New Thundercats for 2011

I actually found it pretty dire. Quite fun to watch though. Definitely something you'd sit around with friends and enjoy.

Silverhawks was even more painful.
 
Thundercats is noteworthy mainly because of how much of the animation work was done in Japan. A lot of guys who went on to be extremely important to the anime industry in the 90s were basically cutting their teeth on Thundercats, the way Paul Dini and JMS cut their teeth on Filmation's original He-Man. Thundercats just looks better than almost everything else from that era.

The striking Thundercats OP sequence, for example, was done by the director who went on to create Tenchi Muyo. So all told I'm quite glad that WBA got a Japanese studio involved for this, it gives the impression that they paid enough attention to the original to understand how you could go about modernizing its basic appeal.
 
Man I'd would so love to have a cool new ThunderCats cartoon. For awhile there was a rumor about a new one but it was gonna be hyper-wacky and they'd be a rock band.

I hope they don't make it dumb or go for some stupid overly grimdark **** like DC's comcbook attempts. Just take everything that was awesome about the first one and minus the stuff that didn't work even then.

Makes me want to see if I can find my old Sword of Omens toy with the light-up Eye of Thundera. :laugh:

Also in celebration, one of the best damn cartoon intros of all time:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKJQyIe2zyU[/ame]
 
Even launching Thundercats will be a tricky proposition. Straight fantasy properties haven't had legs in kidvid for quite some time. Thundercats has some Buck Rogersy elements that might be appealing or might come off as dated, depending on how the revamp approaches them.
 
Thundercats is noteworthy mainly because of how much of the animation work was done in Japan. A lot of guys who went on to be extremely important to the anime industry in the 90s were basically cutting their teeth on Thundercats, the way Paul Dini and JMS cut their teeth on Filmation's original He-Man. Thundercats just looks better than almost everything else from that era.

The striking Thundercats OP sequence, for example, was done by the director who went on to create Tenchi Muyo. So all told I'm quite glad that WBA got a Japanese studio involved for this, it gives the impression that they paid enough attention to the original to understand how you could go about modernizing its basic appeal.

Thank you! Somebody knows what they're talking about. :)

I like how the WB article makes a big deal about the new series being anime (just because it's being animated in Japan), as though the original was not. Really pretentious, if you ask me.

Thundercats IS ANIME!!! It was animated in Japan, thus, it's anime! Lots of people never quite realize that Rankin-Bass frequently used Japanese animation studios for much of their hand-drawn work (I think there were a couple of exceptions; their Wizard of Oz cartoon series, and Tom of THUMB; those might be their only non-Japanese stuff). All of their stop-motion "Animagic" work was from Japan as well.

In fact, Rankin-Bass were the pioneers of American anime. (The stop-motion TV series, The New Adventures of Pinocchio from 1960, was the first anime series commissioned by an American studio, with the first hand-drawn series being The King Kong Show in 1966.)

And I agree, the Thundercats intro is one of the most incredible sequences ever seen in Japanese animation! Dynamic, fast & furious, with plenty of camera movement as well. That, along with the opening for (and some episodes of) Mighty Orbots.
 
Thank you! Somebody knows what they're talking about. :)

I like how the WB article makes a big deal about the new series being anime (just because it's being animated in Japan), as though the original was not. Really pretentious, if you ask me.

Thundercats IS ANIME!!! It was animated in Japan, thus, it's anime! Lots of people never quite realize that Rankin-Bass frequently used Japanese animation studios for much of their hand-drawn work (I think there were a couple of exceptions; their Wizard of Oz cartoon series, and Tom of THUMB; those might be their only non-Japanese stuff). All of their stop-motion "Animagic" work was from Japan as well.

In fact, Rankin-Bass were the pioneers of American anime. (The stop-motion TV series, The New Adventures of Pinocchio from 1960, was the first anime series commissioned by an American studio, with the first hand-drawn series being The King Kong Show in 1966.)

And I agree, the Thundercats intro is one of the most incredible sequences ever seen in Japanese animation! Dynamic, fast & furious, with plenty of camera movement as well. That, along with the opening for (and some episodes of) Mighty Orbots.

Curious. Was it written in Japan? 'Cause for me that's what makes it anime, in addition to being drawn in Japan.
 
Most shows including anime are animated overseas and not necessarily japan. If its an american production/designs/scripts its not anime even if japan animates it.

Anyways I'm very excited, caught thundercats through plenty of re-runs in the early 90s. I liked them though never a huge fan. I've been meaning to watch the series again. If handled correctly this could be awesome though it could also turn out really bad.
 

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