Star Trek: The Animated Series



An Animated Adaptation and the first Spin-Off from the original series.

Given the reality that it was produced by Filmation, the animation is typically the studio's ultra-cheap style. However, they more than made up for that with most of the original cast and the writers as well (although Larry Niven was a tad lazy in squeezing The Soft Weapon from his Known Space universe into that of Star Trek). The result is a show that might be badly animated, but it still boasted spectacular imagery and believably non-human aliens that the original show could never depict, while still reasonably keeping to its artistic spirit. For instance, this series took home the franchise's first Emmy Award.

However, the franchise creator, Gene Roddenberry, later insisted that the animated show be kept out of continuity since he never anticipated that Star Trek would later be revived in live action on such a scale as would happen. However, many fans insisted that at least the best episode, "Yesteryear," be counted, considering that it gives a valuable look into Spock's youth and character, as well as the planet Vulcan. Because of the information about Vulcan presented in the show, the introducing of the Holodeck and giving Kirk his middle name, many of the Star Trek writers and actors involvement in the show, many fans consider it a part of their personal Star Trek Canon. In addition, the producers of Star Trek: Enterprise have used numerous references from this series. The Expanded Universe, already having less of a need to adhere to strict canon, even went so far as to revive M'Ress and tri-symmetrical Lt. Arex.

CBS recently declared this series full canon around the time they released it on DVD.

The title used here and on the DVD release is a back-formation. The show originally aired as simply "Star Trek". It's also known by the more ponderous title of The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek.

Tropes found in this series:

