Did Star Trek: Strange New Worlds confirm that The Animated Series isn't canon?

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has done a lot right for the world of Star Trek. They've brought back the stellar, old-school style storytelling that made us all fans of the franchise, while simultaneously finishing the story of Captain Christopher Pike, which was started in the mid-1960s when the series first shot its pilot. Not only that, but it's added layers to Nurse Chapel, Doctor M'Banga, as well as the Vulcans, Gorn, and Pike's number one, Una Chin-Riley.

What it may have done as well, is change canon forever. We know that the involvement of the Gorn make for some murky situations now in the Original Series, but one of the things the franchise may have done is unilaterally erase Star Trek: The Animated Series from canon.

The Animated Series, which came out right after the original series, is one of the few shows that gets no real love from the Trek fandom. It's often maligned, as most cartoons of its era were and many don't even consider it canon. In fact, there are debates that rage to today about whether the show is in fact canon. Strange New Worlds have borrowed elements from the series, but not enough that you can say the cartoon is canon.

In fact, its introduction of Captain April in the first episode of its series all but confirmed that the Animated Series is not canon. In Strange New Worlds, Captain April is played by Adrian Holmes. If you didn't know this, Holmes was in his late 40s when he shot Strange New Worlds and black. The original depiction of April was much older, probably in the late 50s if not 60s, white, and had white hair. Holmes has no hair, save for a beard.

The change in appearance all but confirms that Strange New Worlds is ignoring the canon of the animated series. While the show may pull elements from the cartoon and other non-canon entities, their dececsion to ignore the previous design of Captain April shows us that Strange New Worlds, much like the rest of the franchise, doesn't recognize the first Star Trek animated series as something to prop up and respect.

The move to bring in Holmes as the new Captain April is an inspired one, as he's gotten tremendous praise for his portrayal of Uncle Phil on the Prince of Bel-Air remake, entitled just "Bel Air".

While many may complain about some of the newer entrees into the Star Trek canon, maybe the bane of our existence to this day is the woeful Animated Series, and if Strange New Worlds wants to find new ways to bury that ugly cartoon then we're all for it.