The History of the Thundercats: How Many Times Can One Property Get Cancelled?

[@mrgreatbigmoose]

It's been said before, but it's so fitting that the most powerful weapon in the universe summoned cats by firing a laser pointer in the air.

[@sweetarchangel6748]

You know, I never thought of it that way when I was younger. I just enjoyed the series. But it is hilarious, lol.

[@yomismo9409]

That... Makes so much sense!

[@miafillene4396]

Oh...my...god, this so true...

[@martyndavidson2159]

Haha! I've never noticed that before

[@dorydeviance3774]

Oh I get it.

[@bagoftrix]

The designer of the logo and logotype deserves extra praise. You know it’s an amazing design when they keep using it for almost everything that ever came out. Such a great design.

[@OldManTheseDays]

Props to the unsung heroes- the graphic artists ❤️

[@tysean0816]

@@OldManTheseDays word up

[@DarthHastur]

It is one of the most iconic logos of all time

[@Acid_Ink]

Presto There’s actually a font on 1001fonts.com that looks like the Thundercats typeface.

[@mattelder1971]

As much as I like the logo, even as a kid I realized it was just a slightly modified version of the Mercury Cougar logo.

[@righty-o3585]

The opening sequence animation for the original Thundercats is still badass even by modern standards. I mean for an everyday cartoon, that opening sequence is incredible.

[@jjstarrprod]

It's so incredible that every single episode just pale in comparison... Makes you think we were glued to the television everyday just to watch that opening !

[@bruh_oly1370]

@@jjstarrprod how true is this ☝️😂

[@jfilesgraphics]

Gave ne goosebumps on my goosebumps.

[@Renegade666]

thats where all the budget went, the intro was animated by Toei and probably costed more than the whole run itself.

[@righty-o3585]

@@Renegade666 I disagree, the cartoon itself was animated well. Not the quality of the intro, but it was still done well

[@trippin_ninja]

I enjoyed the 2011 reboot, it's a shame we didn't get more.

[@iampoch01]

Even more shame is the reason it was cancelled: merchandising sales were unfavorable. From what I gather, viewership was acceptable, even if lower than hoped. But they can't continue on if they can't profit off merchandising.

[@kvoltti]

Raul Pimentel and I feel like it was more that they were expecting old school style merchandising numbers and not more modern models.

[@QuaimeVLee]

Agreed. The story was great and the characters were so much more complex.

[@stealthyoctopus3231]

Thundercats, Young Justice, Green Lantern The Animated Series, Beware The Batman there were so many great but short lived action adventure series on Cartoon Network around then. As someone who grew up with shows like that it sucked to see Cartoon Network suddenly completely give up on them. It's actually pretty lucky I just got to an age where I wanted to move on to other things at the time but I still hated the direction they went in.

[@nazishhussain2712]

I agree

[@teddanson37]

"Born in the 80s... refuses to go away while simultaneously refusing to reach its full potential." I feel like this could describe Thundercats or just me personally.

[@nobodyimportant2470]

The 2011 reboot didn't just fail it was sabotaged by CN. It was green lit just before a change in management for the network and the new managers wanted to focus on the under 7 audience exclusively. However they had some of this show made so they needed justification to cancel it. It was put into a crappy time slot to lower the ratings. They also didn't advertise the toys(which the show was made to sell) during the show. Rather stupid that they forced the crash and burn when they could have made it much more successful if they had handed it over to Adult Swim.

[@Clay3613]

Explain Adventure Time, Regular Show which are full of adult themes and humor.

[@nobodyimportant2470]

@@Clay3613 Transitions are not instantaneous. This was the start of a push for dumbing down the shows to stuff that only little kids would like. Hell look at the ads for Adventure Time and Regular Show. If you just saw those ads and nothing else, they appear to be very simple kids shows that anyone outside of elementary school would not want to see because CN didn't want an adult audience. Older individuals either were forced to watch because they were watching little kids or those who heard about it by word of mouth from the first group. Over time the management of CN pressured the creators to get with the program or move on.

[@divinesin7640]

More like they saw Adventure Time and realized that low budget cartoons can make lots of money so they got rid of costly cartoons like Thunder Cats, Generator Rex, Young Justice, and so on by the methods you just mentioned.

[@nooneknows1907]

@@divinesin7640 Generated Rex did get to finish their show and had proper ending. Amazing show btw.

[@divinesin7640]

@@nooneknows1907 I know but you can tell that they had to rap things up to give the series a complete ending with the way the all the plot lines were rush.

[@LewisChristisonVids]

2011 Thundercats wasn't given a solid shot. It only aired once a week, with no chance to catch up on a missed episode. I don't remember seeing very many commercials for it. I think they also moved the action block it was in around a lot, too. Cartoon Network did the same thing with the 2002 He-Man.

[@ShahroozSmith]

Cartoon Network was fine with airing shows like Ben 10 or Pokemon in Week Day Mornings.. but someone in the network thought it was a good idea to shove any and all action cartoons to a one-time slot in the morning on a Saturday. And it wasn't just 2011 Thundercats, Symbiotic Titan got the same treatment, Justice League Action had the same treatment, Young Justice had the same treatment. And with absolutely no reruns of the old episodes. You could only see that one episode once and that was it. It's almost as if someone in Cartoon Network is literally trying to kill Action cartoons.

