Today in Star Trek history: Robert Abel, VFX pioneer, was born

Robert Abel and Associates produced The Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It?”

It was today, March 10th, back in 1937, that animator and visual effects artist Robert Abel was born. Abel is best known to Star Trek fans as the original VFX director on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. His treatment of the film fell so far behind schedule and over budget that he (and his company) were replaced in that role by Douglas Trumbull. The dramatic changeover notoriously took place in March 1979, less than nine months before the film was due to be released.

Excepting the problems with Star Trek, Abel was known as a pioneer in the field of computer animation, and his company, Robert Abel and Associates is credited on films such as The Andromeda Strain and Tron, as well as the music video for The Jacksons’ “Can You Feel It?” (which, by the way, is just an insane nine-and-a-half minute ride).