Although Star Trek shows doesn't feel quite so much like a landmark event anymore, Star Trek: The Animated Series' debut was incredibly exciting for early Trekkies.

Star Trek: The Animated Series aired for two seasons between 1973 and 1975, totaling 22 episodes. Of Star Trek movies and TV shows.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Is Canon To The Rest Of The Franchise

The USS Enterprise's 5-year mission crosses over into the animated project

Star Trek: The Original Series was canceled in 1969 after season 3. However, the show's continued popularity brought the franchise out of dormancy when Star Trek: The Animated Series began four years later. It certainly seemed as though returning showrunner Gene Roddenberry was making his animated spinoff as a direct sequel to Star Trek: The Original Series, as there was nothing to really disprove this. The change from live-action to animation understandably caused confusion, but any doubts should reasonably have been reduced by the return of Star Trek: The Original Series' cast to voice their respective characters.

Because of its long-standing situation of holding a nebulous place in Star Trek canon, The Animated Series was largely ignored for decades, or at least was referenced far less frequently than other franchise projects. Since then, the show has been officially confirmed to be set within the same continuity as Star Trek: The Original Series and the other live-action Star Trek shows. While it's perhaps a little unfair that such an official categorization was ever withheld, it makes sense considering when the show was made as canon status, especially in sci-fi, is a far greater focus in the modern age.

Star Trek: The Animated Series Was Only Officially Made Canon In 2010

Gene Roddenberry's stance wasn't consistent

Despite Roddenberry's attention to detail when making Star Trek: The Animated Series and the obvious intention for it to serve as a show that documented the later years of the USS Enterprise's five-year mission, the showrunner eventually changed his opinion of the animated spinoff and decided it was not part of the main canon. Although Paramount largely honored this choice, the addition of Star Trek: The Animated Series to the list of officially canonical shows in 2010 means there's no longer a debate about whether the project belongs in the main continuity.

Interestingly, even before the decision to canonize Star Trek: The Animated Series in 2010, the franchise's sprawling fan base had already adopted the show as part of the main universe, regardless of what Paramount's stance was on the matter. Because there's no narrative reason to believe that The Animated Series can sit perfectly alongside other Star Trek shows, it's a pretty harmless assumption to make.

Star Trek: Lower Decks contains several references to specific events in Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Even after Star Trek: The Animated Series was officially canonized, it took a while for other corners of the saga to start acknowledging its existence. When the decision was made in 2010, there were no Star Trek shows in active production, so it took until Star Trek: Discovery's debut in 2017 for the integration to properly begin. The biggest move Discovery made was the casting of Adrian Holmes as Captain Robert April - a character who debuted in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Similarly, Star Trek: Lower Decks contains several references to specific events in Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Star Trek Canon Has Changed A Lot Since The Animated Series

Star Trek has become a multimedia saga of epic proportions

Questions similar to those raised about Star Trek: The Animated Series' canon status haven't gone anywhere since the 1970s. In fact, the exponential growth of the franchise that's happened since has resulted in more and more confusion about what is canon and what isn't. Star Trek has moved far beyond just being a screen-based franchise now. There are countless books, comics, podcasts, and other forms of media that could arguably be set within the same continuity. However, the easiest rule to is that the movies and TV shows are prioritized over everything else.

Just as Star Trek: The Animated Series was made to sit in the main canon, officially or otherwise, other Star Trek stories away from the TV shows and movies have since adopted a similar framework. The writers of these ancillary stories will almost always take into the franchise's canonical landmarks, lore, and backstory, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're part of the main continuity. That being said, if one of the screen-based installments directly references one of those offscreen narratives, then it's pulled into the main Star Trek canon.

All Star Trek Animated Series Are Canon

Animation as a medium is equal to live-action in Star Trek

Star Trek: The Animated Series initially seemed separate from Star Trek: The Original Series, due in no small part to the fact the former was animated, and the latter was not. The franchise has since learned from its mistakes. For example, Star Trek: Lower Decks very quickly made it clear it was no less canonical than its live-action counterparts. The biggest piece of evidence to this is when the two of the show's animated characters crossed over into live-action to interact with Anson Mount's Captain Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2, episode 7, "Those Old Scientists."

Similarly, Star Trek: Prodigy is an original show, but it's also essentially a legacy sequel to Star Trek: Voyager. Although it's also a standalone story, Star Trek: Prodigy makes many direct references to Star Trek: Voyager episodes, and even folds in and continues certain storylines from the Kate Mulgrew-led show. At the same time, of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast also reprise their roles in Star Trek: Prodigy and the same is true for their comebacks in Star Trek: Lower Decks. So, the animated Star Trek installments are every inch as canonical as its live-action ones.