TV Review: Star Trek the Animated Series
In a future where humanity did not succeed in destroying itself, but instead learned to live together in peace (after a few more world wars) and then went to space to explore strange new worlds, meet interesting life forms (and sometimes peacefully interact with them) and boldly go where no man had gone before, the Federation starship Enterprise is the most notable example of the fleet. Captain James T. Kirk, First Officer Spock, and the other crewmembers run into bizarre situations on a weekly basis during their five-year mission. These are their voyages–in animation!
After the original live-action series of Star Trek was cancelled in 1969, the 79 existing episodes went into syndication, where they proved popular enough to spark interest in an animated version for Saturday morning television. Filmation Studios was contracted to do the animation, Gene Roddenberry was back as producer, and most of the main cast was available to reprise their roles. Even many of the writers were ones who’d worked on the original Star Trek!
This show was treated in house as a continuation, the fourth season of 22 episodes. It was simplified a bit to fit into half the time per episode, but not dumbed down to make it more kid friendly as happened to so many other Saturday morning spinoffs.
One of the advantages to working in animation was aliens didn’t have to be designed so that human actors could fit into the costumes. On the bridge of the Enterprise, this meant the inclusion of three-armed navigator Lt. Arix (replacing Lt. Chekov as Walter Koenig was the one major cast member not reappearing, though he did get to write an episode), and feline communications officer Lt. M’ress, who was Lt. Uhura’s backup. And alien species met on various planets could be even more exotic!
On the other hand, the budget was still not huge, so Filmation had to do the best they could with limited animation. Lovely painted backgrounds, but stock footage and poses used over and over again, with a minimal amount of action in any given episode. Good thing Star Trek was so talky! Mind, if you look closely you can spot animation errors, and the color-blind director made what look like odd color choices in some cases.
The voice cast is excellent, but to save on budget, James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols were called upon to do many of the guest character voices. You get to hear them do quite a range!
As with any Star Trek-related series, there are some silly episodes, and some standouts. “Yesteryear” has Spock going back in time after he’s accidentally erased from history. For years, this was the only animated episode semi-officially in “canon” as it was a rare glimpse into the Vulcan culture and how Spock related to it. “The Lorelei Signal” uses a hokey plot device to disable all the male crewmembers, but it gives us Lieutenant Uhura’s first time commanding the ship, and reveals that there are enough female security personnel aboard the Enterprise to mount a rescue party. (Times being what they were, there are no non-binary crewmembers.)
“The Slaver Weapon” was written by Larry Niven, adapted from one of his own short stories. An Enterprise shuttle carrying an artifact of the lost Slaver civilization is lured into a trap by some catlike Kzin aliens. It’s the only episode of Classic Trek with no appearance by Captain Kirk, as the crewmembers on the shuttle are Spock, Sulu, and Uhura. They must attempt to outwit their captors, and deal with the unleashed artifact. Thanks to the vagaries of intellectual property law and the associated contracts, the Kzin made it into the Starfleet Battles tabletop game and were a favorite there, but otherwise exiled from the Star Trek continuity for decades.
“How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” has the Enterprise crew meeting the being who inspired the Earth legends of Kukulkan. He is unhappy how the descendants of the people he once helped have turned out, and our heroes must convince him that it’s time to let them stand on their own. This episode secured a Daytime Emmy for the show.
And of course, other fans will have their own favorites.
The show has its flaws, and younger viewers may be disappointed by the static images so common in TV cartoons of that vintage, but the strong writing and excellent voice acting should make up for that, and longtime Star Trek fans will have a ball watching or rewatching these episodes. Highly recommended.
Thanks to the Crud Buddies Discord for giving me the boxed set as a birthday present.
