While Star Trek: Lower Decks has proven that great Trek can come in animated form, its predecessor, Star Trek: The Animated Series, has lived in the shadows for generations. However, that’s changing, as the franchise is going all out for the 50th anniversary celebration of TAS by premiering Star Trek: very Short Treks.
You can see the teaser for Star Trek: very Short Treks below. As noted by Gizmodo, the animations, which are billed as promotional materials, will launch on the Star Trek YouTube channel on Sept. 8. There will be five new shorts in total, and they’ll feature actors from throughout the franchise’s history.
The weekly very Short Treks take their title inspiration from the Star Trek: Short Treks done in between seasons of Star Trek: Discovery, which delivered some of the only truly great Trek that show has offered. The teaser trailer for the very Short Treks plays with the campy and sometimes budget feeling of the animated series is canon and what isn’t. We get a plethora of glimpses of a wide variety of well-known Trek characters animated into the style of TAS. Already confirmed to be featured in the series are Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Ethan Phillips as Neelix, Doug Jones as Saru, Armin Shimerman as Quark, Ethan Peck as Spock, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Celia Rose Gooding as Uhura, Connor Trinneer as Trip Tucker, Bruce Horak as Hemmer, Noël Wells as Tendi, and George Takei as Sulu.