10 Things You Never Knew About Star Trek: The Animated Series

9. Leonard Nimoy To The Rescue

As was synonymous with Star Trek at this point, the budget played a part in this new series. Filmation wanted to keep their costs down so when casting the show, the character of Chekov would be dropped completely (more on that later).

On top of that, the characters of Uhura and Sulu would be there, but be voiced by different actors to the Original Series. The plan was that James Doohan would perform the voice of Sulu, with Majel Barrett performing the voice of Uhura. But when the cast met for the first time in preparation for the show, Leonard Nimoy queried where Nichelle Nichols and George Takei were.

When he was informed that they would not be returning, it did not sit well with Nimoy. Believing that the characters of Uhura and Sulu represented diversity in the Star Trek Universe, and this being one of its strengths, he informed producers that unless Nichelle and George were brought back to perform the roles, they wouldn’t have Spock back either.

The producers blinked first and brought the originals back. And this would not be the only time Leonard Nimoy would take a stand in defence of Star Trek and what it represents.