Thundercats....Hoooooo!

One of my all time favorite childhood cartoons is getting the reboot treatment. Thundercats is coming back, but this isn't your mid 1980's Saturday morning cartoon!

From what I can find on the internet it's the same basic story with a little darker feel! It's still going to be aimed at young kids (can't miss out on the toy market!)...but will have a little more depth than it's 80's predecessor.

The first official images have been released by the studio and you can see that there is a stark change in the look of Lion-O. Seems he's slimmed down since his last TV appearance. Panthro looks a little meaner, Cheetara is also a little sleeker and Tygra looks pretty much the same. The only bad news, in my opinion, to come out of the reboot stories is that while Snarf will probably be in the series...he will be mute. So no witty remarks and quips and no "Snarf Snarf". Essentially they have removed the JarJar Binks factor from the new series. It's kinda bums be out since I was a big fan of Snarf!

Looking back on the original it has lost some of it's luster. It wasn't until just a few years ago that I rewatched some of those old episodes. While still fun, they don't really hold up. Mostly, it's the voice work that kinda killed it for me. Panthro was too dull, Lion-O had no depth, Snarf -- was AWESOME though! Just kidding. It is actually the childhood standard bearer for disappointment for me! If I watch a favorite childhood show or movie and it doesn't match my memories I say it suffers from "Thundercats Syndrome". Another example of that is the Disney movie "The Black Hole"...really not good!

Here's what the gang looked like back in the 80's. So you can see there has been a changing of the guard in looks. The older HeMan like look has been replaced with a more Anime style look for Lion-O and friends.

Still no word that I can find on if Wily-Kit and Wily-Kat will be in the series. Damn kids were always getting in trouble!!

So fond memories of the original are leading the way for me to get sucked into the new series. All I can hope is that they decide to give Snarf his due and let the best character in the whole show shine like he should. Heck, the show was going to be called Snarf and Friends .... but people thought it was too close to Smurf (really!...no not really!...really!....nope)

Cartoon Network will be airing the new series which is a collaboration between Warner Brothers Animation and Studio4c of Japan.