With Thundercats making a return to our televisions, courtesy of Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network, the anime-style series was billed to be a “twenty-first century re-imagining” of the cartoon we grew up with in the eighties, but will it live up to the hype? Producer Michael Jelenic (Superman/Shazam: The Return of Black Adam, Batman: The Brave and the Bold) talked about general reaction to Thundercats being resurrected:
“I’m a little surprised by the visceral reaction to the property. It might be because it’s the last great ’80s property that hasn’t been reinvented for this new generation. We’re trying to be respectful to the old material, but bring it into a new era. I think it will be really cool.
We have some great artists [on ‘Thundercats’]. We’re using a very famous Japanese animation studio, Studio4C, which did ‘The Animatrix.’ They’re going to have their signature stuff on it. It’s going to be pretty epic.”
When asked about how he intended to “re-imagine” the popular animated show, Jelenic said that they’d simplify the show:
“One thing is that I tried to simplify the mythology a little bit. It’s a pretty complicated backstory that borrows from a lot of other sci-fi stuff, like Superman and Star Wars. In developing this, I wanted it to be a little more simple. In the other version, there’s something like three different planets involved, and they all converge onto one planet, and nobody’s really connected. I just wanted to bring that all together.
It’s reimagined in that way, but at the same time, we’re going to see the characters that we love.”
This version of Thundercats will still feature Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, and even Snarf! And here’s where it could get dicey for Thundercats. Snarf is a well-meaning but annoying character in the show. He could easily turn into this decade’s Jar Jar if this show is not careful with this “re-imagining.” Jelenic addressed the issue of Snarf:
“Everyone always wants to know about Snarf. He will be in it, and he will not talk. Don’t worry. He won’t be going, ‘Lion-O, why don’t you do this? (in a whine)’ We just having him say, ‘Snarf! Snarf!’
That’s a way to get him in the show without annoying every single person who hates him. It’s funny, because people are always like, ‘I hate Snarf! Wait, you’re not going to put him in? That’s terrible!'”
[Above: Snarf, old skool-style]
As for the visual quality of the show, Jelenic gave a hint to the feel of the show:
“I think when people see the final character designs, people will think it’s a different take, but it will feel very familiar to the old series. The colors aren’t quite as bright as they were. It’s a little darker take, but you’ll recognize everybody.”
Read more on this reboot of an animated classic here.
Thundercats will premiere in 2011.
[Source] MTV
