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Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1975)
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 25, 2017 6:12 pm    Post subject: Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1975) Reply with quote



I've never cared for the animated version of Star Trek for the simple reason that as an artist who is proud of his own work (as all artists should be) the artwork for this series just doesn't impress me.

Well, that's no longer relevant, because today's brilliant CGI artists can create brand new visuals for the entire series, and they can use the voices, music, and sound effects to present us with stunning new Star Trek episodes which feature most of the original cast, along with special effects as good as those in the "enhanced" versions of the original series.

In fact, many of those existing CGI effects can be reused in the new versions of the animated versions.

My contention is that if they can enhance scenes from the original episode the way a Star Trek fan did below by turning this scene from the series —






— into this —





— then it wouldn't be hard to create impressive facsimiles of the actors as well!

They might not look totally realistic, but they would certainly look better than the poor cartoon versions. And Pixar's ability to create great characters for blockbusters like Toy Story and The Incredibles is absolutely amazing!

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Pow
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

But Bud, you do have to consider that the level for TV animation in the 70s was unsophisticated all around.

Comparing TV animation then to now is like comparing a WWI bi-plane to the SST. ST:TAS did the best they could with the existing level of technology. Not to mention brutal shooting schedules & modest budgets.

The strength of that series was the storytelling. It was very well done & engaging. They had less than 30 minutes to unfold their plots & had to still make the show appeal to both kids & adults.

The challenges under all those conditions as well as remaining true to the ST ideas is astounding.

What was accomplished by the production remains astonishing to this day.
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 26, 2017 10:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think you're correct that the series could be updated with better cgi. An example is what Star Treck Continues did with Arex from the AS.







Some tidbits from Wikapedia about the series :



The Animated Series was the original cast's last episodic portrayal of the characters until the "cartoon-like" graphics of the Star Trek: 25th Anniversary computer game in 1992, as well as its sequel Star Trek: Judgment Rites in 1993, both of which appeared after the cast's last movie together in 1991's Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The series was critically acclaimed and was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award when its second season won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment - Children's Series.

In the original Star Trek series, the title character was given the name James T. Kirk. It wasn't until the animated series that writer David Gerrold replaced the "T", giving us Captain James Tiberius Kirk. It was purely coincidental that he chose "Tiberius" (on Gene Roddenberry's first series The Lieutenant, the principal character was William Tiberius Rice).

According to Gerrold, he had been influenced by I, Claudius, and had approached Roddenberry with his choice of middle name, but it wasn't until 2014 that he learned of its earlier use.

"The Lorelei Signal" and "The Infinite Vulcan", the latter written by Walter Koenig, are rare occurrences where Captain Kirk comes close to actually saying, "Beam me up, Scotty" (long erroneously believed to be a Star Trek catchphrase), when he commands "Beam us up, Scotty." Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home arguably comes closer to it by having Kirk say "Scotty, beam me in".

The animated series also dispensed with the original series' theme music, composed by Alexander Courage, in favor of a new theme credited to Yvette Blais and Jeff Michael (actually Filmation composer Ray Ellis, working under a pseudonym). This has never been publicly explained; one possible explanation is that the producers wished to avoid having to pay royalties for using the original theme.

How about an animated NEXT GENERATION series?




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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
I've never cared for the animated version of Star Trek for the simple reason that as an artist who is proud of his own work (as all artists should be) the artwork for this series just doesn't impress me.

Pow wrote:
But Bud, you do have to consider that the level for TV animation in the 70s was unsophisticated all around.

Comparing TV animation then to now is like comparing a WWI bi-plane to the SST. ST:TAS did the best they could with the existing level of technology. Not to mention brutal shooting schedules & modest budgets.

You're quite correct that the artwork for TAS was as good as it could be, considering the restrictions placed on it by the technology and the budget.

I understand the reasons for its shortcomings, and I appreciate the level of quality it achieved in spite of this.

Unfortunately what I can't do is like it. Sad

Understanding and appreciating are intellectual in nature. Liking is emotional.

But bear in mind that "liking" is completely subjective. So, just because I don't like it doesn't mean someone else who does like it is wrong. Notice that what I said above was, "the artwork for this series just doesn't impress me."

If I had said, "The artwork in the series was not impressive", this post would be all about my apology for acting as if my tastes in artwork was more valid than other people's.
Very Happy
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Custer
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



The Animated Series did have the right voices though, generally...
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

These guys look like they're having a ball!

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PostPosted: Thu Jun 29, 2017 8:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would love to see a brand new Star Trek cgi animated TV show based upon ST:TOS.

The technology is certainly at a level to do a splendid production.
I remember being awed by the cgi quality on the 30 minute TV series Starship Troopers:Razak's Roughnecks.
And that was first on over a decade ago.

