I don’t care what BD says … if they can come up with a Liv-action/CG Cheetara (based on Kate Beckinsale or not) who is as hawt as the Rankin/Bass animated version from the 1980s, I will personally spring for tickets for all my friends to go see the proposed Thundercats film.
I think that it’s virtually impossible to overstress the degree to which this movie just needs to be made. Who wouldn’t love to watch giant humanoid cats running around with medieval weapons (can you say swords, nun chucks, maces… and if that isn’t enough, a sick Land Rover-esque vehicle that can tear through just about anything) and kicking the ass of an ancient crazy mummy bent on their destruction?
(Though I, too, would like another Serenity/Firefly movie even more. Does it have to be either/or?)
*smiles*
I had forgotten that you never watched Seinfeld (from whence the Serenity Now! reference is from
So one more cultural reference cleared up 🙂
Seinfeld. Bleah. Give me Cheetara any old day. 🙂
I mean, really, a throaty, super-speed, psionic cat-girl with a bo staff? I mean, that’s deep-fried gold!
Yeah, but Cheetara didn’t really look like that picture of her on the old cartoons. Heck, she’s not even really a cat-girl. She’s just a lady with funny spots.
Back in 1985, I worked with a couple of guys who would rave every day about how great this show was. I finally watched an episode. Dr. Dometone took the Thundercats in his giant robot frog to pursue Scrape, who was in a submarine that looked and swam like a giant electric eel. Scrape had to be stopped before he could pull the plug out of the ocean! Seriously! He was going to drain the ocean by pulling the plug! Fortunately the Thundercats had shark costumes that let them swim underwater, and… Yechh.
Also, one of my cow-orkers insisted that the Thundercats could beat any Marvel super-heroes. I started my list with the Silver Surfer, and he immediately declared “No cosmic super-heroes!” Fine. The Human Torch, because one of the ‘Cats is vulnerable to fire. Dr. Strange to conjure up a bunch of bats, as one of them is paralyzed with fear at the sight of bats… Now, there’s nothing wrong with the Thundercats not having super-duper powers! It’s just folly to think that they wouldn’t be completely outclassed by the Fantastic Four or the Avengers.
Now, one reason not to make a Thundercats movie: “Snarf snarf!”
1. Alas, I could not find the pic of Cheetara I wanted to use. Granted that even the (much superior to most animation of the era) R/B animation didn’t match the comic book art posted there. (The main titles was the best — the in-show production stuff was worse.)
2. The definition of “cat girl” is a loose one. I apply it liberally. 🙂
3. The stories sucked mightily — though, again, little worse than any of the other pathetic dreck of the era. And the inclusion of the cute-stupid sidekick (“Snarf!”) was not only nearly obligatory for the era, but would easily be adjusted for a movie.
4. Anyone who would make a blanket statement about the Thundercats being able to defeat any Marvel super-heroes is a dolt — though comics have a long tradition figuring out ways that limited-power heroes can take on much more powerful supers (think Daredevil, Batman, Green Arrow, Nick Fury, Black Widow, etc.), so I suspect one could come up a scenario where it could happen.
*laughs*
SNARF!
BD is Evil.
Moltar says it all.
Oh, YouTube … is there nothing you can’t help me wax nostalgic over?
Now, now. Just because the original sucked doesn’t mean that they can’t make a version that kicks ass. Look at Battlestar Galactica.
Of course, not all of us like the new BG.
A TC movie might be watchable if it’s Snarfless, or if it opens with the Death of Snarf, or if they take a route similar to what the live-action Scooby-Doo movie did with Scrappy-Doo.
Personally, I think they should just come up with a new concept, like… like… the Lightningdogs!
Yeah! Wolf-O, Coyotor, uh… Hyenra?… Maybe not.
I used to be a big Thundercat fan. One day I looked at some old episodes & they aren’t that good. The characters are fun but its limiting. Going up against Marvel or DC superheroes or super villains like Wolverine or Lady Deathstrike would make more sense than Superman or Green Lantern.
A Thundercat movie would be a good thing for the property. It would introduce it to new fans at worst make them money. How well the movie is received is another thing. The Thundercats have an awesome theme song & opening credit scene.
Some people are very religious about these characters. Everybody should keep in mind if they make changes it’s because they want to reach more of an audience. It sucks sometimes but that’s life.
I used to be a big Thundercat fan. One day I looked at some old episodes & they aren’t that good. The characters are fun but its limiting. Going up against Marvel or DC superheroes or super villains like Wolverine or Lady Deathstrike would make more sense than Superman or Green Lantern.
A Thundercat movie would be a good thing for the property. It would introduce it to new fans at worst make them money. How well the movie is received is another thing. The Thundercats have an awesome theme song & opening credit scene.
Some people are very religious about these characters. Everybody should keep in mind if they make changes it’s because they want to reach more of an audience. It sucks sometimes but that’s life.
I used to be a big Thundercat fan. One day I looked at some old episodes & they aren’t that good. The characters are fun but its limiting. Going up against Marvel or DC superheroes or super villains like Wolverine or Lady Deathstrike would make more sense than Superman or Green Lantern.
A Thundercat movie would be a good thing for the property. It would introduce it to new fans at worst make them money. How well the movie is received is another thing. The Thundercats have an awesome theme song & opening credit scene.
Some people are very religious about these characters. Everybody should keep in mind if they make changes it’s because they want to reach more of an audience. It sucks sometimes but that’s life.
Well, one of the tricks in any sort of remake is keeping it close enough to the original to pull in the reputation of the property, while finding something new to say, while trying to draw in people who don’t know or care or like the original. So, yes, I would expect some changes.
If those changes altered some fundamental dynamic of the original (Panthro is really a sleeper agent for Mumm-ra, or Wiley-kit is really the heir to the Sword of Thundera, or the Thundercats are really evil mutants and Mumm-ra is their father), it would be irksome and most likely unnecessary. (Mission: Impossible was a great movie, but I find its treatment of Jim Phelps to be so goofed up that it keeps me from rewatching it.) Or if they simply left out half the characters, or added a new character and made him/her the star. Or if they were all changed to space truckers. Or something like that. That sort of thing alienates the fans without actually pulling in new viewers.
The same is true of making fun of the original. That can work in some cases (Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast as an example), but it does run the risk of turning off the fans of the original.
As to the quality of the original shows — yeah, they were pretty damn goofy. They had a number of points going for them — good animation, good music, a dearth of “super-hero” cartoons of the era, and an extremely hot cheetah-woman who can kick your ass. That was enough for me to forgive any number of other goofinesses.