Thundercats Returns to TV and Has a Trailer

"Thundercats" originally began airing in 1985 and quickly became a massive hit among young boys. It spawned a successful toy line and is still fondly remembered by its now adult fans. The show benefited from taking itself slightly more seriously than shows such as "He-man" or "G.I. Joe." While there were the requisite comic relief characters the very premise of the show was slightly more mature, as it followed the adventures of the last survivors from the dead planet Thundera. Iconic heroes and villains, and of course the battle cry of "Thunder, thunder, thunder, Thundercats HO!" still lives in the pop culture consciousness. Cartoon Network will be relaunching the show with a slightly different look later this year, and they premiered the first trailer on the air over the weekend.

The very first image in the trailer appears to be a hieroglyphic image of the Thundercats' traditional arch enemy: Mum-ra. From there came a number of images of what appeared to be another one of the old enemies: the Reptilians. Interestingly they appeared to be chained and used as slave labor, it makes one wonder if they will be rebelling rather than simply invading. The comes the first look at the iconic Sword of Omens, which is largely unchanged from it's look in the original, though it's only shown in it's full length and never in a shorter dagger form. This may mean that the sword will not extend as it did in the original cartoon. A look at the sword was followed by the first good look at Lion-O, who is visibly younger looking than in the 1985 version. Of course part of the premise of the original was that due to certain space travel anomalies Lion-O was actually a teenager in an adult's body. That whole aspect seems to have been dropped in favor of a more straight forward approach to the young leader's age. This first look at Lion-O also shows off the anime inspired look of the updated cartoon. Much of what follows is flashes of various characters including Tigra, Cheetara, Wily Kit and Wily Kat, the elderly Jaga and even the diminutive Snarf. There is also an imposing figure with a single saber-tooth who may be Grune, another one of the recurring villains of the original cartoon.

Very little of the story of the new version of "Thundercats" is clear from the minute long trailer. However what is seen shows a full and thriving Thunderan society, as opposed to the rag tag group of survivors that made up the original show. Whether this means that the entire show will be set during Thundera's prime rather than after it's demise, or if these images are simply taken from the days before the fall of the planet is not clear at this point. Also absent is any vocal work so it's unclear if the new voice cast will make any attempt to keep the voices similar to the original or take a different route. It is expected that the voice of Lion-O at least will be quite different as due to the physical age reduction he's the character who's undergone the most change from the original. The designs of characters seem to have only been slightly tweaked to give it the more anime inspired look, but the overall look and costumes are virtually unchanged for most of what could be seen in the trailer.

This will not be the first time that Cartoon Network has relaunched a 1980s cartoon. They had a similar approach to "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" which relaunched in 2002, though it can only be considered a semi-success. While the show appealed to a decent portion of the original fan base it failed to attract a new generation of viewers and was canceled after only two seasons. Cartoon Network also premiered a more mature take on "G.I. Joe" that premiered under the Adult Swim banner on their website in 11 parts and was later aired in its entirety as "G.I. Joe: Resolute." While it received a positive reaction from the fans no follow up has been planned as yet. So Cartoon Network's history of updating 1980s classics has been spotty at best, but they seem determined to keep trying.

This new series is separate from the currently stalled CGI theatrical version which was in the works some years ago at Warner Brothers. Supposed test footage of that film recently leaked online and received a somewhat indifferent response from fans. Cartoon Network's "Thundercats" does not currently have an air date but with this first trailer now out more details are expected to be announced soon. While the trailer has not been released online officially yet it is readily available for viewing on Youtube and similar such sites.