Thundercats (2011) review

We continue with the lovely world of reboots, remember with RoboCop how fantastic the 80s apparently where?

Well, the Thundercats was one of those ubercartoons from when I was younger.  Consisting of 130 episodes of (in hindsight, not always) epic greatness, and without a doubt one of the BEST cartoon intro`s ever.



Which I still tend to use as a ringtone...

Back in 2011, thus it came to be that the series would be reinvigorated, and like all the 80s cartoons where actually large Mattel toy commercials, came with it`s own toyline.

But there where changes to the source material.  The Thundercats where no longer a ruling race facing the evil Mum-Ra, they became a group of exiles, and had a couple new additions to the roster over the course of the season.

Here are the core teams biggest changes in my opinion:

Lion-O went from wise prince and ruler to insecure youngling having to learn to take the grips with his destiny.

Tigra no longer was the strategist on the battlefield, but more a politician and strategist outside the field.

Panthera went from wise sensei like engineer to battle scarred veteran

Cheetara went from bodyguard and scout to more of a clerical and divine character, but remained Lion`Os love intrest none the less.

But not all changed, Mum-Ra remains an ugly bad-ass, and Williekit and WillieCat are still so damn annoying you want to smash your television in...

The series is gorgeously drawn, and was actually received really highly.  At 26 episodes, the first season gave us a nice amount of character development and all and scored high viewer ratings, even going as far as those that have seen both series, recommending the new one to the old-schoolers sticking with their 1985 series to definitly have a look.

And then it got cancelled...

No-one really knows why, but it definitly is a great loss considering both the quality in design and story.  And then one has to look at the junk on Nickolodeon and such, and wonders why nowadays the kids need a `do not try this at home` warning when Willie E Coyote makes another rocket bike...