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  • WEDNESDAY JUNE 6 2007 2:00 PM

Thundercats to get Remake / Remodel Treatment Just Like Every Other '80s Cartoon

Submitted by Aaron_Lariviere

Edited by erin_broadley

Tags: Thundercats, cartoon, 80s remake



There’s breaking news in the world of reinvigorated 80s franchises: the oddly popular toon-series Thundercats are back in action and will soon have their very own live action movie! Just like Transformers!

Warner Bros. announced yesterday that first-time screenwriter Paul Sopocy has sold the so-called “origin story” of the Thundercats to Spring Creek Productions, with the film ultimately to be released by Warner Bros. Therefore, this is not a remake of the preexisting Thundercats – HO! TV movie that came out in 1986. For those of you not familiar with the basic Thundercats premise, Variety summarizes:

Revolv[ing] around a group of humanoid cats (with feline names like Lion-O, Tygra, Panthro and Cheetara) who must flee their planet of Thundera after it's destroyed. Once crash-landing on another planet, Third Earth, they must thwart Mumm-Ra, an evil sorcerer, bent on killing them off.


Of course they left out all the good bits about Mutants, Lunataks, Berserkers, and Snarfs, but hopefully some if not all of the weirdly gay creatures will make it into the movie. One can only imagine that the original theme song probably won’t make the cut either, which is a shame:



News of the new Thundercats comes shortly after the announcement that Warner Bros will also make a live-action He-Man movie, probably in the hopes of making everyone forget the stillborn Dolph Lundgren version that came out in 1987.

What can we expect next? Fraggle Rock has been announced, Alvin and the Chipmunks is being finished a few buildings away from me as I type this, The Dark Crystal is getting a sequel that should start filming any day now, and even The Smurfs and Voltron are rumored to have scripts completed. If we have no choice but to consume these cannibalized cartoons of yore, here’s to hoping someone remakes M.A.S.K.… now that’s a theme-song:

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Comments
PointBlank

PointBlank

New York, NY
November 2004

JUN 06, 2007 03:31 PM

I can't imagine it being any worse than the actual Thundercats cartoon. I also can't imagine why people are bothered by this. It was an awful cartoon made for the sole purpose of selling toys. The original concept was "selling your childhood," so this isn't any different.

the_shine

the_shine

United Kingdom
October 2003

JUN 06, 2007 03:36 PM

Very weird. Me and my friend were talking about what if they made a live versio of this who would play who?

Michael Clark-Duncan -Panthero

Josh Holloway or Guy Pierce Tygra

And I cant remember the rest

RileyStClair

RileyStClair

Los Angeles, CA
September 2006

JUN 06, 2007 03:47 PM

PointBlank said:
I can't imagine it being any worse than the actual Thundercats cartoon. I also can't imagine why people are bothered by this. It was an awful cartoon made for the sole purpose of selling toys. The original concept was "selling your childhood," so this isn't any different.



well sure, but at least the cartoon was NEW back then. it's just particularly vile to dredge up old cartoons to make a movie that (let's face it) is primarily going to be aimed not at kids of today, but at the generation who grew up with the original cartoon. to the extent that they are trying to attract a new generation of child viewers, they could at least come up with a new idea, and to the extent that they are selling nostalgia to us in a new, slick packaging, it's kind of gross.

Trahern

Trahern

United Kingdom
March 2003

JUN 06, 2007 03:52 PM

I've watched stuff like Thundercats on youtube earlier this year - I never got to see the first couple of episodes until then, in fact - and I'm reminded of the phrase "Memory, like fire, is immutable" or some such, from an episode of the X-Files. Native American memory must be photogenic, because some old Doctor Who I thought was great at the time turned out to be utter crap now.

I'm curious to see how they'll handle the all-over-body fur. A M.A.S.K. movie would be fun too. I used to wear tracksuits, tiin-foil-wrapped helmets and even made a cardboard Venom vehicle back when that was on. But then, I made wooden versions of the Sword of Omens too.

Just remembered I wanted to make a treehouse like the Cat's Lair. Wish I could have gotten that done...

