Story by Andy Mangels

When excited viewers sat down in front of their television sets on September 8, 1973, they weren't certain what to expect, but they knew one thing: Star Trek was back on the air! Although the adventures were in animated form, the reuniting of almost the entire original cast — as well as the contributions of numerous original Star Trek writing staff veterans — meant that Star Trek: The Animated Series would be a welcome addition to Trek lore.

Earliest Exploration

In 1969, with Star Trek only recently cancelled on NBC, Paramount began talks with animation house Filmation Studios, founded in the early 1960s by Lou Scheimer, Norm Prescott, and Hal Sutherland. The group was known for the series of super-heroic television exploits for Superman, Aquaman, and Batman, and the gold-record-earning musical adventures of The Archies.

As a recently-discovered memo from Philip Mayer, director of Special programming for Paramount, shows, the original plans for a proposed animated series were by Don Christensen. His "Concept Paper" and Filmation art roughs and sketches showed the ideas for a training ship called "Excalibur," on which versions of the familiar Enterprise crew would train their teenage counterparts. Meant to be educational as well as entertaining, the proposed series would have featured six of the seven lead cast members returning (minus Chekov), plus five multi-racial children (Steve, Bob, Chris, Tun-Tun, Stormy, and Ploof).

Although plans for this version of the show were eventually abandoned, Filmation head Lou Scheimer had made good friends with Gene Roddenberry. When a deal for the series was finally made, Roddenberry and Filmation had complete creative control, freezing the studio and network out of the development process. Roddenberry suggested that Scheimer hire D.C. Fontana to be the series' story editor and associate producer. Scheimer readily agreed.

By 1972, Star Trek was under full development. The network gave the series a two-year 22-episode commitment, with a limited budget of $75,000 per episode. Fontana brought aboard many original Trek writers to share stories, including David Gerrold, Stephan Kandel, and Samuel A. Peeples. The writers were in need of work at that time; an eight-month writer's strike prevented live-action writers from working, but animation scripts were fair game. Unfettered by budgetary restraints — anything that could be written could be drawn — as long as it allowed for limited animation, the writers invented bizarre new alien races and showcased fantastic vistas.

Almost the entire cast was reassembled, though negotiations were difficult with Leonard Nimoy, who didn't want to do the series, especially when it appeared that Nichelle Nichols and George Takei might not be rehired. For budgetary reasons, Walter Koenig was once again left out of the final cast, though he did write an episode of the series. A man of many accents, James Doohan performed almost every incidental male voice on the series, although guild rules stated he could only provide three per episode. Female voices were often given by Nichelle Nichols and Majel Barrett, while writer David Gerrold pinch-hit behind the microphone, and Lou Scheimer voiced many of the most incidental guards and minor characters. Voice recording commenced in June 1973, and although the first three episodes were recorded as an ensemble, later shows were recorded with the stars coming in to record when their schedule permitted.

The visual look of the series was developed by Don Christensen as Art Director, supervising the design work by Bob Kline. From the live-action series, 35 millimeter film was cut apart for the animators and designers to "rotoscope" (trace over), thus providing detailed and realistic human forms and a U.S.S. Enterprise that looked almost as real as the original special effects model. To keep the budget in check, Filmation personnel developed a style of reusing animation, utilizing the same figures or faces in slightly different ways. One trick that allowed for less animation per frame was to show characters covering their mouth with their hands while speaking, thus obfuscating the need for animating the mouth. Another shortcut was to show silhouettes of the characters as they moved through alien habitats or among spaceship corridors.

Replacing Chekov on the bridge — and functioning as Uhura's relief operator — were two new characters, added to create alien "diversity" on the bridge. Lieutenant Arex, a three-armed, multi-legged Edosian helped helm the ship, while the communications console was sometimes helmed by Lieutenant M'Ress, a feline member of the Caitian species (voiced by Majel Barrett). Other crewmembers were occasionally given a spotlight, including the Comanche helmsman Ensign Walking Bear, the first Native American crew person shown on Star Trek (predating Voyager's Chakotay by decades).

The Debut

The first Star Trek animated episode debuted on September 8th, 1973, seven years to the day after the original series had debuted. Fittingly, the debut episode, "Beyond the Farthest Star" was written by Samuel A. Peeples, who had also created the pilot for the original Trek. It was an auspicious beginning that promised viewers a return to the "five year mission" they knew and loved.

