Is It Still Good!? is a column measuring the continuing cultural strength of past animated products in the present. We use the mathematical formula (Force = Mass x Acceleration) as our model, where (Is It Still Good!? = Product x Decay Over Time, or, DOT). It is a proven model. Trust us. We’re the experts.
It’s been more three decades since ThunderCats first graced our screens, and in the year of our lord 2019, I decided to dive into the three-season series to see if it still holds up today. While there are certainly aspects that haven’t aged beautifully, consider this my formal pitch for a ThunderCats film franchise à la Marvel or DC.
The Show
Thundercats (1985-1989)
The Creators
Leonard Starr and Stephen Perry (creators); Katsuhito Akiyama, Arthur Rankin, Jr., and Jules Bass (directors)
The Logline
“A team of humanoid cats fight evil in their adopted home world.”
The Product
ThunderCats is your typical superhero series in so many ways, right down to a few signature inconsistencies and bizarre plotlines. A quick summary: The characters are strange, cat-human creatures that exclusively fight “mutants” (which are demonized for being animal-human hybrids, even though a ThunderCat is technically an animal-human hybrid, but sure, OK) and Mumm-Ra, a mummy demon who has been summoned to destroy the ThunderCats.
The first episode of ThunderCats kicks off with elder ThunderCat Jaga — once considered the Lord of the Thundercats and renowned for his formidable fighting skills — escorting the ThunderCats into capsules as they leave from Thundera to travel light years to reach Third Earth. Tragically, Jaga passes away from old age during the journey, while Lion-O enters the capsule as a young ThunderKitten and emerges as an adult ThunderCat. All other ThunderCats accept Lion-O as their leader, and he takes the Sword of Omens to rule the pack, using Sight Beyond Sight to see when enemies are near and when other pack-members are in trouble. (Usually, it’s Snarf who’s in trouble.)
That’s how the show starts. Come on, studio execs, get on board.
Decay Over Time
There are aspects that didn’t age so well, of course: The stiff animation style means the characters lack the ability to express and often deliver lines in a monotone way. And, as is so often the case with ’80s shows, certain plotlines that were likely fine at the time are questionable in 2019 (such as Safari Joe, “formidable big game hunter” who quite literally tries to poach the ThunderCats again…and again…and again).
All that said, I could actually see this series being turned into a Marvel/DC-type film franchise. Because, honestly, why not? There are so many strange comic book characters who have gotten their own film franchises — if Ant-Man gets the Paul Rudd treatment, why not ThunderCats? — and the dated qualities of the show could easily get cleaned up via a modern treatment.
But even if ThunderCats doesn’t get the franchise it dearly deserves, ThunderCats Roar, developed by Victor Courtright and Marly Halpern-Graser, will premiere on Cartoon Network in spring 2019. So far, it hasn’t exactly received uproarious approval from devoted fans, as the series is making a switch to irreverent comedy and has a different animation style. (Its anime-style 2011 reboot wasn’t exactly beloved, either.) But hey, maybe 2019 is the year for the ThunderCats. Snarf, snarf.
Is It Still Good!?
Good enough for a new film franchise. We’re waiting, Hollywood.
Thundercats art by Eric Ninaltowski.
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