A NEW ThunderCats cartoon in 2011!

[GonzoLeaper]

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Thundercats-Ho-New-TV-Show-in-2011-Updated-with-Image/6798

WOW! That came out of nowhere. COOL! I only hope a new ThunderCats series will live up to the original '80s classic. (See Transformers: Animated, G.I. Joe: Sigma Six, TMNT 2003 for examples...)
[Okay- so all of those are not necessarily totally bad or anything- but I think it will always be rather hard for anything to replace the original '80s cartoons I grew up watching for me.]
But I'm certainly willing to give a new ThunderCats series a try. I hope that promo art is not an actual character design for Lion-O though.
But hey- Thunder, Thunder, Thunder- ThunderCats- HO!
And as Relient K said, I'm Lion-O!

 

[Kiki]

Awesome news! I have faith in it. ;3 I love Thundercats! <3

 

[Luke]

Fantastic news, tho not sure about them doing it anime style. I think kids tend to get a bit fed up with that, but i hope they like Thundercats when it airs. It seems to have a very strong team on board.

 

[RedPiggy]

I wouldn't mind a sort of grittier look. I have season 1 on DVD, and what's striking is that, unlike She-Ra or Voltron (sorry for fans of these, I'm a fan too btw), the plot survives time rather well. It'd be interesting to have the animation match the kind of stuff that actually happened in that series. It's kinda dark despite the 80s Saturday morning cartoon look.

 

[Drtooth]

http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Thundercats-Ho-New-TV-Show-in-2011-Updated-with-Image/6798

WOW! That came out of nowhere. COOL! I only hope a new ThunderCats series will live up to the original '80s classic. (See Transformers: Animated, G.I. Joe: Sigma Six, TMNT 2003 for examples...)

I'm sorry... but why does EVERYONE have to feel that TMNT 2k3 HAS to compare to the 80's series? Does Batman's 1960's have to compare with The Dark Knight? Does Spectacular Spider-Man have to compare with Super Spidey Stories on The Electric Company? They do NOT. They are both different interpretations of comic book characters, and those characters themselves have different interpretations in their own comics series.

Personally I like both equally, and they BOTH have drawbacks. The new series had the terrible, inconclusive last 2 seasons of the show (Fast Forward and Back to the Sewers) and the original series had the terrible final season AND those annoying 3rd season episodes where Krang has to get some sort of alien technology from some alien tourist. And there were quite a few of those that really drug the third season down. of course, that's when they switched to having to do more than 13 episodes a season, leaving to some episodes being rushed off for the deadline. I will say this, the 2k3 Baxter is a COMPLETE improvement of the lame lackey that turns into a fly. Watch Insane in the Membrane. I don't think I've ever seen a cartoon that good and that screwed up.

And I gotta be highly unpopular here, I actually preferred Sigma Six to the original G.I. Joe because I really didn't like the original at all. Never did. I think Homestarrunner.com nails the series with the Cheat Commando's shorts.

But when it comes to Thundercats, I just want to see the new era strengthening of character and plot. I want new stories and deeper characters. Not a retread, but also nothing that completely changes the original concept. Comic book characters ARE open to interpretation... cartoon characters not so much. Look at that horrible new George of the Jungle cartoon.

I wouldn't mind a sort of grittier look. I have season 1 on DVD, and what's striking is that, unlike She-Ra or Voltron (sorry for fans of these, I'm a fan too btw), the plot survives time rather well.

I blame the Voltron dub. Everyone whines about 4Kids and how terrible they are (I still don't agree to what they did with One Piece, except for editing out Sanji's smoking...read the manga, you'll know what I mean), but the old school anime dubs are pretty... ugh. Worst case scenario, they combine shows that aren't there, add robot characters for comic relief (and to stretch runtime from all the edits), or worst of all, smash an entire series into a 90 minute kiddy video. Spend the extra money and track down Goldlion. You'll be glad you did. Unfortunately I didn't yet, but someone showed several to me.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

