The Animated Series

[herofan]

I suppose I may have heard of this show when i was a kid, but I have no memory of it. I just recently discovered it, have watched a few episodes, and I think it's great. The episodes are only 20+ minutes, but they seem longer; a lot of stuff is packed into that time frame.

I like how they didn't change it like they do when other shows are given a different life, like when The Fonz had a cartoon, and the gang had a time machine???????? Except for a few more alien crew members aboard the enterprise, the Star Trek animated show is basically just like the original, they even have the original actors doing the voices. I think some of the plots are as good as the original show, just shorter. Anyone else like this show?

 

[BillJ]

It is being released on Blu-Ray Disc later this year.

As a long time TOS fan, I found TAS to be very hit or miss. But still a valuable part of the Star Trek universe.

 

[Avro Arrow]

like when The Fonz had a cartoon, and the gang had a time machine????????

Whut?

But, yes, I enjoy TAS. There are some threads on it in the TOS forum, if you wanted to drop by!

 

[Galileo7]

It is being released on Blu-Ray Disc later this year.

As a long time TOS fan, I found TAS to be very hit or miss. But still a valuable part of the Star Trek universe.

Agree. TAS is the events in the last two years of the five year mission began in TOS. It is important. We even seen changes made the the 1701 in both main engineering room and the bridge now has a second turbolift. Also, a new group of shuttlecrafts are on board. It all fits into the Star Trek continuity TOS...TAS...TMP.

 

[INACTIVEUSS Einstein]

I suppose I may have heard of this show when i was a kid, but I have no memory of it. I just recently discovered it, have watched a few episodes, and I think it's great. The episodes are only 20+ minutes, but they seem longer; a lot of stuff is packed into that time frame.

I like how they didn't change it like they do when other shows are given a different life, like when The Fonz had a cartoon, and the gang had a time machine???????? Except for a few more alien crew members aboard the enterprise, the Star Trek animated show is basically just like the original, they even have the original actors doing the voices. I think some of the plots are as good as the original show, just shorter. Anyone else like this show?

Yeah - I love it - they showed it on Saturdays here in Britain when I was a kid in the 90s - couldn't believe how mature it was compared to the other cartoon crap we got, and finding more material with Kirk/Spock/McCoy in was like finding hidden treasure!

You will love the games Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgement Rites if you love it, because they are also like lost episodes of TOS - with the complete cast!

 

[Griffeytrek]

I grew up watching it when it was a first run Saturday morning cartoon. Even my 7 or 8 year old self recognized it as a mixed bag. Looking back the stories were probably a little too well crafted and adult for the age range/time block the show aired. I will give the writers credit though, unlike most of its mindless contemporary cartoons, those TAS stories stuck out in my mind and memory. Granted in some cases as night mares, but they left an impression.

But also even as a young kid the flaws in Funimations low budget recycled animation and ever looping bombastic recycled music were sadly apparent. The flat side to side scrolling cut and paste animation stood out, along with its similar pop culture contemporary the Planet of the Apes cartoon for just how bad they looked. Put it this way. Back then there was a horrid little semi live action show called "The Secret Life of Walter Kitty" about a daydreaming house cat ala Walter Mitty. One of the frequent daydreams was an animated cat themed Star Trek parody. It looked better than the actual Star Trek cartoon. (It also resulted in fewer nightmares. See; Spock, Selat, "old yeller moment")

 

[Christopher]

But also even as a young kid the flaws in Funimations low budget recycled animation and ever looping bombastic recycled music were sadly apparent.

Their name was Filmation Associates. Funimation is the name of a present-day company that licenses, dubs, and distributes anime shows for US release.

The flat side to side scrolling cut and paste animation stood out, along with its similar pop culture contemporary the Planet of the Apes cartoon for just how bad they looked. Put it this way. Back then there was a horrid little semi live action show called "The Secret Life of Walter Kitty" about a daydreaming house cat ala Walter Mitty. One of the frequent daydreams was an animated cat themed Star Trek parody. It looked better than the actual Star Trek cartoon. (It also resulted in fewer nightmares. See; Spock, Selat, "old yeller moment")

That was The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, and it was also made by Filmation, just one season after TAS ended. A lot of the same creative talent worked on both shows, including director Hal Sutherland.

