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DVD Reviews
![Star Trek Animated: The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek [Blu-ray] cover](../../../images/primetime/reviews/sttasdvdblu2.jpg) |
Star Trek Animated: The Animated Adventures of Gene
Roddenberry's Star Trek [Blu-ray]
Review by Suzanne Lanoue
11/10/16 |
I'm so glad to have this set. I've been a Trekkie since I
was a little girl. The original series came out when I was
about 5, and my whole family watched it. I don't remember
watching it then, because I was too young, but I did watch
it later, in the 70's, in re-runs. I do remember when I
watched this show. I don't think I've seen this show in 40
years, since it aired back then. It's great to see it again
because it's a very good show. It's not a cartoon or
dumbed-down for children. The episodes are as good as
anything in the original show.
I also had all of the
books - the novels of these shows - as well as the books of
the old series. The show really holds up pretty well after
all of this time. I thoroughly enjoyed re-watching them.
Some of the episodes seem too much like original series
episodes (too close to the same plots), but others are
really good and original. I love how Uhura takes charge in
"The Lorelai Signal." It's fun to recognize the voices of
the actors when they do other characters on the show. James
Doohan (Scotty), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and George Takei
(Sulu) do quite a few of the other voices. I think Doohan
was the best at it, though. It was sometimes hard to
recognize his voice because he was very good at putting on
other accents and characters. I also enjoyed some of the
70's styles, especially on the aliens. One alien,
masquerading as a human, looks like he could have walked out
of a Sears catalog with his stylish 70's suit and hair.
Another alien had bell bottoms. Funny thing, though. The art
they used didn't change much. In the original series,
Uhura's hairstyles changed quite often, but not in the
animated version. All of the characters always looked the
same.
Unfortunately, the very last episode is also
the worst of the series, IMHO. It was just really dumb and
had a very stupid ending. There were a couple of other weird
or stupid episodes, like the one with the giant Spock clone
(almost as bad as "Spock's Brain"). The best episode was
probably the one where Spock went back in time to save
himself. I thought the acting in the series was pretty good.
They weren't able to over-act at all, as they sometimes did
in the original series (especially Shatner).
It's fun
to notice certain details that I didn't get the first time
around, such as the episode where we first see the holodeck.
They call it the "rec room" here, but it's definitely a
holodeck. They push a button and then the room changes to a
beach. Some things struck me as very funny, such as the fact
that they use tapes for everything. Some of the sexism is
cringe-worthy. In one episode, they have a helmsman we've
never seen before called Mr. Walking Bear. His presence is
completely gratuitous, just so that when the native american
god shows up, he knows who it is. They did a lot of that in
TV back then, unfortunately.
The DVD comes with a set
of artistic cards for each episode. That's kind of cool, I
guess. I don't really see the point in them. The cards are
in a nice holder, and that holder and the Blu-ray case are
in another, larger case. It doesn't take up too much room,
though. One warning is that after viewing the episodes, you
WILL get the theme song stuck in your head.
There's
one really good feature on the DVD, where the writers and
others discuss the show. Unfortunately, none of the actors
are there. I wonder why they couldn't get any of the
remaining actors to speak on camera? A lot of them are dead,
but Shatner, Takei and Nichols are still around. Sorry,
Chekov fans, but he wasn't in the episode. Neither were
Yeoman Rand or some of the other minor characters. This was
pretty low budget. However, if you're a Star Trek fan, it's
definitely worth owning and watching!
MORE INFORMATION:
Star Trek: The Animated Series
On Blu-ray
Street Date: November 15
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!
