The Half-Hour Toy Commercial, Part 4: Thundercats, Ho!

The Thundercats were created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf, a self-made Rennaissance Man who, after losing part of a leg at the Battle of the Bulge during World War II, studied mechanical engineering and went to work for Westinghouse. Eventually, he struck out on his own as an independent inventor; he has numerous patents to his name, many of them for toy designs (like a portable record player from the '50's). That is, quite literally, about all the information I've been able to find on him. I seem to recall reading an obituary for him from 1999, I think it was in The Comic Book Buyers Guide, that stated he had been a writer for Rankin Bass, the company that produced The Thundercats, throughout the '60's and '70's, which would make sense, but that's a 12 year old memory and I haven't been able to find it confirmed anywhere. His daughter, Janice, in an article about the Thundercats' enduring popularity from a 2000 issue of The Honolulu Advertiser, remembers sitting at the dinner table with him as he designed the characters. Be that as it may, Leonard Starr, a long-time veteren of the comics and animation industries, describes being approached by Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass around 1981 about helping them develop the Thundercats project; as Starr tells the story, all they had was the name, the logo and the insignia (which he called a brilliant piece of design work), and fully rendered drawings of "a lion-man...a panther man...at least one reptile, and what would eventually become the...Thundertank." He was asked if he could make something of these various elements, and quickly (apparently, they gave him a weekend). He opted to give it a shot and so came up with pretty much everything else that we recognize as The Thundercats, premise, characters, technology and all. After he turned it in, Jules Bass apparently requested that the Thundercats' leaders name be changed from Lion-L to Lion-O (when I first saw the pilot movie as a child, I thought his name was Lion-L, which I thought was a horrible name; sounds like the name of an accountant), suggested the characters of Wilykit and Wilykat, and asked that the sorceror Mumm-Ra and his monstrous henchman be combined into one character (which is why the mummified Mumm-Ra can transform into the big nasty version). Rankin and Bass loved what Starr came up with, and offered him the position of Head Writer (which he took; he wrote the pilot and several episodes throughout the first season, including the fan-favorite Annointment Trials) and a share of the profits from merchandising, which he turned down. He asked instead for residuals (money made, on a diminishing scale, every time the show is aired) and received a good-faith promise that he would get them, but he never did. Starr later attempted to sue Rankin Bass for those residuals after the first season of Thundercats finished production, but his suit never went anywhere. Despite this, Starr is gracious and positive about Rankin Bass and his experience with the show. About the "created by Ted Wolf" byline, given just how much of the show he himself created, Starr admits to never having met Wolf and, for a long time, thinking that he didn't exist, that he was just a name invented for copyright reasons (a common corporate practice, or at least it used to be, on creative projects that are the work of many hands, especially when that work is on a for-hire basis; this was the case with all those Doc Savage and Shadow pulp stories from the '30's and '40's, as well as on the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys mysteries). Still, as Starr himself points out, Wolf apparently recieved royalties (and his estate still does) for The Thundercats, and "nobody in this business lets go if money for nothing."

The Thundercats is what in the animation industry is described as "toyetic," which means that it's felt by its producers to be capable of supporting a line of toys. Unlike He-Man, Transformers, or GI-Joe, The Thundercats was not concieved initially as a toyline, but as an animated series that was felt could support a line of merchandise that included toys. The toys based on The Thundercats were actually a bit disappointing, clunky and rather indifferently designed, in my opinion. Their sales were not on a par with He-Man, Transformers, and GI-Joe either, which all dominated the toy market when they were released. Of the four, Thundercats is primarily remembered, by those who remember it at all, as a cartoon, while the the others are primarily remembered as toys. So there you go.

