YESSSS
It looks like OK K.O.
Thatâs OK with me. Just bring on my boy Shimmy Shimmy Mumm-Ra.
Iâm not sold on the new art style or the more comical take on the ThunderCats, but Iâll reserve judgment until itâs released. I would have much preferred a reboot in the same way that Voltron was on Netflix.
Iâm very surprised at the Internet negative reaction to Thundercats. I saw it and was hype! Iâm still hype.
Then again, maybe I shouldnât be surprised. My opinion seems to always be the opposite of all the other nerds.
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Anytime you veer away from the original, youâre bound to get a negative reaction, especially when itâs such a different take on a beloved franchise.
Netflix did an amazing job updating Voltron, yet keeping it close enough to the original. As someone who grew up watching both Voltron and Thundercats, I much prefer that, as opposed to the direction theyâre taking Thundercats.
You say direction they are taking as if somehow the more serious action/adventure Thundercats is somehow destroyed. The existence Teen Titans: Go does nothing to take away from actual Teen Titans. The existence of Mini Pato does nothing to take away from actual Patlabor. The existence of Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days does nothing to take away from actual Evangelion. SD Gundam does nothing to take away from actual Gundam.
Like He-Man, but not nearly as bad as He-Man, the original Thundercats is often bad and hilarious through the eyes of an adult. Itâs selective memory if you just think about badass Mumm-Ra and Panthro, and not about how the mutants were complete morons no better than Be-Bop, Rocksteady, and Starscream. You canât erase Snarf or the Wily twins either. That shit is all part of Thundercats. To acknowledge this humor, focus on it, and also make it really cute is more than welcome.
Donât think of it as like, Thundercats: The third official series, now a bucket of LOLs. Think of it the same way you think of some Kate Beaton Spider-Man comics. They do nothing to harm actual Spider-Man.Theyâre just some art that provides joy to the world and happen to include the chracter of Spider-Man.
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Going a little higher up the corporate ladderâŚ
Thank you for inadvertently making my point for me.
All those other shows you mentioned, Teen Titans, Patlabor, Evangelion, and Gundam, heck, even that Hark A Vagrant comic about Spiderman, they all have good versions. As a result, I have no problem with people making funny versions of them because even if I donât happen to like the ridiculous version, I can always go back and enjoy the âgoodâ version.
I canât do that with Thundercats. The original Thundercats is bad. Of course I know that, but I loved it as a kid. What I, and many other fans want, is for someone to make a Thundercats show that matches our nostalgia and love for the original. As a kid, I thought the Thundercats was awesome and badass. Going back to watch it now, itâs ridiculous and corny, just like most of the other 80s TV shows. As an adult, I want a show thatâs actually awesome and lives up to how I remember the show, that makes me feel the same way again.
If I donât like Thundercats Roar, there is no âgoodâ version for me to watch instead, like I can do with all the other stuff you mentioned. If there was an actual quality version of Thundercats, maybe I wouldnât be so disappointed in Roar. Again, what Netflix is doing with Voltron is exactly what I want.
Voltron is another 80s TV show that I loved as a kid but if I went back and watched it now, would be borderline terrible. The new version though is awesome, taking everything I loved about the original and updating it. I want that for Thundercats.
If there was a âgoodâ version of Thundercats that lasted 50-70 episodes and reached a satisfying conclusion, I would be a lot less disappointed in the direction theyâre taking Roar because I could always go back and enjoy that âgoodâ version, like Teen Titans, like Patlabor, like Evangelion, like Gundam, and even like other Spiderman comics. I canât go back and watch the original Thurndercats that way because itâs corny and cheesy.
Somehow we went from this:
To This:
Iâm sure they focused-tested the new direction, but if they had asked me, I would have said DO.NOT.WANT. In general, I am not a fan of cartoons with unrealistic designs. Roar looks like the doodling of a middleschooler.
Iâm not on social media so I donât know what kind of reveal the reaction is getting, but you wrote:
I guess Iâm not aloneâŚ
I like the original Thundercats. I like Voltron. Iâve watched them recently. I like GoLion even more, which is the anime that was edited into lion Voltron. They arenât unwatchable like He-Man.
It seems your problem is you just donât actually like Thundercats.
Also, it seems like you donât know that Thundercats was remade the way you wanted in 2011.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NiNwdc51c58/maxresdefault.jpg
Nobody watched it and it was canceled.
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Um⌠Yes, I actually do know they remade Thundercats in 2011, but thanks for assuming that I didnât.
The show was pretty good. I liked the darker and more serious tone to it. My one complaint was with Lion-Oâs redesign. He looks like Cloud Stryfe with red hair, instead of the original Lion-O. Maybe if the show had lasted longer, he would have aged and matured, but they cancelled it after one season so thereâs no satisfying conclusion.
Having just gone back to the old FRC forums, Iâm surprised at how consistent my opinion of the show is all these years later. Additionally, many people on the old forums seemed to enjoy the show:
If you went back to the old forums, youâd know that:
Where does it say that in the Wikipedia article you linked to?
Again, you seem to be just jumping to conclusions to fit your own unfounded biases.
From the article:
"ThunderCats premiered on July 29, 2011 and attained a rating of 0.8, with over 2.4 million viewers. The highest rated show for that night received a 1.1, which makes the ThunderCatsâ 0.8 a successful showing. The premiere episode of ThunderCats received very positive reviews, with some calling it âamazingâ and âepicâ.
