Thundercats are loose! (And back!)

[Chris Brady]

A few facts:

A) Thundercats came out in 1985, and lasted until 89.

B)  Um, hate to break it you anime-haters, but Rankin-Bass Productions farmed out the animation to Japan, who farmed it out to a Korean studio known for making anime.  I forget the name, but Thundercats was ALWAYS an 'anime' influenced production.

C) Studio 4c, who is doing the new TC series, did a couple of the animations in the Animatrix, (along with Madhouse, who has done the Iron Man anime (Pretty good, actually) and is currently doing the Wolverine one (Which is amazingly violent and bloody for a Primetime cartoon, which is good, cuz so is Wolverine!))

Personally, I can't wait to see what they do with this.

[Tagnizkur]

I think I need a towel because I just geekgasmed all over my keyboard

[Wolfy]

was Mumm-ra connected to the sword of omens in the original? Because that's how it looks now in the new series...it seems like the Sword was a Seal on him or something.

[Jag]

I might be wrong, but I don't think Mumm-ra had any connection to the Sword of Omens in the original. The Thundercats landed on Earth (or whatever they called it) and Mumm-ra was already there. I think he wanted the Sword of Omens cause he thought it would make him stronger. But I don't think the Sword had any real connection to him.

EDIT: Now that I think about it, I don't think Mumm-Ra ever cared all that much about the Sword of Omens. Wikipedia says he did try to use Excalibur to try and defeat the Sword of Omens. He was Mumm-Ra The Ever Living. He was truly immortal and all defeating him ever did was send him crawling back to his coffin to replenish his energy. I think he ever had a reason to want to 'have' the Sword of Omens.

I do like the idea of it being used to seal him away or whatever for the new show though.

[Wolfy]

*Gasp* What if.....speculation time! :D


Did we ever find out why they left the planet in the first place? It was dying, wasn't it?

What if by using the Sword of Omens, Lion-O freed Mumm-ra, and after tireless battles, they managed to banish him from the planet, but not before he had wreaked so much havoc that the planet was essentially destroyed, leading them to leave it to find a new one?

I mean, the details of the original are still hazy, and this would mean that Mumm-ra being on the same planet would be just a coincidence (Or maybe not..maybe he has more pull on the sword and it's weilder than we know), buuuut...

[Jag]

I know that the original Mumm-Ra was an Egyptian priest or something like that.

Mumm-Ra Origin

According to the first chapter on Wildstorm’s comic Thundercats Origins: Heroes and Villains, Mumm-Ra’s origin is set in ancient Egypt. He was once Wahankh, a member of the pharaoh’s council and his most loyal adviser. We can also see Wahankh’s dog, Ma-Tep (supposedly the future Ma-Mutt). The friendship made with the pharaoh was so close and enduring that the sovereign actually considered him as part of his family.

However, Wahankh's real aim was to overthrow the royal power of his pharaoh in a coup d'état, and become the ruler of the land. To achieve his goal, he invoked the presence of the Ancient Spirits of Evil for the first time by using four magical runes, representing each one the four evil beings. Once the spirits appeared, he requested a small part of their power in order to defeat the powerful pharaoh’s army. In exchange, he would rule all Egypt in their name as a humble servant. The Ancient Spirits agreed to help him and Wahankh was invested with evil powers, becoming an immortal sorcerer at their service, while his entire body mutated into a cadaverous grey form. Finally, a new name was given to him: Mumm-Ra.

Knowing about this betrayal, the pharaoh immediately faced the monstrous and grotesque being. Trusting his new powers, Mumm-Ra ordered the pharaoh to bow down and proclaimed himself the new master of the realm. Nonetheless, the pharaoh’s son confronted him and quickly managed to outmanoeuver Mumm-Ra in battle, defeating him.

