Thundercats , the best cartoon of the 80s

lets talk about thundercats 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today, I want to talk about one of the best
animated series from the nineteen eighties, and this could not
be more nineteen eighties if it tried, The ThunderCats. ThunderCats

(00:21):
was a sci fi space adventure fantasy mixed with magic,
and it was very rich in story sound familiar. This
show earned in nineteen eighty five and it ran for
four seasons, which included an impressive one hundred and thirty episodes.
ThunderCats was produced by Ranking Bass, which was responsible for

(00:43):
most of our favorite Christmas specials like Rudolph the Rednolds
Reindeer and Frosted the Snowman. This series followed a race
of alien cat like humanoid characters that were designed by
a guy named Tobin Wolf who believed that his creations
would be perfect for a kid's cartoon, and eventually it
became ThunderCats. And those characters included Tigra, Chitara, Panthro, Wilder, Kit, Wilercat,

(01:06):
Snaff and let's not forget the most important character of all, Lionel.
In a distant galaxy, Fundura falls into chaos and explodes.
A band of Feland warriors escape the world's destruction under
the guidance of Jaga, keeper of the Sword of Omens,
to assure their survival. E pilotus a ship towards a
new home, knowing the journey will cost him his life.
Safely asleep inside the cryo chambers, the ThunderCats are preserved,

(01:29):
but one of the POD's malfunctions Lionel's pod and he
ages normally, maturing into a leader, whilst his companions remain young.
They crash on a strange world, Third Earth, and hear
an ancient evil awaits Mamrah, a twisted sorcerer lusting after
the Sword of Omens and the power of the Eye
of Fundarra. Lion almost rise. He'll lead the ThunderCats through

(01:51):
peril and discovery, forging alliances, battling mutants, monsters, and memories.
The ThunderCats, banned by their cold truth, justice, loyalty, and courage,
fight not just to survive, but to shape the future.
This show was absolutely epic and as one of the
most awesome intros to a cartoon ever made. The animation
is top notch, and the theme tune is so catchy

(02:13):
and so iconic, and it's just exhilarating to watch. And
as for the actual show's animation, it is admittedly dated,
but it is still pretty sweet. And as for the
first episode, it is actually quite exhilarating, a really cool
plot that's exciting and tragic at the same time, as
we see the death of a planet and a race

(02:33):
and the sacrifice of Jago, who pilots the ship transporting
the fondercast to safety, killing himself. This is all quite
heavy stuff for a Saturday morning cartoon, and there was
a lot of negative attention for Saturday morning cartoons back
in those days. Censorship had decided that cartoons should be
more educational or carry a message, so at the end

(02:55):
of each episode, the characters would reflect on the story
that was just told with a moral lesson to go
along with it. I am lying up, Lord of the ThunderCats,
reminding you that kids are not allowed to drink anything
with alcohol in it. Oh baby, cool, don't drink alcohol.
This cartoon also had a massively successful toy line. I
had a few myself, like the Lion of figure with

(03:17):
light up eyes. I also had Momra's Tomb Fortress. This
was a very cool toy. You see, you placed the
robed version of Mumra inside the door of the castle.
You spin it around and out popped the more muscular
scurry version, but I never had the scurry version, so
my mumra turned into a ninja turtle. I also had
the holy grail of all the Fundercat's toys, the Sword

(03:39):
of Almonds Man. I was so happy to get this sword.
It was so cool. You placed a single battery in
the handle and the eye of funderul it up the
Fundercat's logo, and now I could have sight beyond sight.
It was so cool, that is until one day I
took it to school with me and a boy named
John Rigby took it off me and swung it against
the chair and smashed it to pieces. I still missed

(04:02):
that sword to this every day, and I can still
feel the pain I felt when that sword smashed into
a million pieces. Curse you, John Rugby. The Thundercat's cartoon
made the Sword of Mormons an iconic sword, and I
believe it is just as iconic as he Man's sword,
and it's instantly recognizable. When the sword was not in use,
it was a small compact dagger and it sat in

(04:23):
Lionel's claw shield. I love the way that Lionel would
shout and the sword grew it was such an exciting
part of the episode, and I would sit there and
just wait for it to happen every single time. And
then we had the thunder Tank Pantherro's Pride and Joy,
a massive transforming beast of a vehicle that the ThunderCats

(04:45):
would ride around in. And it was very ideal to
create a very eighties toy out of this that you
could pert next to your massive electronic cat layer. Man,
I want to be a kid again. In twenty and eleven,
a brand new Thundercat's animated series was heard on TV.
This one was very different from the original and way
darker and totally awesome. I love the series, but it

(05:05):
was incredibly short lived. It only lasted for one season
and it left the series feeling very incomplete. In twenty twenty,
a new series premiere called Fundercat's Raw, which was, in
my opinion, not that great. This show was more like
Teen Titans Goal, with each episode running at around ten minutes,
and they were very, very very silly, and the fans

(05:28):
hated this. And I think the show kind of works
and it can be amusing the only problem is it's ThunderCats,
and ThunderCats does not work in this format, and that
show lasted only one season before it was eventually canceled.
ThunderCats was an awesome eighties cartoon. ThunderCats was mythic, emotional,
and sometimes weirdly spiritual. It fused science fiction with sword play,

(05:52):
ancient ruins with alien tech, a cocktail of contradictions that
somehow worked. If you like ThunderCats, please be sure to
drop your favorite episode in the comment section, and I'll
be sure to read it until that Sam guys See
you soon.