In the early 2000s, a new resurgence of reboots of legendary 80s cartoons had begun, the likes of Heman and the masters of the universe 2002, teenage mutant ninja turtles 2003 and in 2011 this show. These shows were far more edgier than before, there was actual stakes, violence, darker colors, smooth action and a more cinematic scope. I had never even heard of thundercats until I saw promos of this show on cartoon network, but I was still not impressed with the idea of watching a show about cat people. That all changed the day i watched the first episode, not only was i hooked I was actively anticipating each episode afterward, even though i didn't know it at the time this show had triggered that cartoon love that i had for the other reboot shows, and now I will tell you why.
Plot: Taking place on a planet called Third Earth, a society of anthropomorphic animal based species rules a different section of the planet, with the thundercats empire of thundera being the most rich and blessed kingdom of them all, gaining the jealousy and resentment of multiple other species. A young prince named Lion O is obsessed with learning about third earths past and to uncover the lost secrets of technology. His father, king claudus who is played by the original 80s voice actor of Lion O is worried he will not learn responsibility and become a worthy king. During a celebration, a race of lizard men that hate the cats sneak into the kingdom and completely shut down all of its defenses, allowing their newfound technology to win the battle using tanks and other high tech weapons. It is then revealed that the lizards have freed the infamous villain of third earth, a conqueror named Mumm Ra whose supernatural abilities puts the final nail in the cats coffin. With the death of his father and the destruction of his kingdom by mumm ras hands, Lion O and his loyal group of friends set out on a epic journey to collect a group of magical stones that can give them the power to free third earth from mumm ra's oppression. Along the journey Lion O realizes the world was not as perfect as it seemed, as he interacts with each species and learns from them, he decides that it is time to improve matters and create a better world where all the different species can be united. The overall plot of the entire series involves finding the power stones before mummra so they can defeat him, but there are several filler episodes that are episodic on their own,or 3 episode arcs being used for characterization or introducing the heroes to all the different species of third earth. Some episodes even dedicate to flashbacks to provide motivation for character decisions and even expand the lore of third earth, such as showing lion Os ancestors defeating mummra the first time. Only 26 episodes were made out of the 65 that were planned, due to a heartbreaking and unexpected cancellation that leaves the core plot still unresolved and my heart broken.
Characters: Lion O is a young prince of thundera, who is kind to all other species which are treated as second class citizen by the cats. He is fascinated by technology and horrified by it when he sees what it does to his kingdom. Burdened with the responsibility of restoring thundera and defeating mumm ra, he becomes quite brash in his decision making and is only made less vengeful by his friends' help, who show him that kindness is not a bad trait in a king. Lion O goes through a lot of characterization in this series, and endures a lot of test of character moments that makes him a better leader. He is wonderfully played by Will Friedle who just brings the right energy to the character. Tygra is lion Os adopted older brother who starts the show being his envious rival , but mellows out and decides to be loyal to his brother after he earns it from him, he is quite heroic but keeps that loveable rogue vibe throughout, perhaps it is cheetara who mellows him out the most. Cheetara is lionOs mentor and main supporter throughout the series, which gives him the impression she likes him, which cannot be helped because she is shown to be quite a tease and she is drawn in the sexiest way possible, but her looks dont affect her depth. She eventually starts a relationship with tygra and together they become a badass battle couple. Panthro is the tech savvy badass veteran who drives the thundertank and is willing to make any sacrifice to win, he eventually becomes a kind hearted father figure to the kittens but is a threat to be reckoned with. Twin kittens known as Willykit and Willykat are adorable little master thieves, that dream of finding the lost city of El Dara to help their family. Despite being the tag along kids, they never become annoying and are quite capable and supportive to their teammates. The main villain of the series is Mummra the ever living is a literal demonic mummy, who reminds me a lot of Darth Sidious in his mannerisms, he is ruthless and pure evil, being quite scary with no likeability making him one of the best animated villains, armed with thousands of years of knowledge, technology, dark sorcery and the ability to change into a hulk, he is the ultimate menace that warrants urgency for the thundercats to defeat him. As the heroes travel to all different corners of third earth, they meet many unique and entertaining characters, whether they are heroes or villains. All the characters are well layered and even flawed, with no single main character being underdeveloped, excluding mumm ra who is 100% evil in this series.
