MovieChat Forums > Thundercats (2011) Discussion > Better Than the Original

Better Than the Original

posted 11 years ago by petepi3
19 replies | jump to latest

I loved the original Thunder Cats and watched it when it was first on, as a child. I have to say that this remake is better in every way. The story lines I have watched on a lazy Sunday morning have been of a very high standard, and it would be great for kids to watch. Some of the story lines would make a child think.

It's a great shame that it looks like many parents and people who loved the original series are letting nostalgia keep them from encouraging their children to watch this, or stopping them from watching it themselves.

I know I am too old to be watching cartoons but Thunder Cats is so well made and entertaining. It makes a massive change from all the over the top, almost retarded, cheap crap that makes up children's TV nowadays.

[–] rmoore23 11 years ago

I agree. To this day I'm still pissed that it was cancelled. The show may have had its flaws, but it was a great effort as a remake and deserved a better chance than it got.

[–] Catgurl22 11 years ago

Well that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I don't feel that this remake is "better in every way", as you put it. It is definitely different and has a lot more mature and darker tone. I personally don't think that this show is suitable for kids. It is more apt for "young adults". Themes like "death", "betrayal", "amputations" etc. are not for kids to watch. Did it ever occur to you that the mature theme is the reason why many parents don't want their children to watch it?

The original show is still much better for children. it is age-appropriate, entertaining and teaches good values and morals. The reason why YOU enjoy the new show better than the old one is because you are an adult. You are not thinking from a child's point of view. And perhaps that is what you should do before making claims that this show is better in every way.

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[–] superturbo4 11 years ago

I so agree with that statement emmaringo. While i and others gave the new remake series a chance, its ultimately proved not to be universally acceptable because it tried too hard to be more mature and thus cut out the majority of its child audience and alienated the now adult older T-Cats fans who might've tuned in longer to see the new take on the show and see where it was heading as a series.

"better in every way" is phrased like somebody trying to add or poorly convince you, that this is automatically better because its new and more violent than the original series. this series was different yes, but better? hardly. The new show was geared to fickle young adults who shouted about its merits but then didn't even bother to stick around to see the show last. The original show is still much better for children and the now older adults fans with fond memories alike. Also the classic show lasted longer in the pop culture whereas this new series doesn't even have its fans on here on a regular basis anymore to praise it. Sorry but the classic series fans were doing that for years on the old message board long before WB remade the show for today's audiences.

But not only did this experiment fail, it hasn't truly garnered any real following of new fans who love the new show for years on end just as the original has done for two plus decades. And in light of the era we're in right now where we hardly have any other strong fantasy type shows as we once did in the 1980's i.e. no fellow peers to compare the remake of ThunderCats to? The show doesn't even stand out so well next to modern shows and pales in comparison to Warners own superhero styled shows (Young Justice, Marvel Action Hour). It was good while it was around, but it was mixed with lots of heavy criticisms and questions as to whom it was aimed at. If it had a darker tone but also wanted to sell the toys to kids which was weird enough.

Personally, any sort of remake should've been more like the Master Of The Universe toon series of 2002-2004. Which took the original 1983 series and turned MOTU into what the original show should've been. The new Thundercats didn't do that, it tried to reinvent the wheel and radically alter what the original was all about and changed too much of what made the original a success story to begin with. WB should either done that and did a MOTU 2002 kinda thing or done a continuation of the classic show.

As cancelling after one seasons shows the studio lacked confidence in themselves. The ratings for all TV shows these days are bad, and everything basically gone onto the internet for viewing and downloading so low ratings or bad programming, weren't exactly the most viable excuses to use either for this show's demise.

ST4

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[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JohnBonDon 10 years ago

Themes like "death", "betrayal", "amputations" etc. are not for kids to watch.

You have quite the ignorant view of what is appropriate and not appropriate for kids.

All those themes you mentioned up there that you claim are not suitable for kids were all in the original Star Wars trilogy which was most certainly aimed at kids.

