A NEW ThunderCats cartoon in 2011!

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But although "ThunderCats" didn't really have a separate "very special message" at the end or anything, they most always had a positive moral value taught in every episode and that usually was addressed by the end of the episode.
Wilykit- So you mean if I had told the truth about accidentally ripping Tygra's whip and not made up that story about Sslithe breaking into the lair and stealing it- we wouldn't have been lured out into the open like that and led into Mumm-Ra's trap and could have avoided this whole thing?
Lion-O - That's right, Wilykit. Just remember, we can replace Tygra's whip because he has an insurance policy on it. And like we always say, honesty is the best policy!
Snarf- Snarf, Snarf.
(All laugh uproariously for a solid 5 minutes over something that isn't that terribly funny at all.)

LOL, you have them down perfectly! And you're absolutely right, Thundercats really did make the effort to get real life messages across that were relevant for ordinary kids, despite taking place in such an extraordinary situation. And another nice thing was that the grown ups on the show occasionally messed up too and had to apologize. It's good for kids to know that their parents aren't perfect, but they still care about you. : )

(However- despite the seeming corniness at times- it is important to be honest because lying is a sin. So I'm not joking about that part. But I couldn't resist having a little fun with those classic PSA moments. Haha- I still love that show. I wish more cartoons today, corny or not, had positive moral messages like that.)

No I understand, I definitely agree. You felt like they really cared about the kids who were watching.

 

[RedPiggy]

My friend and I were wondering why Thundercats never seemed to have those "very special message" segments at the end of the episodes, the way He-Man and G.I. Joe did. Then again, what would giant anthropomorphic cats talk about?

I have volumes 1 and 2 of season 1 on DVD. I think it aged better (slightly) than He-Man or She-Ra (God, what was I thinking about She-Ra? Still, I liked 2002 He-Man, as it seemed to have fewer "giggle immaturely" moments.) Anyway, what I noticed is that Thundercats didn't really NEED PSA's, since a lot of their "hey, kids, a moral!" stuff was embedded in the plot.

 

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Anyway, what I noticed is that Thundercats didn't really NEED PSA's, since a lot of their "hey, kids, a moral!" stuff was embedded in the plot.

Yeah you're definitely right. Like there was this one episode a lot of people talk about because it was kinda disturbing. Snarf finds a bracelet that makes everyone around him obey his wishes. For awhile he goes all mad with power, until Mum-Ra gets hold of it and enslaves the Thundercats. Snarf feels horrible about what he did and ends up saving the day. At the end he thinks he should be punished severely (and frankly so does the audience!). But instead he gets treated to a surprisingly understanding and compassionate 5 minute lecture (followed by the mildly amusing joke and laughing that GonzoLeaper mentioned, hehe).

And you have to hand it to the Thundercats, they cover all the bases: making mistakes, trying to fix them, and being forgiven. I wish all parent/child lectures went that smoothly! But seriously you have to admire the show for genuinely trying to get through to kids about morals.

 

[Drtooth]

I have volumes 1 and 2 of season 1 on DVD. I think it aged better (slightly) than He-Man or She-Ra (God, what was I thinking about She-Ra? Still, I liked 2002 He-Man, as it seemed to have fewer "giggle immaturely" moments.) Anyway, what I noticed is that Thundercats didn't really NEED PSA's, since a lot of their "hey, kids, a moral!" stuff was embedded in the plot.

That's why I'm getting into He-Man now... you don't realize how cheesy the stuff is until much later. And half the time the morals are just randomly added to the end, and sometimes, when they have an opportunity to talk about something, they talk about something else. One I watched recently, He-Man ended the show by generally talking about safety. No specifics. He just says something about always remembering safety. I couldn't stop laughing.

Yeah, I still don't get these PSA at the end of a show things, those were seen as late as Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Fat Albert, however, was another show that put it into the plot. Now, I hate preachiness, but when you embed something into the plot and explain it thoroughly, you get a better project all together.

 

[RedPiggy]

I also liked Fraggle Rock for the embedded morals. The "point" was part of the plot. Now, when I was a kid, I guess some of the "points" were too subtle. I only really appreciate them now that I'm an adult.

I'll be interested to see what kind of tone the new Thundercats goes for. Largely distancing themselves from Snarf (I liked him) and the Kits may mean they might update their formula. It doesn't look like it will be all that gritty, but cartoons have come a long way since the 80s Saturday morning stuff. Cartoons can be appreciated in a mature fashion that doesn't make every single cartoon a "Superbook" cartoon.