Without being aware that Mumm-Ra was actually immortal, the pharaoh spared him the fate of dying at the stake for his treachery. Considering all his years of service, the pharaoh instead granted him a merciful, religious death being locked as a mummy in an onyx pyramid’s giant burial chamber. The pharaoh's son, knowing about Mumm-Ra's neverending life, took joy in imprisoning him for (seemingly) all eternity. In the darkness, Mumm-Ra begged for the help of the Ancient Spirits once again, but they denied it due to his incompetence in using those powers they had previously granted him. Instead, they ordered him to build four large statues on the chamber to praise them, a task that would take at least 600 years to be accomplished. Only then –maybe- they would grant him the power to break free by turning into an eternal and overwhelming warrior, capable of defeating any pharaoh. Following the TV series storyline, at some point he fulfilled the work, receiving the ability to become Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living.
Wiki Source

So they might just be going with a whole new origin story for Mumm Ra. I think the original Mumm-Ra was just wanting to kill the Thundercats, not really caring about the Sword all that much. And yes, I think they left Thundera because it was dying. I don't think they ever said why Thundera was dying though. The Mutants of Plun-Darr, however, were seeking to capture the Sword of Omens. They were the cause of Thundera's dying state and eventually became 'servants' to Mumm-Ra.

*Michi is a bit of a ThunderCats geek*

[Kunoichi]

Wow, that actually sounds kinda cool...

[Wolfy]

Just to let everyone know, Season One: Volume One of the Original Thundercats is out on sale right now. It includes episodes 1-33 on 6 DVD's.

[Kunoichi]

I wonder if I can find it on YouTube...

:P

[Wolfy]

Two things that I noticed while watching the DVD's..

First, They aren't remastered...it's like watching the old show exactly how it was then.

Second, WHAT THE **** is up with the first episode? Everyone except for the old Thundarian is nude. O_o Lion-O, Cheetarah, Panthro, Tigra, Wily Kit and Kat...all of them are nude. O_o I mean, there are no features like nipples or anything, but there's also no clear indication of any kind of clothing. O_o

[Kunoichi]

xD I suppose Thundera was a rather interesting planet...

[Jag]

When you don't have defined genitalia, I guess there is no need for clothing. :P

[Wolfy]

Ya know, this new series is really going to screw with the ages. O-o Lion-O was a child when Thundara exploded, but in the new Series he looks much to be in his teens.

What, did he get de-aged or something? O-o

[Kunoichi]

...It's not a prequel, Wolfy.  It's a retelling.  Of course some things are going to change. :P

[Wolfy]

If It's a retelling, I assume at some point they'll go to Third Earth? O-o

[Oniya]

I don't think they'll be able to get that far away from the original.  However, that may be something reserved for later seasons, if I read the concept summaries right.

[Nykteus]

New Thundercats would have made me so happy if I'd seen it before I came across this early this morning. Now every time I'll be watching it, I'll be thinking "Ah, it's the sissy version of Lion-o."

[Kunoichi]

I dunno, that doesn't really look all that impressive, to me. ^^; The goatee isn't very impressive, and the Sword of Omens looks more like Soul Edge.

[Jag]

I'm fond of this drawing for Lion-O:


Davidrapozaart

and this one:


Gonzalokenny

[Nykteus]

Now that's cool. I think the important point should be that he's a great big bloody lion with a sword. If he doesn't look like he can maul people, then what's the point? At least I hope it won't be like the cartoons I remember as a kid, when you knew that anyone with a sword was going to be pretty useless unless they ran into some robots or an evil tree.

[Inkidu]

I'm not sure if this is blasphemous or not, but my memories of Thundercats are not as defined most likely as I was stuck with reruns and a young mind. I always thought the Lunatics (Or however they spelled it) were a lot more powerful, scary, and generally worse than Mumm-Ra, who always struck me as a kind of just-there, unbeatable villain. You know just to have a bad guy.

[Wolfy]

Mumm-Ra the Ever Living sounds much better on paper than "The Lunatics". :/

Plus, "The Lunatics" makes me think of that "Edgy" Loony Tunes reboot that the WB tried to pull, where the characters were like, Descended from the original loony tunes and fought crime in the future. :/

[Oniya]

Mumm-Ra the Ever Living sounds much better on paper than "The Lunatics". :/

Plus, "The Lunatics" makes me think of that "Edgy" Loony Tunes reboot that the WB tried to pull, where the characters were like, Descended from the original loony tunes and fought crime in the future. :/

I was personally amused by the fact that there was one for each color of the rainbow, and had an inverted triangle on their uniforms.

[Wolfy]

They actually got called out on that by some news source...of course, the story died a quick and painful death. >_>

Though..I must say, I'm surprised it wasn't Fox news that did the calling out, but whatever.

[Shjade]

I have a hard time even drawing up nostalgia about the Thundercats. Whenever I try, I find myself instead thinking about an [noembed]entirely different set of far more awesome cats[/noembed].

Sword of Omens? I'd rather have a Sword of Rockets.