ThunderCats Season 1 (1985)
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ThunderCats Season 1 Review
ThunderCats is an animated action adventure fantasy television series produced by Rankin/Bass. Its first season premiered in 1985 and it consisted of 65 episodes.
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“Wherever evil exists, Mumm-Ra lives!“
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It follows the adventures of a group of catlike humanoid aliens from Third Earth as they also struggle against a mummified sorcerer and his henchmen. This show is nostalgic to today’s adults who grew up with it in the eighties, but I’ve never seen it before now, and I was mostly disappointed. It reminded me so much of ‘He-Man’ in style and action, but that cartoon is still better as it has more memorable villains and storylines.
Let’s talk about the characters. Lion-O is your typical, bland protagonist who is overly good and forgettable. With that being said, his trials to reclaim his regal status were very interesting and those episodes were by far among the favorites of mine. The message that you have to earn your status and not inherit it was wonderful to teach young children.
Panthro and Jaga are okay. They are the friends of Lion-O and they are not that easy to differentiate amongst. The show truly needed better characterization overall. Cheetara is the female member of the team and she’s cool as this badass runner, but WilyKat and Bengali I really disliked as they were those typical 80s kids with no personality whatsoever.
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And that brings me to Snarf. Wow, was he annoying or what. This is the type of animal sidekick character that isn’t all that cute nor is he funny in any way. He has his moments for sure, but for the most part his scenes did make the entire show feel very childish as opposed to the otherwise solid mythology and world building that the adults can and do appreciate.
As for the villains, they are your standard cartoon bad guys with a tendency to speak a lot and warn the good guys of what they are going to do. They are over-the-top for sure, but still fun and memorable, especially visually and in terms of the powers. Mumm-Ra himself has a very silly name and voice, but the appearance is quite striking and his Ancient Spirits of Evil continue to hold viewers’ attention. Of the other villains, clearly the highlight is Vulture who is quite competent and even scary for the kids.
Yes, ThunderCats has a great world as mentioned above. By far this is its main highlight. The world building is impressive, the planet is quite well imagined and the various imagery on display is colorful, memorable and diverse as they trek a lot of alien terrain and have some memorable adventures there. The animation is also fantastic for the time. The character designs are quite strong while the action on screen is very well animated. The show looks polished and solid even today.
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ThunderCats also has a very solid score and especially the opening theme is super entertaining and quite unforgettable. It amused me every single time that I watched and listened to it and it’s a classic 80s opening for sure. The action in the show is solid with some great fights, but it needed more action and less cheesiness as the humor is super childish and annoying. The adventurous elements are the best in the show while the messaging for kids is pretty good, though on-the-nose at times.
Overall, the first season of ThunderCats was solid. The childish elements such as the humor and some characters (Snarf) were bothersome, but the animation, adventure and world building were definitely strong in this long, but appealing cartoon intended for kids in particular.
Worst Episodes: Feliner – Part One and Out of Sight.
Best Episodes: Lion-O’s Anointment Day: The Trial of Speed and The Mumm-Ra Berbil.