 

[Drtooth]

I'll be interested to see what kind of tone the new Thundercats goes for. Largely distancing themselves from Snarf (I liked him) and the Kits may mean they might update their formula. It doesn't look like it will be all that gritty, but cartoons have come a long way since the 80s Saturday morning stuff. Cartoons can be appreciated in a mature fashion that doesn't make every single cartoon a "Superbook" cartoon.

Not every cartoon has to have morals, but not every cartoon that doesn't really doesn't. You can learn a LOT of things from the strangest places, especially shows that aren't supposed to be preachy at all.

But really, some of those end of cartoon PSA's just... out of left field or have TOO much involved with the plot. I remember the PSA at the end of an Inspector Gadget cartoon being about eating dairy products because MAD was using a farm for their evil purposes.

 

[RedPiggy]

They don't all have to have morals, but any story with an actual narrative should have characters, and characters all believe SOMETHING.

I was watching some episode of She-Ra or something, one of the ones where He-Man cameoed, and we nearly blew drinks out of our noses over a "no touchy" type message. Our jaws hit the floor before we nearly died laughing. "I have a big sword that I use to chop monsters into little bitty pieces ... but if Skeletor says you have nice knockers, watch out." LOL ...

Okay, that quote didn't happen, but I find it silly when a show based on violence has messages like that.

 

[Drtooth]

I was watching some episode of She-Ra or something, one of the ones where He-Man cameoed, and we nearly blew drinks out of our noses over a "no touchy" type message. Our jaws hit the floor before we nearly died laughing. "I have a big sword that I use to chop monsters into little bitty pieces ... but if Skeletor says you have nice knockers, watch out." LOL ...

I saw that one too, and all I could think of was "Kids, there's nothing cooler than being hugged by someone you like, but if someone touches you in a place or in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, that's NO GOOD!" Of course, the plot involved Sonic falling in love with a robot made by Robotnik, so it sort of made sense. What was the She-ra about? Like, uh, Hordak or Skeletor taking the other one's vehicle or something? Shouldn't it be "you have no right to take things without asking, and that's technically considered stealing?"

 

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You can learn a LOT of things from the strangest places, especially shows that aren't supposed to be preachy at all.

Very true, it doesn't matter where you get the knowledge, so long as you get it.

There was this one episode of Thundercats where bad guy Mum-Ra gets Tygra addicted to a fruit so he'll steal the Eye of Thundera sword for him. It's a little confusing (and I'm a grown up!), but basically they were trying to get across the idea that if you get into drugs, you'll steal from your friends and put them in danger because all you care about is getting another "hit." When you think about it, it's kinda disturbing that an otherwise moral cat (or human) could be so easily turned but that is what happens with addiction. PSAs rarely have the message "If you become an addict, you also become a jerk!" It's usually about how drugs affect your own health and safety, rather than the people around you. But perhaps this would be effective, if you get intro drugs, you become the bad guy.

 

[Drtooth]

You heard of the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command episode that was basically an anti-drug PSA? And it got banned FOR being about drugs in the first place. Talk about your stupid. Sounds like the same thing, only Mira thought it would help her capture Zurg better. So basically, not only was it an anti-drug episode, it was an anti-steroid episode as well. And again, it got banned... duh-oi!

My personaly favorite anti-drug episode of anything was Bravestarr. Now, I got this "Best of" set cheap, and I was thrilled to see that episode was on there (I heard of it before), and I was ready to laugh at the thing, thinking it would be campy. HOWEVER, it was very dark, it showed characters completely out of their gourde, acting completely, frighteningly erratic, and spoiler, instead of the happy "Aw shucks, I'll just give up and become a good little twerp the rest of my life" ending, the kid DIES. It was very powerful and realistic for a show that's a sci-fi western. I can't say it wasn't preachy, but it didn't beat around the bush and have the "Everyone throws back their heads and laughs at someone's stupid behavior" ending (Cough cough He-Man)... though, I will say, I've yet to see an episode like that. Really, that was Filmation's best action series for avoiding the 1980's laugh at everything endings.

I remember there was a Pup named Scooby-Doo episode where the bad guy wither used or sold "drugs" (I'm not lying, they said "drugs" in a generic, nonspecific way). it was NOT important to the plot, it was never shown, and it was only mentioned in passing for NO reason, and Scooby basically just uttered "Rugs? Rrryuck!" That's NOT how you do it.