Harold H. Sutherland (1 July 1929 – 16 January 2014; age 84) directed the sixteen episodes of Season 1 of Star Trek: The Animated Series. Sutherland's name also appears in the closing credits of each episode of Season 2, however Filmation used stock closing credit sequences. Bill Reed was the director for Season 2 as stated in the episode title page at the beginning of each episode. Sutherland was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1929. [1] [2]
Sutherland's son, Keith Sutherland, was the voice of Sepek in the episode "Yesteryear".
NBC's decision for Filmation to be the studio that would produce the animated Star Trek was somewhat daunting for Hal Sutherland. "[It] was quite an honor, and scared the devil out of me a little bit," he recalled, with a laugh. Sutherland found that the actual production of the show was likewise a mixed experience, later saying of the series, "It was really different and it was a pleasure to work on, but frightening at the same time because you really didn't wanna do a lesser job than the public might expect." ("Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series", TAS DVD)
Hal Sutherland had a kind of color blindness that is often cited as contributing to various color issues in the series, such as in "The Slaver Weapon", which features the pink-colored craft Traitor's Claw, and in "More Tribbles, More Troubles", in which the tribbles are also pink. ("Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series", TAS DVD) However, storyboard artist/character designer Bob Kline laid the blame on color director Irvin Kaplan. "Pink equals Irv Kaplan," shared Kline... "Irv was in charge of ink and paint, coloring the various characters and props (and he would do it himself in his office, he would sit down with a cel and paint it). He was also referred to by many people there as the purple and green guy. You'll see it in a lot of scenes, purple and green used together – that was one of his preferences. He made dragons red, the Kzintis' costumes pink. It was all Irv Kaplan's call. He wasn't listening to anyone else when he picked colors or anything." ("Star Trek: The Official Guide to the Animated Series", p. 26.)
Ultimately, Hal Sutherland was pleasantly surprised by NBC's elation with the series. "I remember getting a personal letter from them saying how wonderful the show looked and how happy they were at the results. I'd never heard anything like that in all the years we'd been in business, 20 odd years," concluded Sutherland, laughing. ("Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series", TAS DVD)
After his work on The Animated Series, Sutherland continued directing episodes of other Filmation shows well into the following decade. He also directed a number of theatrically released films for the company, including Journey Back to Oz (1972), Treasure Island (1973), Oliver Twist (1974, with the voice of Jane Webb), and Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987, with the voice of William Windom).
Sutherland passed away on 16 January 2014 due to complications from a gallbladder issue. [3] [4] [5]