Animation for the series was provided by Pacific Animation Corporation (which was descended from Topcraft, which was in turn descended from Toei Animation; many of Topcraft's staffers, including it's founder Toru Hara, would go on to join Studio Ghibli and work on Hayao Miyazaki's many masterworks). There's a family resemblance in just about all of Rankin Bass's traditional animated works, with the obvious variations you'd get for tone; The Thundercats is no exception. The anime roots of its designers worn proudly on its sleeve, The Thundercats bears more than a passing resemblance, in terms of visual style, to the Rankin Bass films The Hobbit, The Return of the King, The Last Unicorn, and The Flight of Dragons. It's markedly less fanciful or romantic than those works, which likely accounts for the more pronounced differences (it's visual style is identical, however, to The Silverhawks, which perhaps isn't surprising, given that both series were produced by Rankin Bass around the same time; The Silverhawks bears all manner of resemblance to Thundercats, in animation, tone, style, and construction). The animation is a considerable cut above the norm for an '80's animated series, though occasionally off model and frequently a bit stiff.; it has the Japanese standard for frame-rate movement, which is slower than the American standard, and which generally makes for more detailed drawings but can also make the animation considerably less dynamic (think of the average fight scene in your standard anime--it's usually a few very brief seconds of action broken up by several minutes of verbal posturing, reflection, and internal dialogue). The opening animation, however, is a joy and a wonder to behold, brimming with power and energy, with some truly complex shots; it's still held up today as a high water mark for action animation.

The Thundercats series begins as the inhabitants of Thundera, cat-like humanoids of various descriptions, leave their planet in search of a new home (Thundera explodes a few minutes in to the first episode; no official explanation is ever given as to why until I believe the 4th season, where it's destruction is attributed to the Sword of Plun-Darr). "Thundercat" is a term applied to Thunderian nobility, and the command ship of the "Thunderfleet" contains the heads of the chief noble houses of Thundera: Jaga, Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, and the twins Wilykat and Wilykit, as well as Lion-O, the heriditary Lord of the Thundercats and his "nanny" Snarf (we are given to understand much later in the series that his given name is Osbert, and "snarf" is the name of his species). The fleet is attacked by the Mutants of Plun-Darr (Panthro's line of "Always those blasted Mutants!" would seem to indicate a history of some animosity), who succeed in damaging the command ship and destroying most of the fleet (by the fourth season, which I've only read about and never seen, it is apparently revealed that most of the fleet was simply scattered). Because of the damages to their ship, the Thundercats are forced to alter their course from their original destination to one "Third Earth," a journey which will still take them decades. The Thundercats make the journey in suspension capsules which slow their aging, all but Jaga who elects to guide the ship (Jaga, already the oldest of the Thundercats, dies of old age shortly before they arrive on Third Earth, but appears regularly to Lion-O as a spirit guide). Upon landing, it is discovered that Lion-O has inexplicably grown to manhood while the others have remained unchanged, and the Thundercats set out to make their way on Third Earth. Opposing them are the Mutants, who have followed them (who also apparently have suspension capsules, because they haven't aged either), and Mumm-Ra, an ancient force for evil native to Third Earth who senses the arrival of the Eye of Thundera, a powerful mystical relic embedded in the hilt of Lion-O's Sword of Omens, which he feels will threaten his power (we are given to understand that the Mutants have historically been after the Eye as well, which is the reason for their generational wars with the Thunderians and their pursuit of the command ship). Thus is the series established and thus does adventure ensue. Much of the first season is given over to the Thundercats carving out their own space on Third Earth, building their home (the Cat's Lair) and salvaging equipment, making allies, and searching for fuel (Thundrillium, they call it, which fortunately can be found on Third Earth), and fighting off attacks by the Mutants and Mumm-Ra, who form an uneasy alliance (uneasy of the part of the Mutants; Mumm-Ra seems fine with it).

I must point out at the beginning that I loved this series as a kid, and have a great deal of affection for it still. From a fan-geek perspective, there are a lot of elements that are just hinted at but never explored ( for instance, during the annointment trials, it is alluded to briefly that each of the Thundercats represents a clan, the "Tygra Clan," the "Panthro Clan," etc.). We are never given much backstory on the individual Thundercats; indeed, most of the time the focus is squarely on Lion-O with the others coming in to support him. I understand the narrative purposes of this, particularly given the way catoons were done in the '80's, but still, as a fan it's a bit maddening. What's more, as I'm sure you've gleaned from the above, there's a lot in that initial premise that seems labored or nonsensical. The bit with Lion-O aging while none of the others do has been grist for the fan-fiction mill for years; Jaga mentions in the pilot that the suspension capsules only slow the aging process, not stop it, and Tygra later states that Lion has physically aged about 12 years. If from that you assume that all the Thundercats have physically aged 12 years, well and good, but then how to explain Wilykat and Wilykit still being children? The official line was that their particular type of Thundercat didn't get any bigger; again, fine, but then why do the others treat Lion-O like an adult, and the Wily-twins like kids? Maddening, no? What? Move on to something else? Fine then. Be that way.



