The ThunderCats that wasn’t meant to beĪnd that’s not a bad idea. ThunderCats Roar, being more comedic and light-hearted in the veins of Teen Titans Go! (incidentally a runaway success for Cartoon Network), feels almost like a natural next step. ThunderCats (2011) may be ahead of its time, but I feel that any chance of a serious reboot has long slipped from the paws of our glam-rock inspired felines. Despite critical praise, however, it was ultimately cancelled after one season. It’s a coming-of-age tale of a prince seeking out allies, coming to terms with his responsibilities and reclaiming his rightful place. This reboot, which anime-fies the characters (animation was done by renowned Japanese animation Studio 4☌) and reinvents the premise, now sees a teenage Lion-O being deposed by Mumm-Ra and forced into hiding. It also has the most kickass intro sequence of any 80s cartoon show.įans clamouring for a grittier, more serious revamp actually got an answer in 2011. The show has no qualms entering WTF territories, but it’s mostly episodic fun with a side of cheesiness. This usually brings his closest allies to the fore, which includes the super-fast Cheetara, the level-headed Tygra, the brains-with-brawns Panthro, resident troublemakers (and child avatars) WilyKit and WilyKat, and annoying team pet Snarf. Leading the pack (pride?) is Lion-O, the young prince of Thundera who wields the mystical Sword of Omens, which grants him a host of powers not limited to allowing him to see far distances (“Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight!”) and summoning his pals via the iconic chant of “Thunder, Thunder, THUNDER, ThunderCats! Ho!” The series chronicles their adventures in Third Earth, the planet they crash-landed in, meeting allies and enemies alike while battling the machinations of the evil Mumm-Ra, the series’ main villain. The story centres on the sole feline-themed survivors of the doomed plant of Thundera. For those that didn’t become a slave to 80s and 90s TV, ThunderCats is an animated show with characters created by Tobin “Ted” Wolf that ran from 1985 to 1989. The potential new paths that reboots can take are often more meaningful to me than ‘protecting’ my childhood (I’m still not entirely sure that childhoods can be ruined, unless you have a specifically-pimped DeLorean to go back in time). By shackling them to the original, we may miss out on the ways reboots can re-contextualise the original. I believe that kids’ shows ought to be kids’ shows in the ways that they want. I’m in the camp that believes reboots can be their own things, for their own audiences. So I get the disappointment, even if it strangely eludes me. We want reboots to fix old grievances and elevate the good bits. Nostalgia demands to be placated, while any new sensibilities we cultured over the years into adulthood too needs to be satiated. We project high hopes and our own long-incubated visions on any new incarnation of a show. Even She-Ra, which is now among the most celebrated children’s shows on Netflix, had its fair share of lurid haters. ![]() Then again, I can’t think of a single reboot of a classic something that didn’t get vitriol of any kind. ![]() Reactions were polarising when ThunderCats Roar was announced in 2018.
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