Thundercats

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 23rd, 2006, 3:16 pm

WB is making a new animated Thundercats show....(yes, the '80s lives!)

(link gotten from Animation Nation)

http://www.aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=24232

Mumra's going to be re-designed, with wings. In their off time the Thundercats play in a rock band.... (not kidding)

I think I'm just gonna forget I ever read this....

Post by **eddievalient** » August 26th, 2006, 5:52 pm

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 27th, 2006, 12:42 pm

Plus, Snarf is now their leader!

The animation will be re-designed in an psudo-Anime Teen Titans style.

(I know this sounds horrendous, and it is, but it's kind of funny too because the original show was also somewhat inspired by Japanese animation, but only slightly.)

Post by **droosan** » August 28th, 2006, 5:11 am

I really don't understand the widespread 'outrage' that this THUNDERCATS re-vamp news generates (not just here, but on animation websites across the internet) ..

After all, there have been a dozen different 'takes' on Batman in the last 16 years, and no one so much as bats an eyelash ..

Post by **Ben** » August 28th, 2006, 10:35 pm

Well, they do...but the changes are not usuallt this drastic!

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 29th, 2006, 12:24 pm

I really don't understand the widespread 'outrage' that this THUNDERCATS re-vamp news generates (not just here, but on animation websites across the internet) ..

Also many people are upset because the Thundercats was a special part of their childhood--it was VERY popular in the 80s with lots of kids. (Batman has been around for decades) Cartoons are so radically different nowadays that Thundercats holds a special place in many people's hearts, even though it might not have been a "perfect" series.

(there was also a much more limited choice of cartoons and TV in general back then, so everyone watched Thundercats--EVERYONE.)

Toys were also the dominent thing in the 80's (compared to digital media nowadays) particularly TV tie-in characters. Practically every show was either designed after a toy or designed to spawn a new line of toys...so many people remember the toys as well as the shows....and people can be very sentimental about their toys, as we well know.

Post by **droosan** » August 29th, 2006, 4:29 pm

Heck, I was in my late-teens at the time, and I watched THUNDERCATS ..

It was a pretty good show, for what it was (which, as you noted, was an extended toy commercial).

But, to my mind, there is always room for more than one way to tell a story. And some of those ways are bound to be 'better' than others, or at least more 'accepted' than others.

And WB is no stranger to doing this with their own characters; besides Batman, they have 're-imagined' their Looney Tunes stable several times -- some more successful than others; TINY TOON ADVENTURES being one of the 'accepted' examples, and BABY LOONEY TUNES and LOONATICS -- not so much.

-----------

The new THUNDERCATS is not setting out to 'replace' the old THUNDERCATS show -- after all, the old show is now widely available in complete season DVD sets (something unthinkable only a few short years ago).

The new THUNDERCATS is setting out to be for the kids of today what the old THUNDERCATS was to the kids of the 1980's. And this new 'take' will be 'their' version of the show. Whether it gets 'remembered' fondly as part of their childhood is kind of up to them.

-----------

Funny you should mention anime above, ShyViolet, because the japanese are rather (in)famous for 're-imagining' their most popular anime shows, every generation or so; ASTROBOY, GIGANTOR, GATCHAMAN, SPEED RACER, YAMATO, and many others, have all had multiple incarnations -- some of which were 'faithful' to the original, and some which were drastically different .. and all of which had varying degrees of success 'connecting' with the kids at the time they'd aired.

-----------

Just my 2¢ ..

Post by **ShyViolet** » August 29th, 2006, 8:29 pm

I get your points,

, and I do think a "re-imagining" can be fun as long as there is respect for the source material. (like in Tiny Toons, which was true to the zany Warner Bros type slapstick--Anamaniacs even more so) I'm sorry, but the Thundercats playing in a rock band sure doesn't sound like a whole lot of respect for that show!

Funny you should mention anime above, ShyViolet, because the japanese are rather (in)famous for 're-imagining' their most popular anime shows, every generation or so; ASTROBOY, GIGANTOR, GATCHAMAN, SPEED RACER, YAMATO, and many others, have all had multiple incarnations -- some of which were 'faithful' to the original, and some which were drastically different .

