These Are the Continuing Voyages: 5 Reasons Why Star Trek: The Animated
   Series Was Awesome
   David Moran
   November 20, 2013 10:00AM

   Star Trek: The Animated Series

   It weighed on my heart to hear that Lou Scheimer, founder of Filmation
   Studios, had died this past October. Like a lot of Gen Xers I grew up
   part of the Filmation Generation, in thrall to a studio whose output
   (along with that of Hanna-Barbera) shaped the landscape of my every
   Saturday morning: Fat Albert, The Adventures of Batman, The New
   Adventures of Flash Gordon, and yeah, even He-Man, were all required
   viewing for me.

   But as a dyed in the wool Star Trek fan from almost the moment of
   conception onwards, number one among these was Star Trek: The Animated
   Series (or TAS), which ran for 22 episodes from 1973 to 1974, after
   the cancellation of the live-action television show in 1969. It was
   critically well received (being the first Star Trek show to win an
   Emmy), but has faded a bit from the popular consciousness of the Star
   Trek franchise (mine included), maybe owing to a perception that a
   cartoon adaptation must of course be for children.

   I recently revisited the series (all 22 episodes are free and legal to
   watch at startrek.com), and Im happy to report that not only does it
   hold up, but its actually good. Really good. In a lot of ways its the
   same show as the original seriesits saying something when the only
   thing that really seems off is the different theme music. As I
   watched I made a little list of things that surprised me about the
   series and made it an awesome revisit, and I share that list here.


   1. Its definitely not just for kids.

   The very first episode features an energy being thats been living in a
   derelict alien vessel for 300 million years. When it possesses the
   Enterprise and all seems lost, Kirkwho is not having any of this
   nonsense on his shipmomentarily wrestles control from the creature and
   starts piloting the Enterprise right into the systems sun. No ones
   taking the Enterprise away from James T. Kirk. To save itself, the
   creature flees back to its derelict prison and the Enterprise warps to
   a safe distance. Over the com, it quietly and piteously begs the
   Enterprise not to leave it, as its been alone, so alone, for an
   eternity. Kirk ignores itdoesnt even respondand coolly starts
   plotting the ships next destination. THE END. This show doesnt play.

   This is not to say its all gritty and Frank Miller, just that its
   written as smartly as the original series, and has the same confidence
   in the intelligence of its audience, whatever their age.


   Star Trek: The Animated Series

   2. It has the same cast as Star Trek: The Original Series. (Well,
   almost.)

   William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols,
   George Takei, James Doohan, and Majel Barrett all reprise their
   characters here. Even when minor original-series characters like Sarek,
   Cyrano Jones, and Harry Mudd show up, theyre all voiced by the
   original series actors. The presence of the actors who defined the
   roles gives the hand-drawn characters a fleshly continuity with the
   live-action series, and its easy to think of the TAS as Star Trek
   season 4.

   The only one whos left out in the cold is Walter Koenigpoor Pavel
   Chekhov. Apparently when producers tried to omit Uhura and Sulu from
   the series, Leonard Nimoy threatened to walk out, insisting that they
   were critical to the diversity of the show. Chekhov got no such
   reprieve, however, although Koenig did get to write the seventh episode
   of the series, The Infinite Vulcan.


   Star Trek: The Animated Series

   3. Its mostly written by the same writers.

   The animated series features some heavyweight writing talent. David
   Gerrold, Samuel Peeples, D.C. Fontana, and Paul Schneider all wrote for
   the original series (and the non-original writers were pretty
   substantial: Larry Niven even wrote one episode). The series bible is
   basically the same as that of the original series (and is apparently
   still in existence, at the Paskow Science Fiction Collection at Samuel
   Paley Library, Temple University.) The episodes are only 24 minutes
   long, so the pacing can be a bit hurried, with fewer of the lovely
   character digressions of the original series, but that also means the
   scripts are ruthlessly lean and really know how to keep it moving.

   And some episodes stand up to anything else in the franchise.
   Yesteryear, where Spock time-travels to the Vulcan of his youth, and
   meets his mother, father, and younger self, is deeply moving. I dare
   you to keep a dry eye as Spock returns just in time to watch his
   beloved childhood pet die. J.J. Abrams paid homage to this episode in
   his 2009 Star Trek reboot: the scene where young Spock is bullied and
   belittled by his peers for being bi-racial comes straight out of
   Yesteryear. If you take a chance on only one episode of the animated
   series, make it this one.

   Theres even a tribbles episode! Written by the guy who wrote the
   original tribbles episode. Even better, the episode is titled Mo
   Tribbles, Mo Troubles (well, almost), probably the most apt
   descriptor ever for the tribble lifecycle.


   Star Trek: The Animated Series

   4. It does things the original series could never afford.

   In an animated series, the special effects budget is effectively
   limitless, and TAS totally takes advantage of not being restricted by
   cheap skin-paint and rubber suit effects to bring you aliens, aliens,
   aliens. Seriously, not even kidding, there are a lot of weird-looking
   aliens and creatures in this show, and many of the backgrounds are far
   beyond anything that could have been built on the original series
   Culver City soundstages.

   Like a lot of Filmation series, the animation can look a little
   low-rent to a modern viewer, but Filmations avoidance of the cost of
   making things move is smartly offset by their solid use of
   voice-overs and sound to camouflage the fact that often nothings
   really happening on screen. The long, slow tracking shot of the
   Enterprise orbiting a red planet while an impaired, lovesick Scotty
   croons Welsh ballads (The Lorelai Signal) is one of the most sublime
   moments in the franchise.

   Another neat fact about TAS is that its the first Trek show to feature
   the holodeck (here called, in adorable 1970s fashion, the rec room).
   The wondrous room where characters could participate in virtual reality
   shenanigans was first conceived for the original series, but was deemed
   unfeasible and far too expensive.


   Star Trek: The Animated Series

   5. It gave secondary characters big moments.

   In the original series, most of the episodes revolved entirely around
   the holy trinity of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, and while supporting roles
   like Scotty, Sulu, and Uhura did get some character moments, they were
   comparatively pretty small. Not so the animated series, which gives the
   supporting cast more moments to shine.

   In The Lorelai Signalthe best Uhura story there isa female medical
   officer confides in Uhura that the bridge crew have been acting
   strangely because theyve been compromised by a mind control signal
   that only affects the male of the species. Uhuras response? Assemble
   every female security officer on board. Why? Because Im taking
   command of this ship. And Uhura grabs some phasers and seizes command
   of the Enterprise, and she takes care of business, and its awesome. I
   mean, right? How could it not be. Hashtag eff yeah Lieutenant Uhura.


   Live long and you know what. And if youre a fan of the original
   series, maybe give this one a shot.
     __________________________________________________________________

   David Moran would pay cash money to watch a show or movie about Uhura
   or Sulu as starship captains, because those short bits in Star Trek VI
   werent enough. Check him out on Twitter or Tumblr.


--- Mystic BBS v1.10 A38 (Linux)