 * Absentee Actor: Everyone except Spock, Sulu and Uhura in "The Slaver Weapon".
 * A Form You Are Comfortable With: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The inhabitants of Megas-Tu do this for their own bodies and their planet's surface for the benefit of the Enterprise crew.
 * AI Is a Crapshoot: The planetary computer in "Once Upon A Planet".
 * Alternate Universe: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" and "The Counter-Clock Incident".
 * Ancient Astronauts: Kukulcan in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth".
 * Animated Adaptation: The best example thereof in the 1970s.
 * Apocalyptic Log: "Beyond the Farthest Star". The dead ship's log entry/warning.
 * Artificial Gravity: "The Practical Joker" and "The Jihad".
 * Ascended Meme: "Beam me up, Scotty!"
 * Ass in Ambassador: The title character in "Bem".
 * Asteroid Thicket: In "The Pirates of Orion", the Enterprise pursues the Orion ship into one.
 * Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Lt. M'Ress.
 * Big Dumb Object: "Beyond The Farthest Star"
 * Big Red Button: "Beyond The Farthest Star". The auxiliary warp drive controls.
 * Bowdlerise: By German TV station ZDF.
 * Briar Patching: How Kirk tricks the computer in "The Practical Joker".
 * Broad Strokes: The timeframe this series depicts is an accepted part of Star Trek lore, but the actual details have been rearranged since.
 * Build Like an Egyptian: Kukulcan's city in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth".
 * Canon Immigrant: Larry Niven's Kzinti and Slavers in "The Soft Weapon".
 * Catfolk: The Caitian Lieutenant M'Ress, as well as the Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon".
 * Cat Smile: The cat-like Lieutenant M'Ress has one constantly.
 * Chekhov's Gun: "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth". Dr. McCoy's medical kit provides a hypo to calm the Capellan Power Cat.
 * Cloning Blues: Spock in "The Infinite Vulcan."
 * Contrived Coincidence: "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth". If Ensign Walking Bear hadn't been on the bridge, Kukulkan would have destroyed both the Enterprise and the entire human race.
 * Cool Old Guy: Captain Robert T. April in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
 * Creator in Joke: Captain Robert T. April in "The Counter-Clock Incident". April was the original name for the character that eventually became Kirk.
 * Crowning Moment Of Funny: "The Jihad" and "Bem".
 * Derelict Graveyard: "The Time Trap"
 * Detachable Lower Half: The title character in "Bem".
 * Detachment Combat: The title character in "Bem".
 * Did We Just Have Tea with Cthulhu?: "Once Upon A Planet"
 * Does Not Like Shoes: bios of M'Ress take pains to point this out.
 * Dolled-Up Installment: "The Slaver Weapon", from Larry Niven's "The Soft Weapon".
 * Doomed Defeatist: Subverted with M-3-Green in "The Jihad".
 * Energy Beings: "Beyond The Farthest Star", "Bem"
 * Enthralling Siren: "The Lorelei Signal"
 * Everyone Is a Super: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
 * Exiled From Continuity: By Gene Roddenberry himself.
 * Expressive Ears: The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon".
 * Expospeak Gag: Between Spock and McCoy.
 * Filming for Easy Dub
 * Fish People: "The Ambergris Element"
 * Five Year Plan: TOS's three seasons plus the animated series' two seasons.
 * Follow the Leader: Space Battleship Yamato borrowed from "Beyond The Farthest Star".
 * For Want of a Nail: "Yesteryear"
 * Forgotten Phlebotinum: The "life support belts".
 * Fountain of Youth: The reverse-entropy universe in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
 * Four-Fingered Hands: Spock, in a blooper in "Yesteryear".
 * Furry Fandom: Lt. M'Ress was a Fetish Fuel character for many early Furries.
 * Giant Flyer: "The Infinite Vulcan" and "The Eye of the Beholder".
 * Girl's Night Out Episode: "The Lorelei Signal"
 * God Guise: Keniclius 5 with the Phylosians in "The Infinite Vulcan" and Kukulkan by the ancient Mayans in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth".
 * Grandfather Paradox: Spock in "Yesteryear".
 * Haunted Technology: The Enterprise computer in "The Practical Joker".
 * Healing Hands: "The Infinite Vulcan". Spock's clone revives his original with a mind meld.
 * Holodeck Malfunction: "The Practical Joker". McCoy, Uhura and Sulu are trapped in it.
 * Hollywood Psych: "Mudd's Passion" mixes up two types of love: friendship and eros.
 * Human Aliens: Although there are still a fair few, this show took advantage of the animated format to avert the trope whenever they could and come up with more divergent alien designs.
 * Humanity on Trial: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
 * Improbably High IQ: The Lactrans in "The Eye of the Beholder". A six year old Lactran has an IQ in the thousands.
 * In Space Everyone Can See Your Face: Life-support belts
 * Incredible Shrinking Man: "The Terratin Incident"
 * Indy Hat Roll: In "Once Upon A Planet" Captain Kirk leaps through a sliding rock door in the side of a mountain just before it closes.
 * Instant AI, Just Add Water: The planetary computer in "Once Upon A Planet" develops artificial intelligence on its own.
 * Intelligent Gerbil: The Kzinti in "The Slaver Weapon" and the Caitian M'Ress.
 * It Belongs in a Museum: Lt. Sulu in "The Slaver Weapon". Spock sets him straight.
 * Just Between You and Me: Charr in "The Jihad".
 * Life Drinker: "The Lorelei Signal". The women of the planet Taurus II drain the Life Energy of men to maintain their youth, causing Rapid Aging in the men.
 * Limited Animation
 * Limited Wardrobe
 * Losing Your Head: The title character in "Bem".
