Are you still in that camp that says the Animated Series is cheesy, non-canon, or half-baked? Of course you are entitled to your opinions, however wrong they may be! But seriously ... We here at STARTREK.COM have been patiently waiting for this release ever since Paramount Home Entertainment started putting out Star Trek on DVD back in 1999. Over the years, we gently nudged them along, suggesting that this should get a release. Now, it's actually nice that PHE waited, because the packaging and remastering are top notch to say the least. This is a title that didn't get lost in the shuffle amongst all the other shows and movies. They were able to devote much time and attention to the release, and it shows! We always felt that if the Animated Series did get released the fans will come. We hope this remains true, and going by the response we've gotten from readers over the years, there seems little doubt in our collective mind that this is something the fans really wanted.

Having already watched the first dozen episodes, I realize once more why I loved this show when it was on Saturday mornings: it doesn't insult your intelligence. It's animated, and smart. You see, as a kid you tended to put animated shows, or cartoons as we used to call them back in Fresno, into two camps. Either they were cheap entertainment on a Saturday morning before your parents woke up and made you do things like yardwork, or they were works of art. You sat through a Scooby-Doo so you could get to The Bugs Bunny - Road Runner Hour. You did what you had to do to watch your favorite cartoons back in the days of three channels and nothin' on. So when the animated Star Trek first appeared, I thought it would be the equivalent of the The Beatles, the Jackson 5 or The Osmonds cartoons which were basically silly situations inserted between the songs. These cartoons were made to sell more records. Was animated Star Trek a mere spin-off like these, designed simply to sell merchandise? After a quick viewing, the simple answer was ... no. Finally, here was a cartoon that didn't dumb down to its audience. (No offense, kids of the '70s!) It truly was an extension of the world of Star Trek we had known and loved and accepted. Most of the voices were there, the characters, the ship, even some of the production personnel. If you were already a fan, what was not to like? D.C. Fontana's "Yesteryear" (the second episode to air) was a Spock-back-on-Vulcan tale that became an instant classic and established much of his heritage. It was obvious from the beginning that the Animated Series could go where the live-action show had never gone before. Due mainly to budget, of course.

Yet somehow over the decades the Animated Series fell out of favor with some who, forgetting such TOS masterpieces as "Spock's Brain," couldn't see past a few stumbles. For those who still doubt, I would ask that you check out those great backgrounds, in glorious living color, marvel at the scripts and re-live those animated days once more. If you can get past the very '70s theme tune (which I also love) then you are almost home.

As Borat might say, "Very nice!"

[Tim]