The thing to understand is that '70s TV animation in general was pretty crude-looking by modern standards. Look at the contemporary work of Filmation's main competitors, like Hanna-Barbera or DePatie-Freleng (makers of the Planet of the Apes cartoon), and they're even cruder and sloppier than Filmation's work. Filmation animation may have been repetitive, but the stock animation system they developed let them do better artwork, because reusing material meant that they didn't have to rush as much to create new material and could thus put more care into what they did create. Their background paintings in particular were frequently gorgeous.

 

[Griffeytrek]

Their name was Filmation Associates. Funimation is the name of a present-day company that licenses, dubs, and distributes anime shows for US release.



That was The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty, and it was also made by Filmation, just one season after TAS ended. A lot of the same creative talent worked on both shows, including director Hal Sutherland.

The thing to understand is that '70s TV animation in general was pretty crude-looking by modern standards. Look at the contemporary work of Filmation's main competitors, like Hanna-Barbera or DePatie-Freleng (makers of the Planet of the Apes cartoon), and they're even cruder and sloppier than Filmation's work. Filmation animation may have been repetitive, but the stock animation system they developed let them do better artwork, because reusing material meant that they didn't have to rush as much to create new material and could thus put more care into what they did create. Their background paintings in particular were frequently gorgeous.

Ack! you are correct. I meant Filmation. And yeah I know that they were mainly on par with the cheap fast animation styles of the era churned out for the Saturday morning no mans land of ratings. But even by the awfulness of the day the ST TAS animation felt off. Hanna Barberra hid their crudeness better because they were using more stylized "cartoony" characters. It somehow never seemed quite as glaring. or rather it didn't impact the 7 year old viewers suspension of disbelief as much. But by doing more human styled characters, mixed with the repetitive recycled backgrounds TAS came off feeling a little more flat then it should have. I suspect some of that was the rather awful music and sound design. Which is best described as "too much of a good thing". You might not notice the same background constantly scrolling past. But when they tie it to TAS's bombastic in your face perpetually looping music queue (which all of you can mentally pull up even now 40 years later) cycling over and over and over it starts to call attention to things.

TAS has some great episodes. some wonderful sequels. And by being animated it allowed Gene and crew to explore a few things they always wanted to but never could. Such as more exotic alien crew members. Heck it would have thrived in the modern environment that includes such things as Nick's wonderful TMNT and Disneys SW Clone Wars and Rebels. It just wasn't a great fit for the audience it was being broadcast at back in the 70's. Cartoon watching by college kids had not yet become a thing. The show is a much watch for Star Trek fans with some great stories by some of Treks best ever writers.

 

[Christopher]

Ack! you are correct. I meant Filmation. And yeah I know that they were mainly on par with the cheap fast animation styles of the era churned out for the Saturday morning no mans land of ratings.

I didn't say "on a par." My point was that they were the best of the bunch. Their work not only looked better (aside from not moving as much), it was smarter and better-written too. (At least the action shows. Filmation comedies were more hit-and-miss.)

But even by the awfulness of the day the ST TAS animation felt off.

Well, NBC basically rushed Filmation, giving them only 6 months to produce the 16-episode first season, which by animation standards is insanely tight. They had to cut corners even by their normal standards to make the deadline. The 6 second-season episodes have noticeably cleaner animation and better voice acting, because they weren't produced under such tight time constraints.

I suspect some of that was the rather awful music and sound design. Which is best described as "too much of a good thing". You might not notice the same background constantly scrolling past. But when they tie it to TAS's bombastic in your face perpetually looping music queue (which all of you can mentally pull up even now 40 years later) cycling over and over and over it starts to call attention to things.

Well, you're describing the style of animation I grew up with as a child, so all of that was just normal to me. And I love Ray Ellis & Norm Prescott's music for TAS and later Filmation shows. It may have been repetitive, but it was fantastic stuff. Although their work on shows from later in the '70s like Space Academy, Jason of Star Command, Flash Gordon, and The Lone Ranger was even better.

 

[Griffeytrek]

I didn't say "on a par." My point was that they were the best of the bunch. Their work not only looked better (aside from not moving as much), it was smarter and better-written too. (At least the action shows. Filmation comedies were more hit-and-miss.)



Well, NBC basically rushed Filmation, giving them only 6 months to produce the 16-episode first season, which by animation standards is insanely tight. They had to cut corners even by their normal standards to make the deadline. The 6 second-season episodes have noticeably cleaner animation and better voice acting, because they weren't produced under such tight time constraints.



