Star Trek was out in full force at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend. Much (well-deserved) attention has been spent on the Hall H presentation, where the highly anticipated Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover “Those Old Scientists” was premiered. The excitement behind the premiere was increased by its lead-ins: a five-minute sneak peek of Discovery’s final season and a trailer for Lower Decks season four.
Saru in The Animated Shorts
However, this was far from the only Star Trek being teased. As an ardent fan of the original animated series, I was excited to see the Official 50th Star Trek Animated Celebration panel. The golden anniversary of the Filmation entry into the Star Trek franchise is being celebrated with new animated shorts in the retro style of The Animated Series. The spots are made by Casper Kelly, who previously worked on Short Treks and has previously worked for Adult Swim.
William Riker in The Animated Shorts
These five animated shorts will feature characters from every incarnation of Trek, voiced by the original actors. The three revealed were Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker, Armin Shimmerman as Quark, and Doug Jones as Captain Saru. The announcement included images of the characters as they will appear in the shorts. More information about the shorts will be revealed on Star Trek Day.
Quark in The Animated Shorts
Along with the shorts is a comic book, "Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier.” It will be released digitally in September, with physical copies available at New York Comic Con. A sneak peek at the upcoming book shows a cover with Picard, Riker, Kirk, Uhura, M’Ress, and Tendi dealing with a bomb on the bridge of the Enterprise D. A wordless page shows the cast of The Animated Series beaming down to a planet.
Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier. Art by Jonathan Case.
Star Trek: The Animated Celebration Presents The Scheimer Barrier. Art by Jonathan Case.
While a lot of the talk was about the classic Animated Series, the current slate of animated Star Trek shows was also represented. The day of the panel saw the release of Prodigy’s second half as digital downloads. The physical release on DVD/Blu-Ray was announced for September 26, 2023.
Lower Decks was represented in Hall H with its hilarious fourth season trailer, which the Strange New Crew broke down on our SDCC wrap-up. It was also revealed that Lower Decks is coming to the big screen, with episodes being shown in theatres domestically and internationally in September. The Lower Decks comics will continue with a Warp Your Own Way novel, done in the Choose Your Own Adventure series style. This book will be released at New York Comic Con.
Lower Decks will also continue to be represented in the ongoing Star Trek comic series, with Shaxs maintaining his role through the Day of Blood crossover event. Shaxs is even being given his own oneshot comic, entitled “Shaxs’ Best Day”, which has been suggested will be thirty pages of Shaxs killing Klingons (and blowing up a warp core).
The love for the animated side of Star Trek is evident. The only thing that needed to be added to the panel was an announcement about the continuation of Prodigy. With over 30,000 signatures, fans are clamoring to hear some good news.