[@crunchychips8123]

2002 He-Man was so f*cking good.

[@sabin97]

i hated the 2011 thundercats.....loved the original.....but 2011 was cancer

[@crunchychips8123]

@@sabin97 Aside from having to shoehorn in a romantic sub-plot, 2011 Thundercats was pretty great.

[@sabin97]

@@crunchychips8123 i hated it. it used the names of the thundercats, and it looked very vaguely similar. but it sucked ass.....

[@sunvegeta]

I'm 42 years old, and that Cartoon Network reboot in 2011 was great!! I wished they would have done a season 2 for it.

[@kllrjess]

same and same!

[@AceMcSch00ly]

I'm 35 and completely agree

[@GRIGGINS1]

49 and I loved the show.

[@scottywan82]

100% agreed.

[@theasinclaire52]

The only thing I didn't like about the reboot was the clumsy, annoying love triangle thrown in for no reason.

[@cpee656]

Thundercats = the greatest 80’s cartoon intro of all time. The animation quality, movement, pacing, effects, and music - truly superb. Many shows have tried to replicate its greatness but, of course, fall short. Try watching the X-MEN cartoon intro right after the Thundercats intro. Yikes. I love this channel! Outstanding research and writing! And your intro isn’t that bad either. Cheers.

[@wstine79]

"Sword of Omen. Give me sight beyond sight...... Oooo, a Toy Galaxy video."

[@jcope3886]

Was sad about Thundercats 2011 being cancelled. Thought it was well done and, like the Netflix Voltron, you could tell the creators were true fans of the original. My daughters and I loved it. Though, due to the show, my wife finally figured out that my nicknames for my daughters, Kat and Kit, were for Wilykit and Wilykat, not the Kit-Kat candy bar.

[@JT5555]

at least you didn't have to explain that time you asked her to dress like a sexy cheetah person.>;3

[@LukeWarm05]

I have the mind of a 13-year-old in the body of a 46-year-old. Am I a Thundercat?

[@stranger59]

Yes.

[@Tboysupreme]

You just might be

[@taddghostal]

@mark undefined what if i have an abundance of nipples?

[@bwgti]

I’m gonna go with “dork”.

[@taddghostal]

@mark undefined hmmm, they DO taste salty and delicious but i am Italian so it's hard to tell...

[@LancerX916]

The reboot of the series in 2011 was really good. It was sad to see it get cancelled. I knew some freelancers that had worked on the design side of it.

[@nikholman1287]

It's crazy that Transformers: The Movie was a boxoffice bomb yet is still better than the 37 blockbuster live-action Transformers movies.

[@russellharrell2747]

nik holman it’s easy, the original movie was Star Wars with giant transforming robots and the greatest 80s soundtrack possible. Bayformers just had explosions and...explosions?

[@nikholman1287]

@@russellharrell2747 best opinion ever.

[@webshootah777]

Bayformers have teeth and saliva.....nuf said

[@mastermonarch]

Transformers killed off Optimus prime I remember missing the 11am showing we made the second showing my friend came out crying

[@darthkobe73]

Truth!

[@lewisgraham4174]

When they Cancelled the 2010 series , CN was dead to me lol.

[@lizerdspherex]

And they did it because Lego's Chima was cheaper to air.

[@lewisgraham4174]

@@lizerdspherex It also doesn't help that I was 20 at the time and not interested in buying action figures. 30 year old me on the other hand...

[@Clay3613]

What a dope, you missed so many good shows this last decade!

[@lewisgraham4174]

@@Clay3613 Nah I aged out. A lot the cartoons art styles didn't suit my tastes. The ones that did like young justices I watched on the internet. Going to cartoon Network was unnecessary. I also don't see the need to sling insults over something as trivial as deciding I don't want to watch a channel anymore. Have a blessed day , Clay.

[@Chalor.]

@@lewisgraham4174 I was 30 at the time. 15 year old me to 40 year old me has been collecting action figures. However, 13 year old me was _waaaay_ too old for toys.

[@stormshadow2k]

This show was AMAZING when I was a kid. I didn't have any channels that ran it, so when ever I could see it I would soak it up. The intro was magic. Bought the entire original series when I became a father and made sure both my kids watched all of it. There was no way they where going to go through my own traumas for not having Thundercats in their lives.

[@barfharper4407]

The most ingenious thing about Thundercats was their method of naming villains. You take what type of animal they are, add a hyphen, then insert man. Vulture-Man, Jackal-Man, with Monkeyan as the wild card.

[@IffyJottere]

Still feeling the magic and hearing the roar, even almost 35 years later! As a 7 year old boy, I wore a winter glove in summer and stuck a plastic Sword of Omens toy into the back of it, like it was the Cat's Claw gauntlet (underappreciated part of Lion-o's gear, if you ask me), leaping about the house and shouting "Sword of Omens! Give me Sight Beyond Sight!" driving my poor family nuts. I've loved Thundercats from their very beginning, and despite a shifting time slot, I struggled to remain with them to the end. I have the 2005 releases on 24 DVDs still in their boxes with the lenticular art on the covers, and an online suggested viewing order ready to go. I also have the DVD releases of 2011's reboot, and thought it was fantastic when old Lion-o VO artist Larry Kenney played Claudis, passing the torch to 2011 VO Will Friedle (making Will a teenage revamped version of TWO timeless superhero icons, which rocks). Also, last note... I love Blundercats. Bless KZbin for having it. "What the F&@k is a sammo-flange?!"

