I’m pretty 50/50 on the concept of Thundera being a kingdom on Third Earth rather than a separate planet - it doesn’t evoke any strong antipathy from me, but at the same time I always liked the dramatic element and focus on the core group of characters that was created by the ThunderCats being the last of their kind and trying to make a home on an alien planet…
So, I guess the reality is that I’ll wait and see how I feel about it once I actually see it put into context in the show - it’s interesting to see new ideas and see how they work, hopefully this one will work OK! crosses fingers
What I don’t like is that it takes that uniqueness the team had in the original show, and that growth they gain to appreciate and love Third Earth as their home, along with the inhabitants.
Also seeing Thuderians was always a big thing in the original, we where shown so little. I was happy that this was going to be addressed here, but, this whole on Third Earth ruins that a bit, in the sense that Thuderians may just be a common as Berbils.
The good thing is, yes, it does simplify things. For example I think this will make Grune’s story much easier to work with leading to potentially good stuff.
Does a ThunderCats story/series HAVE to center on a young Lion-O becoming Lord of the ThunderCats? No. Rather than ignore the original show, they could have done a couple different things to make it fresh.
The obvious 2 are prequel and sequel to the original. Make the new one center on Claudus becoming Lord, or choosing Lion-O’s successor. Either of those could have stayed true to the original, and given all fans a brand new experience. AND could easily lead to added sales of the original series on DVD for new fans who want to see more (especially if new show took the sequel route).
Rewriting the original, and changing so much stuff would only confuse new fans who stumble on the original series. And that WILL happen. There are still a couple sets of ThunderCats DVDs at stores close to me. Or parents who decide to order “ThunderCats Season 1” for their little kid only to find out after opening it that there are 2 versions that have nothing to do with each other…
If they did a sequal kids would be just as confused because most of them will never have seen the old show.
As sad as it is to admit they’re mostly making the show for New audiences and Not for us old fans. They want to make us happy too, sure, but I doub’t it’s their top priority.
I disagree. Making a continuation would not work. I will bring up “Superman Returns” as an example of how they should have just rebooted the movie franchise instead of continuing from the Christopher Reeve films.
Eliminating the planet Thundera from this series does kind of change things drastically, but I don’t think it changes things for the worst.
I’ll bring up Avatar (The Last Airbender) again. I did not watch it while it was on television, but I watched the entire series on Netflix in three days! I could not stop watching each episode! In that show, the world was interconnected, but each nation had its own affiliation. I think that’s what is going to happen in the new ThunderCats series.
It also opens up a lot more character development on the minor characters that we rarely saw in the original. We’ll get to see more than just the leader of the Mutant factions – the Berbils will be more than just berry growing robot bears – we could possibly learn more about the Warrior Maidens – and in addition to the Kingdom of Thundera, there could be a Kingdom in Hook Mountain, which always confused me as to why one person had such a nice palace…yet, no one else lives near it!
Avatar is my #1 favorite animated series of all-time (ThunderCats was bumped down to #3). If you haven’t watched Avatar, I highly recommend it. The animation and writing are amazing and hope that ThunderCats matches it.
That’s what Voltron is doing, (another) sequel. And sometimes stretching a story that had to end because it was having trouble keeping itself on it’s feet isn’t a good idea, it’s best to let it be. By the last season TCats, as sadly as the case is, was stuggling.
And besides, most little kids will end up looking at it this way. Old TCat’s are daddy’s TCats, New TCats are my TCats.
Yes it will bring confusion to some. When I was little I wanted to connect the Pokemon games with the anime and the various comic storylines, but eventually learned of the concepts of alternate continuity and multiverses.
In the end I think it all falls down on how the new generation of fans will be. If they’re like the Ben 10 fans, then expect stupidity. If they’re more like Airbender fans expect them to be able to grasp logic.
I think in the end it will fall on how this show presents itself and aswell as the established online communities.
I agree, this is the best way to approach (IMO) the new series. I’m glad they are rebooting the Spiderman series…and I’m DEFINITELY glad they are ending the Transformers movie series.
The fact is, they re-created Thundera in the original series…which meant they had kind of run out of stories to do on Third Earth (though I disagree). I never liked the whole “reforming” of Thundera in the first place – I think the series should have stayed on Third Earth…or just end.
It all depends on how connected they would make a sequel. Having a 50 year old Lion-O and others from the original make the occasional appearance with new 20-30 year old characters as the main cast could have worked. Throw in a line like “did I ever tell you about the time…” from one of the original ThunderCats once or twice in a season with little or no other direct connection to the original series and it would be fine.
I do agree that a sequel that would require viewers to have watched the original would be a very bad idea.
I guess I am kind of in the middle of the road here. I would not want the new series to be episode 131 of the original (take off from where the original ended). But at the same time I really don’t like how disconnected the new series is shaping up to be from the original.
Another part of what is so irritating to me is the implied attitude towards the original. Why do you need to make the new series revolve around only 1 planet? Is someone saying kids today are not smart enough to comprehend stuff kids 20-30 years ago could? I know kids today can handle Transformers came to Earth from Cybertron, and that Star Wars takes place in a galaxy far, far away. So why can’t ThunderCats come from a planet called ThunDera?
I remember reading the Wildstorm comics which were continuations and just being ****ed off. Cheetara wouldn’t punch Lion-O (not to mention the implied rape). How could Mumm-Ra be more powerful than the ancient spirits when they GIVE him his power? Why does Mum-ra want the Sword of Omens when he KNOWS he can’t use it? why do the Dogs just happen to conquer planets who’s species are based on anthropomorphic animals (Bun-darr? really?) Dinosaurs eating berbils? Mumm-mut betraying Mumm-ra just because the villains are dogs?
