So, it’s back. 21 years after the first series ended Thundercats has been relaunched by the Cartoon Network in the US. I watched the first two episodes to see how it had changed from what I remembered as a kid in 1984.
Despite still being a cartoon for kids, the tone is much more serious, taking a lot of cues from The Lord Of The Rings or even Game Of Thrones. It touches on ideas including a war between different species, magic versus technology, and all the usual kids stuff like watching your dad, the king, get stabbed and fall off a big tree. The trailer above gives you a good feel for it.
What I wonder is, will kids these days care for it? It looks good for sure, but first two episodes feel like an origin story movie, where not a lot really happens except one big battle towards the end. I’m not sure it’d hold kids attention. Presumably though we can expect a new range of toys and console games to accompany the new series, and maybe that’s all that matters to the makers.