Thundercats, everybody (that I know of) knows Thundercats, I know Thundercats as one of the many 80s cartoons whose age shows considerably. By that I mean the wool was pulled from my eyes and all I see is a bunch of morality tales designed to sell people toys, long before the E/I wool became ever present. But selling toys was the mantra of the 80s, even something as shameless as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but nostalgia is a powerful tool to the point they think stuff like that is sacred (everything there through to Next Mutation was designed to sell shit to people)... I say as a millennial.
If the wow factor wore off on the 80s cartoon, anything after that tries something different is bound to be considered an improvement. That seemed to be the case for 2011's spin on the property, where it leaned more heavily into the action and dramatic elements, it certainly caught the eye of those who saw it... then it ended and faded into obscurity. Given this occurred well into the internet age that makes it especially sad.
I'll be honest, the only reason I remembered the show before now was because I caught it when it was on the air. However, it's mostly bits and pieces I recall, whether or not I watched the episodes consecutively I can't possibly answer. Unfortunately, the stuff I do remember accounts for the worst of it, so buckle up.
With a show like this, stylized animation and the like you'd assume the show ended prematurely due to its budget. But from what I've seen a lot of Cartoon Network shows like it had ended due to some very out there reasons. Teen Titans? Not enough male viewers. Young Justice? Toy sales were low. Ben 10? I wish. But in the case of Thundercats, apparently blame lays squarely on an overestimated deal with LEGO. Did you know that Legends of Chima is a repurposing of what the Thundercats deal would've been?
But that aside, if it wasn't that it could've been anything else that sealed this show's fate. I already gave you two examples to how so it isn't the cynicism talking here... for now. Even at its best I've literally only heard two people bring it up in passing, Guru Larry and Egoraptor, the latter during the debacle surrounding Thundercats ROAR, and if that show didn't rear its head would anyone else had recalled it? Actually yeah they might've.
All I can bring up on the production side of things is that one of the creators went on to direct Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island, a very heinous Scooby-Doo flick that I honestly find more insulting than Velma, the Johnny Test of the 2020s.
So how could a show like Thundercats fall under the cracks? Well in my opinion it's part of an overly saturated niche. Dramatic action shows tend to be formulaic, one aspect or trope you see there you're bound to encounter in another show like it. Not to say these shows can't rise above others, stuff like Avatar managed to do so because it stood out from its Nickelodeon contemporaries, the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon also stood out because, come on, it was made by 4Kids, otherwise infamous for having to adhere to broadcast standards and practices while working with ultra violent material.
Of course this is zeroing in on shows intended for younger audiences, if I were to list more we'd be here all day. But with that in mind, what did Thundercats 2011 do to stand out? Thundercats came out on Cartoon Network, a channel with a pedigree in action cartoons from DC's offspring to even old originals like The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest, Star Wars The Clone Wars and Samurai Jack, the latter managing to actually blend aspects of different genres.
So out of the gate Thundercats wasn't breaking new ground here. Worst case they were attempting to capture the same audience and success of Nickelodeon's Avatar, if we're going by the tone, aesthetics and scope. Not to say that's always a bad thing, it's all about sustaining one self. But while they didn't copy Avatar's homework they also didn't apply other aspects about it that worked. It was a serious show but they knew how to make it entertaining without it feeling abrupt. Thundercats didn't have this issue... because it carried the same tone almost a bulk of the time.
It's clear Thundercats took itself more seriously than it had any right to. A rule of thumb is that if you take yourself too seriously then no one else will, and in certain cases that means people have the right to hold you over the flame because you were genuine thus you could be scrutinized. It gets especially bad if you're essentially following common story beats, because you're not trying to make something that stands out, you're taking a shortcut.
If I had a nickel for every action drama show that had a parental figure get killed, I could pay off my student loans. It happens so many times that it loses the intended impact. And look, I understand certain things are essential to shows in certain niches, like maintaining secret identities, you don't need me to explain why on that, they got it to a point where it's a constant yet an acceptable one.
Just saying when half the time the dead parent trope is something that occurs before the events of a series you know it's become stretched thin. The closest I ever got to a subversion of this trope was in an episode of Bobobo-bo bo-bobo, which itself was a parody of shonen anime.
