Thundercats Ho!

I used to watch Thundercats as a a little girl, but it was the original series from the 1980s. When I heard that there was going to be a remake this past summer, I admit I was a little worried- as were all the fans of the original series. Everyone had questions on their mids. What changes will be made to this new series? Will the new series really renew interest in the old series? Or will it ruin it for everyone?

Well, I'm here tell you my thoughts and view on the remake.

Concept

Planning for this series began as early as 2009. All the characters and the animation were animated and drawn by a Japanese anime studio called Studio 4°C. The creator, Tobin "Ted" Wolf wanted to give this new series a sightly darker theme while trying to retain that the old charms of the original series. So therefore the storyline was changed and the characters, except for Panthro, were made younger.

Airing

An 80 minute trailer was featured at the Hall Game Awards in 2011 and aired pm July 29, 2011 on Cartoon Network.

Storyline

After the fall of the Kingdom of Thundera, young Prince Lion-O becomes the new king and must now lead remaining members of the Thunderian race against Mumm-ra while exploring the dangers that lie on Third Earth

The story has changed drastically since the old series Instead of the Thundercats being from a planet on Thundera and escaping the destruction, they're already living on Third Earth and Thunderis city-state that get destroyed by Mumm-ra.

Characters

All of the characters have been given new make overs and slightly different personalities.

Lion-O

Lion-O, voiced by Friedle, was at one time, the second crowned prince of Thundera but he was crowned the King of Thundera and Lord of the Thundercats. Unlike his original self, Lion-O isn't a twelve year old child stuck in the body of an adult. Instead, he is already a young adult. As a prince. Lion-O never really took his royal duties seriously and preferred to play around with historical artifacts and Old World Technology. But once he became the King, he started to wise up and took his duty seriously but despite being the King. Lion-O is easily discouraged and makes a lot of mistakes. He often tries to take matters into his own hands.

Tygra

Tygra, voiced by Matthew Mercer. is Lion-O's older adopted brother and the first crowned prince of Thundera. Tygra is nothing like his old self, at least not by much. He is shown to impulsive and overly confident as a Prince. He often obeyed whatever commands their father gives him and tried to outdo Lion-O in everything. As the series progressed, Tygra started to take on the persona of his old self, only he was bit more on the jealous side. Tygra is also known to be flirtatious after unknowingly winking at Tygra. It is unknown how Tygra came to be Lion-'s older brother but during his childhood, Tygra was often jealous of Lion-O because he (Lion-O) had everything handed to him.

Cheetara

Cheetara, voiced by Emmanuelle Chriqui, is the oldest female member of the group. She is the last remaining Cleric alive. Cheetara is often calm and levelheaded. She takes her job as a Cleric seriously and never questions Lion-O. She is often the only one encouraging Lion-O to believe in himself while the others don't. Cheetara joined the Clerics at a young age because she was an orphan and had nowhere else to go.

Wilykit & Wilykat

These two are the youngest members of the group, Wilykit being the girl and Wilykat being the boy. They used to be pickpockets. stealing what they can to survive to live another day. Wilykit often plays a flute that was left behind by their mother. Although the flute is used to hypnotize any enemies that they encounter, Wilykit mainly uses the flute to play a lullaby that her and Wilykit's mother used to sing to them. The Wilys joined the Thundercats in hopes of finding a city of gold called Eldarra.

Panthro

Panthro, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, was the General of the Thunderan Army. Many years before the series, he was sent on a mission with another general named Grune and was assumed dead. He is the oldest member of the Thundercats and he seems to know more about the layout of Third Earth then the others. His baby, the Thundertank, is used as the Thundercats' mobile base.

Snarf

Lion-O's pet and feline companion. Although he doesn't speak anymore, Lion-O still seems to understand him. Snarf willingly sticks by Lion-O's side and often discovers the key to the Thundercats problems by mistake.

Animation

The animation is beautiful, though it was done in anime form but it does out shine the animation of the old series by a lot.

Conclusion

Although the remake is done quite well, especially with the voice acting, animation, and the storyline, I still like the old series much better. Overall, the reboot was very well done and there's nothing bad to be said about it except, I wish the new episodes would get here. I highly recommend you give this remake a chance, whether you're just discovering the Thundercats for the first time or reliving your childhood, the Thundercats of 2011 will have you saying, Thundercats HO!

Source

Thundercats Wiki - Information on all things Thundercats.