Thrity Seconds Bunnies Theatre Spoofs Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Posted by Dominic von Riedemann Mar 24, 2009

Get any group of hardcore Star Trek fans to discuss which of the original cast film is the best and you'll get one of two things:

1. Lots of Klingon insults and people hitting each other with plastic phasers
2. The general consensus that the even-numbered Star Trek movies were the better ones, and the odd ones were the bad ones.

After the combatants have been separated and the Vulcan blood cleaned off the walls, you actually might get the consensus that 1982's Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was the best of the bunch. While the special effects were decent for the time (and look pretty dated now), the combination of taut plotting, finger-clenching tension, and the fact that the late Ricardo Montalban (reprising his role of überhuman Khan Noonian Singh from the 1967 episode "Space Seed") actually managed to chew more scenery than famed ham William Shatner, added up to a pretty entertaining sci-fi flick.

Oh yeah, and in one of the most poignant and gutsy sequences of the entire series, Spock sacrificed himself in order to save the crew. Star Trek would never again have the courage to kill off a major character until 1994's Generations (one of the weaker "odd" ones).

So what does this have to do with animation? Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre, one of our favourite Flash animated series, has spoofed The Wrath of Khan by condensing it down to 30 seconds and having the characters portrayed by bunnies.

While it doesn't reach the highs of creator Jennifer Shiman's best work (the 30-second parody of Rocky Horror Picture Show is my fave), it's a lot of fun.

You can check it out over here. To find out more about Jennifer Shiman and Thirty Seconds Bunnies Theatre, you can read Suite 101's exclusive interview with Shiman by clicking here.