Cosmocats

I first would like to thank WB Animation studios for Producing such a rich and wonderful season of my beloved childhood heroes. If you are a true Thundercat fan you will enjoy this series. It is with great sadness to report that Cartoon Network has canceled this wonderful series. We can blame the Cartoon Giant for this one. With a horrible time slot and push for shows like adventure time, Cartoon network really had no idea who the target audience was. Only after the show was canceled it aired on the late night Toonami. Well.... The ratings speak for itself. This show is awesome. It is a shame that Cartoon Network did not see this from the beginning. I guess the toy sales really cant be pushed on Toonami and Cartoon network only cares about money and not their viewers.

I grew up watching the original Thundercats. I was very nervous when I heard about the reboot. Thankfully, after watching a few episodes of the new Thundercats, I am happy that the story, characters and the overall direction is pretty solid and does nothing to ruin it's great predecessor. It is time for a new generation to enjoy these awesome characters and I believe they are in safe hands. It is still worth watching the original series if you are a new fan. Every character from the original series will eventually appear here and most of their back-stories has been fleshed out while still staying true to the source material. If the rest of the seasons are as good as the first then it is safe to say that this show will continue to win more fans and attract a wider audience. Personally, i would like to see more humor in the show. In many ways, the new Lion-O is more relatable and I think younger audience members will immediately feel a strong connection and start looking up to him. All in all a very good animated series that is definitely worth watching.

Thundercats was originally conceived in 1983 but didn't hit the screens until 1985/86, it fittingly became a cult TV hit, it was faster paced and sleeker than He-Man and fairs slightly better in retrospective, spawning a tonne of merchandising like it's counterpart. An update or film version have been arguably long overdue.

There's no talking Snarf in the latest version but the major difference with the Thundercats 2011 is the setting, there's no 3rd earth, it's Thundera, that is in a Planet of the Apes sort way with flashbacks throughout. There's glimpses of Star Wars, Stargate and other sci-fi, but it borrows from the best. The characters dynamics, look and their relationships have been slightly tweaked. The mains given a more mature edge that allows exploration of conflicting divergences. Those familiar with the original will recognise new incarnations of reworked sub characters usually the antagonists.

Thundercats 2011 is reminiscent of He-man more so than its 1985 predecessor due to Thundera's Eternia-like feel and borrows from plenty from the recent Lord of the Rings trilogy especially in look during battle scenes including the civilians going underground. That aside, the animation, stories and dialogue are extremely entertaining and there are plenty of nods to the original series. It also includes a cameo from the original Lion-o voice actor Larry Kenney.

However, don't be mistaken it is different and not in a bad way, strikingly the episodes are very emotionally charged even more so than the original series. There are a few main characters that are omitted in the first fistful of episodes but that's not to say then may not grace the screen in later outings.

To really enjoy Thundercats 2011 most will have to put aside the cartoon they fell in love with. This is a darker distinctly styled incarnation yet thankfully it stays true to the original spirit of the Thundercats.

Not quite as great as the original series, which was/is one of the best animated shows of the 80s, but almost there and among some of the better animated shows in the past decade or so. The animation is fluid and detailed, if lacking a little in uniqueness (more of an anime sort of look, not a bad thing though, rather than the painterly one of the original series), and it was really nice to see the character designs updated to styles a little more relevant now. The music has its fair share of beautiful, haunting and rousing themes, the lack of a main theme is a little disappointing but doesn't hurt the show that much. The writing has a little humour in respect to the fun of the original show and is also very thoughtful, while the story lines maintain the fun of the original show while taking a darker approach with themes of racism and slavery. And it does that while respecting the original show but showing more mature and relevant themes and incorporating them with little if any heavy-handedness. The action is also very thrilling, and animated beautifully. The characters are engaging and developed very well, while the story lines are paced in a way that episodes move swiftly room is always left to introduce and develop characters and their relationships. Here the heroes and villains are equally interesting, admittedly in the original series the villains were a little more interesting than the heroes. It was an interesting choice having Snarf mute, and it was a choice that did pay off. The voice acting is very dynamic and suit the characters well without being too stereotypical. All in all, almost as good as the original show and as a re-boot Thundercats(2011) is excellent. 9/10 Bethany Cox

A lot of cartoons we loved and watched in the 80's had one thing in common. They were all designed to sell toys. Seriously GI Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Silverhawks, He-Man, they were all 22 minute commercials for the toy line. But they had some basic charm to them and let's face it, it wasn't like we had the most discerning taste back then. I managed to track down a couple copies of them and let me tell you they don't hold up like they used to.

But then something happened in the earlier part of this decade and these old favorites were revived and given new life. Some were really well done and others were obvious cash grabs. This one however I liked and I was kinda bummed that it only got one season.

The show is darker, a lot more adult and thank Jaga they changed Snarf into a pet and not a constant whine machine. If there's one thing I seriously hated about the original was Snarf.

There are elements of the late 2000's / early 2010's in the production. A bigger focus on action, some deeper story elements and actual character development. In a sense it took what made the reboot of the Masters of the Universe popular and removed a lot of the childish elements that had plagued it during it's original run.

It's not perfect by any means but it focused on trying to tell a good story instead of just selling toys.