I would envision ST as picking it up during the first 5-year mission from the original show.

However,it would be fun to see it as having evolved,so I would not have it look precisely like the live action show in every detail.

First,dedicated fans would find it boring if the new cgi show looked exactly like the 1966 series in every way.
Second,it would be unrealistic. Given the stunning advances in science & technology every day in our present era it would only be phenomenally faster by the Kirk/Spock timeline.

So a case could be made that the Enterprise would have gone in to dry dock for repairs as well as maintenance & upgrades. New tech would have been applied to the big E.

New passageways,new shuttlecrafts,tools,a captain's ready room & so forth could be added to give the show a fresh & exciting look.

I would not totally redesign the interior or exterior,be nice to see some anchors to ST:TOS.
Uniforms,tricorder,phasers & communicators were terrific designs to begin with & could also look the same as they did on the '66 show.

Employ top notch writers of course,including some of the original script writers such as DC Fontana,David Gerrold,Harlan Ellison.

I think there would be an audience for such a TV series.
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Custer
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 9:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I must say that I did enjoy the CGI reboot of the old Captain Scarlet series, from 2005. They used a lot of motion capture for that, and it worked pretty well - a fine update from the old Supermarionation version. The characters didn't look 100% like real people, of course, but that was a dozen years ago!

If they want to make Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, etc live again, well, I think we have the technology now, both for their CGI likenesses and the voices. If Grand Moff Tarkin can do it, so can our Federation friends...
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Pow
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The CGI Thunderbirds Are Go! is also a fantastic looking TV series.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 04, 2019 1:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Beyond The Farthest Star," episode #1 ,September 08, 1973.
Written by: Samuel A.Peeples
Directed by: Hal Sutherland.

Plot synopsis } The Enterprise discovers a 300~million year old alien starship orbiting the dead star Questar M-17. The crew of the ancient vessel are all gone but a malevolent pure energy life form inhabits the ship.

It intends to take control of the Enterprise in order to escape from being trapped by the star's gravity.

Episode Trivia } The premiere episode debuts Life Support Belts. The L.S.B.'s erect a force field around the wearer that protects them from outer space & other hazardous environments.

The belts were also a way to cut production costs for ST: TAS. Having the crew wear the belts only required drawing a glowing aura over the characters. Placing them inside spacesuits would have necessitated drawing the suits each time.

Thoughts At Large } The LSB was an interesting concept since one might envision that by the era of Star Trek that spacesuits would seem old hat & the Federation of Planets would have technology more advanced and sophisticated.

My only nitpick being that one assumes such a belt's force field energy would have to be astonishingly powerful in order to protect individuals.

So just how would they be able to use their Tricoders, Communicaters, and Phasers as we saw on the show?

Wouldn't the force field act as a potent barrier that would counteract those tools used by the crew?

The Communicator sent out & received signals just fine as did the Tricorder through the force field. The Phaser fired through the force field perfectly.

This episode introduces Mr.Arex the 3 armed Edosian navigator for the Enterprise.

Walter Koenig did not return to voice his character of Checkov due to budgetary limitations. The character was dropped entirely & Mr. Arex took on Checkov's duties.

We now see 2 doors on the Enterprise bridge.

The bridge now has an Automatic Bridge Defense System.
It is that drops down from the ceiling and can fire phaser beams.

The derelict alien star vessel was organic and far advanced in ways to the Enterprise.

Artist Bob Kline had a challenging time in the designing of the alien ship. He was not able to talk with Gene Roddenberry directly. So Kline would submit concept drawings to GR & GR would send them back with notes to Kline. It was confusing & Kline originally created a Federation type of starship caught by the dead star until he got it sorted out as to what GR was looking for.

Excellent first outing for the debut of ST: TAS. Compelling story, organic starship, unknown aliens, a dead star, evil energy being. What's not to like.

The enjoyment of TAS is due to GR, DC Fontana (story editor) who insisted from the beginning that they refused to do the show any differently than from the live action TV show.

They wanted to make TAS appealing to the loyal fans of ST:TOS. To that end they wanted to get top writers & create intelligent scripts that would not play down to its audience simply because this was an animated show on Saturday mornings.

Gene and company realized that they now had only 22-minutes to tell a story instead of the 54-minutes that the live action show had. And that would be challenging.

They were also excited about TAS because they saw the fact that since it was an animated TV series they could realize concepts with aliens, ships, and planets, and technology that they could not do as easily(or at all)on the live action show's budget.

I feel that GR, D.C., and all the contributors to TAS did a terrific job of transitioning ST from live action to animation.
They retained the original integrity & quality (for the most part) of ST:TOS for ST:TAS.

