ThunderCats (2011 TV series)
Encyclopedia
ThunderCats is an American animated television series executive produced by Sam Register
, and produced by Ethan Spaulding
and Michael Jelenic and is a reboot of the original series
by Tobin "Ted" Wolf
. It is produced by Warner Bros. Animation
with animation provided by the Japanese Studio 4°C
.
The series began with an hour-long premiere on Cartoon Network
on July 29, 2011. The show started airing on 10th September 2011 in the United Kingdom.
, Jelenic and Spaulding sought to tell a darker, more cinematic story. Of the new series, Jelenic stated, "The old show felt more like a Saturday morning animated series and this feels more like a movie."
Kevin Kliesch composed the music for the series, using a combination of electronics and traditional orchestra.
The highest rated show for that night received a 1.1, which makes the ThunderCats 0.8 a successful showing.
IGN
gave the pilot episode 9 out of 10.
Brian Lowry of Variety
gave the premiere a mixed review, stating that the series was designed as a marketing ploy for a new ThunderCats toyline. Lowry ended his review stating, "ThunderCats represents a throwback to the drearily toy-driven 1980s, a period that seems destined to keep returning as much out of pragmatism as nostalgia."
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
gave the premiere episode a fairly positive review. writes, "It's a rather canny rethinking of a series that probably didn't take a lot of thinking to conceive in the first place. I'd watch it again to see where the series goes — with a show like this, all borrowed mythology and hoary adventure tropes, narrative momentum is everything."
Angela Wattercutter of Wired Magazine
believes the show will appeal to fans and Friday night partiers. she writes, "Having seen the premiere episode, it looks pretty awesome, and it should appear to both old-school 'ThunderFans' and the crowd that likes to get high and watch cartoons on Friday night. Chances are, its nine lives will last for a while."
Kenneth Carter of The Birmingham News
also agrees that the cartoon is kid-friendly and interesting, "What I saw was a pleasant surprise. The story is multi-faceted. The characters have layers and flaws. Is ThunderCats still cheesy? Of course it is. But if you're looking for something you can watch with your kids, this isn't bad."
Edward Adams of Creative Loafing in Atlanta credits producers for giving the series their own twist, "Where in the original series the environment was bright and colorful, in the pilot episodes, the tones are much darker to support the new vision producers Sam Register
, Michael Jelenic, and Ethan Spaulding
are trying to tell. For die hards of the original ThunderCats series, you're in for a pleasant surprise."
Star News Online reporter Jeff Hidek concludes, "The new Thundercats successful echoes the fun, wonder and all-around coolness of the original characters while ditching some of the dated trappings of '80s-syndication and offering up a more sophisticated, if still kid-friendly, plot".
ComicBookMovie.com was impressed with the show's new anime
look, "The animation is beautiful, very fluid in motion. The voice acting was really good and the characterization is a little cliche at times, but still it's the start of something great."
Sam Register
Sam Register is Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs, at Warner Bros. Animation.Formerly Vice President of Cartoon Network, Register was the brain behind CartoonNetwork.com, which was started in 1998. After creating CartoonNetwork.com, Register came up with the idea of Cartoon Orbit in 2000...
, and produced by Ethan Spaulding
Ethan Spaulding
Ethan Spaulding is a crew person on the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He directed twelve episodes, and held various crew positions on several others...
and Michael Jelenic and is a reboot of the original series
ThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
by Tobin "Ted" Wolf
Tobin Wolf
Theodore Walter "Tobin" Wolf was an American who was responsible for creating the animated television series ThunderCats. He was also an inventor with several patents to his name. Wolf died in 1999, in Honolulu, Hawaii....
. It is produced by Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
with animation provided by the Japanese Studio 4°C
Studio 4°C
is a Japanese animation studio founded by Eiko Tanaka in 1986. The name comes from the temperature at which water is most dense.-History:STUDIO4°C has produced numerous feature films, OVAs, and shorts. Early film titles include; Memories , Spriggan and Princess Arete...
.
The series began with an hour-long premiere on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
on July 29, 2011. The show started airing on 10th September 2011 in the United Kingdom.
Plot
For generations, the Thunderians have lived and thrived in the kingdom of Thundera. However, one night the kingdom is attacked by the Lizard army, led by the evil sorcerer Mumm-Ra and Grune the Destroyer. After Thundera is destroyed, a small band of surviving Thunderians led by the young heir to the throne Lion-O (who wields the powerful Sword of Omens) flees in order to seek out the Book of Omens, which is said to have the knowledge needed to defeat Mumm-Ra. Even when they find it, they must keep the Book of Omens from falling into the wrong hands and find a way to defeat Mumm-Ra once and for all. After finding the book, the Thundercats have to find the three spirite stones before Mumm-Ra does.Production
Prior to production, producers Michael Jelenic and Ethan Spaulding planned out the plot of the reboot and mapped the series into 13-episode arcs that would each follow a separate storyline. In rebooting ThunderCatsThunderCats
ThunderCats is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions debuting in 1984, based on the characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens...
