Thundercats has to be one of the best cartoons I've watched if not the best. I literally grew up watching the original cartoon and so did most kids in Pakistan who had access to cable television.
I too developed the feeling of familiarity with the characters as did any hardcore fan growing up with the series.
But I'm not really going to get into my love for the original Thundercats. Just that it was an important part of my life and many others in Pakistan and around the world. It is accepted that the 1980s cartoons made an impact on children like no other cartoons of any other time. See this post for more on that.
The point is that I was a loyal fan I was of the original Thundercats franchise and I want to discuss how I feel about the remake version as a strong fan of the original.
From my experience of adding prequels/sequels or doing remakes of classic material, the result is usually negative or at least not as good as the originals. Note most of the time, not always.
That also goes for film adaptations of books as well. They are almost never as good as the books or whatever the original adaptation of a franchise is.
For this reason I anticipated the remake of TC not to be as good as the originals. From what I've seen so far, it turns out I was right.
This doesn't mean the series is all bad, just not as good as the original. It's also too early to judge the entire series just yet, but from what has been shown so far in the first season I can give my rating on.
The animation is a serious improvement. Not that the original animation was bad. It was great, including the coloring. But I wasn't too crazy about Lion-Os long untidy hairstyle, nor his baby boy's diaper-looking outfit.
I think the new hairstyle looks terrific on Lion-0 and his new outfit looks much better than the original.
Even Wily Cat and Kit are much better in outline and that's true for just about everyone else save for snarf who looks like a Poke'mon. Snarf's downgrading from a wise old companion into a silent mute is one of many things wrong with this show.
The characters' behaviors and dialogue are a gross downgrade from the original. Panthro for example is a hard stiff, over proud soldier wanna-be compared to the original series. Not only is he disloyal, he's too unfriendly and stubborn and all this doesn't help fans connect/relate to the character.
Character downgrading and poor dialogue is a serious negative flaw in the series.
Snarf was turned into a mute because many fans were irritated by his dialogue. Instead of turning him into a mature companion like Cringer, he just had to be made a mute.
The mutants are also a bit of a disappointment. In the original series they used to make me laugh with their clumsiness and complaints.
I know we haven't seen the other mutants so far, but seeing how different Slythe is from the bossy, reckless villain like the other mutants, it's unlikely they will have any of their comical traits.
Instead we see Slythe as a cold, pure evil fighting machine. Even Mumm-Ra had humor as a villain with his childish irritation and recklessness.
Some of the first few episodes were also terrible in plot line and storyline. I really hated the episodes Song of the Petalars and Old Friends. Song of the Petalars was mixing a complete fairy tale with a good vs evil science fiction/fantasy theme. Old Friends was too long of staying on a muddy sea and bad animation of the water.
I also hated the way technology was made to look like some magical concept. Technology isn't some machinery doing wonders built from scratch. It takes thousands of years for technology to sophisticate. I didn't like how it was disbelieved upon as if it's magic.
I really don't understand the idea behind this "technology."
Lion-O's character and personality as leader of the Thundercats has completely changed. When Wily Cat and Wily Kit turn to him for help he shuns them away, claiming he's not their "baby sitter." A prince and heir to his father's throne rejects pleas for help from his own subjects!
Instead Lion-O's sole reason for continuing is the quest for revenge of his father's death. It's not that different from the original character. The original one was equally reckless and impatient, but at the same time defensive and protective of his subjects as his rightful duty.
The fact that he's reluctant to even show concern for the Thundercubs is an utter downgrade. Aside from the animation, there are some other great improvements. Mumm-Ra looks more serious and evil. He no longer has the attitude of a pampered child always wanting his own way and fussing about everything. He has a deeper and sinister voice and a more confident personality.
Another great improvement about him was his weakness change. In the old series his weakness was his own reflection. That was simply a childish aspect of the original series that has been thankfully dropped out. When I used to play Thundercats games in my head as a child, I used to pretend Mumm-Ra's weakness was sunlight as it seemed more realistic to beat a demonic monster by sunlight than his own reflection.
It's also good that the new series has a proper back story that the originals left out. Not only was the back story in the original series vague but also had constant plot changes. The plot at first was to seize the Sword of Omens by the villains. This changed to try and destroy it, which in turn changed to destroying the Thundercats and taking over third Earth.
The new series has a direct and more realistic plot of gaining more power. The back story is much more realistic as well and we have a clear beginning with how the battle between the villains and the heroes all began. A battle for control and resources.
In overall from what has been shown so far, I'd give this series a five out of ten average, though that may change as the series progresses.