Heck, Avatar The Last Airbender has those themes and more and in fact the DC Animated Universe TV series had all those themes and even other darker subject matter.

You seem to be of the mindset that kids need to be talked down to in order to teach them morals. Things need to be spoon fed to them and everything needs to be spelled out. This was the way of those 80s cartoons and they were laughably bad.

And yes, the new Tundercats was better than the original show "in every way". It being cancelled does not make it an objective fact that it was inferior considering a great show like Young Justice was cancelled not because it was bad but because Cartoon Network didn't like the fact that girls were watching the show.

[–] superturbo4 10 years ago

You have quite an arrogant and ignorant view of telling everybody else their opinions doesn't count for anything, but flat tell everybody else the remake series is somehow far better.

And yes, the new Thundercats was better than the original show "in every way". It being cancelled does not make it an objective fact that it was inferior considering a great show like Young Justice was cancelled not because it was bad but because Cartoon Network didn't like the fact that girls were watching the show.

Your pitiful comparisons are pathetically bad if not entirely stupidly made and are without merit or any real meaningful value at all. And its Thundercats not Tundercats dear boy!

Young Justice was cancelled for different reasons, while the Thundercats remakes wasn't getting enough ratings and the toys weren't selling. and so what if the 80's show did pander somewhat moral messages in them, they still had huge successes unlike the shows of today which don't even bother saying anything substantial to kids anymores. You've sadly confused kid shows with young teens shows and expect them to please your fragile ego of wanting for more sophisticated stories told to you.

Heck, Avatar The Last Airbender has those themes and more and in fact the DC Animated Universe TV series had all those themes and even other darker subject matter.

Shut the hell up and put a bloody sock in it, as your silly little comparisons games are all over the flipping place and make no damn sense whatsoever. Who in their right mind would compare the DC animated universe with Thundercats? Only a madman perhaps, not anybody who's sane however i'm quite sure.

You seem to be of the mindset that kids need to be talked down to in order to teach them morals. Things need to be spoon fed to them and everything needs to be spelled out. This was the way of those 80s cartoons and they were laughably bad.

That was actually their charm and fun factor. And because of that they lasted a lot longer in the pop culture in modern society than the 2011 Thundercats which is a product of today's western anime styled era where its apparently visual style and more action scenes over any real substance.

So don't worry about us, we knew what was appropriate and not appropriate for kids as we came from that 80's and 90's era when animated shows were far more appreciated. Where it was far more enjoyable to see and view animated shows for kid and enjoy them for what they were unlike the shows of today that are made but aren't even remembered fondly within a few years after they're cancelled.

ST4

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[–] JohnBonDon 10 years ago

You have quite an arrogant and ignorant view of telling everybody else their opinions doesn't count for anything,

Look who's talking.

but flat tell everybody else the remake series is somehow far better.

It is.

And sounding like some rabid fanatic doesn't add weight to your words. It just makes you sound like a rabid fanatic.

And its Thundercats not Tundercats dear boy!

It always telling that someone knows they have a bad argument when they make a big deal out of a minor typo.

Young Justice was cancelled for different reasons

I said what those reasons were.

while the Thundercats remakes wasn't getting enough ratings

Not true. The ratings were just fine.

and so what if the 80's show did pander somewhat moral messages in them, they still had huge successes unlike the shows of today which don't even bother saying anything substantial to kids anymores.

Actually, they do and I mentioned some shows of this generation that do. Spoon feeding and talking down to children is insulting to them. Children are not mentally challenged. They are far more astute than a lot of those old cartoons gave them credit for.

Shut the hell up and put a bloody sock in it, as your silly little comparisons games are all over the flipping place and make no damn sense whatsoever. Who in their right mind would compare the DC animated universe with Thundercats? Only a madman perhaps, not anybody who's sane however i'm quite sure.

The utter irony that the guy who claimed that the old corny 80s Thundercats cartoon show he claims is so moral ends up acting like this childish and ill-mannered. That proves that talking down to children about morals in a show doesn't do any good in the end.

