Here we are, folks! The Animated Series of Star Trek! This is kind of like the season 4 that never got made. I remember seeing a few of these cartoon episodes when I was a kid, but haven't seen any of them for years, until I started watching recently them to make these comics. And you know, they're not bad. The animation is a bit stiff and lifeless, but the scripts are at least as sensible as an average Original Series live action episode, and they're definitely more cerebral and have better plotting than virtually all children's cartoons of the era.

Another good feature of the animated episodes is that they could do a lot of things that they couldn't do in live action with a limited special effects budget and technology. This first episode has a good example. The alien ship is beautiful and very different from anything you might imagine humans building to travel through space. Check out these images from Memory Alpha: Insectoid ship, ship close-up, ship interior, ship control room.

Planet of Hats will return to weekly updates as we work through the rest of The Animated Series.

Transcript

1
Captain's log, Stardate 5221.3. Starcharting beyond the Galaxy. Because there are so many stars here.
Sulu: Captain, a dead star is pulling us in!
Spock: Impact in 40 seconds. 39. 38...
Kirk: Fancy manoeuvre time. Go into... orbit!
2
Sulu: Orbit attained!
Kirk: Oh yeah.
Spock: A strange alien vessel. 300 million years old.
Kirk: Allons-y!
3
{on board the alien ship}
Spock: This ship has hexagonal cells, like a honeycomb.
Scotty: And this metal is spun in filaments, like a web.
McCoy: And these cells are burst open from the inside, like something hatching.
Kirk: What kind of strange being would do this?
4
Giant Bee: {on screen} Bzzz! Danger! A malevolent life form infected our hive! We stranded it here at this dead star. You are DOOMED! Bzzz!
Kirk: Now what d'you suppose that's about?
Caption: Ancient bee-cording
Caption: Alien entity {lurking behind Kirk and Spock}
5
Caption: The alien entity beams back with them!
Alien Entity: I'm in your computer!
Kirk: Spock, this is tough but: can you do an arithmetic calculation... in your head??
Spock: I believe so.
6
Kirk: Yeah! Spock's orbit breaking slingshot trick stranded the alien in the dead star!
Alien Entity: Please don't leave me... So lonely...
Kirk: Leavin' ya behind! Let's chart some stars!