[@bootblacking]

15:06 I see you sneaking in live action Panthro

[@andrepierre9169]

1:39 “they are a family...” Bionic Six say “hold up that’s our thing!!!”

[@kevinthomas4239]

Loved watching Thundercats on Toonami back in the 90's. Such an amazing intro. 2011 series was great too, just wished they had not canceled it.

[@madamefluffy4788]

From what I understand, the 2011 series didn't fail due to lack of interest/toy sales, but because CN kept changing the time slot. So, fans were still very much interested, they just never knew when new episodes were set to air. Really wish they'd finish the 2011 series; what was leaked about it would have been no doubt entertaining.

[@simonpenum]

The actual lore of Thundercats is still brilliant. It really deserves another DECENT reboot. Even a faithful film franchise would be amazing- if it stuck to the lore of the original

[@TheHeroExodus]

As a kid I saw a handful of episodes before it vanished... sad my days was every morning looking for that amazing animation. I'd stare at the tv guide for hours trying to see thunder cats.... I taught myself to read just so I can read the tv guide to find it.... I'm not sure I ever really cared much for the most of the story so much as I admired the animation. Made me take up art early.

[@peterdanior4538]

Although I liked the serious reboot, I was a bigger fan of the flashback stories with Mumm-Ra as the intergalactic Emperor searching for the Infinity Gems (that was essentially what he was doing). I liked seeing original characters who were based on the classic characters but not rebooted versions. Plus the Silverhawk & Tigershark cameos were awesome, but still too brief. Also great are the Return and Dogs of War comics that take place in the future of the original series.

[@MrZangetsu468]

Peter Danior Mumm-Ra, rival of Thanos

[@MrBottlecapBill]

That whole idea of the expanded universd and the thunder cats actually being allies with Mumm-Ra in the past was great.

[@peterdanior4538]

@@MrBottlecapBill yes, I think this idea would have worked great a future dystopia follow up to the original series. Where the descendants of the ThunderCats were enslaved by Mumm-Ra and forced to serve him as he enslaved other races. Either way, that episode was the most excited I got about the new series

[@pilouuuu]

I'll never forgive Cartoon Network for cancelling Thundercats 2011.

[@Summertimeblues28]

They need to release the complete series on Blu Ray. I wasn’t about to pay $100 for only the DVD Set last year, I might pay that much for a BD set tho. The LJN Toys were probably my second fave LJN Line after AD&D. And that’s really saying something cuz LJN made some awesome Action Figures. The Star comics were also great. I personally don’t really wanna see a live action movie, if the long standing rumours of one are to be believed. Thanks for yet another great video guys. The 80’s are now more than ever, a safe haven of very happy childhood memories for me and many others. Thundercats Forever. Hoooo! Stay safe everyone.

[@jamesdlin7]

I also want a Blu-Ray release. I don't even care if the episodes are remastered in HD (which of course would be great); I just don't want to store so many discs and have to change them so frequently.

[@btetschner]

This is the favorite 80's animated series of the youtube channel Laura Legends (the host). I remember this from when I was in elementary school, but have not watched it since. It is so unique it would be unlikely people would forget about the series. Thank you for making the video.

[@CandleLight129]

TC '11 deserved so much better. It was obvious how much work and passion went into every aspect of that show, and even though it re-imagined the lore, it played like a love letter to the original series.

[@Mayimbeoo7]

They need to finish the 2010 series it was so good!

[@sprngfldpop1]

I think the uncut version of Thundercats Ho IS the 5 episode version. The standalone movie version WAS released as TV movie and later a VHS, and I feel that's more or less what we would have seen in theaters. (Perhaps with a cool added on opening title sequence similar to the ones produced for the movies of G.I. Joe, Transformers, and much later on, Mask of the Phantasm. Instead of the standard theme with Thundercats Ho the Movie hastily thrown on it that that version has.) But the 5 episode one ACTUALLY has MORE footage than the movie version, which makes me wonder if the producers added that AFTER it was split up to pad the length, and bring it past the accepted 90 minute cut-off for an animated theatrical movie of the time. You'll also notice that most of the commercial breaks and between episode cliffhangers go back about a minute after the fade-out. Probably for more padding but mostly to kinda sorta keep the flow and the idea that it was all meant to be continuous.

[@alexwimberly1268]

God, I remember watching an almost full series marathon of the og Thundercats hosted by Andrew WK the day Thundercats 2011 premiered. That was a deep dive into such a classic series I'll never forget

[@WhiskeyBrewer]

Wait, an animated series not featuring Frank Welker? I'm in shock

[@nazishhussain2712]

I know

[@Strawberry92fs]

Frank "Megatron" Welker*

[@russellharrell2747]

Caboose 92m Frank ‘Uni the unicorn’ Welker

[@ForceMaximus84]

Caboose 92m Frank “Dr. Claw” Welker

[@robzilla730]

Frank "Fred" Welker

[@Joobkl]

The 2011 reboot was awesome. Deep episodes and animation was kick ass

[@wraithx7]

They need to do what they did with SAMURAI JACK and bring back the 2011 series and finish it.

