed by small flickering animated highlights called "bugs" which appeared after the character had dematerialized.[51] The Klingons' transporters were given a harsh red look to differentiate them from the smooth blue Federation effect. Whereas many of the multicolored rainbow warp trail shots from The Wrath of Khan were stock footage taken from the first film, the producers of the third film wanted something new. A streak effect, in which a beauty pass of the ship was combined with blurred passes for each light intensity, was tried first. The result was disappointing; as the Enterprise grew larger the streaks became distorted and out of place. Mullen rejected a straight animation of the warp drive as too bouncy, but the footage was cut in for editing while ILM went through six more approaches to the problem. The final effect, a "vaporous, colorful trail", came together only weeks before the film's release.[57]

text: Music[edit]

text: Composer James Horner returned to score The Search for Spock, fulfilling a promise he had made to Bennett on The Wrath of Khan.[58] While Nimoy considered hiring his friend Leonard Rosenman for the score, he was persuaded that Horner's return would grant continuity between The Wrath of Khan and the new film.[59] Much like the content of the film, Horner's music was a direct continuation of the score he wrote for the previous film. When writing music for The Wrath of Khan, Horner was aware he would reuse certain cues for an impending sequel; two major themes he reworked were for Genesis and Spock. While the Genesis theme supplants the title music Horner wrote for The Wrath of Khan, the end credits were quoted "almost verbatim".[58]

text: In hours-long discussions with Bennett and Nimoy, Horner agreed with the director that the "romantic and more sensitive" cues were more important than the "bombastic" ones.[58] Horner had written Spock's theme to give the character more dimension: "By putting a theme over Spock, it warms him and he becomes three-dimensional rather than a collection of schticks," he said.[60] The theme was expanded in The Search for Spock to represent the ancient alien mysticism and culture of Spock and Vulcan.[58]

text: Among the new cues Horner wrote was a "percussive and atonal" theme for the Klingons which is represented heavily in the film.[58] Jeff Bond described the cue as a compromise between music from Horner's earlier film Wolfen, Khan's motif from The Wrath of Khan, and Jerry Goldsmith's Klingon music from The Motion Picture.[61] Horner also adapted music from Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet for part of the Enterprise theft sequence and its destruction, while the scoring to Spock's resurrection on Vulcan was lifted from Horner's Brainstorm ending.[62]

text: Themes[edit]

text: Nimoy wrote that The Search for Spock's major theme is that of friendship. "What should a person do to help a friend? How deeply should a friendship commitment go? ... And what sacrifices, what obstacles, will these people endure? That's the emotion line of the film [and] its reason for existence," he recalled.[18] While Spock's bodily resurrection was complete, his mind was a blank slate—The Search for Spock, Michele and Duncan Barrett argue, says that the important question is whether an individual's mind functions, as this is the key to a meaningful existence.[63]

text: Brown University professor Ross S. Kraemer argues that The Search for Spock "became Star Trek's first and most obvious exploration of Christian themes of sacrificial, salvific death and resurrection".[64] According to Larry J. Kreitzer, The Wrath of Khan provided "its own versions of Good Friday and a hint of the Easter Sunday to come", with the hints fulfilled by Spock's bodily restoration in The Search for Spock.[65] David and Saavik's discovery of Spock's empty coffin and burial robes parallels the evidence the Apostles found that pointed to Jesus' resurrection in the Gospel of Luke, asserts Kraemer.[66] Spock's resurrection not only proves the Vulcan's belief in the existence of the katra, but also affirms these are not just a belief system but a certainty.[67] Barrett points to the Star Trek feature films in general and The Search for Spock in particular as a turn away from the irreligious television series.[68] In more practical terms, Jeffery A. Smith pointed to The Search for Spock as one of many Hollywood films culminating in a 1990s trend where death has little permanence (Ghost, Defending Your Life, What Dreams May Come, Meet Joe Black).[69]

text: The Genesis planet became a doomed experiment partly for dramatic reasons; having a time limit for the characters to save Spock added tension. Nimoy was also interested in scientific ethics—how quickly can science move and what are the dangers of that movement.[11] University of Houston professor Dr. John Hansen notes that while Spock's sacrifice in The Wrath of Khan is the "archetype of reason and rationality manifesting the archetype of human virtue," a selfless and freely-made choice, the death of Valkris (who has learned too much about the Genesis Device) in The Search for Spock is far different: the Klingon willingly accepts her death for the "common good" as determined by the state, relinquishing her liberty and life. Hansen contends that the issues of personal liberty and the exploitation of technology, in this case Genesis, are "intertwined".[70] The Genesis Device was intended as a liberating technology, creating life from lifelessness, but in the Klingon view it is a tool for dominion (contrasting the contemporary views of how technology can promote or constrain liberty).[71]

text: Release[edit]

text: The Search for Spock was not heavily marketed. Among the promotional merchandise created for the film's release were Search for Spock-branded calendars[72] and glasses sold at Taco Bell.[73][74] A novelization (ISBN 0-671-49500-3) was also released, and reached second place on The New York Times paperback bestsellers list.[75] President Ronald Reagan screened the film for friends during a weekend away from the White House in 1984, spent with White House staff chief Mike Deaver and the president's own close friend Senator Paul Laxalt. Reagan wrote of the film: "It wasn't too good."[76]

text: The Search for Spock opened June 1 in a record-breaking 1,996 theaters across North America;[77] with competing films Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Ghostbusters and Top Secret! released at the same time, more than half of the nation's screens were filled by summer blockbusters.[78] The Search for Spock grossed over $16 million in its opening weekend. In its second weekend the film's gross dropped 42 percent.[79] The box office strength of The Search for Spock and Indiana Jones led Paramount to dominate early summer film business.[80] The film made $76.5 million in North America,[81] for a total of $87 million worldwide.[82]

text: James Horner's soundtrack to the film was released on a 43-minute LP record by Capitol Records in 1984, and also contained a 12" single titled "The Search for Spock," composed by Horner and performed by Group 87, a band featuring composer Mark Isham and Missing Persons drummer Terry Bozzio. It was re-released on Compact Disc in 1989 by GNP Crescendo. Film Score Monthly released an expanded two-compact disc score June 1, 2010.[83] The Expanded Edition included both the original Capitol Records release from 1984 and an all-new version which featured the complete soundtrack as heard in the film, including alternate versions as well as many cues heard for the first time outside of the film. The soundtrack would be Horner's final contribution to Star Trek.

