Summary

• Star Trek's animated series are now officially considered part of the canon, as confirmed by the crossover episode in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• Animation allows Star Trek to push the boundaries of what live-action can achieve, continuing stories and exploring different eras without the limitations of aging actors.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks is a humorous homage to The Next Generation and The Original Series, offering a fresh perspective by showcasing the experiences of less celebrated Starfleet officers.

There will be a long wait for the resolution to Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2 cliffhanger, so there's no better time to watch Star Trek's animated shows. With months to go before Star Trek: Discovery season 5 premieres, and possibly a year or more until Strange New Worlds season 3, it's the perfect time to catch up on animated Trek. Animated Star Trek shows have sometimes been considered lesser than their live-action counterparts. This is mostly down to the poor reputation of Star Trek: The Animated Series, which creator Gene Roddenberry once tried to have removed from the official Trek canon.

While animation is now a key part of the modern Star Trek franchise, it hasn't been able to completely escape this low-status perception. For example, it's hard to imagine Paramount+ purging Star Trek: Prodigy from the service if it had been a live-action sequel to Star Trek: Voyager. The outpouring of love for Prodigy has been a promising sign that Star Trek fans do see the animated series as part of the official Trek canon, despite Roddenberry's past reservations. However, the low viewing figures were still enough to convince Paramount+ to cancel Prodigy, suggesting that a larger reappraisal of animated Star Trek is long overdue.

Star Trek’s Animated Series Are Canon

If there was ever any doubt whether the animated series were canon, then Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' crossover episode finally put them to rest. As Ensigns Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) interacted with the Strange New Worlds cast in live-action, Star Trek confirmed that animation is merely a medium with which to tell Star Trek stories. Live-action and animation take place in the same universe, it's just that some shows look different from others. Strange New Worlds looks more cinematic than Star Trek: The Original Series because it's a stylistic choice by the show's creators. The same is, therefore, true of the use of animation in both Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy.

Ever since Star Trek: The Animated Series, animation has been a medium with which to push the boundaries of what live-action Trek can achieve. The harsh realities of the aging process mean that a Star Trek: Voyager sequel set 5 years after the finale would be impossible to achieve with live-action. Star Trek: Prodigy's use of animation allows the story of the Voyager crew to continue in canon, without having to skip decades worth of character growth and development. The same goes for Star Trek: Lower Decks, which brilliantly uses animation to bridge the gap between the Rick Berman and Alex Kurtzman eras of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Is A Funny & Loving Homage To TNG & TOS

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an affectionate and often irreverent homage to all eras of the franchise, set aboard a starship a few rungs below the usual status of Starfleet hero ships. The California-class USS Cerritos is regularly assigned Second missions to maintain the diplomatic relations established by Starfleet legends like Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). This allows Lower Decks to put a completely new slant on the Star Trek universe, as it hilariously depicts the experiences of Starfleet's less celebrated officers and the impossible standards they have to live up to.

As with Star Trek: Prodigy, the animation style of Star Trek: Lower Decks allows it to pick up where the TNG era left off. Multiple Star Trek legacy characters guest star in Lower Decks, so, for example, viewers can get a glimpse of Captain William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) in full flow as the commanding officer of the USS Titan. Star Trek: Picard used de-aging technology to try and revisit this same period, but Lower Decks has proved that, sometimes, it's more effective to lovingly and evocatively render these characters in their animated form.

Star Trek: Prodigy Has Everything Great About The Trek Franchise

The premise of Star Trek: Prodigy - a disparate group of aliens learning about Starfleet and aspiring to its ranks - makes the show a real celebration of the franchise. From the outside, the show could appear like a Star Trek primer for younger audiences with nothing to entice dyed-in-the-wool fans. However, Prodigy combines the classic Star Trek elements of episodic exploration with modern Trek's more arc-focused, long-form storytelling. The end result is a truly excellent Star Trek show that should appeal to old-school Trek fans and their very own next generation. Although Star Trek: Prodigy is no longer available on Paramount+, season 1 can be purchased on Blu-ray and to stream on Prime Video.

Across Star Trek: Prodigy season 1's 20 episodes, Dal R'El (Brett Gray) and the crew of the USS Protostar have encountered strange new worlds and successfully faced off against Starfleet's next great foe, the Vau N'Akat. Prodigy season 1 put their own spin on classic Star Trek set-ups with aplomb, from time travel stories to body swap comedy to holodecks gone wrong. Prodigy stays true to everything that makes Star Trek great but reimagines the franchise for a brand-new audience. Skeptical fans should see past the animated styles of Star Trek: Prodigy and Star Trek: Lower Decks because they're treasure troves of new and exciting Starfleet stories, perfect to fill the gaps left by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' season 2's cliffhanger ending.