35 years ago, the most iconic time travel trilogy got a sequel that no one remembers.

Cultural significance Back to the Future is indisputable. Not only did the classic 1985 film completely change the way we talk about time travel stories, but the movie trilogy somehow became one of the most unique sci-fi trilogies of all time—so perfect that it strangely escaped spin-offs, remakes, and reboots.

That is, except for one very specific strange case. In 1991, just a year after its release Back to the Future Part IIIanimated series continuation called Back to the Future hit CBS, which chronicled the further adventures of Doc Brown, Clara Clayton, Marty McFly, and Jules and Verne Brown, Doc and Clara’s sons glimpsed at the end of the series. Part III. Was this show good? Well, the answer to this question is qualified Nobut it’s not for lack of trying.

Thirty-five years after its debut in 1991, Back to the Future The series is probably best known for the first on-screen (and wordless) appearances of Bill Nye, who appeared in science lesson segments at the end of various episodes as Doc Brown’s assistant. And yet, in combination with beloved nature Back to the Future movies and the cult status of many 1990s TV shows, we still collectively don’t care Back to the Future cartoon. But why?

The answer may be a little surprising, but it probably comes down to one strange reason: the show chose the wrong main characters.

Marty McFly isn’t really the main character. Back to the Future series

Although Marty McFly definitely appears in most episodes of the series. Back to the Futureit’s hard to say that he is a participant in the show. Instead, Marty (voiced by David Kaufman) is relegated to a quirky ensemble of characters, none of whom would make a great cast for a children’s animated series. Unlike, say, The Real Ghostbusters in 1986, which could have easily turned the line-up of tough guys into a super team for a kids’ show, Back to the future as an animated series, it struggled to figure out how the found family dynamic would work in an episodic format.

Result? Most of the episodes deal with time paradoxes caused by the little boys, Jules and Verne, or Doc being more than a little incompetent. And when Marty is the central character, he tends to be a little more aloof than his cinematic counterpart, and lacks much of the wit he had in the films. In short, Marty Herebut he’s no Marty from the films, and he often feels like an afterthought.

Back to the Future TV Show – Bizarre Conclusion of Tones

While screenwriters John Loy and John Ludin do the hard work of translating the films’ paradoxes into bite-sized episodes that span the entire known history, they, like all the show’s other creative minds, are stuck with characters that don’t really work as weekly characters, in part because there are too many of them. Plus these people No a team on a mission, but rather a sitcom family in trouble.

This version Back to the Future this is one part DuckTalesPart Family tiesand part Time tunnel. And as crazy as the time travel adventures are, almost no one is having fun, and often the silly 90s cartoon vibe doesn’t mesh with the actual theme.

Case in point: the first episode is shockingly bleak, with Jules and Verne transported back in time and on opposite sides of the Civil War. Biff Tanen’s ancestor is a Confederate officer (because, of course), but even that is oddly depressing since the entire episode seems to strangely ignore the Civil War and mostly rely on a joke about Doc being able to use an electromagnetic device to take everyone’s guns away.

Here, Doc Brown’s time traveling abilities are the opposite of his more troubled attitude from the films: Doc gleefully goes back in time in almost every episode and risks causing all sorts of paradoxes and timeline changes, especially if he wants to save his family.

All this, of course, is good, and there is no need either then or now to film animation. Back to the Future this is all serious. And yet, given that other children’s animated series – from The Real Ghostbusters in the 1980s to My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic in the 2010s – managed to create great time travel stories, it’s a little strange that Back to the Futurethe greatest time travel franchise ever, didn’t.

Although the animation aspects Back to the Future fascinating when you return to this show, 35 years later, it is easy to understand how it was erased from history, like a disappearing man in a photograph.

Back to the Future: The Animated Series Available for rent on Apple TV, Prime Video and other platforms.