I'm zeroing in on this because that's from one of two episodes I remember from this show. Lion-O begins as someone who's otherwise apathetic to what his future entails. His father dies in combat, he would go on a journey that would culminate in him owning his new role. Stories with familiar tropisms can work if done right, granted, but I feel that Thundercats has gotten too comfortable with how it handles its tropes. Gets to a point where it feels more like someone's Thundercats fanfiction... without the you know whats, borderline sad Loud House fanfic territory but without the commitment.
...I believe I just completely ruined my argument right now.
All that said, I wanna go into the other episode I remember from this show. One that represents what happens when you take yourself too seriously, or go into a story without thinking it through, or go so hard on the emotional side of things that it becomes unintentionally hilarious or so cheesy that as a super serious show with older audiences in mind it's all sorely undermined. Or a little bit of each.
Song of the Pelletars is easily the worst episode of Thundercats 2011 in my opinion, I feel like the worst aspects of the show are on display here, acting serious without any thought to make it all make sense, just leaning in on cheap drama and emotion.
There will be spoilers.
The episode sees Lion-O and his camp coming across a plant species known as the Pelletars. Lion-O would bring along a child wishing to join them, but since this is an ally since introduced there is a catch to the whole thing. The Pelletars' lifespan spans one hour, they would live out a human-esque life cycle then die. This is normalized for the species, but while Lion-O and his litter don't know it, the audience certainly does. The moment Emmerick grows up we know he's gonna expire by the end of the episode. The impact will be sorely lost.
So naturally they play this as straight as they could, and lean in on the cliches surrounding it, complete with flashbacks to the previous minutes. It's borderline hilarious how seriously they're playing this, not even a little dark humor where the Pelletars just deem it a part of life, business as usual. It's so bad that I made a video comparing that scene to one in a show aimed at younger audiences that somehow managed to pull it off a lot better. Please excuse the shameless self-promotion, but this is all on my turf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zxEP0kqsUc
My point is that if one episode is willing to go this way, it gives me reason to believe the rest of the series would do the same. Either that or it shows the writing isn't as strong as it wants you to believe. If any episode rose above the others I wouldn't know. If a show isn't amazing the worst aspects tend to stick longer than the rest of it. Something presenting itself as super serious then coming out super comedic is not something you'd ever live down, it's borderline satire without the punchline, or satire so above the belt that it's transcendent, in a show not looking to say anything but would rather follow instructions.
Thundercats 2011 marked a defining point for me. It was the one action show that proved to me the genre has its fair share of generic clunkers, showing that any program of any genre would do the bare minimum, sorta like adult animated sitcoms. Only difference is that with animated sitcoms you know where you stand with those, and humor is subjective so it's bound to work for some people. Hell, I know where I stand with Thundercats Roar, it isn't trying to be high art, at most just trying to get the same success as Teen Titans Go because people wouldn't shut the hell up about it, in the name of a show that wasn't that good to begin with.
Maybe it's because the action cartoon genre is so dry that people are reluctant to scrutinize such shows, especially against the glut of comedies. All genres should be held to the same standards, enough said.
So what can you take away from this? The best action shows, or those remotely serious, aren't the sum of their parts. Don't be afraid to be humorous or experiment every once in a while. Even most other shows have some levity and that didn't stop people from loving them. And of course, think things through. If you make it obvious a character isn't going to make it through their first appearance don't make it a dramatic send-off, try to find other ways to kick off a hero's journey so you can have something of your very own.
Final Thoughts
2011's Thundercats is the kind of show that is way too comfortable with the tone it has. It's not that I hate the tropes and formula shown, it's just that the show does very little with it beyond the bare minimum, even to the point it pisses me off at some points. They want to play with our feelings and this is the best they come up with? Only thing I could say is that the show isn't known enough to be elevated to impossible highs like Teen Titans, where people glazed that show so incessantly that it made it harder to take the episodes at face value.
Is there anything more to this show that I'm missing? Are there episodes that defy my issues? I don't know, and at this point I don't care to find out. All I know is that I'm feeling less ashamed of liking adult animated shows, because they're the real article, what you see is what you get.
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