And because of that they lasted a lot longer in the pop culture in modern society

The show and others like it are remembered for how corny they were. It's people that look at it with rose-tinted glasses like yourself that pretend that they were some kinds of masterpieces. They weren't. They were products of their times and it shows.

than the 2011 Thundercats which is a product of today's western anime styled era where its apparently visual style and more action scenes over any real substance.

How ironic that you try to insult anime when the original 80s Thundercats cartoon was entirely animated by the Japanese as well. You're so ignorant and bigoted.

[–] superturbo4 10 years ago

^You make no sense at all.

Such is your motto mr doesn't get it. Why waste paragraphs responding back to an immature loser who's a remake ThunderCats fan thinking his show was better than everything and is on par with Batman TAS (Jesus Christ your desperate in saying that out-loud aren't you lol!).

Yeah bark for me JohnBonDon let us know you still care for this cancelled show that didn't last too long and failed.

ST4

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[–] gentelg 8 years ago

Plus we cannot forget...The original was created to sell a toy line.

[–] ElChompiras 7 years ago

Nope, it was terrible.

[–] Oddark123 11 years ago

I really dislike how people try to use the word "nostaglia" to try and make their opinion a fact. Being nostalgic is longing for the past. I hate to burst your little bubble but you do realize the normal human being doesn't all of a sudden hate their childhood and claim "i am too old to be watching cartoons". You're a walking parrot of everything tvtropes says wrong.

Did it ever occur to you the older people who say on here they liked the 80s show better, simply you know liked it better. It's not because they miss their childhood and are lying to put down a product of today. it's because they have an opinion. Just like you have yours. There is no travesty that a bunch of people are hating on something good just because of nostalgia. That's just a whole heap of bunk.

The polarization of the audience here did not work in the favors of the fans. Sorry to say, but if more people would rather look for re-runs, your show isn't probably going to get to continue.

What really sucks if the show was the one to get cancelled early, it at least had some fans, those ones deserved to at least see the original run. They did the same for the other two. Even though i never cared for any of them, it still should have been given a chance.

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[–] Monk_Drunk 11 years ago

I find it hard to watch cartoons aimed at kids these days, but I just saw a little bit of an episode on youtube and thought I'd share my thoughts since I was a huge fan of the 80's cartoon.

To try and be as objective as I can, from a production point of view it's clearly superior to the original cartoon. I personally don't care for the animation style or art direction that much, but it's obviously cleaner and smoother than the original, and just plain better produced. However, I also feel that it lacks a certain raw intensity that the original had, perhaps because it was so much rougher around the edges. Again, I really don't like this style of animation, though, so it may just be a matter of taste.

The detail in the writing and characterization is also superior, and the whole background setting seems richer, deeper somehow. This seems to be something that happened across TV sometime in the 90's, where standards improved noticeably, so I suppose it's not surprising that cartoons have been affected as well to some degree. It would be unfair to criticize the original cartoon for this too harshly, though, since most 80's cartoons were little more than very cheaply made superficial toy commercials, and Thundercats was probably one of the best of the bunch at that.

Something I've noticed in a lot of other modern cartoons I've seen bits and pieces of is that they try to be more than they are, and the new Thundercats is no exception. Ironically, its good production values, writing etc work against it as a kid's show. It feels heavy-handed somehow, overwrought and too edgy for its own good, with a tone that seems a bit off for something ostensibly aimed at children. Maybe the people who make these shows think that more older children/young adults are watching cartoons than before, hence the more mature and sophisticated tone. Or perhaps I just don't 'get it' and this is simply what little kids like these days: cartoons that seem almost like something grown-ups would watch. Then again, the series failed, right?

All in all, the new show is clearly the better made and more rounded product. It really doesn't do anything for me, though, and can't possibly replace the nostalgia value I get from the original.

[–] Oddark123 10 years ago

I don't think the rigor of the writing really ever speaks to anything other than how it can be used in an educational tool.