They were proud of TAS & their work on it. And they should be.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 1:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Yesteryear, "Season #1 / episode #2". October 20,1973. Written by: D.C.Fontana

Plot Synopsis } When Kirk & Spock return from visiting the past via the Guardian of Forever ("The City On The Edge Of Forever") they both discover that Mr.Spock no longer exists in the current timeline.

In order to solve the mystery, Mr.Spock must travel back in time to his home planet of Vulcan & seek out his parents and younger self.

Fun Facts } Mark Lenard who portrayed Mr. Spock's father, Sarek on ST: TOS episode "Journey To Babel", returns again to provide Sarek's voice for the animated show.

JTB was also written by D.C. Fontana and remains a terrific episode from ST:TOS.

This episode won Best Contemporary Science Fiction Film at the annual Science Fiction and Film Fantasy Convention.

"Yesteryear" is considered by many critics and fans as the finest episode of the animated TV series.

Item } Interesting because "The City On The Edge Of Forever'', which is about the discovery of the Guardian of Forever, is considered by fans and critics as the best episode from the live action series.

Item } Jimmy Doohan provides the voice for the Guardian of Forever in the animated episode.

I always found this segment of the episode laughable. On the live action show the Guardian's voice was done by another actor. The voice was presented in a deep, powerful majestic manner.

On the animated episode Doohan does the voice in a style which comes off like an adult doing a goofy "scary voice'' for a child on Halloween. He doesn't replicate the seriousness or style of the voice actor from the live action episode.

Very entertaining & poignant episode where the audience gets to see Spock's home world in greater detail than we could on the excellent live action episode "Amok Time.''

The impressive plot ranges from Mr.Spock being erased from the current timeline to his journey back in time to his boyhood.

There we see his struggles & pressures as the only half-human/half-Vulcan, the loss of his beloved pet, and Spock (posing as a cousin to the family) attempting to educate Sarek about his son's challenges.

The depiction of the planet Vulcan here was an example of just what the animated series could do that would have been cost prohibitive on the live action show.

In the altered timeline, Captain Kirk still has an alien First Officer. In this case he is Thelin, an Andorian. It makes me wonder how the adventures of the star ship Enterprise would have been affected by having an Andorian instead of a Vulcan.

You couldn't pass off an Andorain as a human like Mr. Spock was done on the classic "The City On The Edge Of Forever" is one example.

Time travel plots can be a mess and give you a headache. It can also be an overused trope in sci~fi.

However, the Guardian is a fascinating character. And both the live action & animated episode featuring the Guardian are both terrific.


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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2019 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Wow, this story sounds incredible!

I discovered that Netflix streams this Star Trek series like it does all the others, so I added it to my list, and I look forward to watching this one, based on your posts (and the warning about Mr. Doohan's voice as the Guardian. Sad)

Thanks! Cool

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PostPosted: Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

"One Of Our Planets Is Missing,"Episode #3,September 22,1973.

Plot Synopsis } A cosmic cloud of matter and energy consumes entire planets as it drifts through space. The inhabited planet of Mantilles with a population of 82,000,000 is the clouds next meal and the Enterprise crew must find a way to stop it from happening.

Marc Daniels wrote this fine episode. Previously he had directed 15 episodes of ST:TOS.

The governor of Mantilles is retired Starfleet Commodore Bob Wesley. Wesley commanded the Federation Star Ship Lexington on the ST:TOS classic episode "The Ultimate Computer."

Thoughts } This episode from TAS always struck me as being the most like TOS.

The story is similar to the splendid TOS episodes "The Doomsday Machine,"and "The Immunity Syndrome." However, Daniels is able to evolve it differently enough from both of those episode to make it fresh and entertaining.

Bob Wesley's hair color on "The Ultimate Computer" was salt and pepper. For some reason when we see Kirk speak with Wesley on the view screen in TAS Wesley's hair is now all brown.

Ah, the things we ST fans notice.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

I'm pleased to report that yesterday I watched episode one of Star Trek: The Animated Series and was VERY impressed! Very Happy

My lack of enthusiasm for the character animation has always prevented me from appreciating this series up until now, but Beyond the Farthest Star has such a strong story and fine background artwork that I discovered I'd been underrating this series all these years.

I look forward to watching the rest of the episodes, and I'm more convinced than ever that the episode's video aspect could be replaced by high quality CGI (and perhaps improved the music as well), creating "new TOS" episodes with the voices of the seven original TOS cast members who starred in the animated series! Cool

Pow, I grateful to you for convincing me that I've been wrong to low-rate Star Trek: The Animated Series.

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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud, so glad you gave ST: TAS a second look and enjoyed it. Some episodes are very well done, some mediocre, and some are clunkers. Just like any of the ST TV shows.

Interesting idea regarding remastering TAS episodes as was done so well with TOS.
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