Thundercats 2011

Reboots, the word alone makes critics and fans shudder with fear and shit bricks and not without good reason. For every good reboot out there are ten terrible ones. By that token it’s easy to see why anyone would be wary of expecting too much of the new Thundercats reboot. Thankfully the hour long opening episode shatters the worst of those fears.

The plot has been changed significantly from the original series and introduces the reimagined cast of teenage Thundercats. The move from an almost all adult cast to a teen or young adult cast is quite bold but works well here and frees up the writers to play around with the back story. Lion-O and Tygra are recast as foster siblings (the latter being the foster child), Cheetara is recast as a junior cleric and apprentice to Jaga, Wiley Kit and Wiley Kat are street children relying on their wits to survive and finally Snarf is largely now mute (thank Bob) and just Lion-O’s pet rather than the annoying accident prone hostage victim many people will remember.

Some of the cast like Jaga, Claudus (Lion-O’s father), Panthro and the main villains are only seen briefly enough to establish them in and it’s doubtful the first two will be recurring characters unless the writers go down the same path as the original series and have them return as spirits.
The pilot largely just sets up the story arc for the first season. Mumm-ra and his henchmen attack Thundara killing off or enslaving most of the Thundercats in the process while Lion-O and company escape with the Sword of Omens and set out to explore Third Earth in search of the fabled Book of Omen. There is enough left over from the old series for old fans to feel comfortable and see what’s coming - including the famous “Thundercats ho!” and Mumm-ra’s transformation incantation - but just enough changed that it doesn’t feel like a complete retread.

The sound production overall and particularly the voice acting is top notch and includes Larry Kenny who voiced Lion-O in the 1980s series returning to voice his father Claudus this time around while Will Friedle (Batman Beyond and Kim Possible) takes over duties for Lion-O. The rest of the cast reads like a who’s who of great voice actors from animation and video games stretching back over the last forty years. The only notable exception being Emmanuelle Chriqui best known for her role as Sloan in Entourage appearing as Cheetara in her first animated role.
Sadly there’s no theme song in the pilot episode so we’ll just have to wait and see if the team have come up with something to match that iconic 80s theme song.

The character designs and art are well done and update the costumes quite nicely and no doubt you’ll be seeing more than a few of the new outfits at Comic Con in San Diego later this year. Sadly the art is let down slightly by the animation which at times feels a bit rushed and jerky at times and silky smooth at others but given that that a lot of this was probably due to budget constraints with the pilot hopefully it will improve in the coming episodes.

Where the show truly succeeds is updating the setting and story enough that it remains fresh for older viewers many of whom will have grown up as fans of the original and old enough to have children of their own now and might be discerning about how much and what they let their children watch. Even the hardened cynic who knows it’s just a marketing tool for the toy company will find it hard to resist saying to little Jimmy “Hey son Thundercats is on do you want to watch it?” for themselves as much as the kid. Unlike the spate of Transformers reboots which have been massively hit and miss and arguably none of which have managed to truly capture the spirit of the original. Also finally it’s a cartoon that older geeks don’t have to be ashamed to admit they watch *cough*friendshipismagic*cough*