History

In 1972, Norm Prescott and Lou Scheimer (top Executive at Filmation), approached Gene Roddenberry and Paramount about obtaining rights to film an animated series of  Star Trek. Filmation promised to assign their best creative artists to the show, to make it have the quality of story and characterization of the Original Series. The rights were granted to Filmation, and soon after, NBC bought the series. Although the show was intended as a serious program - perfectly suitable for Adult viewing, NBC considered it a children's show, and put it in a Saturday morning timeslot. Thus it became the forgotten Star Trek.

There were many sequels to Original Series episodes written for the Animated Series. These included "More Tribbles, More Troubles" (a sequel to "The Trouble With Tribbles"), "Once Upon A Planet" (a sequel to "Shore Leave"). Harry Mudd returned in "Mudd's Passion", and Walter Koenig wrote the script "The Infinite Vulcan", which tied in with the Original Series' "Space Seed".

To further embrace the fans, extra efforts were made to make sure the characters had a distinct likeness to the characters on the Original Series. Originally, Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and George Takei (Sulu) were not originally going to be brought onboard for the series, but Leonard Nimoy (Spock) stepped forward and said that he would "... not be a party to this if two of the minorities who contributed to making Star Trek what it was when we were on television cannot be incorporated." It was due to Nimoy's stand that Uhura and Sulu were incorporated into the series. Unfortunately, with that many star voices, Chekov could not make it into the series. James Doohan, who has an almost limitless voice talent, provided the voices for countless characters on Star Trek, including Lt. Arex. During "Yesteryear", and "The Ambergris Element", James Doohan provided voices for seven different characters! Majel Barret provided voices for various female characters, including Nurse Chapel, of course, and Lt. M'Ress, and the ship's computer. George Takei and Nichelle Nichols occasionally did some guest characters.

Due to the demanding schedules of the voice actors, on several occasions, it was necassary for the actors to read their dialog alone, and then have their tapes sent in to be mixed with the other voices. This was an exception - not a rule. Generally, the cast would voice the majority of the episodes as an ensemble in a recording studio. High standards of authenticity for the episodes drove the production costs to a record $75,000, making it the most expensive half hour animated television show of its time. A major plus to the series was that it could portray alien races, cities and ships that would have blown a live television show's budget.

Some interesting firsts were done in the Animated Series. These included the first appearance of a Holodeck ("The Practical Joker"), the first Native American crewmember ("How Sharper than a Serpent's Tooth"), the mentioning of Captain Kirk's middle name in "Bem". In the Original Series, the Bridge had only one exit. In the Animated Series, a second turbolift was incorporated, because the fans wanted to know what would happen if the bridge needed to be evacuated and the turbolift didn't work. When The Motion Picture hit the cinemas, there were two turbolifts. On The Next Generation, there are at three turbolifts! Of importance to the Star Trek universe - the Animated Series not only mentioned Captain Robert April, the first Captain of the Enterprise, but showed him in an episode.

The series won an emmy award for "Best Children's Series for the 1974-75 season". It was cancelled after 22 episodes, even though it was a success. The Los Angeles Times wrote:

"NBC's new animated Star Trek is as out of place in the Saturday morning kiddie ghetto as a Mercedes in a soapbox derby.

Don't be put off by the fact it's now a cartoon... It is fascinating fare, written, 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 I.Q. circles.

NBC might do well to consider moving it into prime time at mid-series..."

In its initial run, it was missed by many adults due to its Saturday morning timeslot, but when people watched it, they soon came to realize that this was a quality television show, and added 22 extra stories to the Star Trek timeline.

Several years after its initial air, Gene Roddenberry instructed Paramount to not consider the Animated Series "canon", or official, and unfortunately, Paramount complied. This was because Gene had some regrets about the show. The "canon" expression does not mean that the Animated Series is not a part of Star Trek (it has given some valid references in the past), but it is only that Paramount does not consider it official. You personally, can think of it any way you like :-)