 * Lotus Eater Machine: Kukulcan's zoo animals in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth".
 * Louis Cypher: Lucien in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
 * Love Potion: "Mudd's Passion"
 * MacGuffin: The "Soul of Alar" artifact in "The Jihad"
 * Meaningful Name: Bem, which means "Bug Eyed Monster" in SF fandom.
 * Mega Neko: The Kzinti in ''The Slaver Weapon", as well as Lieutenant M'Ress.
 * Merlin Sickness: "The Counter-Clock Incident"
 * The Mole: Charr in "The Jihad".
 * Morph Weapon: The title device in "The Slaver Weapon".
 * Mr. Exposition: Ensign Walking Bear in "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth".
 * My Future Self and Me: Spock in "Yesteryear."
 * Neglectful Precursors: The Slavers' stasis boxes.
 * Never Say "Die": Actively averted., which became a rather large source of controversy in the episode "Yesteryear"
 * No MacGuffin, No Winner: The end of "The Slaver Weapon".
 * No One Gets Left Behind: Kirk and Spock in "The Jihad".
 * Novelization: The animated episodes were novelized by Alan Dean Foster.
 * Now Do It Again Backwards: How the computer is repaired in "The Practical Joker".
 * Ocean Punk: "The Ambergris Element"
 * Off-Model
 * Opening Narration: An animated version of the one in Star Trek: The Original Series.
 * Patchwork Map: "The Eye of the Beholder"
 * Patchwork World: "The Eye of the Beholder"
 * People Zoo: "The Eye of the Beholder"
 * Petting Zoo People: Lieutenant M'Ress
 * The Plague: "Albatross," "The Infinite Vulcan."
 * Planet Eater: "One Of Our Planets Is Missing"
 * Plant Aliens: The Phylosians in "The Infinite Vulcan."
 * Pleasure Planet: "Once Upon A Planet"
 * Portal to the Past: The Guardian of Forever in "Yesteryear".
 * Psychic Static: Used to defeat the Kzinti telepath in "The Slaver Weapon".
 * The Quest: The hunt for the "Soul of Alar" artifact in "The Jihad."
 * Rapid Aging: What the Life Energy draining by the women of Taurus II does to men in "The Lorelei Signal".
 * Reality Is Out to Lunch: The planet Megas-Tu in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
 * Reality Warper: The inhabitants of the title planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu".
 * Recursive Adaptation: "The Slaver Weapon".
 * Replacement Goldfish: Carter Winston.
 * Ret-Gone: Spock in "Yesteryear."
 * Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Only Spock and Kirk remember the original timeline in "Yesteryear."
 * Rite of Passage: The Vulcan kahs-wan in "Yesteryear".
 * Robo Speak: Any computer voice done by James Doohan.
 * Rotoscoping: How the animation of the USS Enterprise was created.
 * Sequel Episode: "Mudd's Passion", "More Tribbles, More Troubles" and "Yesteryear", to Star Trek: The Original Series episodes.
 * Sdrawkcab Name: The retlaw plant in "The Infinite Vulcan" and the planet Arret in "The Counter-Clock Incident".
 * Sealed Evil in a Can: "Beyond The Farthest Star"
 * Secret Test: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu". The Megans test the Enterprise crew to verify their good intentions.
 * Self Destructing Security: "The Slaver Weapon". The title device tricks the Kzinti into using a self-destruct setting to destroy it...and them.
 * Single Biome Planet: A Volcano Planet in "The Jihad".
 * Snake Oil Salesman: Harry Mudd in "Mudd's Passion", Cyrano Jones in "More Tribbles, More Troubles"
 * Space Pirates: "The Pirates of Orion"
 * Spaceship Girl: The Enterprise computer in "The Practical Joker".
 * Spiritual Successor: "One Of Our Planets Is Missing" to TOS episode "The Immunity Syndrome".
 * Stable Time Loop: "Yesteryear"
 * Starfish Aliens: Edosians, Vendorians, Phylosians, Lactrans and M/3/Green.
 * Steal the Surroundings: In "The Terratin Incident", an entire miniaturized city is beamed aboard the Enterprise in order quickly to save the inhabitants from impending doom.
 * Sufficiently Advanced - "Bem", "The Eye of the Beholder" and "The Jihad".
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Arex, to Chekov.
 * Swiss Army Weapon: "The Slaver Weapon"
 * Talking to Himself: Characters voiced by Majel Barrett and James Doohan.
 * Tie-in Novel: Alan Dean Foster wrote adaptations of the episodes, and many Trek novels referenced it.
 * Temporal Paradox: "Yesteryear"
 * The Time Traveller's Dilemma: Thelen the Andorian in "Yesteryear".
 * Title: the Adaptation
 * Two of Your Earth Minutes: "The Lorelei Signal"
 * Voluntary Shapeshifting: The Vendorian in "The Survivor."
 * "Well Done, Son" Guy: Spock and Sarek
 * Who Wants to Live Forever?: The alien women in "The Lorelei Signal".
 * Winged Humanoid: The Skorr show up in several episodes.
 * Witch Species: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
 * World of Chaos: The planet in "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" and the so-called "Mad Planet" in "Jihad".
 * Year Outside, Hour Inside: This occurs in the title area in "The Time Trap".
 * You Are in Command Now: Lt. Uhura in "The Lorelei Signal" (something which never happened on the live-action show).
 * You Can See That, Right?: Kirk to Spock in "The Time Trap" when the Klingon battlecruiser disappears.

Provides aversions of:

 * Lighter and Fluffier -- one of the main reasons given by Gene Roddenberry as to why he chose Filmation out of all the animation companies who made a pitch at doing the cartoon version is because they were the only company who didn't suggest giving the Enterprise crew "funny animal sidekicks". Interestingly, after getting the job, the idea apparently did surface at pre-production meetings... but it was quickly (and rightly) kyboshed by Roddenberry.
 * Regardless, Filmation didn't let the concept of kid sidekicks in space go to waste and created the live action series, Space Academy, a few years later.