Oh wow, I didn't know that. Maybe they do it better than Americans do.

I just know that shows like Extreme Ghostbusters and X-Men evolution have not been very well received by fans of the original....and they don't seem terribly popular with today's kids, either--although I could be wrong.

Funny thing about Thundercats though--in some (or many) ways it was a rip-off of Star Wars, as Lion-O and his "Sword of Omens" was very similar to Luke and his light sabre; Jaga's etheral visits to Lion-O during his times of need (and Jaga's ghostly form) directly echo Obi-Wan's conversations with Luke...Jaga even has the same beard as Obi.

And oh right, who could forget the Ewoks, uh...I mean the Burbles!

BTW, despite often being not terribly creative, 80's shows had the distinction of airing during a conservative age when the FCC kept a much closer eye on children's cartoons. Many of the cartoons of that time emphasized group action, problem solving, and triumph over difficullties with a linear plot structure. (Some, like Thundercats, had actual child psychologists on the writing staff.)

Maybe they weren't as "unique" as today's cartoons, but at least there was a sense of comfort and safety associated with them. Many of today's cartoon shows are so full of quick cuts, non-sequiters, references, quips, and gags that's a wonder that children today don't have a nervous breakdown from watching them.

GeorgeC · Post by **GeorgeC** » August 30th, 2006, 10:51 pm

Ya know, frankly the original Thundercats series was never that great TO BEGIN WITH! I saw it, too, when it was originally broadcast and even then I knew it wasn't a great show. (At least IMHO.)

The other thing is that the original Thundercats is available to buy now on DVD. You can get the whole thing if you want. You DON'T have to watch the new version if you don't want to.

My own displeasure with the "The Batman" animated series is well-documented but frankly it's not worth writing more about it. The Batman series that I DO like, the 1990s Bruce Timm/Alan Burnett/Paul Dini/Michael Reeves et al version, is available on DVD and I can watch it whenever I want to my heart's content.

(Besides, in my heart of hearts, I know which Batman series people are still going to be talking about 20 years from now. It sure ain't "The Batman.")

Whining about this stuff on the Internet is not going to stop companies from producing this shlock. Just don't watch the show if you don't like it.

The only things W-B and Disney care about are the money they can make off these shows and the ratings. If the $$$ and Neilsens don't show up, they know something's up. The rantings of a couple of animation fans don't add up to a hill of beans as far as these guys are concerned.

Post by **ShyViolet** » September 5th, 2006, 12:47 am

They better not mess with Wily-Kit and Wily-Kat.

Post by **ShyViolet** » September 5th, 2006, 9:49 pm

(Besides, in my heart of hearts, I know which Batman series people are still going to be talking about 20 years from now. It sure ain't "The Batman.")

I know...but there are probably plenty of kids who watch "The Batman" and don't even know there WAS another series. IMO that's just disrespectful (on the part of the network) to the entire legacy of Batman, both as a film, cartoon and comic book.

Thundercats wasn't GREAT.... but like I said, it was special to a lot of people....Thundercats 4:30 every day.....on what would eventually be FOX!

(at the time it was still WNYW) It's pretty sacred to a lot of people, like Howdy Doody or I Love Lucy is to Baby Boomers.

That's kinda why so many people (I realize not everyone) are mad at George Lucas...because the prequels basically p*** all over their memories--Luke taking off Anakin's mask, Yoda, old and wizened (not a Ninja Turtle!), Han shooting first, well, because that's Han!

Instead we got a bada** Yoda, Luke and Leia's mother as Elektra, and the terrifying Darth Vadar reduced to a Hanson reject. Maybe some people take this stuff too seriously, but....there's a line between re-imagining something and re-hashing it in a way that completely negates the original purpose.

