Most underrated ThunderCats episode? :)

Cartoons ThunderCats (1985)
1

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post up a thread to test a reported technical fault with this board, and so whilst doing so I thought I’d ask a question that I’ve often wondered - what episode(s) of ThunderCats do you guys think is the most underrated? :slight_smile:

By “underrated”, I mean an episode that isn’t regarded as an instant classic like “Exodus”, “The Last Day”, “ThunderCats Ho! Parts 1 - 5”, “Telepathy Beam” or any of the obvious ones, but instead an episode that really stands out in some regard but somehow seems to slip under the radar? :slight_smile:

The one I always cite for this is “The Mountain”, which I regard as one of the finest episodes of ThunderCats for its visual beauty - every time I watch it I fall in love with it all over again! :smiley:

Another such episode would be “Sixth Sense”, which I think is a lovely Cheetara episode, and one which paves the way nicely for “The Telepathy Beam” in season 2! :slight_smile:

Are there any ThunderCats episodes that haven’t quite achieved “classic” status and yet stand out in some way for you guys? :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

2

tower of traps id say is defenitly one in my eyes
the astril prison is another

3

Chris here…

Very good choices, and I agree with both - “The Tower of Traps” has a great, spooky vibe about it, and is also very nice for showcasing the relationship between Lion-O and the Thunderkittens (completely different to how it would be portrayed in later episodes), and “The Astral Prison” is just awesome for so many reasons! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

4

i believe that the thunderkittens for the most part were always close to liono specifically wilykit

another episode i thought of hair of the dog, that ep is really well written and to funny

5

I always enjoy watching Mask of Gorgon. It’s a well written episode with lots of eye-candy!

…and they fly into the guy ear :slight_smile:

6

I have to say.. one of my absolute favourite under-rated episodes has to be ‘Circus Train’. I dunno, it just captures everything I love about ThunderCats - the absolute ridiculous plot, the dialogue, everything. How they managed to wrap up the entire season in such a weird episode is following the idea of 80’s cartoons - ridiculous. And at times, it’s hilarious to see what they come up with.

I have to discuss a moment in one of the season 2 episodes where the ThunderCats investigate something down a hole - upon climbing up, Mumm-Ra is revealed to be the person holding the rope. And then spouts off the strangest nursery rhyme - “DINNGGG DOOONGGG DELLLLL” and something else before dropping them back in. Despite the obvious crappiness of season 2, the voice-acting gets better and better.

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thats from the ep lockey of lies, thats probably one of the eps i hated from season 2
there were so many better ones

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I agree about the Mountain - though I think its underrated for its story, too.

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As for me, i have to run out to Walmart and buy the collection to start from the 1st episode. I only have been watching on youtube. It’s time i add Thundercats DVD to my collection with GI JOE, He-Man and Transformers.

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I think alot of the Mutant centered episodes in Season 1 are VERY good. I don’t know why, but some of the best stories seemed to involve them.

Now “Jackalman’s Rebellion” and the hilarious episode “The Shifter” tend to come up alot it seems, and then of course people remember the Feliner Two Parter because of Ratar-O, but there are many other really good ones:

“The Mountain” is a great character driven episode as we see how the Thundercats & Mutants react in the same situation. Its honestly one of my personal favorites. Definitely in the top ten somewhere.

“The Fireballs of Plun-Darr” was a favorite of mine as a kid. Slithe was like a James Bond villain in that one…lol. It was just a really fun & basic story with a unique quality to it.

“Return to Thundera” was great because of us getting to see more of Thundera & Lion-O’s backstory, but I remember this episode as one where The Mutants really thrashed the T-Cats good with The Plundarian Warbot.

“Sixth Sense” is also a great one for several reasons. Cheetara is the star obviously, and the little tease of a romance between her & Lion-O made it memorable. But as far as The Mutants go, this is probably Monkian’s best episode and Vultureman’s break out story.

“The Spaceship Beneath the Sands” is a great one because they actually acknowledge that The Mutants just flat out sucked against the T-Cats. And them getting their weapons back evened things out.

“The Transfer” was awesome because you really see that the main advantage the T-Cats have (besides that friggin Sword of course) is that they can work together & The Mutants & Mumm-Ra can’t. That big battle ontop of the Pyramid was pretty cool too.

Now stepping out of The Mutant centered shows:

“Tower of Traps” is a great one for reasons already stated.

“Mandora: Evil Chaser” I really enjoyed. Say what you will about Overgard, but the man contributed ALOT, including two of the Thundercats most interesting and capable allies, Hachiman & of course Mandora.

“Mongor” was basically the same episode format of “Safari Joe”, and if I had to pick a superior episode, it’d be the later, but I thought Mongor was a pretty cool villain.

“Excalibur” was another one I loved. I don’t know how fans feel about it, but I think matching Lion-O up against King Arthur is really cool…and hey Mumm-Ra basically wins in this one, or at least as close to a victory as you’re going to get.

