I remember seeing Thundarr the Barbarian on Boomerang and never really got into it. I thought it was just some kind of odd Conan the Barbarian-esque cartoon. However, after receiving the set of the complete series–21 episodes in all–I have found that I completely misjudged it.
The show centered around the title character and his two traveling companions, Princess Ariel the sorceress, and Ookla the Mok (a Chewbaca-esque character), and their journey through the wastelands of America (set in A.D. 3994) fighting evil and helping refugee humans through magic and sheer brute force.
I never knew there was a whole mythology behind the show, mostly due to my never really growing up with it, so I was instantly intrigued when I saw that the apocalyptic view of Earth happened when a planet crashed into the Earth, causing the Moon to break into two and drastically alter the course of Earth. Also, I didn’t realize how tight (at least, for 1980) the writing was. Everyone actually has specific characteristics. My favorite character instantly became Ariel because of her dry humor. The character that actually has the least development is Thundarr himself–he’s basically just a wall of muscle, ready to fight evil.
Also, there are a lot of references to other sci-fi instances in pop-culture. Of course, Conan the Barbarian is the main influence, but Planet of the Apes is also referenced (in “Secret of the Black Pearl”, the trio travel to Manhattan, where the Statue of Liberty is tilted and dismantled in the ocean). Also, since I mentioned Chewbacca, Star Wars can be seen as a reference.
I can see how kids got caught up in Thundarr the Barbarian in the ’80s, what with sci-fi operas like Star Wars and Star Trek dominating pop-culture and movies and shows like Conan the Barbarian and He Man: Guardians of the Universe catching the imaginations. If I was a kid in the ’80s instead of being born at the end of the ’80s, I would’ve probably gotten caught up in the show as well. But now that I have the set, I can watch Thundarr and catch up on what I missed.
You can purchase Thundarr the Barbarian at the Warner Archive.
