Credit: Cartoon Network
I don’t recap a lot of shows (well, only one show) on Moniqueblog, simply because I don’t want to start something and then miss several episodes and get behind. Recapping a show takes a lot of commitment, and sometimes, I get tired and procrastinate. (As an aside, it’s a crime that I haven’t been recapping Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated because some MAJOR things have happened, especially with Fred’s parentage. Who would’ve guessed Scooby-Doo could get this deep!) But I might just start recapping Thundercats because it fills my Avatar: The Last Airbender void.
Thundercats takes one of the most iconic cartoons of the ’80s and makes it even more epic than it already was. The revamp has reimagined Thundera as an affluent, gorgeous city-state that has conquered the weaker lands around it, those weaker lands containing lizards. The King of Thundera claims that the conquering is in order to keep the peace and protect his cat people from the lizards’ villainy. But, according to the lizards, they have been unjustly enslaved.
Enter young Lion-O and his older adopted brother Tygra. Tygra is more in line with his adoptive father–very manly, full of machismo, intolerant of other races–while Lion-O is the creative, free-thinking visionary. He believes in technology, what was only then known as a myth in Thundera. Also believed in Thundera is that the area’s biggest threat, Mumm-Ra, had been defeated.
Things fall apart when an elaborate plan puts Mumm-Ra right in the middle of Thundera and allows him to conquer the area, which puts the prophesy of a great leader rising to defeat Mumm-Ra in motion.
The premiere was told in two episodes, and both episodes provide a great relief from those of us who are still suffering from Avatar withdrawal symptoms. The detail in the characters, backgrounds, and storyline are as welcome to cartoon fans as water is to a dehydrated person in the desert. The characters are also very well developed. It’s also great that we meet our core group early, which also includes Cheetara (a cleric in the palace), WilyKit and WilyKat (who are now kids), and Panthero, more or less. We’re even introduced to Snarf, who no longer talks, thank goodness.
Very good choices were made in the show, especially Snarf not speaking and particularly in making Kit and Kat kids; I always found them slightly annoying in the ’80s cartoon–they were basically the cat version of The Wonder Twins (whom I think, have fared better in their numerous revisions both in Smallville and The Justice League: Unlimited), but in this cartoon, they not only make much more sense, but their new background as pickpockets who wish for the finer things in life makes them a gazillion times more interesting.
Also, the racism element to the story is very intriguing. I think that adds a whole dimension the original show never had.
Overall, I’ll stick around to watch this show, which airs on Cartoon Network every Friday at 8:30/7:30 c. And who knows? I might even recap it.
