September Bonus Review: Star Trek The Animated Series

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of the Star Trek franchise. The original series, Next Generation and Deep Space 9 all hold a special place in my heart. Especially Next Gen which I would personally count as one of the greatest sci-fi series ever made. But there’s a piece of Star Trek history that frequently gets overlooked to the point where a lot of people don’t know it even existed, the animated series based off of the original series. This cartoon only ran for twenty two episodes in the early 70s as a follow up to the adventures of the original crew. Let’s have a look.

Story:

We all know the basic premise of Star Trek, even those among us who haven’t seen a single episode. Space is the final frontier and these are the voyages of the Enterprise. Which seeks to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations and to boldly go where no one has gone before. The cartoon is a set of further adventures for the crew after the original series ended.

The cartoon’s biggest problem is actually the exact same issue the original series suffers from. Mainly that it can be overly corny and cheesy. It may not have any single example as egregious as Spock’s brain being stolen as a super computer but it does have Spock’s mind being split between his regular body and the body of a giant clone as well as an episode where they cross over into another universe that follows the laws of magic.

With that being said, the series also shares the originals’ biggest strengths and the two major factors that have made it so beloved even after fifty+ years. First off, a lot of the episodes do have philosophical undercurrents and explorations that are quite fascinating. They are slightly toned down since it goes for a younger demographic but they’re definitely still present. The second big thing is that, even though it can be overtly goofy, it’s a lot of fun and consistently entertaining.

Characters:

Most of the cast from the original series is present. Captain Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Dr. McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, even Nurse Chapel. The only character we don’t see is Chekov. Instead we get two alien characters Arex, who looks a bit like ET and M’Ress, a lioness looking character. The new characters are fine but the ones you’ll really be watching for are the classics both because of their prominence in the original series and because they get a lot more screen time. Arex and M’Ress are both firmly relegated to minor support roles. The animated series also has less development for their single episode characters as a result of the episodes having half the runtime and not being able to do as much in that regard.

Art:

The artwork is definitely dated and it uses a lot of techniques to cut down on animation like prolonged shots and recycling images. That being said, the cartoon does have a big advantage over the original series. Namely that they can go further in terms of making characters and locations that look truly alien. There are some amazing designs in that regard that were definitely ahead of their time.

Sound:

The main cast from the original series all reprise their roles. Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Nichols, Takei, Doohan, & Barret all do excellently. It’s worth noting that both Doohan and Barret pull extra duty with Doohan voicing Arex as well as a shit load of minor roles and Barret voicing M’Ress, the Enterprise computer and others. The music is in line with the original series’. Which is definitely a positive.

Final Thoughts:

Is Star Trek the animated series worth tracking down and watching? It is if you’re a fan of the original series. It has the same kind of entertainment factor, excellent voice work and a lot of really strong moments. It’s also definitely nice to follow up with all your favourite Trek characters from the original series, unless your favourite character happens to be Chekov. For myself, I give it a solid 7/10.