Thundercats Roar

A lot of 80’s cartoons weren’t works of art from a storytelling standpoint. (Which is probably why Robotech and the few really good stories stood out so much). But what they did have was a boundless imagination in their concepts and a complete commitment to the insanity presented in front of you. There was no lampshade hanging, no endless jokes where the writers have to go “yes the premise is silly and we know it’s silly, so don’t think we’re marks”, and life lessons didn’t feel like they beat you over the head because they beat you over the head with everything, so there was no difference. Not to mention most shows kept their messages for 30-second PSA’s.

The modern day trend is to behave like you are too cool for the material, to maintain a healthy distance. To minimize things that they view are dumb, or they don’t like personally when it was those things that made the shows popular. The example of Voltron: Legendary Defender has been beaten into powder, but in a lot of the failed attempts at revivals, people miss the point of why kids were drawn to the shows, why the premises were able to spark the imaginations of their viewers.

Thundercats 2011 suffered from two notable problems according to most people. Everyone was kind of a Jerkass, and they, by their own admission were saving their good ideas for a second season that never happened. Don’t save your good ideas for a second season.

Edited by Beatman1 on Mar 17th 2020 at 10:24:30 AM

If you're talking about the writers, I have to ask...Were they actually being jerkasses? Or were they just not tolerating harassment? Cause I saw what went down and I kinda don't blame them for being annoyed.

Also: The bulk of 80's cartoons were super hamfisted with their moral lessons, the hell are you talking about? The characters would take time to talk directly to the viewer about what the lesson of the episode was. I mean, I do kinda agree that the constant self aware humor is a little tiring, but modern cartoons are far more subtle with their moral lessons, if they have moral lessons at all. Unless you think "having a gay" is some grand and extreme political statement.

Edited by Zombie_Jack on Mar 17th 2020 at 10:29:13 AM

That’s why I said EVERYTHING was in your face and ham fisted. If everyone is loud and every message obvious, it blends in, rather than sticks out. It’s the writing equivalent of white noise.

As for the writers, how they interact with fans is one thing, but there’s a general conceit among many that “we know better than the original” so they tone down the elements that attracted people to the original, which results in a show for a minority of viewers.

Edited by Beatman1 on Mar 17th 2020 at 10:31:41 AM

"Know how to interact with fans" ah so you think the writers should have just sat and taken the death threats then.

The fans were being unreasonable from the word go, creators of the 80's weren't "better" you just couldn't interact with them 24/7 because the internet wasn't around, so we didn't have the mass harassment campaigns that we do now.

I didn’t say that, I was referring specifically to the writing itself. Fans are crazy and they were crazy before the internet sadly enough (even Animaniacs was making fun of its Fan Dumb in response to the harassment of a VA for Tiny Toons).

I’m just saying that in a vacuum, a lot of writers look at shows they’re asked to update and miss the point of why someone would want to see it updated. Then the revival is inevitably unsuccessful with a casual audience, the audience that any show needs to watch it and buy product to be successful.

Edited by Beatman1 on Mar 17th 2020 at 10:46:06 AM

Like my response to a shitty reboot is: the original is still there. It sucks that the reboot is shit, but it doesn't erase the original. Don't watch it, and just move on, and hope that the next one is better.

See to me personally I try to look at reboots as stand alone shows, it's way better for your mental health if you do that. A good reboot/spin off/adaptation/whatever still has to stand on it's own and be enjoyable to people who aren't fans of the originals. This show was just sorta okay, nothing special, and if it wasn't tied to a beloved franchise would probably have 2 or 3 seasons with moderate ratings. It's just sorta okay.

Again; your favorite media is not sacred, people who are only vaguely familiar with a franchise will sometimes be hired to make a reboot, they'll sometimes see it as just a paycheck or a way to build their resume, or they'll have a totally different take on the show than most fans. It's alright.

Really my only issue with Roar is that it was made while the 2011 series remains canceled & unfinished.

Which is not really Roars fault but the reminder that it was unfairly taken down still hurts like pouring acid on an old wound.

"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."

I kinda hate when people go "well no one watched the 2011 version!" when like...The reason no one watched it is because no one knew it was still on after the premier. The network screwed it over hard, iirc because it was fairly expensive to produce and the initial premier had underwhelming views.

They also pulled the old 'underperforming toy sales' lie. The toys didn't even his shelves until halfway through season 2.

Yeah again I think TC 2011 was super expensive to produce (and it shows), and it also came out a little before the end of the Dork Age of cartoon network. This was just a little before Young Justice was cancelled because "too many girls are watching it, not enough boys", and with the runaway success of Adventure Time they started to focus their assets on more comedic and lighthearted fare (ironically enough). If TC 2011 came just 2 years earlier or 9 years later, then maybe....