[@deathsnitemaresinfullust2269]

Ya!👍

[@critiquecorner679]

Thundercats 1985: A masterpiece of 80’s animation Thundercats 2011: An underrated gem Thundercats Roar: AN ABOMINATION! KILL IT WITH FIRE!

[@merafirewing6591]

Yup, and Thundercats Roar is something that deserves to be a punching bag until the punching bag breaks.

[@ryan8211982]

@@merafirewing6591 we wait for a ThunderCats sequel series to be made for HBOmax and pretend the POC (Piece-of-crap) ThunderCats Roar never happened. 2:36

[@vaderfett3229]

Great video as always, Dan. Thank You for this! Nice Good Friday surprise. THUNDERCATS is hands down my favourite 80s cartoon and the 2011 reboot was amazing!

[@paulnicholson5997]

Thundercats 2011 was a disaster. People tuned in to see their original heros and instead got a semi- aname style cartoon that was just too far removed from the original run of cartoons. Those original toys were gold also. I was a teenager at the time so I would spend some of my checks getting my 2 younger brothers Thundercats figures, the tiger tank, and funny you mentioned it, but I also made sure my bros had the Silverhawks line of figures as well. Ahh, the good old days.

[@JGreen-le8xx]

The sword of omens is just a giant laser pointer to get other cats to chase it.

[@kevinoswald4136]

I was in 6th grade home from school with a high fever,saw a commercial for the premiere,the premiere of the movie (first 4 episodes),was coming on in a couple weeks,on a Saturday. I was so convinced I hallucinated the whole thing,I said nothing to anyone,was so relieved when it came on,loved it from that first fever ridden commercial.

[@SlytherinReviews]

Thundercats Roar just plainly sucks, I can’t stand the new series just give the original series along with the second season of the 2011 Thundercats

[@gospelx]

My 7 year old has watched ALL 12-ish(?) episodes of Roar multiple times now. I find it humorous at times, too. It's not what adults want, but it's doing something right.

[@RobbieStacks90]

The 1985 show was that work on the original Toonami. These kids and the 2000s kids have been screwed over. Cartoon Network has been airing the same kinda wannabe funny trash shows for the past 20 years. I'm glad I grew up in the grizzled action and dry humor days of cartoons. And it's not a nostalgia factor when I can tune into Boomerang and watch two hours straight of Looney Tunes, but can't watch 30 seconds of Teen Titans Go. That just means one of those two sucks.

[@SlytherinReviews]

@@RobbieStacks90 I can agree with you on that, I grew up in the 80's on a steady diet of Transformers, He-Man, She-Ra, Thundercats, TMNT and a number of other cartoon's and TV Shows that had happen to be on re-run cause it was there and family time was between 3:30pm-6pm in Australia, so when the 90's came along Power Rangers came with it can it exploded just like how Transformers did and My Little Pony at the time, yes I have a younger sister so I was made to watch My Little Pony before I got to watch my beloved Transformers and such. I grew up on Snorks, Jetson's, The Flintson's, Loony Tunes, Scooby-Doo and AstroBoy thanks to my dad and mum. Addam's Family was another TV Show that got an animated series and it was still wacky and cooky as the LIVE TV Show that it was based on, Thundercats in Australia never got any toys, books, Video games, plushies or even a colouring book for that matter while everything else was flying off the shelve and into boy's hands even DC Super hero's like Batman and Superman couldn't compete with Transformers at the time cause they were the last to be picked by every boy in the 80's and I should know this cause all I wanted was the Generation 1 Transformers until TMNT and He-Man came along and it was I wanted just those three lines in my hands until Mighty Morphin Power Rangers came along. I can sit down and watch all those old Cartoons from the 80's and just relax and chill and then space out in my own mind thinking I'm inside the cartoon and I'm kicking Megatron's butt all over Earth or trying to plot of a way to join Megatron and bring down the Autobots for good

[@luisg.martinez9124]

The target audience is single-digit age and they like it enough

[@Thund3rfist]

I was only 5 or 6 when Thundercats first aired. I watched it on a tv with an antenna over the airwaves! I know crazy right? Anyways, to say roar was made for kids is just wrong to me. Obviously adults weren't the ones who were targeted when the original came out. So why are we dumbing everything down for kids these days and just using the excuse "it was made for kids"? Thew original was made for kids, TCRoar was made for idiots. Sorry but they do not get a pass on this one!

[@TA3DArtist]

I'm actually really glad you clarified the cat food was for your cats. I was a little concerned for a second. :)

[@Mecha82]

i really miss Thundercats 2011. It was actually really good and deserved to have it's story complited. But now sadly we have trash that is Thundecats Roar instead.

[@MrRyuken555]

Hey is your profile a Macross character? Who is that? Milia?

[@mapletown11]

I loved the 2011 reboot. I watched the OH show sparingly as a kid so I didn’t know much about it until I watched the reboot. I don’t understand the hate that the reboot gets at all. I think it would have done much better on Netflix like Voltron did. Oh well.

[@MrBottlecapBill]

Nobody hated the 2011 reboot accept CN. If you look in the comments you'll see about a 99% agreement that it was fantastic. The writing was fantastic, the world expanded, it had nowhere to go but up. Sadly the suits never know a good thing unless it happens by accident.