, Jelenic and Spaulding sought to tell a darker, more cinematic story. Of the new series, Jelenic stated, "The old show felt more like a Saturday morning animated series and this feels more like a movie."
Kevin Kliesch composed the music for the series, using a combination of electronics and traditional orchestra.
Principal voice actors
- Will FriedleWill FriedleWilliam Alan "Will" Friedle is an American actor, voice actor and comedian. He is best known for his comedic roles, most notably the underachieving elder brother Eric Matthews on the long-running TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000...
as Lion-O, Leo - Dee Bradley BakerDee Bradley BakerDee Bradley Baker is an American voice actor. He is noted as his long-running-role as Klaus Heissler in American Dad! and other various characters including Squilliam Fancyson in the hit TV series SpongeBob SquarePants, Nightcrawler in X-Men: Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance...
as Slithe, Lizard #2, Robear Bill - Clancy BrownClancy BrownClarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career...
as Grune - Corey BurtonCorey BurtonCorey Burton is an American voice actor, perhaps best known as Count Dooku, Ziro the Hutt and Cad Bane in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Brainiac in the DC animated universe and Spike Witwicky and Shockwave in the Transformers universe...
as Jaga, Tygus - Emmanuelle ChriquiEmmanuelle ChriquiEmmanuelle Sophie Anne Chriqui is a Canadian film and television actress. She is perhaps best known for her role on HBO's Entourage as Sloan McQuewick, as well as the love interest of Adam Sandler in the movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan...
as Cheetara - Robin Atkin DownesRobin Atkin DownesBorn in London, England, Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor who is one of the most prolific voice-over actors in Los Angeles. He is well known for his work in film, television and voice acting...
as Mumm-Ra, Koinelius Tunar - Madeleine Hall as WilyKit
- Larry KenneyLarry KenneyLarry Kenney is an American radio personality and voice actor.In 1963, Kenney began his radio career at the age of 15 as a disc jockey at WIRL in Peoria. After WIRL, he worked at WOWO, Ft...
as Claudus - Satomi Kōrogi as Snarf
- Matthew MercerMatthew MercerMatthew Mercer is an American voice actor, script writer, and independent film maker.-Biography:...
as Tygra - Eamon Pirrucello as WilyKat
- Kevin Michael RichardsonKevin Michael RichardsonKevin Michael Richardson is an American actor and voice actor who currently stars as Cleveland Brown, Jr. in The Cleveland Show...
as Panthro, Lynx-O, Sauro, Anet
Additional voices
- Patrick CavanaughPatrick CavanaughPatrick Cavanaugh is an American television actor.-Actor career:He is best known as one of the leads in National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2, portraying the half of the goofy stoner duo of Pete and Wang . He also appeared in the original movie...
as Kask, Adult Emrick - Richard ChamberlainRichard ChamberlainGeorge Richard Chamberlain is an American actor of stage and screen who became a teen idol in the title role of the television show Dr. Kildare .-Early life:...
as Zigg - Grey DeLisleGrey DeLisleGrey DeLisle is an American voice actress, singer-songwriter, and comedienne. To date, she has released four solo albums and has featured on the tribute album Anchored in Love: A Tribute to June Carter Cash and film soundtrack of Loggerheads...
as Young Cheetara - Héctor ElizondoHector ElizondoHéctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
as Viragor - Miguel FerrerMiguel FerrerMiguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...
as The Duelist - Carl JonesCarl JonesCarl Jones is an English footballer.Carl Jones may also refer to:*Carl Jones , Welsh biologist*Carl Jones , American fashion designer for Cross Colours...
as Alley Cat, Lizard #1 - Jim MeskimenJim MeskimenJim Ross Meskimen is an American comedian and actor, perhaps best known for his work on the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and as the voice of President George W. Bush and other politicians for the internet Jib Jab animated shorts...
as Vendor, Aburn - Rob PaulsenRob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
as Shen (Jackal Leader), Rezard (Lizard Leader) - Jon PolitoJon PolitoJon Polito is an American actor and voice artist, who is known for working with the Coen Brothers, most notably in the major supporting role of Italian gangster Johnny Caspar in Miller's Crossing. He also appeared in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and on the first season of...
as Conquedor - Stephen RootStephen RootStephen Root is an American actor. He is best known for his comedic work on the TV sitcom NewsRadio, in the film Office Space and as the voice of Bill Dauterive and Buck Strickland in the animated series King of the Hill...
as The Drifter/Hattanzo the Swordmaker - Atticus ShafferAtticus ShafferAtticus Shaffer is an American actor known for portraying Matty Newton in the 2009 supernatural horror-thriller film The Unborn and Brick Heck in the ABC sitcom The Middle.-Personal life:...