Oddly, in Los Angeles, viewers were treated first to "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (although some sources cite "Yesteryear") instead of "Farthest Star." Because actor George Takei was running for City Council at the time, an FCC ruling did not allow television stations to air the other episode, as Sulu had approximately 30 seconds of dialogue, and the situation was deemed as giving him an unfair advantage!

Fans soon learned that although it was a Saturday morning series, Star Trek was not treated as a children's show. The writers made certain that the scripts did not "dumb down" Star Trek for the kiddy crowd (an inflatable Enterprise in one episode notwithstanding). The Los Angeles Times review said, "it is fascinating fare, produced and executed with all the imaginative skill, the intellectual flare and the literary level that made Gene Roddenberry's famous old science fiction epic the most avidly followed program in TV history, particularly in high IQ circles."

Those who tuned in each week were rewarded not only by good storytelling and the familiar characters, but also by returning favorites from the live series. Returning to their Trek roles were Roger C. Carmel (as Harry Mudd), Stanley Adams (as Cyrano Jones), and Mark Lenard (as Sarek). Fans also saw new elements introduced that would show up in later versions of Trek, including a holodeck, Captain James Tiberius' Kirk middle name, Spock's pet sehlat, Commodore Robert April, the first commander of the Constitution-class Enterprise, and even the second exit for the Enterprise's bridge.

Filmation co-founder Hal Sutherland directed the entire first season, but he was joined in the second season by Bill Reed. Other notable staff members included science fiction writer Larry Niven (bringing along the Kzinti race from his novels and short stories), Howard Weinstein, Marc Daniels, Margaret Armen, and others.

On May 28, 1974, Lou Scheimer attended the First Annual Emmy Awards for Daytime Programming (for the 1973-1974 season). Star Trek had received a nomination in the category of "Outstanding Entertainment Childrens Series," based on the submission of the episode "Yesteryear," written by D. C. Fontana. Filmation was competing with itself; its own Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids had also been nominated, as had the live-action Zoom and Captain Kangaroo.

The following year, on May 15, 1975, Star Trek did win its first-ever Emmy Award for Excellence in Children's Programming (for the 1974-1975 season) in the category of "Outstanding Entertainment Childrens Series." The nomination had come with the submission of the second season episode "How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth," written by Russell Bates and David Wise. Lou Scheimer accepted the award at a ceremony on the Hudson River Dayliner in the New York harbor. Scheimer didn't expect the award, having heard from his son — who had been exploring the ship below-decks — that he had overheard that Captain Kangaroo had won (The Pink Panther was the other show in the running). Luckily for Scheimer, the announcements his son heard were simply rehearsals, and Star Trek did win after all.

Although its ratings were good, Star Trek reached the end of its second year in the fall of 1975, and cancellation again awaited the famed franchise. The animated episodes were hardly forgotten however; Alan Dean Foster serialized them all in 10 volumes of the Star Trek Logs book series. Although early books adapted three episodes per volume, later books saw Foster expanding the scripts into short stand-alone novels.

The Animated Series and Questions of Canon

Although fondly remembered by early fans, Star Trek: The Animated Series (as it came to be known to differentiate it from The Original Series) was controversial when it came to canonical history. During production on the series Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, word came down from Gene Roddenberry's office that the animated adventures were officially "decanonized." This led to the removal of some animated characters from the Star Trek comics and novels, but the decision would not last long.

Following Roddenberry's death in 1991, as well as internal personnel changes, Star Trek: The Animated Series came back into favor. References to the series popped up on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, then become commonplace on the more recent Star Trek: Enterprise. Paramount also allowed animated references back in the novels and comics, and Skorr, Catians, Nasats, Edosians, and others who had once been a part of animated history were given life again.

On November 21, 2006, 33 years after its television debut, Paramount released Star Trek: The Animated Series as a complete DVD package. Included in the set were commentary tracks, storyboards, documentary featurettes, a booklet, and more. This deluxe set, treated with the same care and attention paid to the live-action Star Trek releases, was perhaps the best example that Star Trek: The Animated Series was once again a part of the family.