What could have been: After the infamous hiatus and cancellation of this series, no new information has been made available on its continuation. Even if a second season can never be made, I would appreciate at least an animated feature length film that could give this main story and the characters closure, while I'm not the best at fanfiction, this is what I have come up with to leave me with some satisfaction. LionO and the the thunder cats are now in a full alliance with the majority of animals to bring mummras oppression to an end. The only thing missing is the final power stone that can tip the balance in either way to mummras or the thundercats side. Through the help of the spirit of cleric Jaga, the thundercats uncover the location of the final power stone known as the soul stone which is hidden in the legendary city of El Dara, which the kittens have been seeking for. After obtaining a map, the thundercats must venture on a dangerous journey to el dara, facing mummra forces, monsters and more tests of character. In order to find the secret entrance to El Dara, lion O must confront his own inner guilt by facing the ghost of his father, king claudus in a duel. Defeating his father in single combat, Lion O is free from his guilt and earns his fathers respect at last, uncovering an interdimensional portal to the lost city of El dara, where all of thirds earths greatest treasures are kept by an ancient race of interdimensional beings. Mummra soon learns of the stone's location and gains access to the city, culminating in one last epic battle between the united animals of third earth and mummras demonic forces. Lion O and mummra clash for the last time in an epic duel reminiscent of his ancestors duel. Through pain and sacrifice, lion O slays mummra, uniting the power stones into one final blast of light to rid the universe of mummra. With the evil side defeated, lion o and his friends must begin to rebuild relations with the other species into a democratic republic where everyone is represented and treated fairly. I know, a little generic and fairytale ending but that's all I want! But instead we have gotten no resolution to this series story, mummra is still on the loose and the soul stone still remains undiscovered to this day.
Conclusion: I love this series, but that does not mean its without flaw, it doesn't have that epic opening song from the 80s and sadly this series never reached its fullest potential, suffering the fate of any great show that couldn't make the toy sales. I just adore the japanese animation and style the show was developed upon, for a time i literally thought this was an anime, they succeeded in pushing the style of anime in the show with a variety of visual elements, such as scene compositions, effects and colors, as well as the action scenes. The animation used for the action is quite impressive, being quite fluid and dynamic, allowing the realistic character designs to really work well with the landscapes. Yes the anthropomorphic people in this world can be jarring, but despite the jokes or weird fanart, this show is not just for the furries this is an epic tale that even though never got a proper ending, still feels like a cinematic story. Story-wise the series attempts to take a much darker and more cinematic approach than the original show, featuring a lot more focus on characterization and more sophisticated themes. The show is very character driven which was needed with such a basic plot. The world of thundera is so well explored and creative, that every episode you might find yourself more curious in the location than the main plot. This show really can pull at your heart strings as well, with powerful messages, the episode most guilty of this being "the song of the petalars". I wont deny the entertainment value of the original 80s series, but to me that show is just too cheesy, and this version is just so much more impactful and appealing to me with its darker and edgier themes, but I am grateful to the original series for making this show possible. Perhaps someday we will see a worthy finale to this epic journey.
Plot: Taking place on a planet called Third Earth, a society of anthropomorphic animal based species rules a different section of the planet, with the thundercats empire of thundera being the most rich and blessed kingdom of them all, gaining the jealousy and resentment of multiple other species. A young prince named Lion O is obsessed with learning about third earths past and to uncover the lost secrets of technology. His father, king claudus who is played by the original 80s voice actor of Lion O is worried he will not learn responsibility and become a worthy king. During a celebration, a race of lizard men that hate the cats sneak into the kingdom and completely shut down all of its defenses, allowing their newfound technology to win the battle using tanks and other high tech weapons. It is then revealed that the lizards have freed the infamous villain of third earth, a conqueror named Mumm Ra whose supernatural abilities puts the final nail in the cats coffin. With the death of his father and the destruction of his kingdom by mumm ras hands, Lion O and his loyal group of friends set out on a epic journey to collect a group of magical stones that can give them the power to free third earth from mumm ra's oppression. Along the journey Lion O realizes the world was not as perfect as it seemed, as he interacts with each species and learns from them, he decides that it is time to improve matters and create a better world where all the different species can be united. The overall plot of the entire series involves finding the power stones before mummra so they can defeat him, but there are several filler episodes that are episodic on their own,or 3 episode arcs being used for characterization or introducing the heroes to all the different species of third earth. Some episodes even dedicate to flashbacks to provide motivation for character decisions and even expand the lore of third earth, such as showing lion Os ancestors defeating mummra the first time. Only 26 episodes were made out of the 65 that were planned, due to a heartbreaking and unexpected cancellation that leaves the core plot still unresolved and my heart broken.
