Was Star Trek partially inspired by the 1948 novel The Space Cadet?

[tim0122]

A number of months back, I read somewhere that Gene Roddenberry was partially inspired by a 1948 novel called "The Space Cadet" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Cadet) when he was developing Star Trek. I can't for the life of me remember where I read this. So can anybody confirm whether this was indeed an inspiration or not? Reading up on the book, there do seem to be similarities, but those may very well just be coincidences.

 

[Kor]

I would say the mission of the space service in Heinlein's novel is significantly different from that of Starfleet in Roddenberry's Star Trek.

Kor

 

[ToddPence]

The influences on STAR TREK were many and diverse. In addition to the juvenile novels of Heinlein, the were space opera novels by the likes of Doc Smith, Jack Williamson and Edmond Hamilton; the BUCK ROGERS comic strip, the movie FORBIDDEN PLANET and others of its ilk; as well as its television predecessors such as SPACE PATROL and ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER. And I'm probably just scratching the surface.

 

[J.T.B.]

There was a book that came out in the '90s called Gene Roddenberry: The Last Conversation by Yvonne Fern. As I remember in the interview he discussed the Interplanetary Patrol organization in Space Cadet as being a big influence on his idea of Starfleet. An organization of all officers, all highly and scientifically trained, who are entrusted with keeping law and order as well as exploration. Kind of a "warrior-priest" type idea transferred to science fiction, not really new and not too different from Lensmen or Jedi Knights. This may have been an inspiration for his oft-quoted and erroneous statement in TMoST that everyone aboard Enterprise was an officer.

ETA: What he left out was that the Patrol in Space Cadet also had a more traditional military counterpart, the Space Marines, to handle the heavy fighting if necessary.

 

[maneth]

The Space Cadet also features portable personal telephones and the idea that they would not work from orbit, because they could not be to far away from a "relay office". This is probably one of the first uses of cellphones in fiction, and may have been an inspiration for Trek communicators.

 

[JeffinOakland]

In a word: Yes...Roddenberry was influenced by many sources (he was an avid sci-fi reader) but Heinlein's teen boy fiction, especially The Space Cadet, was directly influential.

 

[TwoJakes]

One of the prime missions of the service in Space Cadet was to drop (from orbit) nuclear weapons on Earth civilians if the people in those communities stepped out of line.

Doesn't sound like Star Trek.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The influences on STAR TREK were many and diverse. In addition to the juvenile novels of Heinlein, the were space opera novels by the likes of Doc Smith, Jack Williamson and Edmond Hamilton; the BUCK ROGERS comic strip, the movie FORBIDDEN PLANET and others of its ilk; as well as its television predecessors such as SPACE PATROL and ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER. And I'm probably just scratching the surface.

I think Star Trek was largely a small-screen re-working of Forbidden Planet, that turned out better than anyone could have expected. I can't see how some of those others you mentioned had any impact.

If any novels were involved, it would be the Horatio Hornblower series.

It goes without saying that Aliens was influenced by the Heinlein novel Starship Troopers.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

One of the prime missions of the service in Space Cadet was to drop (from orbit) nuclear weapons on Earth civilians if the people in those communities stepped out of line.

Doesn't sound like Star Trek.

To be inspired by something does not equal rpping said thing off. @J.T.B. gave a sourced quote from Roddenberry in which he said that the idea of an interplanetary patrol from "Space Cadet" inspired his Starfleet. He (and his fellow writers and producers) obviously tweaked the idea to fit their own tastes and sensibilities, but that's how inspiration works.

As another example, it's a fact that Batman was heavily influenced by The Shadow. The Shadow using guns and Batman's parents being murdered do not negate that fact.

 

[J.T.B.]

@J.T.B. gave a sourced quote from Roddenberry in which he said that the idea of an interplanetary patrol from "Space Cadet" inspired his Starfleet.

Yes but let me emphasize that is only my recollection of a library book that I read some 20 years ago. I know it is touched on in the book but can't vouch for the details. But as I remember it, it was more general, about the overall nature of the organization, than specific.

I agree with TwoJakes that the "atomic peacekeeping" in the book doesn't sound like Star Trek, though it is perhaps more understandable in a book only three years removed from WW2 as the Cold War was just shaping up. But OTOH the missions the space cadets' ship undertakes are, as I recall, a search for a missing survey ship and response to a merchant ship's distress call. That seems right in line with OS Enterprise missions (as I posted in another thread), but also historical navy vessels. The Patrol ship in Space Cadet also carries several smaller craft (they call them "jeeps") which they detach for independent missions, which is similar to a couple of OS episodes, but also very much like sailing Royal Navy vessels and their boats in the 1800s. There are real-world antecedents that could have influenced Heinlein and Roddenberry and a lot of other writers independently as far as specific stories go.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Google it. Roddenberry has been directly quoted as saying Heinlein inspired him and he got specific ideas about how Starfleet would operate from Space Cadet.

 

[Ronald Held]

Has anyone asked Richard Arnold about this?

 

[Warped9]

I thought Starfleet was Gene Coon's idea. If so it wouldn't surprise me to hear GR takng credit for it.

 

[Maurice]

Has anyone asked Richard Arnold about this?

Why? So he could pull more fairy stories out of his butt?

 

[Christopher]

I thought Starfleet was Gene Coon's idea. If so it wouldn't surprise me to hear GR takng credit for it.

The name "Starfleet" was first used in "Court Martial," by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos. But the idea that the Enterprise belonged to a United Earth "space navy"-type organization was built in from the start, even without a specific name.

 

[TwoJakes]

Roddenberry has been directly quoted as saying ...

I wonder what the year was for that quote. Roddenberry reinvented the Star Trek "origins" a number of times, during the 1970's especially he was very ... let's say fluid, about the facts.

 

[Warped9]

A star spanning space fleet is a pretty old idea in SF. I've read an SF story from 1929 that had an interstellar space fleet as well as a woman second-in-command. Heinlein certainly didn't invent that idea.

 

[JeffinOakland]

Like most creative ideas, Star Trek was a melange of previous ideas combined w Roddenberry's own ideas. Wagon Train, Gulliver's Travels, Horatio Hornblower and the juvenile novels by Heinlein were among the sources he drew inspiration and ideas from. Of course, he borrowed bits and pieces here and there just as Lucas, Crichton, Cameron and many many others have done.

 

[Noname Given]

It still seems to me the primary inspiration for 'Star Trek' was primarily the 1956 feature film - Forbidden Planet
Hell, one of the first lines spoken in the film as a reply to the Captain questioning the astrogator about going to sub-light speed:

"De-C at 17:01 Skipper..."

And just what was the NCC registry number on the hull/model of the USS Enterprise?

 

[Christopher]

A star spanning space fleet is a pretty old idea in SF. I've read an SF story from 1929 that had an interstellar space fleet as well as a woman second-in-command. Heinlein certainly didn't invent that idea.

Nobody's saying he did -- just that it was allegedly where Roddenberry got the idea.

And just what was the NCC registry number on the hull/model of the USS Enterprise?

That came from Matt Jefferies and his aviation background. He explained in a BBC interview that he'd come up with it as a blend of the American and Soviet registration codes for commercial or space vehicles (NC and CCCP, respectively). And he chose 1701 simply because it was easily recognizable onscreen. TV sets at the time often had staticky images, and he wanted numbers that wouldn't be confused with each other, like 6 and 8, say.