SDCC: Get Retro This Year for the 50th Anniversary of ‘Star Trek: The Animated Series'

The cast of STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED SERIES with a few additions. Images: Paramount/CBS Studios.

JULY 21, 2023 - Star Trek premiered on September 8, 1973. Not what we have come to know as Star Trek: The Original Series, which audiences first saw seven years earlier, but the cartoon spinoff. Even though it was theoretically targeted to children, what we now know as Star Trek: The Animated Series appealed to adult fans of Trek as well. It stood out among Saturday morning fare in several ways.

First of all, Gene Roddenberry, creator of the original show, and DC Fontana, who wrote many of its most memorable episodes, were both heavily involved in the cartoon. Second, its voice cast consisted of most of the original series actors (including Majel Barrett as Nurse Chapel, but not Walter Koenig, whose character, Ensign Chekov, was written out due to budget restrictions).

The third way it stood out holds some irony. In 1973, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, which meant the writers couldn’t pen scripts for new television series. But at the time they could write for animation. Fontana used that loophole to hire many of the best science fiction writers of the day, including Hugo Award winner Larry Niven and Samuel A. Peeples, who penned the second pilot for the original series, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” thereby creating one of the most quoted phrases in television history.

It was due in no small part to this writing talent that TAS became, in its own way, iconic, with both supporters and detractors. Roddenberry himself declared TAS to be non-canonical, although most fans disagree with the Great Bird’s assessment these days.

But whether you’re a TAS fan or a canon denier, the show’s 50th anniversary is cause for celebration. It was the first spinoff of the now-beloved franchise, the antecedent to eleven (so far) further Trek series (if you include the upcoming Starfleet Academy), thirteen (so far) films, and one upcoming event film (Section 31). That’s a lot of Star Trek!

In honor of this year’s milestone, CBS Studios held the Official 50th Animated Star Trek Celebration at San Diego Comic-Con today, and as part of the panel, they made several announcements that are sure to appeal to TAS fans.

Some of Your Favorite Characters Will Get Animated

Commander William Riker (voiced by Jonathan Frakes). Image: CBS Studios.

Later this year, CBS Studios will be creating five new animated promotional spots in the style of Star Trek: The Animated Series. A television studio creating commercials? Not exactly unheard of. Except these commercials will stand out because they’ll feature characters from series other than the original, voiced by the actors who brought them to life onscreen by Creative Consultant Casper Kelly, known for his work for Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim.

Ever wonder what Commander William Riker (voiced by Jonathan Frakes) would have looked like if he’d been in TAS? What about Quark (voiced by Armin Shimerman) or Saru (voiced by Doug Jones)? Well, wonder no longer. Those character designs were unveiled at the panel. Presumably, the other two spots will feature other, as-yet-unannounced characters from different series. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Quark (voiced by Armin Shimerman). Image: CBS Studios.

Commander Saru (voiced by Doug Jones). Image: CBS Studios.

And that wait might take a while. It’s hard to tell from the announcement’s wording if the spots have been written and recorded yet, or if that’s still something that needs to be done. If they haven’t done it yet, they’ll likely have to wait out the ongoing double SAG-AFTRA/WGA strike.

See You in the Funny Pages

IDW Comics is getting into the spirit of things, too. It was announced at the panel that Kelly is also working with the comic book publishers on “Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents the Scheimer Barrier.” The title is a reference to one of the co-founders of Filmation, the studio that produced TAS, Lou Scheimer. Scheimer had the idea for a Star Trek animated series while the original was still on the air, but because of a bitter dispute between Roddenberry and Paramount, it didn’t happen until several years later.

Cover art for STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS: THE SCHEIMER BARRIER. Image: IDW Comics.

Art was released for the comic, and it would seem to indicate a comical crossover between many (if not all) of the franchise’s series. More specific plot details will have to wait. The comic will be released online at StarTrek.com in September, with physical copies being made available at New York Comic-Con in October.

Panel art for STAR TREK: THE ANIMATED CELEBRATION PRESENTS: THE SCHEIMER BARRIER. Image: IDW Comics.

In Other Animation News…

Also announced at the panel was a little surprise: Star Trek: Prodigy Episodes 11 - 20 are available to purchase digitally as of today. As had been suggested previously, the Blu-ray and DVD versions will be available on September 26.

And finally, on Star Trek Day, September 8, 2023, Star Trek: Lower Decks will be available for screenings both domestically and internationally. DSTN was unable to attend SDCC this year and from the press release it is unclear whether it will be only the first episode of season 4 or several episodes, but it’s good to know that there’s some new Star Trek in our immediate future!