Animation is a medium, not a genre; the rich variety of Star Trek’s animated series

Animation is a medium, not a genre; the rich variety of Star Trek's animated series

As a seasoned gamer and Star Trek enthusiast who grew up with the original series, I can confidently say that animation has proven to be an underrated gem within the realm of storytelling, especially when it comes to sci-fi adventures like those found in the Star Trek universe.

Despite the tendency to dismiss animation as a “kiddie genre,” animation is, in fact, a full, vibrant art form of its own. While it shares many things in common with live-action filmmaking, animation also offers unique opportunities to depict stories and worlds that may be difficult to render in live-action. This makes animation excellent for the kind of sci-fi adventure that is Star Trek’s bread and butter.

Over the years, the creators of Star Trek haven’t overlooked these opportunities altogether. In fact, there have been three animated series of Star Trek, with the earliest dating back to 1973. This shows us that animation has had a significant role in shaping the Star Trek universe, showcasing both its strong points and potential constraints.

Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973-1974)

The second Star Trek series, much like its predecessor, boasts a great deal of similarities due to its shared cast and writers. Essentially, it can be seen as an extension of the original series (which is delightful if, like me, you’re a fan of the original Star Trek series). Despite this continuity, the use of animation enabled it to delve into diverse alien worlds and strange creatures that might have been challenging or impossible to portray in live-action television during its time.

Exceptionally prominent instances of this can be seen in the crew members of the Enterprise, Arex and M’Ress, who likely would have been impractical (for Arex) or overly cheesy (for M’Ress) on a 1973 live-action TV budget. In animation, however, they seamlessly fit in with Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew.

In this series, the quality of the animation, created by Funimation, might be a slight drawback. The show, titled Star Trek: TAS, utilized a cost-saving method called “limited animation,” which often kept images stationary and reused pre-made animation sequences. Although this approach is still prevalent in modern productions, it’s been improved to appear less obvious and intrusive.

Star Trek: Lower Decks (2020-2024)

Approximately half a century passed before Star Trek made its comeback in animated series format, unlike the original animated series. However, Star Trek: Lower Decks significantly deviates in tone and genre from all previous Treks. Although Star Trek shows occasionally incorporate light-hearted and comedic episodes, Lower Decks is the first (and currently only) Star Trek production to be primarily focused on comedy.

Remarkably, the animated series Lower Decks frequently employs its animated format for humor. It often does this by presenting situations or concepts that would be distressing or unusual in live-action, but make them acceptable through animation. The use of cartoon violence is nothing new in animation, with roots tracing back to silent animations that predate even the Looney Tunes and Mickey Mouse.

Furthermore, the manner of dialogue delivery and writing style for Lower Decks showcases an amped-up quality suitable for animated comedies, but might strike as odd in live-action counterparts. This is noticeable in the more subdued portrayals of characters like Mariner and Boimler when they appear in live-action on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, despite being voiced by their original actors.

Star Trek: Prodigy (2021-2024)

Similar to the other two computer-animated Star Trek series, Prodigy leverages animation to broaden the realms and personalities we encounter. Since the main cast is predominantly alien, it likely reduces costs as there’s no need for daily makeup application on actors. Furthermore, the 3D computer-animated format enables more intricate character and setting designs.

One advantage that TAS (The Animated Series) and Lower Decks possess, which Prodigy does not share, is their use of hand-drawn animation. Due to the need for efficiency in producing multiple frames, these shows tend to feature simpler character designs. However, with CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery), as used by Prodigy, it’s possible to create intricate characters like Jankom Pog or Rok-Tahk without any complications related to repeated drawing.

The future of Star Trek animation?

Regrettably, as the production of “Lower Decks” has been cancelled and the fate of “Prodigy” remains unclear, there’s no definitive animated Star Trek series set for release by 2025. Here’s hoping for more content! I’d be thrilled to have a continuous series, but it’d also be exciting to explore diverse Star Trek interpretations through animation, similar to the anthology style of “Star Wars: Visions” we saw a few years back.

2024-11-14 01:23

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