“Spitting Image” was fantastic. I loved Mumm-Ra’s little Dr. Frakenstein laboratory (I am stunned that they resisted the urge for Mumm-Ra to yell ITS ALIVE!!!) and a Panthro centered story was cool for me because he was my favorite.

Overall, I do prefer Season 1 over Season 2 quite a bit. But there were some really good gems in Season 2 that get overlooked. Some of the very early Lunatak episodes were great like “Catfight” & “Psych Out”. I thought “Bracelet of Power” was hilarious and ranks right up there with “The Shifter” as one of the funniest episodes. And “Thunderscope” was memorable because Mumm-Ra actually KILLS Lion-O…or at least he would have if Jaga didn’t cheat (you know what, between the Sword & having a ghost bringing them back to life whenever they die, I’d say the T-Cats are the biggest cheaters ever, lol!) And speaking of Jaga, how cool was it to see him kick some butt in “Malcar” We get to see Jaga show Mumm-Ra who is boss. And even though I feel “The Last Day” should have been the finale, I thought “Book of Omens” was a pretty epic conclusion to the show.

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Chris here…

Just to say all of this was an excellent post, and I for one agree with many of the great points you raise - and yep, I also think the quality of William Overgard’s work in season 1 is overshadowed by the weirdness of his season 2 output, and for that reason I think he’s one of the series’ most underrated writers! :slight_smile:

Take care… :slight_smile:

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return to thundera is one of my fave eps and its one of the few times u see the bad guys almost wininning till lion shows up
cheetara is defenitly all over sixth sense as u mention
excalibur is a classic and fave to me as mummra almost won that one if it wasnt for him showing victory to merlin before he actually beat liono
i like more season 2 eps though then people mention i think alot of really good eps were done in season 2 especially the first part of it
but i hated catfight but i have to say i agree w the others u mentioned. oh and psychout was not good to me in the plot but great animation

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I believe the term “underrated” doesn’t fit to this animated cartoon,even some episodes which haven’t caught the maximum attention and cause less general interest include exceptional moments as well as story culminations that could easily be categorized on a par with the classic.Every single episode plays an integral role on the whole series and different elements shown on each chapter contribute to the full comprehension of the thundercats ‘world’ and better association with the multifaceted protagonists. Tcats success also lies on this factor,devoid of redundant components, you get the feeling everything happens for a reason and nothing occurs just to fill in the 22’ runtime. Both seasons have great storyboards each one setting off on its own way,very intriguing character development and high-quality artwork making you to sit down and watch it over and over again.

“All that glitters” where Mumm-ra tricks Lion-o and Tygra into fighting each other causing the sword of omens to break and they have to repair it by bathing it in liquid gold was an amazing story. Especially the dark-lit wood scene duel between Lion-o and the shadow-camouflaged Tygra had remarkable animation and lightening effect,also one of the very few moments we see Cheetara expressing plainly her feminine side, when she is dazzled by the shiny gold necklace.

“Lord of the snows” windy,snowy and precipitous hills provided a beautiful scenery reminding me Tolkien’s tales depicting our hero striding through the windstorm revealing so the fantasy side of Thundercats and their adventures.

“Eye of the beholder” was quite smart and unique chiefly because we hardly see Thundercats relying solely on their cunning and trickiness so as to repel the mutants,though i have to mention the weak spot Mumm-ra’s defeat, by reflecting his hideous image on the fake sword.This has happened before and in my opinion is a lame idea to beat him so easily and gullibly.

“Astral prison” It was really cool seeing Lion-o alone on a rescue mission in another dimension cooperating physically with Jaga side by side and not only spiritually as in in the masterpiece and personal favorite “Ghost warrior”. Almost every episode showing Mumm-ra magically transformed into an evil treacherous being manipulating so the Tcats had excellent progression. Add to that, one of the mutant’s brightest plans to attack and nearly beat the Lair and the Tcats with thundrainium shells.

“Queen of 8 legs” Stephen Perry’s creepy setting in the kingdom of web tomb somehow looked to me like R.E.Howard fantasy novels where conan wandering through ancient chambers had to fight gruesome creatures under the cast of spells!this episode had strong wizardly vibe and action fantasy characteristics. It was nice watching a hypnotized Lion-o!

“Sword in a hole” except the notable first appearance of the mercenary and intelligent Capt.Shiner’s it is set entirely in space and emphasizes in technological achievements and galactic navigations. The most significant trait of this space opera episode was after Mumm-ra threw away the eye of thundera, the Vitrus ship enters through a gigantic force field sea of lost spaceships under the leading command of Panthro only to find out that the Black hole is a a huge power station working as a space junk run by a living computer!! noteworthy the dialogue: Lion-o:-“you mean ther is no human force in control here?” Neptune: -"fortunately not,or this plant would have broken down eons ago… The summoning scene of the sword was stunning!

