STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 21st
Official Synopsis:
Boldly continuing where Star Trek: The Original Series left off, these animated adventures chart the progress of Captain Kirk and his crew in a universe unconstrained by "real-life" cinematography! With all characters voiced by their original actors, join Kirk, Spock, Bones and the crew for 22 new adventures: to boldly go where no animation has gone before!
Our Take:
In a way, watching Star Trek: The Animated Series is kind of like watching all-new adventures of the original Star Trek series. I know this show is from the 70's, but let's face it; not too many people have seen these episodes all that often. I think I saw them all once or twice when I was a kid, but it's easily been 15 years since one’s crossed my television screen. So watching something that I basically have no memory of, that’s written by original series alumni and voiced by the original cast, is like watching a whole new show.
Star Trek: The Animated Series is a bit hit or miss, but for the most part, it's a really solid animated series that plays out much more like the original show than like a dumbed-down-for-kids cartoon. There's some solid Trek science fiction at play in Star Trek: the Animated Series, and as the final Star Trek property to be released on DVD, it's a welcome addition to the collection.
For a while, it seemed like Star Trek: The Animated Series was never going to make it to DVD. There were always rumors that it was in the works, but it took forever to actually show up on Paramount's schedule. Now that it's finally here, I don't think fans have anything to complain about.
* Text Commentaries - Michael and Denise Okuda present text commentaries on three episodes.
* Audio commentaries - David Gerrold talks about two episodes, while David Wise discusses one.
* Drawn to the Final Frontier: The Making of The Animated Series (24 minutes) - None of the cast is interviewed in this solid featurette, but numerous writers, producers, and directors are.
* What's the Star Trek Connection? (6 minutes) - Eleven short features that connect events from the cartoon with events and occurrences in the various Trek series.
* Storyboard Comparisons.
* Show History - A very brief text history of the cartoon.
My only complaint is that the Trek cast is nowhere to be found in the extra features, but at least there are extra features, so I can't really complain. It looks like for now, Star Trek: The Animated Series is the final frontier on DVD for Trek fans.
Overall Picture:
Show: B
DVD: A-
- Mike Spring
Editor
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