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The Search for Spock received generally positive reviews from critics. Richard Schickel of Time praised the film as "perhaps the first space opera to deserve that term in its grandest sense".[84] Janet Maslin of The New York Times and Newsweek wrote that while the film felt weighed down by the increasingly aged actors and television tropes, it was leavened by its dedication.[85][86] Roger Ebert called the film "good, but not great" and a compromise between the special effects-dependent The Motion Picture and the character-driven The Wrath of Khan.[87] Conversely, USA Today praised the film as the best of the three and the closest to the original spirit of the television series.[88] An overwhelmingly negative view of the film was offered by The Globe and Mail's Susan Ferrier Mackay, who summed the film up as "ba-a-a-d".[89] In a 2010 retrospective of the film franchise, author Jill Sherwin suggests the aging Enterprise served as a metaphor for the aging Star Trek franchise.[90] The film has received a score of 55/100 on Metacritic, indicating mixed to average reviews,[91] while review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes has given it 78%, indicating positive reviews.[92]

text: Critics praised Nimoy's direction, to which USA Today attributed the film's success in capturing the essence of the television show.[88] Newsweek wrote that due to Nimoy the film was the best-paced Trek film, and that his familiarity with these actors enabled him to bring out the best from them.[86] Newsweek, and David Sterritt of the Christian Science Monitor, appreciated how the film slowed the action down to allow moments of reflection, comparing this with the focus of most contemporary action films on effects rather than actors.[93] The Washington Post's Rita Kempley wrote that Nimoy's direction was competent, but his background in television showed—"the film feels made-for-TV", she summarized.[94] Fellow Post critic Gary Arnold concurred with Kempley's television film assessment, but also wrote that Nimoy was smart to focus on the essentials of each scene; he "[concentrates] on the actors in ways that flatter and enhance their work."[95]

text: The Search for Spock's plot solicited comment; Schickel called the film "overplotted" and filled with "heavy expository burdens", comparing it to real opera.[84] Sterritt said that the script occasionally veered in "arbitrary" directions and contained missteps, such as how the Grissom and its crew are suddenly lost, but the plot disregards their fate.[93] Arnold wrote that Shatner missed an opportunity to act on par with The Wrath of Khan's revelation that Kirk was David's father. The critic considered David's death an attempt at a similar shock, but felt it was not a success.[95] Harry M. Geduld, writing for The Humanist, criticized the film for what he called "contradictions and implausibilities", such as Scott's sabotage of the Excelsior and Spock's regeneration.[96]

text: The film's sense of self-seriousness and the camaraderie amongst the characters were generally cited as positive aspects. Maslin wrote that certain tacky elements of the film's television roots were outweighed by the closeness of the Enterprise crew and "by their seriousness and avidity about what seem to be the silliest minutiae [...] That's what longtime Trekkies love about the series, and it's still here—a little the worse for wear, but mostly untarnished."[85] The Los Angeles Times wrote that despite its spectacle, the film's "humanity once again outweighs the hardware, and its innocence is downright endearing".[88] Mackay offered an alternate view, calling the characters' actions and dialogue "wooden" and saying that the film's monsters had more life than the acting.[89] Lloyd's portrayal of Kruge received praise from New York's David Denby and The Daily News's Hunter Reigler.[97][98]

text: The film's effects were conflictingly appraised. Schickel wrote that the effects were "technically adroit" and occasionally "witty",[84] and Ebert singled out the Bird of Prey as a "great-looking" ship.[87] Sterritt felt that the settings always felt like they were on soundstages rather than out in space,[93] and Denby wrote that more could have been done with Genesis, and that while it was an interesting concept its special effects execution lacked.[97] Kempley appreciated the sets' low values, writing that "the fakier the sets", the closer the film felt to its television origins.[94]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The Search for Spock was released on home video in 1985. The initial retail offerings included VHS, Betamax, LaserDisc and CED formats with closed captioning.[99] As part of a plan to support its push of 8mm video cassette, Sony partnered with Paramount Home Video to bring titles like The Search for Spock to the platform in 1986.[100]

text: The film was given a "bare bones" DVD release on May 11, 2000, with no extra features—the release was several months earlier than the release of The Wrath of Khan.[101] Two years later, a two disc "Collector's Edition" was released with supplemental material and the same video transfer as the original DVD release. It featured a text commentary by Michael Okuda and audio commentary from Nimoy, Bennett, Correll, and Curtis.[102]

text: The film was released on high-definition Blu-ray Disc in May 2009 to coincide with the new Star Trek feature, along with the other five films featuring the original crew in Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection.[103] The Search for Spock was remastered in 1080p high-definition from the 2000 DVD transfer. All six films in the set have new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The disc features a new commentary track by former Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager television writers Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor.[103][104]

text: The film was briefly removed from Netflix in August 2013 because of inaccurately translated Klingon and Vulcan subtitles.[105]