I think the reason the '80s and 2003 interpretation of TMNT gets compared so much is that, while I'm aware both are interpretations of a comic book, I would daresay many fans of the shows have never read a single issue of either Eastman and Laird's original comics or even the Archie comics version.
Thus, for the many, the '80s cartoon is the only comparison they have to go by (besides the now 4 movies and the 1997 live action show). And there actually are some things of the 1960s Batman show I like better than The Dark Knight honestly. But I can appreciate both in their own ways. Being a comic book fan and having read numerous DC and Marvel titles, I can also equally enjoy Spider-Man's interpretations on both The Electric Company and the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon. (though I still love the live action '70s US series and Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends best- but it's all good.)
That's fine if you like G.I. Joe: Sigma Six better than the original G.I. Joe series. I don't necessarily dislike Sigma Six, but as I said before- it's just hard for me to ever replace a classic cartoon that I grew up watching as a child. And of course, I really do enjoy the '80s G.I. Joe series in any case.
(This kinda reminds me of the new Looney Tunes cartoon thread- same deal there. I'm open to a new show, but nothing will ever be the same as the original shorts as far as I'm concerned.)
By the way- from what I read in the link, I do think Warner Bros. will be trying to stay true to the original ThunderCats cartoon as far as storyline and such goes- so I think some of what you're wanting will be there- I just hope they go in the right direction as far as fleshing out characters and bringing in new storylines, etc.

 

[Xerus]

I wonder who they're going to get to do the voices? I know they can't get back Bob McFadden to voice Snarf or Earl Hammond to voice Jagga and Mumm-rah since they've both passed away. But I wonder if they'll call back some of the original voice artists.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, I could go into the long rant about why I dislike G. I. Joe, but I won't. The only thing I REALLY disliked about Sigma Six was the fact it was clearly a failure and they reran the heck out of the small amount of dubbed episodes until they stopped selling the toys... or trying to sell them as the case may be. Before then, 4Kids made sure there was at least 26 episodes for anything a season, leading to a significantly small number of reruns... Though, I missed quite a few episodes of Ultimate Muscle that only aired once. And In didn't get into that show right away.

As for TMNT, I have to say, the 80's series, as great as it was, crushed its own 80's cartoon legacy. The Turtles never said "Cowabunga," and they preferred Chinese food over Pizza (though they didn't really eat all that much in the comics).. and a lot of the 80's cartoon, while playful and more successful than the newer series, opened up the door for really bad side projects. Easy reader kids books, rock concerts (which must have been great if you were there, they're not half as exciting on home video), and some other stuff that treated the characters with one uniform Michelangelo personality. Though, I did like how the action figures with random mutants had Monster in my Pocket quality to them, I just wish they focused more on characters who actually were there. I find that out of all the media, cartoons, movies, whathaveyou, the comics are by far the best. The best written, the best executed, the freedom of not having to answer to censors...After all, this was the original vision of the creators, and the contributors that had different interpretations of it.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

rock concerts (which must have been great if you were there, they're not half as exciting on home video),

LOL- that's the stuff of TMNT legend, man!
"We Wish You A Turtle Christmas"- certainly one of the many of the long list of Christmas classics (or not-so-classics!)
http://tmnt.wikia.com/wiki/We_Wish_You_a_Turtle_Christmas
TMNTPedia has a hilarious page on this and the "Coming Out of Their Shells" tour video.
http://tmnt.wikia.com/wiki/Coming_Out_of_Their_Shells

 

[Drtooth]

Holy Crap, They're actually going to go through with it

And they plan new and vintage style toys. And the coolest part? They got a Japanese studio to do it too.... now before anyone says anything, most of our favorite 80's cartoons, unless they were made by Hanna Barbera or Filmation (who only outsourced ONCE for their Zorro series) were animated, at least in part, in Japan. That includes Muppet Babies, Transformers (a co-production, as the toys did in fact originate there), G.I. Joe, TMNT (at least the first 5 promotional episodes... those were all Toei), Inspector Gadget (which was part of a Dic deal, they were heavily involved with Tokyo Movie Shinsha at the time, ever since Ulysees 31 and the unfinished Lupin VIII... curse you LeBlanc estate), and especially the old Thundercats series.

I've always thoroughly enjoyed Thundercats to He-Man (though there's no resisting the charms of Skeletor), and I'm pretty happy this things coming back and bringing TOYS!

Wonder if they're dubbing this series in Canada.... the original was.