[@JT5555]

the VAST majority of thundercats fans liked the reboot,with the only one's that didn't being the "thunderboomers" (as i have just now decided to call them because i can and you can't stop me) that are running on pure nostalgia for the original and thus anything that's NOT the original is deemed as simply being worse or even bad. they're the same breed of people that think the only REAL star trek is "star trek: the original series",simply because that's the one they grew up watching and they like making themselves feel special.

[@Ghostface4k]

"They are attacked along the way by an evil group of mutants called... The Mutants!" That was creative! 😂😂

[@patrickpablo217]

I always took it as indicating how stuck up the ThunderCats were. I mean, I love them, but they definitely were racist elitist pricks sometimes. The ThunderCats are all that remain of the lords of Thundera and of the Thunderans in general. The aristocracy saved themselves and left the planet with the most powerful weapon in the galaxy (universe?). That's not very egalitarian. They refer to the enemy as Mutants, but the Mutants don't seem any more mutated than the ThunderCats are - it's just that the ThunderCats are cat-based and the Mutants are based on other animals. So, to me it just always came across as the ThunderCats being racist. ;)

[@75aces97]

@@patrickpablo217 Not just that, but the Mutants never seemed to pose any credible threat to the Cats, even within the 1980s cartoon milieu. The Cats seem to buy into a divine right of aristocracy.

[@patrickpablo217]

@@75aces97 Yeah. Also weirdly dismissive how the ThunderCats would keep handily defeating the Mutants schemes, but couldn't be bothered to take any measures to prevent more attacks. No negotiations, not even rounding them up and imprisoning them or something! Like if the ThunderCats were a group of high schoolers, and the Mutants were the way younger siblings that kept coming by and being annoying but it was just not worth the effort to do anything more than just keep beating them up time after time after time!

[@DocDelray]

Thundercats 2011 was actually pretty good, I watched it whenever I could. The problem was, CN couldn't stop changing the times when it would air making it almost impossible to watch the damn thing.

[@3DSte1985]

And the toys weren't great.

[@Viciouspiked]

that and no character themes. i watched it and it felt soulless.

[@pizzahighfive2612]

That was the point... So who are the masters that decided on killing it?

[@mekman4]

Great Stuff! I think it’s madness that in an age of video games, that the two/three franchises that are trying to figure out how to stir interest in their properties, still rely mostly on television series and animation alone, while Transformers has several (and has had several previous) well liked and well received _video games,_ where their grown up audiences _are...._ The fact that a Thundercats and Masters of the Universe game in the style of Transformers: Devastation (from the same developer that made a Turtles _and_ Korra game) has never crossed anyone’s mind today, is mind boggling in itself. Also, in the age of Call of Duty, Fortnite and PUBG, there’s _still_ no proper G.I. Joe FPS on _any_ platform. Thundercats could _guest star_ in the hinted at Injustice 3, ala TMNT, perhaps? Or a mobile game... I spent days to months in Transformers F2F, and I haven’t even mentioned Earth Wars. Even _Nintendo_ is on mobile. I play Pokémon Masters _daily,_ and I don’t even need to mention Pokémon Go! Or the Harry Potter game from the same developer of the previously mentioned... The action cartoon _lives_ on the gaming platform, today, is what I’m saying... That’s where the audience went.

[@mekman4]

Also, a good template for a GI Joe game (and pretty much any of the properties mentioned) would be Sony’s Warhawk/Starhawk, and or Team Fortress 2 (if anyone is worried about the stigma of appearing too violent in a FPS environment). You’re welcome.

[@AndyC3.0]

I am so glad I found this video !this has to be one of the best videos I've ever seen on the history of the ThunderCats I'm a long time lover of the show. It always bummed me out that they never came out with a Thundercats fighting game for any game console. Could you imagine having a Thundercat Mortal Kombat type game but with a Thundercat roster. I think that would be a great way of reintroducing this franchise to younger viewers .

[@robertcatherwood7362]

Rankin Bass animation division also did the "The Hobbit" and "The Return of the King" cartoon specials. The animation is of the same style. Gollum and the chief frog-mutant are the most similar in style...but don't take my word for it; watch and see for yourself.

[@kgoblin5084]

Quick googling/wiki-search shows that RB used the same set of contractors for a lot of their traditional animation work. Notably, said contractors were Top Craft/Pacific Animation Corp... essentially the same folks who later became Studio Ghibli (& now Walt Disney Animation Japan). Other notable mentions for Rankin Bass + Topcraft would be: Flight of Dragons, the Wind in the Willows, & the Last Unicorn.

[@Desslar]

Yeah, in the Thundercats opening credits, Slithe looks a lot like the Orc designs from the Hobbit/ROTK productions, maybe with a little Gollum thrown in.

[@ragingsloth2846]

They also made a little known movie called "The Flight of Dragons" with the likes of John Ritter, James Earl Jones, Larry Storch and Bob McFadden. Great movie if you like D&D type stuff or the old animated Hobbit movie.

[@OneManToyShow]

I know I'm in the minority but I've seen quite a few of the Thundercats Roar episodes and I quite enjoyed them. Yes, it is a VERY different take on the series, but there are a lot of references to the original series. They even reference Silverhawks in one episode! Plus, I think the fact that they use the original Hoffer music cues is proof that this new show is an homage to the old one. Also, I think it's funny. Keep up the great work, Toy Galaxy crew!

