Despite having watched the opening sequence of “Thundercats” countless times, I always find myself awestruck at the sheer beauty of it every time I see it. The incredibly detailed drawing, the shaded coloring, the fluid animation, the perspective angles, the zooming in of the camera and folowing the characters. Everything is top-notch. And what is even more amazing is that it was made in the 80’s when there were no computers to assist the animators.
I have watched a LOT of cartoons and cartoon series. From the 1940’s all the way upto to the most recent ones and I have yet to come across any animated sequence which can top or even come close to the “Thundercats” intro. Even animation giants like “Disney” haven’t been able to do it.
Ofcourse, these are just my opinions and you are most welcome to agree or disagree with them. I would love to hear other people’s views as well as suggestions of other equally good animated sequences (intros or others).
It is one of the all time great title sequences, I agree. It showcases all the original Thundercats, and Mumm-Ra (with a brief shot of the Mutants), and has a song that, for all the cheesiness of it, actually holds up a lot better than I ever expected.
I’ve probably told this story before, about finding an old VHS tape in a charity shop back in 2008, with just two episodes on, and I thought, “I’ve got to see how well it’s aged” - and boy, was I pleasantly surprised! I originally expected to be cringeing at the theme song, but nothing could have been further from the truth!
Thundercats really does have one of the greatest title sequences of all time. I did an article a few years ago for The Eye Shield, which sadly didn’t make it into that final issue, about theme songs, and I think I listed the top ten somewhere on here. Thundercats came in at no5, with “King Arthur And The Knights Of Justice” at no1 - for the simple reason that when I saw that title sequence again, I went from “I vaguely remember this show, could describe a couple of episodes” to “I have got to see this show again!” in a minute, all because of the theme tune. That’s why I put that at no1 - yes, I did ultimately get Thundercats on DVD, but my memories of that show prior to seeing it again were a lot more powerful to begin with.