Hoooooo-oh my gosh! Warner Bros. Animation is bringing back the baddy-busting feline icons of ‘80s TV with a new Cartoon Network series, ThunderCats Roar! The first-look footage promises a cartoonier, poppier and more manically energetic take on the sci fi/fantasy world.
“I think the world that they built lends itself really well to comedy because of how silly and crazy and outlandish those ideas are and some of those settings are. But at the same time, it wouldn’t be ThunderCats if it didn’t have super cool action elements because that’s what people came back to,” producer Victor Courtright says in the video.
Staying true to the original ‘toon, ThunderCats Roar kicks off as Lion-O (voiced by Max Mittelman) and the ThunderCats — Tygra (Patrick Seitz), Panthro (Chris Jai Alex), Cheetara (Erica Lindbeck), Wilykat (Mittelman) and Wilykit (Lindbeck) — barely escape the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, only to crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth.
Lion-O, the newly appointed Lord of the ThunderCats, attempts to lead the team as they make this planet their new home. A bizarre host of creatures and villains stand in their way, including the evil Mumm-Ra (Seitz), Third Earth’s wicked ruler who will let nothing, including the ThunderCats, stop his tyrannical reign over the planet.
… And yes, Snarf will be there, too!
Victor Courtright (Pickle and Peanut) and Marly Halpern-Graser (Right Now Kapow) serve as producers, with Sam Register (Teen Titans Go!) as executive producer.
ThunderCats, created by writer Ted Wolf, first appeared on screen in the 1985-89 series produced by Rankin/Bass with Japanese partners Topcraft (S1) and Pacific Animation Corp. (S2+). The franchise was brought back in 2011 for a reboot series from Warner Bros. Animation and Studio 4°C in Japan, which ran for one season on Cartoon Network.