[@3rdARKnight]

It was always rumoured as kid that TC, SH,TS existed in a shared universe what would’ve been dope back then was to see hints of it in each series or dope crossover but atleast the 2011 version of TC brought it to light

[@adamofgrayskull7735]

Just glad Roar is gone

[@fantasticmatic6633]

Its just awful

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

There was people who love Roar you know! Just to say!

[@spunkyspaz]

@@alexandreturcotte6411 Well, if it's looking to pick up viewers from the old fandbase than it's not going to do that (other than checking out how bad it is). But of course it could get younger fans of it's own. Of course, if you're a parent and want to show your kids a good cartoon with meaningful morals then just show them the original.

[@Dragnus]

Sadly, Roar isn't gone. Episodes 15 and 16 are airing on Cartoon Network on Saturday. I don't know what he was talking about when he said that only 2 episodes were out and only online. It's been on every week since it aired on CN. It's just awful.

[@alexandreturcotte6411]

@@spunkyspaz Ok, you got a point.

[@butterflyhink]

Great work, however, Gerianne Raphael was the voice actor for Pumyra and Chilla, not Bob McFadden. I believe Bob McFadden was the voice of Snarf and Slithe. ALL of the voice cast played multiple roles throughout the series with Lynne Lipton voicing every single female character in the first 60 episodes with an admirable amount of variation.

[@danielbarron1779]

I never get tired of Toy Galaxy reviews. No matter what the topic it's always entertaining!

[@anactualtinker7681]

Plenty of people watched the 2011 reboot with crazy highs but it got done over

[@joselegaspi2549]

The 2011 remake for the Thundercats is actually really good, i liked it a lot. Saw it on Hulu and couldn't believe there was not a season 2.

[@kgthegreatone943]

I loved Thundercats when I was a little kid

[@thatonkgau5221]

The reason Thundercats keeps getting cancelled is majorly due to toy sales which is where I think streaming can come in to revive it. Having Thundercats be a darker more serious animated series on Netflix or HBO Max would work perfectly. The series has so much potential to be the ATLA if transformers and He man can go on this long so can Thundercats.

[@MarkERoth]

The movie did exist uncut at one point. The only reason I know this is because when I watched the episodes I always noticed extra scenes. WNYW (I think thats the station's call letters) premiered the Thundercats movie (They called it "Thundercats Ho") uncut (except for commercials) in prime time. I remember my parents recorded it for me and I watched it occasionally till sadly my vcr ate the tape in 2004.

[@davidsloat1016]

Yep, I remember that. If I recall, it was only months after the station had become a FOX affiliate and changed from WNEW to WNYW. It was cool as heck to see Thundercats in Prime Time.

[@pierrelabriel9223]

One of my favorite childhood cartoons of all time!!! Thanks for this!

[@printrabbit8117]

Watching all these I've realised my child consisted heavily of reruns. I wasn't even alive when it originally aired. Mind. Blown.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

What's really mind-blowing is when you realize a lot of these shows haven't even been in syndication for like 25 years (at least as far as I remember or have seen) I know Cartoon Network had a lot of this stuff back in the mid-to-late 90s but even boomerang has stopped showing stuff from the 80s.

[@75aces97]

I guess it's not too surprising. I was in the target age demographic when this and contemporaries first aired. Don't know how these shows fared in reruns, but one thing 1980s weekday shows had going for them was inventory. Even some obscure series that never caught on yielded 65 episodes.

[@dix0n778]

I was born right in the same month Return of the Jedi was released in theaters, so I understand that feeling.

[@RockNerdRadio]

I love the Thundercats. Great video! I remember being so excited for the 2010 series. It's a shame it aired at 7:00 AM, made it hard to catch if you didn't have a DVR, which I didn't at the time. I think Thundercats Roar! has been on TV, there's like 16 episodes on demand via my cable provider and I have seen a few commercials for new episodes.

[@asasial1977]

I remember watching the premiere... when it actually premiered Man I'm getting old

[@jasonshannon8708]

asasial1977 That's cool my man! I was about 3 y.o. and My Dad recorded the show on VHS. I still watch those tapes today; and if I'm lucky they will have some commercials too.

[@mamunestor]

asasial1977 me too. But I was more of a silverhawks fan.

[@mamunestor]

Jason Shannon I was 8 when it came out.

[@asasial1977]

I was 7 when it came out. Seems like they had a pretty big ad campaign for a month or two before it premiered. Big for a cartoon anyway.

[@asasial1977]

Then again I was a kid, so I might have seen a commercial once or twice, though it looked cool and was dying to see it.

[@oli1682]

One of my absolute favorite 80’s cartoon and toy line! Great video

[@johnosbourn4312]

Hey, Dan, Hot Wheels just released in their Entertainment Series, an all new, first ever casting of the Thundercats Thunder Tank, along with the Windraider from the 80's He-Man cartoon.

