Post by Blake (HDLYR) on Aug 1, 2011 21:17:35 GMT -5
Cheetara, Tygra, Lion-O, Panthro
ThunderCats (2011) Premiere: The Sword of Omens and Ancient Spirits of Evil A- and A
I was a huge fan of the original 1980's ThunderCats series. I saw every episode... countless times. I had all the action figures. I designed my own ThunderCats and made stories of my own with them (one of my first ventures into storytelling). And even though I haven't seen it in probably a decade or more, the five-part "Lion-O's Anointment" is still imprinted in my brain as one of the most epic stories ever. I'm not talking about epic cartoon... I'm talking about epic story, of any genre. Ever.
That being said, cartoons rarely excite me anymore. Sadly part of that is just age, and the other part is I don't believe the quality is what it used to be. But that's straying off topic. The point is... a ThunderCats reboot turned me into a five year old boy again. My brother and I have been nerding it up constantly, all we can talk about anymore is ThunderCats and how awesome ThunderCats are and how ThunderCats is the most badassthingintheworldThunderCats!!!!1
Do you get where I'm going with this?
So let's talk reboot. I think it captures the very definition of the word. Two things really surprised me about how well thought-out this concept was...
1) It's so faithful to the original series that there's no way a fan could complain. The animation, the color palette, the writing, the voices (the original Lion-O voice actor is now Lion-O's father. Classic.) There's something nostalgic about it, like the show never left. And now it's back ready for more. They've stepped up the action, raised the stakes for themselves, but they deliberately didn't try anything too crazy. The writing is simplistic, very 80's-ish, and the tone and spirit of the original is captured in every frame, every bit of dialogue.
2) It caters to a new generation too. This is the part that really surprised me because it's a contradiction to point number one. It's the same show, but yet, it's not. The characters are all geared younger. Lion-O is a teen who acts like a teen, a coming of age story. WilyKit and Kat are noticeably much, much younger. And Snarf gets the Pikachu treatment as a bubbly voiceless mascot/comrade/pet. The least amount of change comes with Cheetara, the most with Tygra - his former reserved, intellectual self now taking shape as the cocky, perfectionist older brother. Panthro is entirely absent from the premiere (well, sort of, you'll see) and that actually intrigues me a lot.
The premiere sets in motion the same basic premise. Thundera is ravaged by the forces of Mumm-Ra and young Lion-O must lead the charge to defeat him. But personalities are an enormous change. I probably spent the first half wondering if gearing the characters to a younger audience would appeal to me. Unsure if the "new Lion-O and new Tygra" and their personal journeys (There's a sort of King Arthur meets Thor and Loki thing between these two) would really merit the same enjoyment from me and other fans, all of us being full fledged adults now. But by the second part, I was too wrapped up in the fun to have any doubts. I loved the characters, old and new and everything in between. This is a new show, after all, and they took a calculated risk to bring something new to the table. The changes work. The action is a huge step up, great voicework, breathtaking animation, and the sound definitely blew me away. Above all, the "new characters" will be the biggest door opener for the series, allowing a whole new set of stories to be told. I can't wait.