That whole "too many girls, not enough boys" stuff for Young Justice has actually debunked over and over by Greg Weisman. It was cancelled because their toyline was genuinely selling poorly, along with a combination of cost and the people in charge's already existing bias against action cartoons.

Latest blog update (November 5th, 2022).

Really? Huh, first I'm hearing that it's been debunked. I have heard about the poor toy sales, but I was always lead to believe that the poor toy sales were attributed to girls and adults watching more than young boys.

In any case, Thundercats 2011 was screwed by CN but Roar and it's creators are not responsible for that either and it's silly to get mad at them for something that happened years ago.

Yeah, the original claim spawned from Paul Dini (back when he was still doing Tower Prep) when he was speculating generally on Cartoon Network and toy companies' mindsets on "boy-centric" programming.

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Furthermore, TTGO!'s animation director Eric J. Pringle came out and clarified that the Panthro sight gag was an unintentional "Funny Aneurysm" Moment. The staff wasn't aware that Earle Hyman had passed 3 years ago, as they've done similar sight gags before like Mario and Luigi◊, Dora and Boots◊, or Jason Todd◊. In fact, it wasn't even in the initial script, so it was most likely a free-range decision by the background artist.

Excuse any leaps of logic on my end, but it's really starting to feel like those sensational YouTubers continue to dominate with misinformation about this show again.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Mar 17th 2020 at 1:50:30 PM

This is why one must research the old show very well before doing anything...

You could unintentionally make an unfunny unsavory joke in the process.

Edited by VengefulBale on Mar 17th 2020 at 11:42:41 AM

"Bingo! If two species hate each other, they will wipe each other out on their own."

That's fair advice to make for next time, but the whole controversy stemmed from a giant leap in logic. As noted from Pringle himself, it would be like accusing the crew of desecrating the lives of Bob Hoskins or Captain Lou Albano for showing skeletons of Luigi and Mario years after their passings. ^note To a lesser extent, any living voice actress of Dora or Jason Todd. It's an unreasonable assertion based on a character they just so happened to play.

Edited by XMenMutant22 on Mar 17th 2020 at 2:00:15 PM

Evidently not, since it does change the context somewhat.

Which weren't what you you mentioned.

Since what killed it was the constant change of timeslot and generally being screwed by the network.

Edited by Cortez on Mar 18th 2020 at 5:06:39 AM

I was speaking in terms of plot. I mean, they did well enough to get renewed if the one writer is to be believed, at least until Chima came along. But what’s done is done.

My biggest problem with Roar's designs isn't the art style, but rather the fact that you can barely tell they're supposed to be feline. Panthro looks more like an anthro shark of some kind, Lion-O looks like a weird elf, and Cheetara looks almost completely human save for her ears. It baffles me, because Rad's cat form in OK KO and this fanart of Dipper as a werecat show that it's clearly possible to make cat-people look catlike in this art style.

Just because the meme says that everybody has the same face shape doesn't mean that it's the same art style. Thundercats are way more...doodle-y that Gravity Falls.

TBF Panthro always looked strangely reptilian. It's the grey skin.

I'm neither here nor there on the art style, it's kinda charming but not very unique (it reminds me a lot of various webtoons I've seen over the past 5-10 years), the animation can be really fluid and dynamic at times but a little choppy at others, which TBF was also the case for the original Thundercat's limited animation, and is pretty standard in a lot of action shows to reduce costs.

Almost nothing about this show is particularly bad to the degree people say it is, it's just sorta....Alright.

Speaking as someone who saw one episode of the original Thudercats and a few seconds of the 2011 reboot, I find Thudercats Roar okay.

The comedy doesn't always hit the mark but they do have good jokes and the show does have a lot of interesting creativity in establishing its own world.

The "Study Time" episode has a moral that teachers have to teach differently to different pupils. Thundercats Roar can't be like the original or the reboot because kids are different today that kids in 1985 or 2011.

I love the 80's so I appreciate when they throw a reference that kids today won't get like a reference to Rankin & Bass' 1982 film The Last Unicorn or a reference to 1988's Working Girl (complete with a parody of the 9 To 5 theme song).

Even though he's the "Butt Monkey" of the show I really like Tigra. I relish those few moments in Roar when Tigra has a "Pet The Dog" moment.

No, Mr. Bunker, "this here" is justice

The show actually has some really appealing Animation Bump moments during its action scenes and I am a sucker for those.

Discord: Waido X 255#1372 If you cant contact me on TV Tropes do it here.

The telekinesis battle between Panthro and Vultureman, that was so good!

I'm not sure the comparison to that fanart is fair, because Dipper has a tail and without it, you can't tell that he's supposed to be a werecat, and from my understanding, thundercats were always tail-less except for the twins in the 2011 version.

My favorite characters are Wilykat and Wilykit. I love what gremlins they are.

Thundercats 2011 gets an interesting vote of endorsement, from AEW star Cody Rhodes.