[@DennisWoodyard-DragonflyEnt]

Thanks, I enjoyed the video. I worked on the original series final season, including designing secondary characters and wrote two episodes "Shadowmaster" and '"Well of Doubt", I highly recommend the David Crichton's book Hear the Roar: The Unofficial and Unauthorized Guide to the Hit 1980's series for a deep dive in the making of the original series. He covers the 2011 and Thundercat Roar, also. One humorous item about Warner Bros and the T'Cats, related to me by a former Rankin/Bass producer. When WB first thought of acquiring the rights they cold called Rankin/Bass, and my producer friend had to tell them they already owned it, as part of buying Lorimar/Telepictures. WB just had no idea they own it for years. D'OH! Also, when I was working at Warner Bros. on Ozzy & Drix (2003-2004), as a storyboard director (Daytime Emmy Award nominated), I met Joaquim Dos Santos who was working on the Justice League animated series. He was big Thundercats fan and make a presentation package of great redesigns of the T'Cats for a new update. WB passed on his version. (I still have a copy of his presentation package. I'll have to post it to my youtube channel, soon) Dos Santos went on to be an Annie and Emmy Award winning producer/director of Avatar: the Last Airbender (2005) and The Legend of Korra (2012), and other shows. When we were finishing Ozzy & Drix, I was part of a meeting about exploring a doing a Thundercat's series with my producer Ron Myrick and DC comic writer Mark Waid. Again, nothing came of that meeting. One last item, when DC.Windstorm did the Thundercat comic, the first issue included my Shadowmaster character and several props I designed for the original show. It was fun to see that. I hold out hope that if they do a movie. Shadowmaster will be make a appearance. Again, thanks for the video.

[@dclangst]

Roar should be canceled. It’s garbage. I did like the last reboot.

[@rorylumley4727]

Several staff members have said they worked on thundercats roar. Plus with how cartoon network seems to not care it probably is already cancelled.

[@dclangst]

To me it’s just trying to repeat the success of Teen Titans Go but it’s an also-ran in that capacity. It looks terrible visually and even the cross-over with Teen Titans Go isn’t gonna be able to save it. They should just release season 2 of the reboot, I’ll pay!

[@dclangst]

I’ve rewatched the original Teen Titans. I like it but some of dialog and voice acting in there is stiff. Raven’s monotone portrayal, no thanks. I realize it’s the same actors but it translated to comedy better. The Easter eggs and lampooning of superhero stereotypes is enjoyable. Nothing about Thundercats Roar is enjoyable though.

[@gospelx]

I wonder if people who make comments or like comments like this one have kids. It's been fun sitting next to my 7 year old and watching Roar.

[@gospelx]

@Sven Tempest That's fair. Not even successful shows will be absolutely revered, all things being subjective and all. But I tend to see most complaints coming from people who seem to want a show specifically targeted at them rather than an age group that likely wouldn't be commenting on the various online forums.

[@exodus1214]

Great content as always Dan. I believe that the problem with the 2011 reboot was the show was geared towards adults but the collectibles associated with it were geared towards children. It was a great series nonetheless. I would love to see Netflix finish it.

[@blackphoenix77]

Thundercats 2011 was actually going to get a second season, but Cartoon Network cancelled it because it was cheaper to produce the CGI knockoff Lego: Legends of Chima (the main protagonist was a red maned lion man with a magic sword)

[@thechad7643]

I remember the Wildstorm comic series and loved it. I loved the storyline of The Return and the ideas it brought to the table, and hated that the follow up, Dogs of War, decided to make things a bit more goofy and kid friendly again. EDIT: You also missed the Masters Of The Universe/Thundercats crossover published by DC comics in 2016 that was extremely entertaining and well done. Edgy enough for adults, fun enough for youths. It also had Lion-O using the Sword of Omens to transform cringer into a Thundercat/Battle Cat Hybrid that looked and fought like the Mutants worst nightmare.

[@ketami2]

Thundercats 2011 NEEDS TO CONTINUE!

[@Mecha82]

I fully agree. It was so good.

[@tellarite3000]

Great episode as usual. Most of all, awesome to hear you pronounce "ZX Spectrum" correctly, at last! Keep up the good work in these difficult times, guys.

[@2nd3rd1st]

9:35 Oh man, Carrot Top really has been in show bizz his whole damn life, that ripped red menace!

[@lennyalcina4340]

Wow, is always interesting to know a little more about history of some of our favorites kids shows, i did watch the 2011 reboot serie out of curiosity, it was really good, more compelling and mature and the design were cinematic and the stories were well written.

[@jerrodbronson4044]

“ Thundercats Live!,” was the first “ concert I ever attended. Yeah, yeah that explains a lot.

[@billpagan3070]

Love these History segments guys!😁👍

[@lowrivera]

I remember watching ThunderCats after school. In LA, it aired on KCOP 13 along with He-Man and She-Ra.

[@bootleggodzilla1]

didnt even know that thundercats roar was a thing, it looks absolutely terrible

[@ccggenius]

FWIW, the director is on record saying he hates the franchise. That being said, having watched it, it's clear that he still did his homework. There's a lot of references to the old series, it has a subtle overarching narrative with permanent changes to the status quo, and I think it makes perfectly adequate background noise while you're assembling some model kits or something.

[@bootleggodzilla1]

@@ccggenius so not worth the time to watch got it

[@OneDollarWilliam]

Born in the '80s, and refuses to go away while simultaneously refusing to reach its full potential? I cannot relate to that at all.

[@rowantritton8659]

The toys of the first reboot were amazing, among some of the best I own, such a shame it didn’t take off

[@KentKaliber]

The 2011 reboot was BRILLIANT! I was glued to every episode. Sadly CN *DID* sabotage it --- they put it in the WORST timeslots possible and cancelled most promotion for it.

