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Rating:  -
As a big fan of the original series I had hoped that with many of the original voices and scriptwriters, this animated series of Star Trek would in essence be the fourth season of the original series. Unfortunately this isn't the case, which I believe is as a result of two main factors. First of all each episode is half the length of the originals, which dramatically reduces the amount of time spent for character and story development. Having watched all the animated episodes, many of them seemed like they rushed though the story. Secondly since this series was aimed at children as apposed to prime time general audiences the stories and themes seemed simplified and less edging, even by 1970's standards.
While an animated format does allow writers more freedom to create much more elaborate science fiction environments and aliens, this was offset in the series by the average level quality of the animation of the time. I'm sure diehard fans will most likely not be put off from buying this series by my review. I'd just want to make sure that fans know what they're getting is not quite the same thing as the original series.
Rating:  -
From what I had read in various places around the internet, I was hesitant to buy the Animated Series. I am not a true Original Series fanatic, but I truly love Star Trek - in all of its incarnations.
So let me tell you, Star Trek the Animated Series belongs in the canon. There, I said it. I cannot think of any reason why it has been excluded, many of its stories are excellent, and as a whole it has the tone of the live action series and in many cases is just as serious. As for those who don't like the wackyness of TAS, I remind you of "The Omega Glory" from the original series. I can tell you, from flying Aztec gods to ornery entities, there was NOTHING in the Animated Series half as ridiculous as when the Yangs hauled out Old Glory and the U.S. Constitution (up until that point it was a fairly well-done and compelling episode.)
I can only assume the exile that TAS has lived in has been caused by Gene's dislike of trek that he did not directly control combined with the seeming snobbery of stewards of modern trek toward anything predating the current era (TNG, DS9, VOY).
Aside from the animation, which is on par with other seventies animation, the show has great production values with good paintings, voice-work and music. The best part is, most of the stories easily beat out the first few seasons of Voyager and Enterprise. This is probably because it really is the "fourth season" of Star Trek.
In conclusion, it is good, it is great, and any hardcore Star Trek fan that hasn't seen it, should.
Rating:  -
I watched these when growing up, and wanted my 9 year old daughter to see them. They are great! Some are better than others (of course), but overall they are very enjoyable. The drawbacks: the animation isn't the best, and they tried to use as few voices as possible. Plus the actors weren't quite as "animated" (pardon the pun) as they were on the original series. Other than this, though, the story lines are mostly quite good and I enjoy most episodes as much as my daughter does.
Rating: -
I did not see "Star Trek: The Animated Series", during its original broadcast run on NBC, but I do remember seeing a few episodes as they were shown on local channels some years afterward. Having become a fan of "Star Trek" as a teenager, it made sense for me to pick up this Emmy Award-winning series once it became available on DVD, and it was money well spent.
TAS has the same look and feel of other animated series of the era. But the stories have some heft. That's due, in part, to D.C. Fontana being on board to help with the stories. She helped keep the stories true to the universe of The Original Series, including episodes involving old favorites Harry Mudd and the Tribbles. TAS could also go where the crew of the Enterprise couldn't go in live-action, and that is to worlds that could be explored with more freedom and imagination. And in one particular episode, Lieutenant Uhura (voiced by the talented and gorgeous Nichelle Nichols) actually has to take command of the Enterprise in a crisis situation!
Fans of "Star Trek" will love hearing the familiar voices of William Shatner, DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy, and seeing the faithful Enterprise recreated in animated form. And fans of animation will enjoy the style that Filmation made with this show and others, including the legendary "Fat Albert". The animation featurette included in the package features producer Lou Scheimer, who along with the late Norm Prescott brought TAS to television.
TAS is definitely a set to add to the collection. It is a landmark in television history and a wonderful tribute to one of the most popular live-action series of all time.
Rating: -
Star Trek Mind Meld
By J M Barnes
When I was growing up in the 1960's my mom had complete control of what we watched at my home.
Fortunately, mom had a curiosity about new shows. When Star Trek premiered in 1966, we all sat down to watch the show with the good looking Captain and the guy with the pointy ears. My dad knew Deforest Kelly from his western movie days so he looked up from his book once in a while to catch some dialog. However, when the Enterprise streaked by on the screen and dad heard the "whoosh" sound he went into a diatribe about how you can't hear sounds in space. The debate was on between him and my mom and my recollections of Star Trek are peppered with colorful conversations about aliens and scientific facts. At least I got to see all of Charlie X when it premiered because both my parents knew the guest star's father from the movies. My folks were about 8 years older than Bill Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, about 4 years younger than Jimmy Doohan and DeForest Kelly. While the age of the actors made Star Trek approachable to my mom, the subject matter made the show too unbelievable for my dad.
Mom managed to follow enough of the shows after Charlie X so I got a brief glimpse of what the future was going to look like. I knew as a young boy that the future would be full of beautiful women dressed in provocative clothes and wearing gigantic hairdos. I was mesmerized.
I also remember the one show that my dad was forced to look at over his book and pretend he didn't like: Tomorrow is Yesterday
Being a World War II veteran and having a lifelong love of all things related to aeronautics, my dad watched the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter streak into the sky on an intercept course with the Enterprise. I remember him saying, "A space ship of that design shouldn't be able to fly in the atmosphere." I remember my mom saying, "Shut up Melvin!" At least my dad acknowledged the Enterprise was a spaceship!
I have sporadic memories of alien images from those premiere shows mainly because my mom was quite a channel surfer before anyone thought of that term. We didn't have a "clicker" in those days, but mom sat close enough to the television to turn the dial whenever something looked too mature for me to watch.
Star Trek certainly got the dial moving whenever Captain Kirk kissed an alien woman or put his boots back on after a commercial break.
I remember scenes from Journey to Babel where I saw many odd looking aliens. I didn't have much exposure to science fiction other than H.G. Wells and Jules Verne so many of these situations in Star Trek seemed like they needed more explanation. By the second season shows that got "talked up" like Trouble with Tribbles made my mom hang in and watch more episodes.
By the third season mom was watching other shows but would often switch back and forth just to see what Captain Kirk was up to. Plato's Stepchildren got a lot of talking up and the scene between Bill Shatner and Nichelle Nichols was publicized long before it aired. This was one of my rare memories of watching a complete Star Trek from the third season.
Star Trek: The Animated Series is well written and keeps the continuity of the original series. Since many of the writers from the original show contributed to the animated series I knew before I purchased this collection that the stories would be worth listening to. Television writers from the 1950's and 1960's were still greatly influenced by the successful formulas of the popular Radio Shows of the previous decades. Dialog was all important for radio and even though Star Trek was a Color TV show in 1966, it was the dialog that kept Star Trek flowing. The script for Star Trek could easily have been broadcast as a radio drama.
If you don't believe me, try listening to an episode with the picture brightness turned all the way down. You can immediately get a feel for how Gene Roddenberry's generation grew up accustomed to "hearing" a story unfold as much as "seeing" it happen.
Star Trek fans who cannot accept the "animated" stories because of the imagery should still be able to appreciate the story.
Above all else, Star Trek is a show about ideals, principles and values. Imagination takes on many forms visually in the mind, in the movies, on the stage and in television. Embrace this visually different format and enjoy hearing the "fourth season" explorations of the crew of the USS Enterprise as it continues its journey where none have gone before.
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