Post by **Hoagiebot** » September 12th, 2006, 6:32 am

I was also a big fan of the original "Thundercats" show while growing up, and am kind of sad to see WB "re-invent" the Thundercats as well. While GeorgeC made a good point that some re-invented shows turn out to be better than the original (I will take the 90's Batman: TAS over any Batman cartoon that came before it), after seeing other recent WB reinventions such as Baby Looney Tunes and What's New Scooby Doo I have a feeling that this show will more likely be terrible than be great. while I know that I don't have to watch the show, at the same time it is never fun to know that the characters from one of your favorite childhood shows is getting slaughtered for some half-baked run at making quick money.

However, since nothing I say here will matter to any of the execs at WB and they'll make the cartoon no matter what I think, I will look at the bright side of this: I will get a new Cheetara to look at! I am a huge catgirl fan and have been adoring characters such as Felicia from Darkstalkers for years, but I never liked the original Cheetara all that much. With her deep voice and her mega muscles she just has too much testosterone in her for my liking. Maybe a reinvented Thundercats will give me a better more feminine Cheetara to oogle at and grace my sketchpads with. With that positive thought in mind, I say "Thundercats! Ho!" *LOL*

Post by **ShyViolet** » September 13th, 2006, 12:36 pm

Interesting! I think on some other board (AICN) or Animation Nation, some guy wrote how he never realized how sexy Cheetarah was as a kid!

Also, with all the "updates" today I can't help wondering how people first felt about:

A Pup Named Scooby Doo

Muppet Babies

Flinstone Kids

The New Archies

Post by **Hoagiebot** » September 14th, 2006, 9:21 am

Interesting! I think on some other board (AICN) or Animation Nation, some guy wrote how he never realized how sexy Cheetarah was as a kid!

That just goes to show you that everyone has their own personal set of tastes when it comes to what they find attractive. While I have drawn a few cheetah-girls of my own over the years, if I had to pick my favorite cheetah girl drawn by somebody else it would probably be Fred Perry's character Britanny Diggers from the Antarctic Press comic book "Gold Digger." You can see two pics of her at the fllowing links:

Cover of "Gold Digger Color Remix #1"

Page 2 of "Gold Digger Volume 2 #66"

Britanny is definitely the kind of catgirl that I like-- athletic but still soft and feminine. Cheetara just goes way too overboard on the muscles for me.

To answer your question about cartoon updates:

A Pup Named Scooby Doo: I loved it when I was a kid, and I still think that it is pretty good now. Fred always accusing Red Herring of every single crime was a great running gag, and I thought that having Shaggy and Scooby dress up as Commander McCool and Mellow Mutt (might have gotten those superhero names wrong) was also pretty hilarious! I thought that a Pup Named Scooby Doo was a great update because the show had a lot of cute charm to it and while it went off in its own direction it kept much of the spirit of the original show.

Muppet Babies: It has been a very long time since I have seen this show, but I loved it as a kid and even used to buy the Muppet Babies comic books at the time. This show was very creative and had great writing. This show was actually entertaining to watch, unlike today's Baby Looney Tunes. In fact, Muppet Babies kicks the ever-loving crap out of Baby Looney Tunes, hands down!

Flinstone Kids: Captain Caveman was O.K., but I didn't care for the rest of the show. However the Flinstone Kids was still better than Baby Looney Tunes.

The New Archies: I haven't seen it, so I can't comment on it. By the way, did I mention that I don't like Baby Looney Tunes?

Since you didn't mention this cartoon, I'll add it in-- I loved the "Real Adventures of Johnny Quest" that came out in the late 90's. I love the original Johnny Quest too (as well as Venture Bros.), but I thought that the reinvented 90's show was great in its own right. One of the villains in that show, Ezekial Rage, was just creepily awesome! His whole backstory of his family getting killed in some Central American country while he was on a CIA mission causing him to go insane was just great! You had to feel for the guy-- his family got blown into bite-sized chunks and his government abandoned him, but at the same time you had to hate him because he kept on trying to bring about the end of the world after he went psycho! A fantastic villain!

Post by **Ben** » September 14th, 2006, 2:31 pm

Not that this is something I really want to expand upon, but I thought Captain Amelia in Treasure Planet was a pretty foxy cat-like creature, especially with those thigh-high boots:
http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0133240/ ... ey=0133240