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Star Trek: The Animated Series

The animated continuation of the original Star Trek adventures.

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Gene Roddenberry created the American animated science fiction television program Star Trek: The Animated Series.[1] The series aired on NBC under the title Star Trek with the subtitle "Created by Gene Roddenberry" on Saturday mornings from September 8, 1973, to October 12, 1974, and consisted of 22 episodes across two seasons.[1] The second season of The Animated Series won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment – Children's Series, making it the first Star Trek series to receive an Emmy Award.[2] Critical reception of the series was positive.[2]

Making and release

Paramount's Philip Mayer and Filmation's Don Christensen created a proposal for a series targeting a young audience with an educational spin, featuring a teenage crew including a Vulcan named Steve, an African-American boy named Bob, and a Chinese boy named Stick.[3] A deal was reached in early 1973 and publicly announced in early March 1973, with NBC granting a guaranteed minimum of two seasons totaling 22 episodes, a budget of $75,000 per episode, and full creative control for Roddenberry.[3] The main cast of The Original Series voiced their characters, with the exception of Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov, who was replaced by Lieutenant Arex and Lieutenant M'Ress.[3] The premiere episode was not aired in the Los Angeles market due to the FCC equal-time rule, as Takei was a political candidate for city council.[4]

During the 1968–69 third season of The Original Series, Filmation's Lou Scheimer held discussions with Paramount Television, NBC, and Gene Roddenberry about producing an animated spin-off.[3] Roddenberry and Filmation decided the program should appeal to audiences of all ages.[5] At Roddenberry's suggestion, D. C. Fontana, who had been script editor for The Original Series, was brought on as story editor and associate producer.[5] The initial three episodes were recorded with all voice actors together in June 1973.[3]

The original theme by Alexander Courage was replaced for the animated series.[3] A new theme, credited to Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael, was actually composed by Filmation's Ray Ellis.[3]

What the cited sources add

The comic series Star Trek vs. Transformers, announced in June 2018, is inspired by the aesthetic and continuities of both Star Trek: The Animated Series and the original 1984 Transformers show.[6] A CBR ranking of all 31 seasons of Star Trek television placed season 1 of TAS at 23rd and season 2 at 24th, noting that the animation is limited by today's standards but the idea of an animated Star Trek makes sense given different budget and scope concerns.[7][8] In July 2023, CBS Studios announced five all-new animated promotional spots in the TAS style titled Star Trek: Very Short Treks, created for the 50th anniversary of The Animated Series and featuring characters voiced by Jonathan Frakes, Doug Jones, and Armin Shimerman.[9][10] Casper Kelly, creative consultant for the spots, also released a comic book with IDW Publishing titled Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier, honoring producer Lou Scheimer.[9]

The Animated Series introduced Kirk's middle name as Tiberius, expanded on by writer David Gerrold, who had been influenced by I, Claudius and approached Roddenberry with the choice.[11] A public service announcement against pollution was made for the organization Keep America Beautiful.[12] It used the TAS characters and the voices of the original cast.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Woolery, "Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part 1: Animated Cartoon Series", Scarecrow Press, 1983, p. 271–273 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Star Trek", imdb.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mangels, "Star Trek: The Animated Series", RetroFan, Summer 2018, p. 25–37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smith, "Star Trek Bows in Animated Version", Los Angeles Times, 1973-09-10, p. 18, Part IV (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mangels, "Star Trek: The Animated Series", RetroFan, Summer 2018, p. 25–37; Mangels, "Star Trek: The Animated Series", RetroFan, Summer 2018, p. 25–37; Mangels, "Star Trek: The Animated Series", RetroFan, Summer 2018, p. 25–37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. "Exclusive IDW announces Star Trek vs. Transformers Comic Series", June 19, 2018. facts only, no text reused. io9.gizmodo.com
  7. "Every Star Trek Season of TV Ever, Ranked from Worst to Best", CBR, January 4, 2019. facts only, no text reused. cbr.com
  8. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "96, Star Trek: The Animated Series", IGN, January 23, 2009; Bernardin, "Ranking every 'Star Trek' movie and TV series from first to worst", Los Angeles Times, September 8, 2016; "Exclusive IDW announces Star Trek vs. Transformers Comic Series", June 19, 2018 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Pascale, "'Jonathan Frakes, Doug Jones, And Armin Shimerman Voicing New 'Star Trek: The Animated Celebration' Shorts", TrekMovie, July 21, 2023. facts only, no text reused. trekmovie.com
  10. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pascale, "'Jonathan Frakes, Doug Jones, And Armin Shimerman Voicing New 'Star Trek: The Animated Celebration' Shorts", TrekMovie, July 21, 2023; Petski, "Star Trek: Very Short Treks To Be Unveiled By CBS Studios On Star Trek Day", Deadline, 2023-09-05 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silverman, D. S. (2015). Always bring phasers to an “animated” canon fight: Star Trek’s animated adventures on Saturday mornings. In D. Brode & S. Brode (Eds.) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Star Trek: The Animated Series" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Lost PSA: Star Trek TAS for Keep America Beautiful!", YouTube}}{{cbignore, June 14, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Star Trek: The Animated Series (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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