Thundarr il Barbaro

OK what do you get if you cross Conan the Barbarian with Star Wars with the end of the world? Thundarr the Barbarian, that's what. OK, so like... guys come on. This show was like the most awesome concept of it's time if not of the last thirty years. So what if it had to be sold as Saturday morning tripe for eight year olds... IT ROCKED and still does. I was only like three or four years old when I saw this show for the first time and I remember watching it religiously. My Saturday mornings were not complete if I did not get to see Thundarr kick some butt. I am just now getting around to re-collecting (ie downloading) shows. The owner's are kinda of dumb not to release it on DVD... they would absolutely make a lot of money. More over... they should re-create the show and get the franchise rolling. Thundarr will be just as good in near-apocalyptic 2005 as it was in near-apocalyptic 1980. Well, they might have to change the cataclysm from 1994 to like a later date... but I'm sure they they can figure it out in another time traveling episode or something. And if not that.. movie rights guys? Hello... every comic book and lame super hero is being turned into a live action film these days...

Honestly, one of my favorite saturday morning cartoon shows from the early 80's. This Kirby-spawn only lasted 2 seasons... perhaps because of the fact that Thundarr often referred to his ally the sorcereress Ariel as simply "woman"... oddly enough, more often than not Ariel was the sole member of the group who saved their buns from the fire. Lots of great dialog. Possibly inspired by the role-playing game "Gamma World" (which is, sadly now out of print)... Basically when you are 11 years old and a post-apocalyptic barbarian with a lightsaber (read as "Sun Sword") and a cool Chewbacca substitute named "Ookla the Mok" show up on a Saturday morning world of Smurfs and Superfriends you think this is really cool!

The year 1980, from out of the void of Saturday morning tv comes a runaway show, hurtling between the Superfriends and the latest Scooby Doo revamp. It's a show of savagery, super science, and sorcery. But this show burst its bonds to fight for freedom. With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage and his fabulous Sun Sword against the forces of boring cartoons. He is Thundarr the Barbarian!

Thundarr was the greatest adventure cartoon of its day. Combining great characters with an imaginative setting and incorporating designs from such masters as Alex Toth and Jack Kirby, it transcended the usual Saturday morning fare. It boasted writing from comic book greats Steve Gerber and Martin Pasko, and direction from Doug Wildey, creator of Jonny Quest. The only strike against it was the strict guidelines from network censors tended to hamstring the action; but, the creators found interesting ways to deal with the handicap.

Thundarr is the big dumb barbarian who punches first and asks questions later. Ookla is the leonine biped who growls and smashes things. Ariel is the Asian sorceress with a knowledge of the lost past and is the voice of wisdom and reason.

The world is a post-cataclysmic Earth, with long dead cities and devastated lands. It is populated by humans, mutants and evil sorcerers/scientists. There are giant, savage beasts and monstrous war machines. What's not to like?

The late 70's/early 80's cartoon adventure shows were a pretty tame lot. The Superfriends had moments, particularly Challenge of the Superfriends, and Filmation's Tarzan and Batman shows were pretty entertaining; but nothing could hold a candle to Thundarr. It was so imaginative and so much fun you had to watch it. Sure it borrowed/stole from every sci-fi idea under the sun, but so did Star Wars and other works of print and celluloid sci-fi. There are no original stories; just retellings. Yes, the Sun Sword looked like a lightsabre and many of the villains conjured up Darth Vader, but Flash Gordon had flaming swords in the 30's and Vader bore close resemblance to the Lightning, from the serial Fighting Devil Dogs.

One of my great pleasures is watching the episodes on tape, along with Jonny Quest and Batman, the Animated series. All are great adventures, put together by master craftsmen. Too bad all cartoons, and even live shows, don't reach this level of quality. Now where's the DVD collection?

Ahh, another Saturday morning gem. I liked (and still like) cartoons from my childhood like this one because they never talked down to kids. This series was a post-apocalyptic sword-and-sorcery epic, and it was treated exactly as such. There was some great animation and the post-apocalyptic backgrounds were just amazing. And Thundarr had the ultimate weapon--a sunsword! I really like the fact that there were no cute sidekicks here. There was Ariel, the sorceress, who was the smartest in the bunch. And then there was Ookla the Mok, one of the most awesome sidekicks ever to fight for the cause of good. You just had to admire his "horse" as well! Cartoon Network aired this one for a while, and I wish they would air it again.

This had to be one of the best animated shows of the early 1980's. The plot was pretty simple; a barbarian, a witch and a mutant creature known as a mock travel across the United States a thousand years after a disaster destroys most of the world. They go around fighting wizards and other assorted creatures in hopes of bringing order back to the world. This main thing I loved about this show was the fact that it wasn't like most of the animated shows at the time that felt they had to give a weekly ethics lesson. This show was just pure action from start to finish and it was just great entertainment without any hidden messages. I think this show will always stand the test of time and will always be recognized as a great action/adventure series.