[@smithereens1693]

Earle Hyman (Panthro) played Russell Huxtable, the father of Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby,on the COSBY SHOW. I had a feeling Panthro was black! 👍🏿

[@mikokubto9049]

Panthro is based on a cat with high melonin levels so he would be the thundarian equvilent to black.

[@smithereens1693]

@@mikokubto9049 Mindblown 😳

[@smithereens1693]

I don't have a "mindblown" emoji 😞

[@3rdARKnight]

This Easter egg never gets old

[@gospelx]

@@mikokubto9049 A cat? Which one? Is he a leopard or jaguar?

[@12fuzzyrats]

In the 2011 Thundercats reboot, an elephant character refers to Lion-o as Lion-el which, I just now realize (from looking at the character concepts) was a reference to Lion-o's original name.

[@jons6834]

“While Jules Bass wrote the lyrics” Verse 1: Thunder, thunder, thunder,thunder cats Verse 2; thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder cats Verse 3: Thunder, thunder, thunder, thunder cats Strong work sir,

[@RedwoodTheElf]

He also wrote the lyrics for the Rankin/Bass Hobbit and Return of the King, with such hits as "Goblin Town", "The Greatest Adventure", and "Where there's a whip (There's a way!)"

[@DondreTrotman]

That's not a fair assessment. The lyrics (if I remember correctly) are Thundercats are on the move Thundercats are loose Feel the magic, hear the roar Thundercats are loose Thunder, thunder, thunder, thundercats etc...

[@ralfonso159]

I love this show. I really wish they created a older version series for those of us that grew up with this!

[@joeblaster8770]

Why didn't you bring up that liono might of been modeled Leto Atreides from Jodorowsky's Dune?

[@Dargonhuman]

9:35 That Snark costume is terrifying! It's like the longer I look at it, the more of my soul it consumes...

[@craigcharlesworth1538]

I remember licking the tip of that battery ring and getting a rather pleasant buzzing sensation.

[@Mentocthemindtaker]

Ah, sweet, sweet nostalgia.

[@blackphillip8486]

😂😂😂

[@JT5555]

the hell were you doing licking a battery ring?XD

[@craigcharlesworth1538]

@@JT5555 Growing up in the UK in the 80s we had to make our own entertainment.

[@emeraldknight5522]

As a kid, I thoroughly enjoyed the Thundercats TV series back during the 80's. It was one of the greatest TV shows on during those times. The one major thing about that TV series is that when Rankin-Bass premiered the series, they were more concerned about selling the story of the Thundercats (explains something of why the series went a full two seasons before being cancelled and shelved because of loss of popularity.) The company that created the toy line for Thundercats was LJN.. and I gotta say.. their toys were CRAP! They looked nothing like the characters from the TV show and the accessories were even worse.

[@liamfowell8661]

The 2011 Thundercats was excellent, I was genuinely devastated to find that it had been cancelled just as the story was really picking up.

[@Footender]

That Panthro likes cruising in the Thunder-tank with the top down.

[@greenlanternhg5141]

This show needs to come back and I don’t mean that crap Cartoon Network made...in fact stay out of it CN! And I hope Super 7 does good enough to keep figures coming for a long time Great video Mr Larson, Producer Greg ✌🏽👍🏽

[@justicierodelaliga]

Used to think that TMNT was my favorite cartoon. And while it was Thundercats is became my favorite. I rewatched the show when it aired on the 90s, when I got the DVDs and started again watching it not long ago and it's incredible and still holds up. The 2011 reboot was even better...and that's the last thing to talk about until a live action movie finally happens.

[@eidolonfilmsukuk8456]

The original 80's series lasted a lot longer than a lot of 80's cartoons.

[@JediTT69]

I love the use of the live action Panthero thru out this episode! 🤣🤣

[@vanillajack5925]

Wow, that Thundercats Roar thing looks horrible! 😅

[@patrickb4750]

It's an unmitigated flaming trash pile....

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

I usually don't like dogpiling a show but this one deserves it. I'm hopeful it completely bombed and is canceled and gone. I haven't seen any sign of it since I think April if we get through the rest of this year without a peep about it hopefully it's never seen or heard from again.

[@zaranyzerak]

4:45 Sooooo....who played the voice of Snarf? 😉(It was Bob McFadden for those wondering) Otherwise another great summation of a great franchise! Hopefully one day we'll get the reboot/sequel/movie/etc we've always wanted.

[@BonusEggs4Sale]

Bob definitly did not voice Pumyra and Chilla lol

[@dbeane43]

DC did an awesome Thundercats/Masters of the Universe crossover a few years back. I could get behind a new comic at the very least. I know a lot of people want a live action movie but I've never been sure about how that would work. I mean it could go over well like Transformers initially did. But then there's that recent Cats movie....

[@elipekuri2355]

Does anyone else remember getting really excited about the reboot but they had a really dumb schedule? It was like mid evening on Friday nights. Bastards.

[@JT5555]

i legit didn't even know it existed until it had already been canceled and sent to reruns. granted,i'm canadian so we got it on YTV rather than cartoon network but still.

[@gingergreek]

the 2011 remake was waaaay better than the original. It hurts they never made more. I'm hoping they do a Young Justice and revive the 2011 universe on a streaming platform.