Nowhere does it say that it was cancelled because of lack of viewership.
Maybe the 2011 reboot of Thundercats was cancelled not because of low viewership, but because the toyline wasnât selling. Thatâs exactly what happened with the Young Justice show, which was awesome, but unfortunately cancelled after only two seasons:
âIn January 2016, Weisman finally revealed the reason for the showâs cancellation on the podcast âThe Hip-Hop Nerd.â The showâs funding was based on a toy deal with Mattel. The toys were not selling enough so Mattel cancelled the toy line, pulling the funding for the show. With no sources of income large enough to replace the money from Mattel, the show was not picked up for a third season.â
Funnily enough, it was only after Young Justice was put on Netflix, and it became super popular, that DC decided to go back and make a third season. So maybe the 2011 Thundercats wasnât cancelled because of low viewership, because thereâs no evidence to support that theory. Maybe it was cancelled because the toys werenât selling well enough and Cartoon Network couldnât afford to keep making it. Who knows if the new Voltron would have gotten as many episodes as it has if it was on normal TV like Cartoon Network. Thankfully, we donât have to worry about that because itâs on Netflix instead.
There are all kinds of shows that are cancelled, not because theyâre bad, but for other reasons. Iâve never watched it, but Brooklyn 99 was cancelled for about 2 seconds and then it got picked up by another station. The Expanse is another show that people seem to love, but hate watching it on the SyFy channel. Maybe if it had aired on Netflix, the numbers would have been better.
Who knows why the 2011 version of Thundercats wasnât renewed, but maybe this was the real problem:
"Despite the positive response, some aspects of the show were criticized. Varietyâs Brian Lowry felt the series was designed as a marketing ploy for a new ThunderCats toyline, and that the show ârepresents a throwback to the drearily toy-driven 1980s, a period that seems destined to keep returning as much out of pragmatism as nostalgia.â
Who knows why the 2011 show was cancelled. Maybe it was because the toyline wasnât selling. Maybe it was because CartoonNetwork didnât have enough money. Maybe it was because it didnât get enough viewers, like you wrote. But the television landscape is completely different now than it was in 2011. Again, Voltron seems to be thriving on Netflix.
Who knows why the 2011 show was cancelled. Maybe it was because the toyline wasnât selling.
Thatâs the reason. Young Justice was cancelled for a similar reason.
My issue with Thundercats Roar is nothing about âYou canât defile this propertyâ or even the need for innovation. Itâs just that the artstyle is painfully cribbed from other Cartoon Network shows like OK:KO and TTG. Not every show is the same, but Cartoon Network hasnât really been knocking out hits like they were 5 years ago. I really donât want to see a failure like the Powerpuff Girls Reboot or an ADD-speed fest like Mighty Magiswords.
Kids will like this anyway cause kids are generally non-discerning with what they watch at that age. I wonât take away Roar if itâs good or different, but letâs not mistake it feels made to be more trendy and just for âhey, nostalgia bucks!â
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Itâs the same people. Do artists have to change their art style every time they start a new project? Are you going to say Buddha and Phoenix suck because they were painfully cribbed from Astro Boy? I fully expect the same creative team to keep their style when they move to a new project.
Itâs just that you didnât acknowledge its existence at all. And in your post you said they went from this (original show) to this (new show).
Thank you.
I never said that they were âdefilingâ Thundercats. I said I didnât like the art style and the comedic direction theyâre taking the show.
Iâm sorry if I wasnât being clear enough. When I wrote:
I was addressing the 2011 reboot which was cancelled and didnât get to finish its story. Evangelion and the other shows you listed may not have been 50-70 episodes either, but at least they didnât get cancelled before they were done telling the story they wanted.
Hereâs a thought, use a different creative team.
But once again, weâre changing topics.
I say I donât like the direction the show is going. You say I can always enjoy the previous version of the show like other shows X, Y, and Z you listed.
I explain why that analogy doesnât work. You say that there was another good version that was cancelled because of low viewership.
I show that thereâs no evidence that the 2011 version was cancelled because of low viewership. You now decide to argue that we shouldnât expect a different art style because itâs the same creative team.
Itâs almost like every time youâre proven wrong you find something else to nitpick overâŚ
I guess all there is to say is âitâs not for youâ. Deal.
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Yes, itâs not for me.
I donât know why we had to have this conversation. Instead of just acknowledging that, you had to somehow try to prove I was âwrongâ for not liking the direction they were taking the show, a completely subjective opinion.
Studio Yotta is animating it which explains why it looks the same. The three people confirmed from the project are far more different than OK:KO and TTG.
Victor Courtright - Producer, worked on MAD and Pickle and Peanut
Marly Halpern-Graser - Writer for MAD and Right Now Kapow
Sam Register - An Executive Producer on TONS of Animated Shows, Cartoon Network or otherwise
Now my expectations have sunk further since those donât really sing quality.
Right Now Kapow is actually pretty damn funny. Iâm not a fan of the other shows, though.
https://www.cbr.com/dc-super-hero-girls-art-first-look
This series has been airing on Boomerang for the past couple of years, but now that Lauren Faust is brought on board, itâs getting quite the overhaul.
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