as Young Emrick - Tara StrongTara StrongTara Lyn Strong is a Canadian actress, voice-over artist, singer, who is best known for her voice work in cartoons.-Early life and career:...
as Young Lion-O - Cree SummerCree SummerCree Summer Francks , best known as Cree Summer, is a Canadian actress, musician and voice actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as college student Winifred "Freddie" Brooks on the NBC sitcom A Different World...
as Panthera - James Arnold TaylorJames Arnold TaylorJames Arnold Taylor is an American voice actor, Impressionist, and Announcer. He is the current voice provider for Fred Flintstone as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Johnny Test in Johnny Test...
as Khamai, Old Emrick
Crew
- Todd Casey - Staff Writer
- Michael Jelenic - Producer, Head Writer
- Kevin Kliesch - Composer
- Tab Murphy - Story Editor
- Dan Norton - Art Director
- Arthur Rankin - Consulting Producer
- Sam RegisterSam RegisterSam Register is Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs, at Warner Bros. Animation.Formerly Vice President of Cartoon Network, Register was the brain behind CartoonNetwork.com, which was started in 1998. After creating CartoonNetwork.com, Register came up with the idea of Cartoon Orbit in 2000...
- Executive Producer - Andrea RomanoAndrea RomanoAndrea Romano is an American casting director, voice director, and voice actor, whose work includes casting, and voice directing Batman: The Animated Series, Tiny Toon Adventures, "Animaniacs", "Pinky and the Brain", Teen Titans, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and multiple Warner Bros...
- Casting and Voice Director - Ethan SpauldingEthan SpauldingEthan Spaulding is a crew person on the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He directed twelve episodes, and held various crew positions on several others...
- Producer - Eiko TanakaEiko Tanakais the chief executive officer and the president of STUDIO4°C, an animation studio she founded in 1986. Tanaka is also the chief executive officer of a producing company called Beyond C....
- Animation Producer
Reception
The ThunderCats premiere attained a rating of 0.8 and over 2.4 million viewers.The highest rated show for that night received a 1.1, which makes the ThunderCats 0.8 a successful showing.
IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the pilot episode 9 out of 10.
Brian Lowry of Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
gave the premiere a mixed review, stating that the series was designed as a marketing ploy for a new ThunderCats toyline. Lowry ended his review stating, "ThunderCats represents a throwback to the drearily toy-driven 1980s, a period that seems destined to keep returning as much out of pragmatism as nostalgia."
Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
gave the premiere episode a fairly positive review. writes, "It's a rather canny rethinking of a series that probably didn't take a lot of thinking to conceive in the first place. I'd watch it again to see where the series goes — with a show like this, all borrowed mythology and hoary adventure tropes, narrative momentum is everything."
Angela Wattercutter of Wired Magazine
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
believes the show will appeal to fans and Friday night partiers. she writes, "Having seen the premiere episode, it looks pretty awesome, and it should appear to both old-school 'ThunderFans' and the crowd that likes to get high and watch cartoons on Friday night. Chances are, its nine lives will last for a while."
Kenneth Carter of The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News
The Birmingham News is the principal daily newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and the largest newspaper in Alabama. The paper is owned by Advance Publications...
also agrees that the cartoon is kid-friendly and interesting, "What I saw was a pleasant surprise. The story is multi-faceted. The characters have layers and flaws. Is ThunderCats still cheesy? Of course it is. But if you're looking for something you can watch with your kids, this isn't bad."
Edward Adams of Creative Loafing in Atlanta credits producers for giving the series their own twist, "Where in the original series the environment was bright and colorful, in the pilot episodes, the tones are much darker to support the new vision producers Sam Register
Sam Register
Sam Register is Executive Vice President, Creative Affairs, at Warner Bros. Animation.Formerly Vice President of Cartoon Network, Register was the brain behind CartoonNetwork.com, which was started in 1998. After creating CartoonNetwork.com, Register came up with the idea of Cartoon Orbit in 2000...
, Michael Jelenic, and Ethan Spaulding
Ethan Spaulding
Ethan Spaulding is a crew person on the animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. He directed twelve episodes, and held various crew positions on several others...
are trying to tell. For die hards of the original ThunderCats series, you're in for a pleasant surprise."
Star News Online reporter Jeff Hidek concludes, "The new Thundercats successful echoes the fun, wonder and all-around coolness of the original characters while ditching some of the dated trappings of '80s-syndication and offering up a more sophisticated, if still kid-friendly, plot".
ComicBookMovie.com was impressed with the show's new anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
look, "The animation is beautiful, very fluid in motion. The voice acting was really good and the characterization is a little cliche at times, but still it's the start of something great."
External links
- Advanced Review at AnimationInsider.net
- Cartoon Network