ThunderCats Roar is an upcoming American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Cartoon Network. The series is set to premiere in February 2020. ThunderCats Roar features an explicitly cartoonish artstyle with a more lighthearted, comedic tone than previous ThunderCats installments. The show's premise is similar to the original; the ThunderCats escape their dying homeworld Thundera, only to crashland on Third Earth, facing off against various villains and their evil overlord, Mumm-Ra.
On May 18, 2018, it was announced that a third ThunderCats cartoon, ThunderCats Roar, was in development and was picked up by Cartoon Network. It was originally scheduled to premiere in 2019 but was delayed to 2020. The show's developers are Victor Courtright and Marly Halpern-Graser. Courtright previously worked on the Disney XD series, Pickle and Peanut as a writer/storyboard artist and created the Cartoon Network digital series Get 'Em Tommy! Halpern-Graser previously worked as a writer for various DC Nation Shorts and was co-creator of Disney XD's show Right Now Kapow. The first two episodes were released on the Cartoon Network app on January 10, 2020.
Voice Cast:
Thundercats
Lion-O (Voiced by Max Mittelman) – The leader of the ThunderCats.Tygra (Voiced by Patrick Seitz) – The serious member of the team.
Cheetara (Voiced by Erica Lindbeck) – The fastest member of the team.
Panthro (Voiced by Chris Jai Alex) – The strongest member of the Team.
WilyKit (Voiced by Lindbeck) – One half of the ThunderKittens.
WilyKat (Voiced by Mittelman) – One half of the ThunderKittens.
Snarf.
Jaga (Voiced by Larry Kenney).
Villains
Mumm-Ra (Voiced by Seitz).Slithe (Voiced by Trevor Devall).
Jackalman (Voiced by Andrew Kishino).
Monkain (Voiced by Jim Meskimen).
Vultureman (Voiced by Dana Snyder).
Other
Berbils (Voiced by Snyder).Episode Summary: (**Spoilers!!**)
Part 2: Lion-O enters the pyramid to thank Mumm-Ra, only to learn he is evil while revealing the presence of the other Thundercats on Third Earth. Mumm-Ra, explaining his Doomstaff grants him power while establishing a curse where anyone who says his name is struck by lightning, chains Lion-O up and uses a portal to attack the ThunderCats' new home. Mumm-Ra makes short work of the team despite their resistance, with Lion-O and Snarf arriving too late. Things seemed hopeless until Mumm-Ra unintentionally praised the Berbils as they hug him with his own curse used against him, enabling the ThunderCats to break free with Lion-O destroying Mumm-Ra's staff. Mumm-Ra, reverted to his natural form, escapes and Lion-O promises to stay with his team and lead them to victory.
The Verdict:
After seeing the behind the scenes trailer above, I knew what I was getting into when I first saw this, even though I was cringing when I saw the initial images for this. I TRIED to keep an open mind throughout this, knowing that I'm not the audience that they are going with for this new iteration of ThunderCats, but boy, I cannot shake the comparisons to Teen Titans Go!. It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't trying to bastardize what was a great series for Cartoon Network with it's previous iteration with the 2011 series, only to replace it with THIS of all things. Don't get me wrong. There were a few moments that did get a natural laugh out of me from references to the original series, but damn, it hurts seeing ThunderCats dragged through the mud like this into weak comedy efforts.
I don't understand what is with Hollywood bastardizing everything that I grew with as of late, including but limited to ThunderCats, Voltron (let's just all admit that tail end of the Netflix reboot wasn't worth it), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (seriously WTF on Rise of the TMNT at times), and even Transformers (remember they went through their own "comedy" run with Transformers: Animated on this very same network), with poorly drawn "reboots" to cater to kids in a comedic manner with little to no action. That being said, I'm not outraged like the bulk of the Internet at this. At this point, I have just grown ultimately disappointed seeing so many great franchises being reduced to this route. Hollywood isn't catering to my generation anymore as they don't see a profit in it. That's painfully obvious from the trend that these shows keep popping up despite the fan backlash from each and every time a new one pops up.
That being said, there's some interesting differences in this iteration of the ThunderCats lore in comparison to the original series though. Lion-O isn't a boy in a man's body as a result of being aged up from the stasis pods that he was confined within following the Cats' escape from Thundera - something the 2011 series didn't recycle either. Jaga (voiced by the original Lion-O voice actor Larry Kenny himself) is already dead and merely acts as the narrator for the first two episodes. Mumm-Ra doesn't seem to have his original weakness of being unable to face his own reflection, even though that was fucking hilarious in the original series until it was written out in later seasons. Snarf isn't a nanny/babysitter to Lion-O (like in the original series) nor just common housepet (2011 iteration). Instead, he's a fucking robot that offers tools to assist Lion-O out in the field. I guess that's going to be the plot device or deus ex machina as much as the Sword of Omens was in the original series that solved any and ALL problems to the point of absurdity in the original series. When they got to the point where that thing was holding planets together I was like get the fuck out of here, even as a kid. The Berbils were well represented here, even though I have to admit that I'm anxious to see how they adapt some of the other inhabitants of Third Earth into this series in terms of their designs.
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| What the actual fuck is my immediate reaction to seeing the animation of this show at times... |
Watch It or Don't Bother?
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| If Cartoon Network thinks that just tossing out a subpar ThunderCats show to give them an petty excuse to hang onto the ThunderCats license, then that's only going to toss more oil onto the fire with fans demanding a revival/continuation of the 2011 series and/or more nostalgia to the original series. This show does nothing to quell the fans of either of those iterations of ThunderCats. Instead, it spits in the faces of the fans and memories of those shows alike. |
This one is easy. Spare yourself the torment and avoid this like the plague. It doesn't "officially" debut until February, but the first two pilot episodes are up on the Cartoon Network app for viewing for those with morbid curiosity like me. I honestly would be surprised if this ends up being another hit for the network like Teen Titans Go!. I feel genuinely sorry for Victor Courtright though. In the behind the scenes video that I shared earlier in this article, he seemed like a genuine fan of the original series and wanted to offer his own lighthearted spin on it. I'm sure his intentions were pure and he didn't sought out to tarnish the ThunderCats' legacy, but this show isn't the right course of action following the 2011's series' abrupt cancellation. Sadly, fans aren't going to give him a break in that regard either once this show officially debuts in February and there's mass exposure to it outside of the Cartoon Network app.
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