APRIL 24, 2022 - Not long ago, we brought you a video from Gazelle Automations showcasing a scene from Star Trek: The Next Generation, brought to life in the style of The Animated Series of the 1970s. Since being posted, the animated scene from “The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1” has had more than 375,000 views. Last week, Executive Producer and visual effects artist Justin Lee shared “How We Animated Star Trek: TNG: TAS” - a behind-the-scenes look at the project - to the Gazelle Automations YouTube channel.

In the video, Lee discusses his fascination with “economical film animation” of the 70s, the inspiration for his “love letter” to Star Trek: The Next Generation. Using modern technology, Lee and his team strived to bring the authentic look of hand-drawn animation to The Next Generation, one frame at a time. Yes, they could have done it faster and easier, but it wouldn’t have been the same.

After sequencing the animation, Lee intentionally added “dirt and smudges” to the individual frames. This brought further authenticity, reminiscent of the less-than-clean, occasionally hasty process that was photographing hand-painted cells for The Animated Series. 

To top it off, Lee included a bonus clip featuring none other than Wesley Crusher at the helm of the Enterprise-D. To learn more about the animation process used, check out the full behind-the-scenes video for yourself.