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Christopher;7569400
But the series I named are far from an exhaustive list. Remember [I wrote:
The Real Ghostbusters[/I]? That wasn't based on a comic or a toy. Nor was Men in Black: The Series. There was also a Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures cartoon released between the two films; The Mummy: The Animated Series based on the Brendan Fraser films; even animated adaptations of the R-rated RoboCop and Rambo franchises, not to mention Police Academy. These things have never been limited solely to comic and toy adaptations.
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Still a small list compared to the natural flow of comic and toy based concepts into animation: from the 80s
GI Joe, to
He-Man, Monchichis, My Little Pony (and too many to list here), to the dozens of shows based on DC & Marvel comics from the 1960s-forward, live action film's place as animated adaptations are not all that frequent.
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I think you're overestimating the audience interest in a new Trek series as of 1973. I grew up as a Trek fan in the '70s, and I can tell you that although ST did become something of a cult phenomenon at the time due to its success in syndication, it never had the kind of mainstream acceptance that TNG gained. Indeed, science fiction as a whole, in those pre-Star Wars days, was much more of a niche market than it is today. So there was enough audience interest for Filmation and Roddenberry to convince NBC to do the animated show, but interest wasn't at a fever pitch among the public as a whole.
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I was around as a fan at that time, too, and TOS--even in the infancy of its syndicated success--was already well known. In fact, the marketing of the show was so heavy, that it had a stronger cultural impact beyond the first-run fans who were more of an exclusive club. Remember, before Star Wars, the news media covered the huge Trek and/or sci-fi cons, and with TOS merchandising exploding in the early 70s, TOS had captured hearts amongst a generation not born while the series was on NBC.
On the NBC note, networks were and are all about the bottom line:the dollar, and for their interest in bringing back a
failed series is speaks to its growth in cultural power since 1969--a recognition of a broad appeal. If NBC truly believed they were only going to deal with a handfull of ST fans, then a new series would not be in their best interests.
TAS may not have broken all-time ratings records, but I recall serious excitement & interest from numerous ST fans. Even some of the "outsiders" who had become aware of ST, realized that it was a cancelled show from the 60's, but found it interesting that a cartoon based on it was on its way. I think few would deny its crucial part in keeping ST alive as more than just a cancelled series.
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Except that SF/fantasy in general is far more accepted as a mass-media cash cow than it would've been 40 years ago.
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Agreed, as 40 years ago, only ST and Planet of the Apes broke were elevated to pop culture fame status, and enjoyed a flood of money-making ventures in the ancillary market.
However, the culture of today seems to lean toward very soft sci-fi (
Star Wars) or the various themes under the fantasy umbrella, including comic book characters.
Star Trek now seems the odd man out, where 30 years ago--during the early years of the TOS movie series--it was a strong part of the "fantastic film" roster.