That upset me more than a reimaginging ever would. This I can just think of as an alternate universe/timeline thing.
Soo…you would have all-new characters be introduced into a new series and only have the core characters make an appearance every so often?
I would feel very disconnected to the show if that happened. I prefer the way they are doing it now – a re-imagining with characters we know and can relate to. The story may have changed a bit, but the personalities are the same and that will allow me to connect with them and understand that, while they look different, they are still the characters I grew up with.
Another part of what is so irritating to me is the implied attitude towards the original. Why do you need to make the new series revolve around only 1 planet? Is someone saying kids today are not smart enough to comprehend stuff kids 20-30 years ago could? I know kids today can handle Transformers came to Earth from Cybertron, and that Star Wars takes place in a galaxy far, far away. So why can’t ThunderCats come from a planet called ThunDera?
What is the implied attitude? The attitude I get is that they want to create a story that involves the characters we know and allow the writers to expand the story within Third Earth.
You bring up Transformers as an example. A lot of people complain that the Transformers would be better if there were less interaction with humans and if they stayed in Cybertron. Can you imagine the possibilities if they had a series stay in Cyberton? The comic series “The War Within” is a perfect example of the story had it stayed in Cybertron.
It’s not about whether the kids can comprehend a certain story element; it’s about the new series having its own identity and being able to relate the story to old and new fans.
All they’ve done is consolidate things down to one planet. and Honestly I don’t necessarily think that’s such a bad thing. I mean it’s not like they were planet hopping space rangers or anything.
All it does, in my opinion, is make it so they can still meet all the old side characters and civilizations like the Berbils and Warrior Maidens without having to sacrifice the Thundarian civilization.
And, if nothing else, This means that this time they won’t leave important characters (like Tygra) back on Third Earth if/when they go back to Thundara like they did last time.
The attitude I get from it is that either the original was too complex or something about it was so bad that it needs to be remade. If the original was too complex, then that means they are going to dumb it down for the new series. If the original was so bad, why bother with making a new series?
I’m fine with agreeing to disagree. I have my feelings about the original; talking about it won’t change them, and I would not try to change anyone else’s. If ThunDera doesn’t need to be a planet, why bother keeping the Eye of ThunDera in a Sword of Omens? If keeping the story on ThunDera (planet) limits the story options, why would keeping it on Third Earth expand story options?
I definitely think are definitely overreacting because they changed it, Now it sucks. This is a reboot, changing stuff is good, the original will always be there for you to watch. I welcome change since lets face it, the original show while great for its time and while aged better than other 80s cartoons its still aged and frankly the original show leaves a lot to be desired. If the new show can be half as good as Avatar The Last Airbender I will be extremely happy.
My main gripe with Thunderra being in third earth, is I really liked the idea that they were all in a world they do not know or understand full of mysteries in every corner. I wanted the new show to explain and discover the world they landed on, something the original show never did opting for generic plots instead. If the Thunderran’s have always lived in Third Earth it takes away from that mystery since they’ve always lived there. It also takes away the sci-fi elements from the show, which I don’t mind since the original barely used it besides their vehicles for the most part, I was also not a fan of the superman rip-off origin. But I did want the new show to give a more fleshed out explanation of why Thunderra was gone instead of “just like krypton it blew up”. But yeah besides that I have no question in my mind the new show will be infinitely superior to the original.
Now it does bring up some questions, in an older interview they mention Panthro is all roughed up because he’s been on Third Earth the longest, that doesn’t make sense if they’ve always lived there, and I don’t buy the whole “exploring third earth” since that is where they live… Thunderra still seems that it will end up destroyed, and all the thunderrians left are going to be the familiar cast. So I guess something happens and the Kingdom will be destroyed. I mean we know Cats Lair isn’t going to be the hang out place like it was in the old show so it has to be destroyed along with most of the population I’m guessing.
Hey, I’ll take Avatars comedy any day over Panthro’s puns at the end of the episode
Don’t get me wrong tho. I LOVE Avatar. It’s one of my favorite all time Cartoons. Top 3 at least. I just think Thundercats shouldnt have (for example) a cabbage man or something. lol
I do hope the action on Thundercats is as good as Avatar’s. It had top notch fight choreography.
Actually scratch that about Cabbage man. He was ok. Foaming mouth guy has to go tho. lol
I don’t think so at all. In fact, when ever I tell people about ThunderCat’s the planet of Thundera exploding and them heading to Third Earth usually gets laughs and “That’s such a rip off of Superman” type comments. They were probably just trying to avoid that this time. (Imagine their reaction when I explain Mumm-Ra rebuilding Thundera.)
(Even though to be honest, I was hoping for an End of season 1 exile to Third Earth kind of story…)
Dragonball also has a similar premise. Goku was sent from his homeplanet to Earth (wich was deystroyed shortly after he was send of). The intent was for him to deystroy Earth, but in the end becomes it’s savior.
The only thing all three have similar is that the characters in question are sent to another planet and their own home planets shortly blow up afterwards. What makes them different is how their development in the new world is handled. So simply calling Thundercats and/or Dragonball Superman ripoffs is calling it short. And the development of the TCats and Goku is far more creative than that of Clark Kent, who grew up in a loving home and had the typical american upbringing, just with super powers. =/
In the end, it’s not how it starts, but how you develope the characters and universe.