Mumm-Rana" first i enjoyed the opening scene of the battleships airfight Feliner vs Ratstar .The antithesis between Mumm-Rana’s pyramid environment, pure good existence and Mumm-Ra’s evilness exudes an air of wickedness unparalleled on Mumm-ra’s behalf that strengthens his image of the supreme and powerfull dark magician who effortlessly maneuver others into his direction regardless if they are wizards or sorceress like the modern “medea” enchantress Tashi. It was like the good against evil confrontation on even terms and letting the dark side prevail,very contemporary and everlasting notion to put forward the idea Mumm-ra VS Mumm-rana, evil VS good.

“Fond memories” the last episode of season one was a very fast paced,full of suspence events and action packed sequences that lead to an epic battle between Lion-o and Lion-o! the red evil clone Lion-o,the presentation of an evil twin was a total eye-catch accompanied by a final nice sword fight. Also, if you look inside the huge cave at the mirror-like living portraits of Lion-o’s most formidable enemies, Slithe’s, spidera’s, Safari joe’s and Ratar-o’s painted design on the walls were very artistic and resembling aesthetically famous comic book draws.

I picked episodes from season 1 because i tend towards it. I liked a lot that it is focused on the “noble” Thundercats who collectively try to explore their new home-planet providing a basis for their rightful dominance. Season’s 1 central concept was manifesting the survival instinct of a team comprised of 6 individuals who gradually endeavor to gain control of the territory reviving the code of their destroyed but honored planet, which was necessary to establish in order to pave the way for compatriots to arrive. Generally i thing that was a very interesting idea and thought-provoking upon which season 2 further expands this plot. It’s greatest feature was the addition of three thunderians who join forces in rebuilding the New thundera. However, season 2 lacked clearly in the overall quality of the enemies,except the lunataks from the Moons of Plun-Darr who certainly were much stronger and danderous than the mutants and posed a serious threat for Thundercats. Season 1 foes where very sophisticated and troublesome encounters whereas season’s 2 unrefined visually and intellectually adversaries like Mud-bubbler,frogman,Mossland Monster or screw Loose. What was really good and gave a much more sci-fi impression
comparing to the limited time’s of season 1 was the exploration of uncharted places of the vast reaches of Third Earth, the variety of vehicles, the often space travels as well as the general idea of spreading the thundercats territory with the new,very usefull post of the Tower of omens.Anyway both were spectacular!!:thumbsup: I wouldn’t ask for anything else

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I don’t really know how episodes are rated and what ones fans typically like or don’t like. Is there somewhere that this info could be found?

I watched The Shifter today. I liked how they could get the facial expressions of Snarf to be more Panthroish and vice versa. It was also neat to see Lion-O’s angry look on Wilykat’s face. I think I would have liked to have seen Lion-O and Wilykat switched for a little longer than they were though.

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I agree and I was a little :o when there were few comments on the thread I started about that episode. I hope this will renew the discussion about it.

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For me, i’d have to say “The Mumm-Ra Berbil”. That episode is one of my favorites and it exudes a creepiness factor that isn’t always found in Thundercats episodes. I love how Lion-O had to find a way of defeating Mumm-ra without the other ThunderCats’ aid. He also made sure not to harm them while they were in there zombie-like states. It truly showed how powerfull Lion-o can be on his own.

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Amen! By far my favorite episode. It had my jaw on the floor the first time I watched it.

Also oft-neglected is “Leah”. The Mirror Wraith is one the series’ creepiest villains, and the message of the story—that children shouldn’t keep dangerous secrets from their elders, or accept dolls from strange mummies in red cloaks—is one of the series’ more important morals.

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I agree, there was a certain creepiness in this episode, and the whole concept of a kid being terrified by an evil,scary demon while inside her room was a bit of Nightmare on Elm Street. Great episode indeed

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Mumm-ra The Berbil. I love this episode. The animation is spot on, its beautiful and smooth. The characters are great in it as well, Tygra gets to be in the spotlight somewhat without an addiction! The red glowing eyes are epic, and that one sideways scanning panoramic shot before it cut to commerical…I LOVE IT.

ALso nice to know that Lion-o could be taken down by his fellow Thundercats if it wasnt for that blasted sword. haha.

Another episode I love? The Mechanical Plague. It was perfect for showcasing each characters talents, and theme music. Very ignored I think.

20

I’ll have to go with “Wolf Rat” and “Mycrits”, two eps that show the TCs fighting the mutants in a position of disadvantage, working together.

In Wolf Rat they were shrunk, that was a really good idea.

In Mycrits, their weapons were stolen and they had to use their inventiveness and some more “primitive” weapons. The only bummer of the latter was when Lion-O came to the rescue with the sword… it would have been great to see the TCs defeating the mutants without that (maybe even without Lion-O lol, but he was the hero, I know).

Those eps are really underrated IMO.