Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!
Before STAR TREK became a 'progressive', lame, plagiarism-based, train wreck on a damned streaming service, it was a massive media franchise with multiple big network …
Hey kids (of all ages), it's Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!
Before STAR TREK became a 'progressive', lame, plagiarism-based, train wreck on a damned streaming service, it was a massive media franchise with multiple big network TV series, feature films, comic books, novels, etc., etc...
But, at the start, it was a floundering show on 1960s television that only managed to make it to a third season (and thus enough episodes for syndicated reruns) due to an organized letter-writing campaign. The letters only bought the program a one year stay of execution. But the syndicated reruns were a big hit, creating a demand for more adventures with the Enterprise crew.
Filmation, the animation outfit whose stock and trade was primarily licensed properties, got together with STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry to meet that demand, continuing STAR TREK in animated form for two seasons. Fulfilling the promise of a "five year mission" from the opening monologue.
Despite being a Saturday Morning Cartoon, they tried to make the animated STAR TREK a proper continuation of the live-action series, suitable for older fans. Most of the original actors returned to voice their characters, and DC Fontana came in to co-executive produce with Roddenberry. The look of the show closely reflected the original... But, even though the budget was higher than most, there were the usual TV animation shortcuts. Note, for instance, the way the navigation officer repeatedly switches from a weird alien dude to a human from shot to shot.
So here, from September 1973, is the first animated episode of STAR TREK... Complete with Martian subtitles, it seems.
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