Felinoid Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 (edited) While digging through a pile of VCR tapes in a flea market, I came across a set (5 tapes) of the old animated Star Trek series. Such joy! I purchased them and ran home, not having seen them in almost 30 years. A few thing came apparent right away. 1) Although the quality of the tape was fine, the animation was grade-z, typical for Filmation in the mid-seventies. Too many shots used over and over (Kirk "running" towards the camera, extreme close ups of Kirk or Spock covering half the screen, etc) 2 The original cast did all of their own voices, with James Doohan providing most of the "guest stars". 3) Some of the stories were quite good, way ahead of the typical Saturday morning stuff at the time. I viewed Yesteryear, writen by DC Fontana, one of the old series must prolific witers. In this, in a 30-minute cartoon setting, she introduced the Guardian Of Forerver, a time paradox, and Spock returning to Vulcan to save himself as a young boy. It also featured Mark Lenard as Sarek and Jane Wyatt as Amanda, and a dilemna whereas Spock had to let his pet sehlat die from wounds inflicted by a predator. Pretty heady stuff for kids back then. Beyond The Farthest Star was written by Sam Peeples ("Where No Man Has Gone Before," TOS)and detailed the discovery of a giant, ancient ship trapped in orbit around a dark star. The star was used as a prison for an incorporeal being, who first invaded the derelect and later the Enterprise, only to be tricked into staying at the last minute. Very effective writing. OK, so it was written primarily for kids, I had a good time looking over the tapes. All thing considerd, it was way past anything presented on the Saturday morning screen at the time. Felinoid Edited August 9, 2005 by Felinoid Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spaced Marine Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 That is cool. Sadly, I've never gottn to see any of the animated Star Trek, so count yourself lucky! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
General Grievous Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I watched some episodes. Really bad animation! GG Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dragon Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Agreed, animation was horrid. However some of the storylines weren't bad: I did like when they introduced Captain Robert April. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
karlwb Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I also remember them having quite good story lines. One episode ( cant remember the name ) the Enterprise was trapped in a kind of reverse or negative universe - space was white and the stars were black, and IIRC the Enterprise engines did not work correctly. Great stuff - just around the time I got my Dinky USS Enterprise Karl Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have them on video, 22 episodes and a friend of mine converted them to AVI files for me as well, with his PC TV card :) great stuff I like the episode written by Larry Niven. The bad blokes in that ep are the Kzinti... :D MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
William G Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have them on video, 22 episodes and a friend of mine converted them to AVI files for me as well, with his PC TV card :)great stuff I like the episode written by Larry Niven. The bad blokes in that ep are the Kzinti... :D MikeJ Wasnt that ep "The Slaver Weapon" I remember it as I am a big time Ringworld fan and was always a bit upset that it was the end of Kzinti in the series... Here is the best source I have found for the ST:TAS William G Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Yes, it was :D MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jbrundt Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Talk about a trip down memory lane. I remember watching those Trek toons when I was a kid. Saturday morning cartoons were the best then. IIRC it was on NBC. The animation is poor compared to what's out there today but when you're a 10 y/o kid who cares. LOL at least in the cartoon series Kirk never had a pot belly :wacko: Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
f14peter Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 Agree with the others, the animation itself was second-rate. However, many of the storylines would have been worthy of TOS . . . even better than some! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Llarry Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 The stories are also all available in "novelized" form. They were done by Alan Dean Foster and can be found in the "Star Trek Log <one through nine IIRC>" series, in most used bookstores. Lieutenants Arex and M'Ress got dragged (through some sort of Temporal accident) into the more recent books of Peter David's "New Frontier" series. I do recommend this series, it's new ships with mostly new crews, but a couple of the more interesting minor characters (Robin Lefler, Dr. Selar, Cdr. Shelby). At this point I don't read any of the regular (televised) series novels, just New Frontier, S.C.E. (Starfleet Corps of Engineers, including Sonya Gomez) and the one-offs that fill in spaces between the eras. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ollie 17 Posted August 9, 2005 Share Posted August 9, 2005 I have all the books by Allan Dean Foster. I did see the show as a kid also. I wish they would show them again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hell bent for ever Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I watched some episodes. Really bad animation! GG you mean kinda like this? :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hell bent for ever Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 I have them on video, 22 episodes and a friend of mine converted them to AVI files for me as well, with his PC TV card :)great stuff I like the episode written by Larry Niven. The bad blokes in that ep are the Kzinti... MikeJ MadMike Well if you are willing to admit that !!!then i am willing to admit the fact that i won 15 episodes of the thunderbirds :P :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Raymond Posted August 10, 2005 Share Posted August 10, 2005 hiya the real question is how does the shoddy animation of animated star trek compare to the shoddy animation of that star wars kids show?? never got too see the animated serries though theres a good segment on it in my "art of star trek' book regards Raymond Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 I have them on video, 22 episodes and a friend of mine converted them to AVI files for me as well, with his PC TV card :)great stuff I like the episode written by Larry Niven. The bad blokes in that ep are the Kzinti... MikeJ MadMike Well if you are willing to admit that !!!then i am willing to admit the fact that i won 15 episodes of the thunderbirds :blink: shhhhhhh I have them on Video as well :lol: MikeJ (admitting NOTHING!!) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Felinoid Posted August 11, 2005 Author Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) Thanks for all your replies. I'm surprised this posting got as much notice. I watched The Slaver Weapon, written by Larry Niven, and dug up the original story that it was based upon (The Soft Weapon, available in many anthologies). I was a bit surprised on how well the Kzinti fit into the ST universe. The episode (animated, yes a quibble) also featured Uhura and Sulu in major roles, as in off the bridge. And Sulu was the one who deduced the true nature of the Slaver Weapon, not Spock (confused? Read Larry Niven's Riverworld books plus a host of Man-Kzin Wars books, great reading). Altogether an excellent piece of work, even considering the source.. Some other outstanding episodes IMO- How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth Albatross The Ambergris Element Time Trap Jihad The Pirates Of Orion Check'em out if you get a chance, I'm sure the Sci-Fi Channel or CTN will run them someday. Or maybe if enough people show interest, a DVD box set could work.... Felinoid Edited August 11, 2005 by Felinoid Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DErickson Posted August 11, 2005 Share Posted August 11, 2005 (edited) I have Vol. 1 and 2 of the animated ST on VHS.... The artwork does the starship Enterprise and her crew great justice, but the animation has a low framerate and simple motion, sort of like modern-day anime. More significant is the writing. David Gerrold does "More Tribbles, More Trouble", complete with Cyrano Jones and the Klingons. Samuel Peeples, D.C. Fontana, and even Walter Keonig round out the rest of these volumes. It is fine Star Trek, in exile after the failure of the original series. Edited August 11, 2005 by DErickson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost Posted August 13, 2005 Share Posted August 13, 2005 Back in the early 90s when the Sci Fi Channel first started, they aired this and a few other science fiction-esque cartoons on Saturday mornings for about their first year of broadcasting ... I always enjoyed the stories ... Gregg Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alvis 3.1 Posted August 17, 2005 Share Posted August 17, 2005 Reading this, I found myself making the mewling sound of the animated red alert noise... Somebody, send me to bed! Alvis 3.1 oh, and the animation of this WAS worse than the Star Wars animated series, but almost 25 years separates the two shows... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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