Mumm-Ra was an excellent villian, actually quite frightening, and the thuggish-yet-cunning Mutants were a good complement to him. Many of the mystical entities that Mumm-Ra summoned to take on the Thundercats were well done as well; I remember particularly a fear-spirit named Mongor who was an anthropomorphic goat with a firey scythe who got bigger the more his opponents were afraid of him looked down right satanic and disturbing. Future seasons would introduce new villains (like the Lunataks from the Moons of Plun-Darr, one of which, Luna, was a tiny woman who rode around on the back of a big, bull-like fellow called Amok, and for some reason just creeped me out to no end), and new allies as well.
The Thundercats ran in first-run syndication from 1985 to 1990, for a virtually unheard-of total of 130 episodes (all available on DVD from Warner Bros, though they confusingly label season 2, 3, and 4 as season 2, parts 1 and 2). As far as I can remember, seasons 3 and 4 were never broadcast in my area, so I've got me some cartoons to watch!

Some great news for fans of The Thundercats that Warner Bros. animation is producing a new series to air on Cartoon Network in the fall of 2011. It's animation is provided by Japanese Studio 4 C, which was also responsible for portions of the Animatrix and Batman: Gotham Knight. It's executive producer is Sam Register (who produced Teen Titans, Ben10, Batman:The Brave and the Bold, GI-Joe: Resolute, and pretty much everything Warner Bros. animation does for Cartoon Network), with Michael Jelenic ( writer for Wonder Woman and Batman: The Brave and the Bold) and Ethan Spaulding ( a director and artist on Avatar: The Last Airbender). Very little information has been given out in regards to the series except to say that they've streamlined things (I get the impression that the Thundercats and the Mutants are now supposed to be warring factions from the same planet) and retooled certain factors that the series makes more sense (Lion-O looks to be in his late teens in the production art that has been released, which provides all the same dramatic possibilites as making him a "boy in a man's body" without being, you know, goofy). The tone is described as being darker, and more attention is being payed to each character's individual backstory. According to Spaulding, the biggest changes are to Tygra, who the current writers felt lacked punch in the original version (I thought he was cool and Zen, but he was pretty underused, particularly after the first season). Promo art shows Tygra armed with a pistol as well as his traditional bolo-whip and, while Spaulding won't say what Tygra's new "added dimension" is, I have certain suspicions. Larry Kenny, the original voice of Lion-O, is returning as the voice of Claud-Us, who was Lion-O's father in the original series but whom Kenny describes as Lion-O and Tygra's father. Now, this kind of slip makes the geek in me speculate. Hmm...So Tygra and Lion-O are brothers...but Tygra, who is apparently older than Lion-O, is not in line for the throne...is he Claud-Us's illegitimate son? Historically, it wasn't at all uncommon for a king or lord to acknowlede his illegitimate offspring and give them an honored place at his court. Again, I'd be very surprised if this turns out to be the case, given that this show isn't slated to air on Adult Swim, but given the evidence, it seems a natural assumption. It would be cool to see Tygra as the Jon Snow to Lion-O's Rob Stark (that's a reference to George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, for those of you who don't know).

In closing, let me say this about the "Half-Hour Toy Commercial," particularly to those who would denigrate it. Give kids some credit. If kids like a toy already, and if the toy lends itself to such, they will probably appreciate it if a cartoon is made around that toy. More ways to enjoy the thing, you know? Similarly, if kids enjoy a cartoon, they'd likely enjoy it if toys were made to support it, for similar reasons. Kids like cartoons, kids like toys. There you go. If a toy is lame, a cartoon, even if it's great, can't save it; a lame toy might get a temporary boost in sales from a great cartoon, but that boost isn't likely to last. As I've said, there are loads of lame toys and equally lame cartoons made to help market them that have been, justly, forgotten. Quality will win out, in the end. Most people's arguments against the "Half-Hour Toy Commercial" seem to come down to some idea that it's somehow immoral to market things to kids, which in turn comes down to the odd notion that it's wrong to show kids cool stuff, because that will make kids want stuff. Seems a weak argument to me. As to the accusation that these cartoons have limited value because they're so "commercial," I can only say this; what is and isn't "art" is decided by future generations, and human memory is fleeting and idiosyncratic. A cartoon should be produced because someone wants to produce it, because it's felt to be fun and entertaining, and/or because it's felt someone, somewhere, might enjoy it.

And there you have it!