_DictionaryGirl_

_DictionaryGirl_

NEWSWIRE

San Diego, CA

JUN 06, 2007 03:55 PM

No. Just, no. frown

WhiteOut

WhiteOut

I'm lost
November 2003

JUN 06, 2007 04:12 PM

I think I'm more upset about The Smurfs. The pain.

conspirator

conspirator

Chicago, IL
August 2003

JUN 06, 2007 04:16 PM

I knew this day would come...Wish me luck, I'm off to pitch my live-action version of Silverhawks to Michael Bay.

attn_ho

attn_ho

Brooklyn, NY
February 2004

JUN 06, 2007 04:25 PM

this will just encourage more furrie agenda!

Mark_plus_Beer

Mark_plus_Beer

United Kingdom
August 2005

JUN 06, 2007 04:30 PM

a Voltron movie sounds interesting

Lufy

Lufy

Ithaca, NY
May 2004

JUN 06, 2007 05:26 PM

handsome_rob said:

Lufy said:
Why does this kind of news depress me? They have every right to do this - and sometimes these do-overs work out really well (ex. the "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica). Yet my gut reaction is to get upset when I think about my cherished, childhood memories being mined in this manner.



but you have to consider that all of those "cherished childhood memories" were only there to promote toy lines. yes, we bought into it as kids, but look back now and tell me that transfrormers and thundercats weren't horribly made, generic action cartoons.



Yeah, sure, they're horrible to us now, but back then we were just kids. Maybe Filmation, Hanna-Barbera, and Ruby-Spears only wanted to sell "widgets" - but I wanted more than to just buy the toys. When I was playing, I believed I was part of Voltron, or the Transformers, or Robotech, or GI Joe, or the Centurions (Power Xtreme! tongue), or the Star Force, or whatever. I have these great memories now because those shows were the basis for adventures that _I_ wrote in my own head and acted out alone, or with my friends. I think that's why I love them and why I'm so protective of them. I love how those crappy shows gave me hours and hours of joy as a kid.

I don't want to view what was special to me as a child, through the eyes of a grown-up. It just can't compete. I'll take my made-up, childhood adventures as part of MASK over some slick, CGI-laden, "summer blockbuster movie event" any day - I don't care who's directing it.

Lufy

Lufy

Ithaca, NY
May 2004

JUN 06, 2007 05:29 PM

Wow - there's a lot of "Silverhawks" fans out there. Nice. biggrin I thought I was one of, like, 10 people that remembered it.

_DictionaryGirl_

_DictionaryGirl_

NEWSWIRE

San Diego, CA

JUN 06, 2007 05:41 PM

PointBlank said:
I can't imagine it being any worse than the actual Thundercats cartoon. I also can't imagine why people are bothered by this. It was an awful cartoon made for the sole purpose of selling toys. The original concept was "selling your childhood," so this isn't any different.



I actually don't give much of a shit about Thundercats. What I'm sad about is the prospect of a CGI Alvin and the Chipmunks.

antagonizer

antagonizer

Whittier, CA
September 2005

JUN 06, 2007 05:57 PM

so...am I the only one who actually really really LIKED "Masters of the Universe" (you know, the He-Man movie)....I fuckin LOVE that flick!!!
and plus, it was filmed in my town (along with back to the future and hocus pocus, among others). GO WHITTIER!!!!
Now if only they remade TMNT into a CGI masterpiece...oh wait, they did..and it sucked balls ) :

PointBlank

PointBlank

New York, NY
November 2004

JUN 06, 2007 06:07 PM

_DictionaryGirl_ said:

PointBlank said:
I can't imagine it being any worse than the actual Thundercats cartoon. I also can't imagine why people are bothered by this. It was an awful cartoon made for the sole purpose of selling toys. The original concept was "selling your childhood," so this isn't any different.



I actually don't give much of a shit about Thundercats. What I'm sad about is the prospect of a CGI Alvin and the Chipmunks.



Yeah, but that's important.

noctem

noctem

I'm lost
October 2004

JUN 06, 2007 06:17 PM

I can sit here and talk shit about this, but in the end I know I'm going to see it when it's released....

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