Star Trek: The Animated Series -- The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, will arrive on Blu-ray via CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution on November 15. The set will include all 22 episodes, presented in 1080p HD and spread across four discs, with commentaries -- by producer David Wise, writer David Gerrold and Michael and Denise Okuda -- and text commentaries on select episodes. Special segments -- created for the DVD set released in 2006 -- will include Drawn to the Final Frontier: The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series and What's the Star Trek Connection? The former is a 24-minute featurette including interviews with TAS producers and writers about how the series was created and why it still holds up, while the latter will offer of a glossary of characters and themes common to TAS and other series. Also included will be a storyboard gallery and a show history. - See more at: http://www.startrek.com/article/the-animated-series-is-coming-to-blu-ray#sthash.ee5u3MOR.dpuf
New to the set will be 22 colorful poster-style cards, one for each episode, created by the artist Juan Ortiz. Available now for pre-order, Star Trek: The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek will run 526 minutes. - See more at: http://www.startrek.com/article/the-animated-series-is-coming-to-blu-ray#sthash.ee5u3MOR.dpuf
New to the set will be 22 colorful poster-style cards, one for each episode, created by the artist Juan Ortiz. Available now for pre-order, Star Trek: The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek will run 526 minutes. - See more at: http://www.startrek.com/article/the-animated-series-is-coming-to-blu-ray#sthash.ee5u3MOR.dpuf
Already available on Blu-ray Disc for the first time since two weeks ago, when the studio released the Star Trek - 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection BD set (an item which is already sold out at many retailers, including Amazon!), now CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution are announcing an individual Blu-ray release for the complete series of Star Trek: The Animated Series.
Due in stores on November 15th, this complete series item is officially titled as "Star Trek: Animated - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek" (the same as the 2006 DVD release has been formally called). Remastered in high definition, the 3-disc set will - for a limited time, in any case - include special collectible postcards with artwork for each episode created by acclaimed artist Juan Ortiz.
Featuring the voices of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Majel Barrett, the only original Star Trek regular cast member not to return was Walter Koenig ("Chekov"). Koenig did write an episode, however ("The Infinite Vulcan"). Other stories were written or co-written by David Gerrold, DC Fontana, David Wise, Marc Daniels, Samuel A. Peeples, and Larry Niven (whose "Kzinti" stories first intersected with Star Trek as a result of his episode, "The Slaver Weapon").
From another press release:
Star Trek: The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. Standalone Blu-ray Collection Debuts November 15 Featuring Collectible Postcards from Artist Juan Ortiz.
Just in time for holiday gift giving, and in celebration of Star Trek's 50th anniversary, Star Trek: The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek will arrive for the first time ever as a standalone Blu-ray collection November 15 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Media Distribution.
Available for a limited time, this Blu-ray collections includes special collectible postcards, with artwork for each episode designed by acclaimed artist Juan Ortiz. Featuring all 22 episodes of the beloved series in a three-disc set, the collection includes special features from the 2006 DVD release including commentaries from Star Trek experts Mike and Denise Okuda and writers David Gerrold and David Wise, a featureette about the making of the show, as well as a storyboard gallery.
Airing from 1973-1974, and featuring voice talent by the series' original actors, the crew of the Enterprise Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) boldly continue a series of incredible adventures following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series - The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek will be available on Blu-ray in 1080p High Definition with English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English, German, French and Italian Mono audio tracks and English SDH, French, German, Italian, and Dutch subtitles. The Blu-ray is Not Rated in the U.S. and rated G in Canada, with a running time of approximately 8 hours, 45 minutes. The disc breakdown, including special features is as follows:
Disc One, Season One:
Disc Two, Season One:
-
The Magicks of Megas-Tu
-
Once Upon a Planet
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Mudd's Passion
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The Terratin Incident
-
The Time Trap
-
The Ambergris Elementt
-
The Slaver Weapon
-
The Eye of the Beholder
Disc Three:
About CBS Home Entertainment
CBS Home Entertainment manages the worldwide DVD and Blu-ray businesses for the CBS Corporation across all lines of content including current hits and classic series from the vast CBS library, as well as new releases from Showtime Video. CBS Home Entertainment products are released on the CBS DVD and CBS Blu-ray labels.
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Page updated 11/29/16
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