Characters: Lion O is a young prince of thundera, who is kind to all other species which are treated as second class citizen by the cats. He is fascinated by technology and horrified by it when he sees what it does to his kingdom. Burdened with the responsibility of restoring thundera and defeating mumm ra, he becomes quite brash in his decision making and is only made less vengeful by his friends' help, who show him that kindness is not a bad trait in a king. Lion O goes through a lot of characterization in this series, and endures a lot of test of character moments that makes him a better leader. He is wonderfully played by Will Friedle who just brings the right energy to the character. Tygra is lion Os adopted older brother who starts the show being his envious rival , but mellows out and decides to be loyal to his brother after he earns it from him, he is quite heroic but keeps that loveable rogue vibe throughout, perhaps it is cheetara who mellows him out the most. Cheetara is lionOs mentor and main supporter throughout the series, which gives him the impression she likes him, which cannot be helped because she is shown to be quite a tease and she is drawn in the sexiest way possible, but her looks dont affect her depth. She eventually starts a relationship with tygra and together they become a badass battle couple. Panthro is the tech savvy badass veteran who drives the thundertank and is willing to make any sacrifice to win, he eventually becomes a kind hearted father figure to the kittens but is a threat to be reckoned with. Twin kittens known as Willykit and Willykat are adorable little master thieves, that dream of finding the lost city of El Dara to help their family. Despite being the tag along kids, they never become annoying and are quite capable and supportive to their teammates. The main villain of the series is Mummra the ever living is a literal demonic mummy, who reminds me a lot of Darth Sidious in his mannerisms, he is ruthless and pure evil, being quite scary with no likeability making him one of the best animated villains, armed with thousands of years of knowledge, technology, dark sorcery and the ability to change into a hulk, he is the ultimate menace that warrants urgency for the thundercats to defeat him. As the heroes travel to all different corners of third earth, they meet many unique and entertaining characters, whether they are heroes or villains. All the characters are well layered and even flawed, with no single main character being underdeveloped, excluding mumm ra who is 100% evil in this series.
What could have been: After the infamous hiatus and cancellation of this series, no new information has been made available on its continuation. Even if a second season can never be made, I would appreciate at least an animated feature length film that could give this main story and the characters closure, while I'm not the best at fanfiction, this is what I have come up with to leave me with some satisfaction. LionO and the the thunder cats are now in a full alliance with the majority of animals to bring mummras oppression to an end. The only thing missing is the final power stone that can tip the balance in either way to mummras or the thundercats side. Through the help of the spirit of cleric Jaga, the thundercats uncover the location of the final power stone known as the soul stone which is hidden in the legendary city of El Dara, which the kittens have been seeking for. After obtaining a map, the thundercats must venture on a dangerous journey to el dara, facing mummra forces, monsters and more tests of character. In order to find the secret entrance to El Dara, lion O must confront his own inner guilt by facing the ghost of his father, king claudus in a duel. Defeating his father in single combat, Lion O is free from his guilt and earns his fathers respect at last, uncovering an interdimensional portal to the lost city of El dara, where all of thirds earths greatest treasures are kept by an ancient race of interdimensional beings. Mummra soon learns of the stone's location and gains access to the city, culminating in one last epic battle between the united animals of third earth and mummras demonic forces. Lion O and mummra clash for the last time in an epic duel reminiscent of his ancestors duel. Through pain and sacrifice, lion O slays mummra, uniting the power stones into one final blast of light to rid the universe of mummra. With the evil side defeated, lion o and his friends must begin to rebuild relations with the other species into a democratic republic where everyone is represented and treated fairly. I know, a little generic and fairytale ending but that's all I want! But instead we have gotten no resolution to this series story, mummra is still on the loose and the soul stone still remains undiscovered to this day.
Conclusion: I love this series, but that does not mean its without flaw, it doesn't have that epic opening song from the 80s and sadly this series never reached its fullest potential, suffering the fate of any great show that couldn't make the toy sales. I just adore the japanese animation and style the show was developed upon, for a time i literally thought this was an anime, they succeeded in pushing the style of anime in the show with a variety of visual elements, such as scene compositions, effects and colors, as well as the action scenes. The animation used for the action is quite impressive, being quite fluid and dynamic, allowing the realistic character designs to really work well with the landscapes. Yes the anthropomorphic people in this world can be jarring, but despite the jokes or weird fanart, this show is not just for the furries this is an epic tale that even though never got a proper ending, still feels like a cinematic story. Story-wise the series attempts to take a much darker and more cinematic approach than the original show, featuring a lot more focus on characterization and more sophisticated themes. The show is very character driven which was needed with such a basic plot. The world of thundera is so well explored and creative, that every episode you might find yourself more curious in the location than the main plot. This show really can pull at your heart strings as well, with powerful messages, the episode most guilty of this being "the song of the petalars". I wont deny the entertainment value of the original 80s series, but to me that show is just too cheesy, and this version is just so much more impactful and appealing to me with its darker and edgier themes, but I am grateful to the original series for making this show possible. Perhaps someday we will see a worthy finale to this epic journey.