The upper echelon of time travel adventures, Back to the Future tells an incredibly coherent story across three movies. The trilogy's very premise opens the door to more from Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Doctor Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd), and the franchise once folded to that possibility.

The reason why Back to the Future Part IV hasn't happened is that Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale still hold the rights to the franchise. In other words, Universal can't greenlight a BTTF sequel without the approval of the saga's writers and director. Although Zemeckis has expressed interest in directing a live-action adaptation of the movie's stage musical, he and Gale have said time and time again that a hard reboot or a legacy sequel is off the table. That said, they did once dabble with the idea of a BTTF continuation, just away from the big screen.

Back To The Future's Animated Series Is As Good Of A BTTF 3 Sequel As We'll Ever Get

Doc & Marty's adventures resumed in 1991

Although a fourth BTTF movie remains an incredibly slim possibility, Zemeckis and Gale did create an episodic animated project after the trilogy concluded. Back to the Future: The Animated Series ran for two seasons between 1991 and 1992, totaling 26 episodes. It sticks with the same core group of characters, following Doc and Marty through time as they visit eras they never got the chance to explore in the movies.

The Animated Series came hot on the tail of 1990's Back to the Future Part III, implying that Zemeckis and Gale were already preparing for the franchise's future even while the third and final movie was in production. While it's a fun ride, it's largely been forgotten due to the fact that it isn't quite as good as its feature-length counterparts, as well as the matter of it being tricky to find on streaming platforms. Regardless, it's a great salve for those craving more BTTF content.

The Back To The Future Animated Show Actually Captures The Essence Of The Movies

Returning cast helped nail the tone of BTTF

It would be easy to jump to the conclusion that Back to the Future: The Animated Series' short lifespan and lack of reputation mean it was a failure, and struggled to live up to the quality of the movie trilogy. However, it would be unfair to write the show off for these assumptions. Instead, it does a fantastic job of feeling like it's set within the main continuity, creating all the same atmospheres - both comedic and (relatively) dramatic - as the movies. There's no denying it's gimmicky, but so is the trilogy, to an extent.

Although The Simpsons star Dan Castellaneta voices Doc during the animated segments, each episode includes live-action scenes that feature Lloyd as the eccentric scientist.

The Animated Series' authenticity is helped by the return of Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmett Brown. Although The Simpsons star Dan Castellaneta voices Doc during the animated segments, each episode includes live-action scenes that feature Lloyd as the eccentric scientist. Similarly, Thomas F. Wilson comes back to voice Biff Tannen, as well as Biff's various relatives that appear throughout the timeline. Most of the characters have been recast, though.

Don't Worry About Whether The Back To The Future Show Is Canon

It's better to just enjoy The Animated Series as (mostly) its own thing

The Back to the Future movie trilogy is primarily a comedy saga, that just so happens to pay an incredible amount of attention to its sci-fi elements. As such, the time-travel rules are very logical and almost water-tight. They remain foundational in sci-fi today for how groundbreaking they were, and most Back to the Future plot holes can be explained in some way because of the amount of detail provided. The Animated Series isn't quite so meticulous in this respect.

Although The Animated Series is technically set after the events of the movies, its place within the main canon is incredibly nebulous. Even the show's writers have changed their minds through the years about whether it's a standalone project or if it should be treated as a sequel to BTTF 3. Trying too hard to solve this matter will invariably result in less enjoyment of the show, so just watch Back to the Future's animated show and love it for the joy that it brings.