cosmos1The reboot of the classic TV series Cosmos is currently airing on FOX, which in addition to featuring impressive computer-generated images of the galaxy, also features animated sequences that tell the stories of old scientists and astronomers from history. Yahoo! Movies took a look behind the scenes, revealing that the idea for those scenes came from executive producer Seth MacFarlane (who is obviously best known for his animated comedies Family Guy and American Dad!). The site features an interview with MacFarlane’s animation producing partner, Ann Druyan.  “I didn’t want the characters to be hyper-realistic,” she said.  “It might come across as hokey. I knew that we were going to have transitions between live-action locations into these animated worlds, and that couldn’t be jarring. I didn’t want the viewer to be like, ‘Oh my God, now we’re in some cartoon land.’ So there had to be a way to make semi-seamless transitions and not have them look weird.” Cosmos airs Sundays on Fox and Mondays on National Geographic Channel.