Beyond The Farthest Star

DVD, Star Trek: The Animated Series S1 (Beyond The Farthest Star)

I hadn't watched this series in over twenty years, back when I was a child in the 90s, partly because I never thought that well of it at the time, remembering the amount of reused animation that made it seem a little staid and boring compared to live action Trek, but also because I came to know it as not being part of the official canon, merely an offshoot, a bit of fun, extra Trek for those that wanted more.

It was more outlandish as they weren't constrained by a physical effects budget, and although it's wonderful they got the original cast back together so soon after 'TOS' had been cancelled, it always remained an oddity of the missing years of the 70s when Trek came into its own in reruns and its popularity exploded. I suppose I always intended to revisit the series at some time - it had been on DVD for many years, but never at a price I was willing to pay. It finally reached that point, and also the news of two further animated series' and two other 'Short Treks' animations came to my attention as further additions to the Kurtzman era, so it seemed like an apposite time to revisit, if not reevaluate.

I'm still fully holding to the non-canon position in terms of how to accept it, and as always I maintain that if Trek does use anything from within 'TAS' lore, I'm fine with it, that piece becomes canon. That doesn't mean it all becomes canon because bits of it have been dribbled into 'Enterprise' or 'Discovery,' it just gives me more reason to view it again. Some seem to want all Trek productions to be canon, but 'only live action films and TV' is the ideal rule, because no matter how good a cartoon is, nor some of the books in the vast literary universe, if they contradict what's established they are overridden, as they should be.

'TAS' and the novels have always played second fiddle, and that's how they should stay: a bonus extra, an alternative view on the real history, and despite 'DSC' messing things up majorly in terms of how things look, the wrong uniforms for the era, and introducing a Holodeck a century too early (one reason I suspect Roddenberry wished to strike 'TAS' off the official canon so he could use some of its ideas for the 'first' time in 'TNG'), that doesn't mean 'TAS' is suddenly freed of constraints, let loose on our beloved universe. I'm fully with the Okudas leaving it out of all, even the latest, editions of 'The Star Trek Encyclopedia.' That said, I will look forward to rediscovering and rating these animated adventures, and in keeping with their shorter length, I intend to write only micro reviews as I don't expect to have that much to say. Apart from this first review, of course!

First thing to note is how beautiful it looks. I already knew that, however, as I've always found the simple lines and colours of the animation in pictures I've seen over the years to be a lovely approximation of the 'TOS' aesthetic. In some ways it's simpler, in others they added more detail. Not just in the standard visuals, either, as we see new technology here: the Bridge security Phaser array that can fire in all directions, but is more of a liability than a safety feature when taken over by an entity; the life support belts that mean free and easy movement in extra-ship activity (the first time we see Starfleet officers walking in space, I'll warrant, but another cost saving instead of drawing EVA suits!); and a self-destruct mechanism that has the disadvantage of needing to be activated from Engineering. Engineering itself is bigger and more varied than we saw on 'TOS,' though the Bridge was perfect.

The story plays out very much like 'TOS' except we get down to business very quickly, and the tension was good, better than I expected from a cartoon of 1973! When the unknown entity is attempting to break into the closed room on the alien ship, while presumably its Captain's log repeats a dire warning, worked very well. The music was also very accurate to the 'TOS' audio, the theme and incidental scores like a slightly funkier 70s version of familiar tones, and I also loved the sound effects that constantly played in the background.

Having the cast do the voices of their much-loved characters is a great touch, as any old soundalikes could have been used if they were intent on saving money. Where they saved was in not having Chekov, banished from the ship for all eternity (well, until 'The Motion Picture'), but it could just be a case of 'TOS' Season 1 where he may have been on another deck and role that we never saw until Season 2. In his place is the so far unnamed Lieutenant Arex, one of two famous characters created for the series, and an alien with multiple limbs that would have been difficult to achieve in live action (I'm surprised it hasn't been done even in the CGI-happy century we're now in!).

Nurse Chapel is seen, but not heard (something Mr. Spock would probably approve of), and Mr. Kyle is at his place at the Transporter, now sporting a moustache and a voice like that of an English toff (I thought he was supposed to be an Aussie)! Actually, James Doohan (Scotty), did an excellent job with multiple character voices, though if you know he did most of them, you can hear it even though he was broad in the changes he made - the alien's cries of how lonely it is are quite haunting.

As a first episode it's clearly designed to throw people right back into the Enterprise and its missions without preamble, and it is as if 'TOS' had never ended. It was even written by Samuel A. Peeples who fittingly began it all (for the second time), with second pilot of 'TOS,' 'Where No Man Has Gone Before,' which was another nice touch. Even the titles are very close to that of the series this followed.

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