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Thundercats! NO!

2/9/2011

5 Comments

 
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Fed on a diet of high sugar, computer games and cable TV my generation is going through a nostalgic phase. Even Generation X cracked out a bit more originality I'm sure. Though nothing springs to mind just yet.

You would think coming of age at the new millennium would inspire us to look forward, or at least cover everything in silver foil for that futuristic feel. Instead we're delving into our childhood, lounging around asking “hey, anyone remember... Transformers? We should remake that.” This trend of the 80s cartoon reboot had so far left me indifferent. Then you MONSTERS took my Thundercats.

This is supposed to be a review, an informative and balanced review of the new reboot of Thundercats.


But I couldn’t do it. I have it on good authority my first words were “Thundercats, HO!” and I am pretty convinced I am such an upright member of society due to the morals Lion-O et al taught me. (Although credit where credit is due, I think He-man used to really hammer the morals home at the end of all of his episodes too.) I am Team Thundercats as Leonard Starr conceived them (henceforth Team TLSCT). This is not a balanced review.

Let's begin on a positive: the new Thundercats look pretty good. The new hirsuitness? I can get behind that. But I don't think it would have hurt to allow Panthro to keep both his eyes and Jagar's helmet looks a little Third Reichy to me. I like that Cheetara's bosom is just as inconsistently sized in this re-imagining as it was in the original. I don't know if that was part of her Thundercat weaponry alongside her stick or not.

There are a couple of big changes to the original plot. In fact this reboot is pretty dark, there's death and asphyxiation by ice cream. Instead of a planet, Thundera is now a kingdom, with enemy Slythe banished outside with the lizards. Mumm-ra is thought to be a myth and Lion-O is a dreamer who believes there was once such a thing as 'Technology'. I kind of like this plot device, it explains the odd combination of  medieval aesthetic with the high tech that was also popular in the He-man and She-ra cartoons. It isn't too much of a spoiler to reveal the Thundercats find out the hard way that technology and Mumm-ra are real. And Lion-O learns vindication isn't everything when the cost is your kingdom.

So far Team TLSCT is ok with the LIBERTIES taken.

However, Thundercats do not have any kind of desire other than to see Third Earth rid of Mumm-ra and the mutants. Lion-O and Tygra have never looked at Cheetara in that way. Only in this version of Thundercats, they do and it makes me squinky. Another thing, it just isn't Thundercats without: The Thundercats theme tune, Cheetara's running theme tune and Panthro's super funk theme tune.

So go ahead, allow your children to watch the all new Thundercats reboot (I was about to type new generation but we do not speak of that)  but with a mute Snarf in the mix don’t leave it to TV to teach them right from wrong.

Squeamish Kate
5 Comments
Pumpkin
2/9/2011 07:32:57 am

"Snarf Snarf"!!
I can't believe they made him mute...the bastards!!

PS lovin the website xx

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Squeamish Kate link
2/9/2011 09:28:25 pm

Pumpkin, it means there's no voice of reason on the show. Apart from Jaga but he's too elusive to balance it out.

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Gareth
5/9/2011 09:07:52 pm

Snarf was appalling. And to be brutally honest so was the original Thundercats - all it had going for it was a brilliant theme tune and some interesting character designs. Strip away the nostalgia and you've got a 2nd rate advert for a toy line (much like He-Man, right down to the patronising moralising at the end of each episode).

It has dated incredibly badly and really doesn’t stand up to other fondly remembered cartoons from the same era (such as Ulysses 31 or Mysterious Cities of Gold)

I'm loving the new series - the overall story arc is brilliant, managing to make sense of the frankly nonsensical back story of the original and takes what was good from the original and discards everything else. You are left with a far more grown-up series than the original, one that is a lot more coherent and well-rounded.

Lastly, regardless of how you might feel about the constant repackaging of our childhoods surely you have to admit that “Song of the Petalars” is a brilliant, moving episode. Even had I disliked the other episodes I’d feel that this justified the reboot on its own.

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Squeamish Kate link
5/9/2011 09:34:00 pm

Oh, see that episode is the one I disliked the most! I like the others. Also I say the plot line makes more sense in this version.
The upside of Snarf being mute is that the appearance of Snarfer is greatly reduced. I will never forgive that character for going out for a Chinese Takeaway ON THIRD EARTH. Eurgh.

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Gareth
5/9/2011 09:42:36 pm

Ah, see I'd managed to block the existance of Snarfer from my memory. He was an absolutely appalling character who managed to make MaMutt-Ra (or whatever its name was)look like a good addition to the show!

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