It may trigger some in the nerdier sets, but I'm hard pressed to find anyone i can speak to in the face that ever uses that kind of logical train as why they liked something. You're more likely to find people who like the show because Lion-O has a cool sword than they are for "the writers wrote these epic long plots for me to invest in".

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[–] Darwinskid 10 years ago

I think both versions had their pros and their cons. With the original Rankin/Bass show it was pretty clear who their target audience was, whereas Cartoon Network's 2011 reboot had issues finding the right balance for adults and kids. It's true that a lot of the elements in the Rankin/Bass show are pretty cheesy but keep in mind it was the 80's, television, let alone animated shows, have really changed over the years. I do think the 2011 series did a better job with Lion-O, I never really liked the whole concept the Rankin/Bass show had for him by having him be an over-grown kid who had to mature up because of a malfunction in the cryo-sleep process.

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[–] superturbo4 10 years ago

Well i did prefer the old series Lion-O, as its an old cliche of a boy in a man's body that was executed well in the classic series!

The new series had kid who was trying to grow up too fast, which maybe true of kids at any age but within the context of the show offer very little with no dichotomy of kid tying to act way more mature beyond his years and looking way out of place for it. At least the original series had a Lion-O who missed out on his childhood and had to be a man and take responsibility for his friends with his new paranormal abilities as the leader. The new reboot Lion-O is simply a kid trying to be a man in a teenaged body, somehow the message is lost in that as he has no forced responsibilities and could've easily passed the torch onto his adopted brother Tygra who is older than he is, and could very well lead in his place instead.

With the original Rankin/Bass show it was pretty clear who their target audience was, whereas Cartoon Network's 2011 reboot had issues finding the right balance for adults and kids. It's true that a lot of the elements in the Rankin/Bass show are pretty cheesy but keep in mind it was the 80's, television, let alone animated shows, have really changed over the years.

Yeah and they haven't changed for the better have they? When shows of today can't even last past their first season, while the older shows got at least 65 episodes made even if the series wasn't continued.

And what you call cheesy was the way shows were made with a comical sidekick (Snarf [T-Cats], Orko [Master Of The Universe] and others?). The tone wasn't too serious but it wasn't always downplayed even if the show was animated. As the writing as extremely for many of those shows and they cleverly dealt with many complexed themes (drug abuse, death, sexual abuse, theft, kidnapping, moral choices. etc!) and subject matters at a time when the messages got across to audiences in a very subtle not obvious way. as ameans of also dealing with the TV censors at the time as well.

As the climate changed in society so did the production of animated TV shows and how they dealt with issues in TV shows or were made with more gutso and action & violence as times changes along with attitudes towards what content was acceptable for kids to view and watch over time.

But ask anybody worth his or her salt and they're readily say the 80's had the best animated show bar none. Some in the 90's as well but most were 80's shows, regardless if they were somewhat cheesy by today's standards as you've put it!

ST4

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[–] Kuato_and_George 10 years ago

In many ways I thought it was. It was a lot more polished than the original. Way higher production value. The original was fluff. Pretty much all 80s cartoons were fluff. It was fun, but it wasn't anything groundbreaking, and we only like it because we're nostalgic for it.

But this show started to tank after a while imo. It started off fantastic, but got pretty dumb after about it's 2nd hiatus. Panthro's robo arms, big battles with anti-climatic action (that had no real consequences in the end), and a first season that had too many different story arcs. I actually gave up on it after a while. I never finished it. That's how annoyed I became at the drastic change in quality.

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[–] Alfabeta 10 years ago

I really hate the original show and I thought I'd hate this even more, but no. This is actually damn good. Maybe the best reboot of a cult kids show I've seen yet. I'm dumbfounded that this got canceled after only one season. Even the so-so reboot of Masters of the Universe lasted for two. Idiots.

[–] manchof1 10 years ago

If it were better it would have lasted longer than 1 season, lol.