Michael Minor

"It was one of the most soiled and shabby chapters of Hollywood history, in terms of how people were treated. The trouble, as always, was that the wrong people were in charge. We're in a business in which the people at the top, who make the decisions, really don't know a damn thing about making pictures. I think we all knew then that we were associated with a bomb. It's too bad the movie happened at all." – Mike Minor, Production Illustrator, 1982, on his experiences with Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Cinefantastique, Vol 12 #5/6, p. 58) ) Michael "Mike" Minor was a conceptual and production illustrator on Star Trek: Phase II,  and the art director for.

Mostly recognized for his contributions to the above-mentioned productions, Minor had actually already contributed to. He had been a fan of The Original Series since its original airing and was inspired by it to design and create wardrobes, creatures, watercolors of landscapes, and artifacts in his spare time for the series. He managed to arrange a meeting with Gene Roddenberry, who agreed to take a look at his portfolio. "Gene liked the artwork, and had me show it to the art director, Matt Jefferies. Jefferies bought about twenty pieces to use as art objects around the ship. Some of the critters were hanging in McCoy's office and cabin during the third season. A creature head I did in latex became the Melkot in . I later discovered that in my ignorance, I had stumbled upon the only route by which I could have sold to the show... by bringing art in on spec [rem: for free]. Union regulations prevented the production company from commissioning work from an outside contractor, but they could buy existing material," Minor remembered. (Cinefantastique, issue 44, Vol 12 #5/6, p. 59)

Minor's most notable (un-credited) contribution to the Original Series, however, was the realization of the Tholian web as it appeared on screen in the episode with the same name. Minor also worked with William Ware Theiss by manufacturing the space suit helmets for the episode. Other contributions of Minor to the series' third season were the creation of the Beta XII-A entity in and some of the overhead graphics on the bridge of the Enterprise. (, issue 25, pp. 35, 61)

Minor was brought into the production of Star Trek: Phase II by Art Director Joe Jennings on, who passed over noted space illustrator Robert McCall in favor of his former protégé. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 37) Together with his former mentor, Minor worked among others on the design of the refit-USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), based on preliminary re-design work which The Original Series Art Director Matt Jefferies did on his own USS Enterprise design from the original television series. Minor also contributed to designing the drydock and interior sets. McCall was yet to work on the Star Trek production.

After Phase II was upgraded to the Motion Picture in, their work on the Enterprise in turn became the basis for further re-design work done by Richard Taylor, Andrew Probert and Harold Michelson. Minor stayed on for the upgrade production, but concentrated his efforts on the interior set designs. Minor did not get any legal credit for the design from the US Patent and Trademark Office, however, since Andrew Probert is listed as the sole "inventor" of the look of the refitted Enterprise on the design patent issued for it. However, Minor did receive credit as an inventor on the issued design patents for both the USS Reliant and the photon torpedo casing. In both instances, he shared the credit with Joe Jennings. The bulk of the work which he did on Phase II and The Motion Picture projects, however, consisted of the interior redesign of the refit Enterprise before he was superseded by Probert in.

Career outside Star Trek
Minor enjoyed a close and enduring working relationship with Joe Jennings, who arranged one of his first jobs on, and had him brought in on the Phase II project and its follow-up. "We worked together like .", Minor further said. (Cinefantastique, issue 44, Vol 12 #5/6, p. 58)

Minor won an Emmy Award nomination for his visual effects work on the acclaimed mini-series The Winds of War. He also received an Emmy nomination in Outstanding Art Direction for a Limited Series or a Special, for the same program. Minor's other credits include visual effects work on Flesh Gordon (, working with Greg Jein), the cult fantasy film The Beastmaster and art direction for the films The Man Who Saw Tomorrow  and Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (, starring Joel Grey, Patrick Kilpatrick and Kate Mulgrew), as well as model designer and matte painter for Fukkatsu no hi (, again with Jein, who by then had also worked on The Motion Picture).

Minor died due to complications from AIDS in Los Angeles, California.

Star Trek credits

 * Season 3 – Designer, Effects Artist (un-credited)
 * – Production Illustrator
 * – Art Director
 * – Production Illustrator
 * – Art Director

Star Trek interviews

 * "Mike Minor: Illustrating the Future", David Hutchison, , issue 25,, pp. 32-35, 61
 * "Mike Minor: Star Trek through the Years", James Van Hise, Enterprise Incidents, issue 14,, pp. 43-52
 * Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, December 2014