Well, you're describing the style of animation I grew up with as a child, so all of that was just normal to me. And I love Ray Ellis & Norm Prescott's music for TAS and later Filmation shows. It may have been repetitive, but it was fantastic stuff. Although their work on shows from later in the '70s like Space Academy, Jason of Star Command, Flash Gordon, and The Lone Ranger was even better.

That's the weird thing about the TAS music. It is superb when taken by itself. And it is so disturbingly familiar that even people who don't remember ever watching the show know the music. It gets into your brain and stays there the way good music should. And I love Ellis and Prescott's work. Heck I have the Ark II / Space Academy / Jason of Star Command box set sitting in front of my TV right now. It's just looking back, the issue with TAS was not so much the music itself, which was great, but how hamfistedly it was mixed and blended into the show at times that led to that feeling of repetitiveness. And yeah I know other shows did it too. It's just few burned themselves into your brain the way that repeated ST TAS sub theme "DaNaNa NaNaNa" did. When you think of Saturday Morning cartoon music it's the first thing that leaps to mind, for good or ill.

 

[Nebusj]

Whut?

That was the show. Fonzie and the gang accidentally flying through time and space in a slightly malfunctioning craft that's under the guidance of a moderately ditzy time traveller and we're pretty sure she wasn't The Doctor but you know, the more anyone explains the premise the less sure that seems.

 

[Griffeytrek]

Whut?

Saturday Morning in the Seventies and early Eighties was a very very strange and trippy place. It can safely be assumed that A LOT of recreational pharmaceuticals and agricultural products went into producing cartoons of the day.

 

[cylkoth]

Ack! you are correct. I meant Filmation. And yeah I know that they were mainly on par with the cheap fast animation styles of the era churned out for the Saturday morning no mans land of ratings. But even by the awfulness of the day the ST TAS animation felt off. Hanna Barberra hid their crudeness better because they were using more stylized "cartoony" characters. It somehow never seemed quite as glaring. or rather it didn't impact the 7 year old viewers suspension of disbelief as much. But by doing more human styled characters, mixed with the repetitive recycled backgrounds TAS came off feeling a little more flat then it should have. .

Hanna Barbera operated an Australian animation studio in addition to their Hollywood HQ. This allowed them to stretch the budgets handed down by the networks, giving their shows far more movement in the animation...less overt repetition and greater character mobility made their shows less stiff and stagey than Filmation's, where characters stand motionless in rigid poses scene after scene. Actually, I've come to the conclusion that it was more how Filmation directed the shows, rather than budget. If they'd dispensed with adhering to such a rigid process, loosened up how they handled their "house style", their shows may have garnered the longevity that many H-B shows have enjoyed. Their first show, Superman, while featuring their house style of close up head shots and repeat character movements, felt less visually repetitive due to how well they went about directing the stories.

That was the show. Fonzie and the gang accidentally flying through time and space in a slightly malfunctioning craft that's under the guidance of a moderately ditzy time traveller and we're pretty sure she wasn't The Doctor but you know, the more anyone explains the premise the less sure that seems.

LOL...Should we mention that the Laverne and Shirley cartoon had them both in the army, with a talking pig as their drill Sargent?

 

[Nebusj]

LOL...Should we mention that the Laverne and Shirley cartoon had them both in the army, with a talking pig as their drill Sargent?

Yeah. Kids, this is the nonsense we had when we were growing up, and we haven't even got to the one about the magic pandas chasing space pyramids around the world.

 

[Drone]

Ah, for the days of Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp!!!! If you start hearing the theme, I dare you to get it out of your head!!!!

 

[herofan]

And wasn't there a three stooges cartoon where they wore super-hero outfits and were robots?

 

[Danlav05]

They also did the Harlem Globetrotters as superheroes!

 

[Kor]

And then there was Gilligan's Planet.

Kor

 

[Christopher]

And then there was Gilligan's Planet.

Although that was a much later followup to Filmation's original The New Adventures of Gilligan cartoon, which was much more faithful to the live-action show.

Though Filmation did have a couple of sitcom adaptations that diverged quite a bit from the source, like My Favorite Martians (focusing on the teen children of the original characters) and The Brady Kids (with some sort of magic bird and a couple of very racist-caricature pandas who spoke gibberish "Chinese").

 

[1001001]

Moving to TOS. Hold on!