![]() ![]() While it had one-shot episodes, most of the show dealt with Lion-O leading a small band of ThunderCats against the armies of Mumm-Ra. The 2011 series turned toward a more serial style of storytelling. Thus, Mumm-Ra quickly became a toothless, incompetent bad guy. Because everything had to snap back to the status quo within half an hour, the villains could never achieve any meaningful victory. The episodic nature of the original ThunderCats held it back a lot. ![]() Later, when Mumm-Ra finished his incantation, the reveal of his more powerful form had a greater impact for everybody. Older fans knew something big was about to happen and that the heroes caught a break, while newer fans got a hint that Mumm-Ra was even more powerful than he seemed. For example, the opening story had Mumm-Ra begin to deliver his classic line of, “Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living!” only to get cut off before he could finish. Other callbacks to the original show were similarly well-used, either giving fans something to smile about or actively using the older franchise to build suspense. His role was done very well and with respect, giving older fans a shout out while not slowing down the narrative on unnecessary nostalgia. In the two-part opener, Kenney’s Claudus even gave the classic, “Thundercats, ho!” shout before running into battle. He played Claudus, Lion-O’s father, and delivered a sense of majesty while also literally passing the sword to a new generation in the show. Of those classic voice actors, Larry Kenney, the voice of the original Lion-O, made a return in 2011. The original ThunderCats did have a few bright spots, including some of the voice acting. Moreover, he was cute and helpful on the journey, making him immediately more interesting and sympathetic than the original. The new Snarf provided more laughs in less time than the old one ever did. He still filled the comic relief role, but the jokes only took up a few seconds of screen time rather than serving as unwanted filler that dragged out an already painfully formulaic episode. Snarf went from annoying sidekick to cute pet in the vein of Ryo-Ohki from the Tenchu Muyo! series (although Snarf never turned into a spaceship). The 2011 show fixed Snarf in one of the most elegantly simple ways possible: it turned him into a non-speaking character. His speech patterns were obnoxious and he was so useless that they actually had to have episodes devoted to corner cases where he could save the day in order to justify his existence. He existed mainly as comic relief, and he just wasn’t funny. Perhaps the poster child for this lack of quality is Snarf. ![]() Sure, those who grew up in the 1980s have great memories of it, but it doesn’t hold up well. Fixing SnarfĪ lot of fans of the original ThunderCats don’t want to admit it, but the show wasn’t all that good. There’s a lot to love about the 2011 ThunderCats series, but here are the elements that got me hooked after just a few episodes. Thus, the show was canceled after only one season.īut what a season it was. Sadly, all of that awesome got countered by poor marketing and Cartoon Network’s tendency to sabotage shows that don’t sell new toys. It got a different kind of reboot in 2011, with an epic storyline, excellent quality art, top-notch voice actors, and some truly terrific storytelling. ThunderCats Roar isn’t the first time Cartoon Network has tried to resurrect the franchise. However, it does make me fondly remember that brief time in 2011 when ThunderCats was awesome. Personally, I don’t care about it, as ThunderCats was always sillier than fans like to remember. The news of a new, silly-looking ThunderCats reboot has many fans of the 1980s franchise gnashing their teeth in anger. ![]()
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