Thundercats... Hoooooo!

I spent an inordinate amount of time during the early to mid-80's watching cartoons on Saturday mornings and immediately after returning home from school. I have vivid memories of running or biking home as fast as possible so I could catch whatever was on at 3:30.

For the most part, the toons were American staples such as the Looney Toons, Tom & Jerry, Woody Woodpecker or Scooby Doo. However, it was during this time that Japanese anime, edited for American audiences, began to find its way into the United States. I am now aware that a small amount of anime was actually broadcast in the US previously, notably Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, but these somehow slipped beneath my radar (or were not shown on the networks I watched).

G Force: Guardians of Space

Somewhere around this time I became aware of a cartoon called G-Force: Guardians of Space, the first Japanese anime I now recall watching. While I remember it being quirky and unique, to put it lightly it just wasn't my thing.

I later learned that G-Force had been Turner Broadcasting was responsible for bringing the show to US audiences in a heavily edited and chopped version which basically dispensed with any of the adult themes or elements found in the original Japanese version (something Turner also infamously did with the entire Looney Toons catalog... but I digress).

Around the same time, what was to become my favorite cartoon series of the 80's had its debut. I speak of none other than the mighty Thundercats.



By this time, I was a young teenager, and even as a professed nerd I was definitely beyond what was considered proper cartoon watching years (my how things have changed). Still, this show drew me in for various reasons. The animation was far better than most of what was being shown at the time, and the story lines were complex and layered (again, this is only when compared with the drek Hanna Barbara was offering).


I soon realized that this now classic toon was not only produced by Rankin-Bass (of Hobbit/Last Unicorn fame), but as before, the animation department was entirely Japanese. The show was well-received by many 80s kids, and the current wave of nostalgia has resurrected the Thundercats property with a new animated series to be released July, 2011. The animation for the new show will be provided by the Japanese animation company Studio 4 C.

Thundercats - 1985

Thundercats - 2011

I came to the conclusion that Japanese animation was in fact superior to American offerings, not an entirely fair comparison, but there you go. I began to actively search out anime and manga, but living in Laramie Wyoming in the pre-Internet age did not make my search an easy one. Next blog... A Quest for Anime!