Talk:ThunderCats (1985 TV series)/Archive 1

Voice of Lion-O
I strongly doubt that Larry Kenney supplied the voice of Lion-O in the latest episode of Robot Chicken. It sounds very much like Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane... in fact, I'm almost certain that it's him, since he frequently uses that same irate monotone voice on both of his shows. Could someone confirm this? M.Neko
 * I have marked that statement in the article as requiring a citation. - Seinfreak37 15:44, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * It is Seth MacFarlane. Here's a link Bluesmanjay (talk) 15:58, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Robear Berbils
It is truly a travesty that this page lacks any mention of the Robear Berbils.

Fixed. Jack Cain

In addition, the article says that it was due to the Ro-Bear Berbils that Tygra could build Cat's Lair so quickly, but Tygra wasn't the only ThunderCat to build it. The episode clearly states as such. The article should read that it was due to the help of the Ro-Bear Berbils that the ThunderCats were able to build Cat's Lair so quickly. --Bentonia School 13:26, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Repopulation
How did the Thundercats intend to repopulate the planet with other thundercats wen there was only 1 female? Not very good planning. Chris H - UK.

Same goes for the Smurfs, really. Good lord! I theorize that some of the others (Smurfs, not Thundercats) were less-obvious females..
 * Actually, there are two females, Wily-kit is also female. Of course, she's also a little young ;) --Wilykit 15:15, August 10, 2005 (UTC)


 * The Smurfs are all males, actually. Smurfette is an artificial creation of Gargamel, not a real Smurf.  Why do I know things like that? - 67.191.254.83 18:27, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

--- Hey, one of the greatest cartoon series I have ever seen. Jorge, Mar del Plata,Argentina


 * With.. humans? *shrugs* It was just one of those little plot things they put it, most likely. Like most early cartoon shows. Disinclination 03:21, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Original airings
Where did the series originally air in their respective countries? Timeslots? I mainly ask because the guitar in the theme song sounds very similar to guitars used on CBS Storybreak. Coincidence?

Profanity
Is it really necessary to have a strong profanity in this article? I replaced the word with f**k but this was reverted back. It's as if someone has gone out of their way to put a swear-word on this article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Marky1981 (talk • contribs) 23:03, 26 February 2005 (UTC)


 * I've removed the reference that contained this profanity. Parodies on the internet that dub new dialog over the actual clips are not "Outtakes", and have nothing to do with the actual series. MrItty 17:14, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Actually, Larry Kenney, the voice of Lion-O and Jackalman (among other characters), has gone on record as stating the "Outtakes" from Thundercats are, in fact, real. It's even confirmed in Matt Blank's interview.DrachenFyre 23:52, Apr 4, 2005 (UTC)


 * Whether the outtakes are real or not is besides the point - i.e it is unnecessary and irresponsible for a credible encyclopedia article to have strong (or any) profanity. The only exceptions to this would be articles about the etymology of such words for example, and then it should be objective and NPOV. This is clearly not the case for the ThunderCats article! Marky1981 09:14, 5 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * Hmm. Very well then. DrachenFyre 14:32, Apr 5, 2005 (UTC)
 * If this comes up again, here's wikipedia's policy on profanity.--Starwed 18:32, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Contrary to what Marky has said it would also be acceptable to give examples of profanity in popular culture where it is well known. A show such as South Park features heavy use of profanity and as such the article would be incomplete without examples and discussion on it. Its a little cloudy here but wiki is not censored for minors so theres nothing wrong with discussing profanity in a childrens cartoon but wiki is not out to offend so profanity should not be used unecessarily. I would not object to one quote of a profanity while discussing the outtakes here as i consider it important to that discussion, although I wont push for it as its not overly important to the article as a whole.

Does anyone know if the outtakes are subject to copyright? If not I'd like to link to them its a better solution than having them written on the page.

Heres the best summary of the history of the outtakes i found: http://claws2.nfshost.com/node/254 Discordance 19:02, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Third Earth = our Earth?
Has Third Earth been confimed officially that it is our Earth (in the future)? If not, we should either delete "(which is our own planet earth in a distant future)" or change it to something like "(which is speculated to be planet Earth in a distant future)" Marky1981 11:34, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I really dont know, you should go ahead and do it. Jack Cain

Aside from Egyptian architecture (like Mumm-Ra's and Mumm-Rana's pyramids with obelisks), the specific mentioning of "Egyptian" by Mumm-Ra himself in episode "Pumm-Ra", the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Wizz-Ra (and his Egyptian helmet), Hachiman and the code of Bushido, the legend of King Arthur and the appearance of Merlin, and the Berzerkers (just to name a few), all evidence points to Third Earth actually being a future Earth. Obviously, there must have been not one but TWO cataclysmic events in the planet's past which forces it through two "ages"... DrachenFyre 22:52, Jun 24, 2005 (UTC)


 * I've modified the line accordingly - feel free to modify Marky1981 23:59, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This guy sure knows his cartoons. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.57.160.130 (talk • contribs) 20:47, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

The ThunderCats ship also passes jupiter on its way into the system in the first episode, you can clearly see the eye of jupiter on the planet. Then there is a shot of a red planet with earth in the distance. Less convincing than DrachenFyres evidence but another example nonetheless Discordance 18:26, 5 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Considering the date in which the cartoon series was created, it wouldn't be suprising that they took images from our own solar system to use. Disinclination 03:16, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

I reverted a change made by an unregistered user who stated that in one episode of the series, one of the main characters attempted to sort out a moment of confusion with an historical reference, saying "Back when this was still First Earth..." as no source was provided. Rather than leave clearly unsourced material in the article, I'll post this comment here. Can anyone back this up? Which episode was this, who stated this, etc. - Seinfreak37 20:19, 13 September 2006 (UTC)


 * OK, I already found a reference on another forum. A user stated that "in the early episode Unholy Alliance, when the Mutants first meet Mumm-ra, Mumm-ra makes mention of the time when the planet was still known as First Earth."  This is season 1, episode 2.  Can someone watch this episode and see if this is indeed stated, and in what context?  - Seinfreak37 20:26, 13 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Err... Given all the evidence provided during the series (ie. Egyptian culture, the existence of King Arthur in the past, references to and artifacts of our time being present everywhere, the fact that Earth is in the name of the planet, the identical solar system arrangement, mineral and metal presence being highly similar, and more) whether it is directly stated that Third Earth is our Earth, or not, seems to be irrelevant, since the material indicates that this is the case. The evidence may be circumstantial, but the overwhelming amount of it should be taken into consideration, and since the article already states more or less that Third Earth is our Earth, except for one line saying it isn't certain, there's no reason to revert back from what that other user had added in.


 * I don't recall Mumm-Ra ever saying "Back when this was First Earth" and I have all the episodes from Season 1 to Season 2 Volume 1 on DVD so far. I will check and see later today, though, just incase I am wrong (as I may well be, since my memory can be a bit shoddy at times).


 * Daishokaioshin 20:33, 13 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I reverted because a user stated that in "some episode" that "some character" stated "something along the lines of...." - not very encyclopediac in my opinion. It would be better to get all your ducks in a row, get the complete quote, then add this comment.  I have the episode and will watch when I can, get the appropriate information, and add to the article if necessary (unless someone beats me to it). -Seinfreak37 20:39, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

Admittedly that edit comes from something I remember from almost two decades ago, but the line I quoted was clearly stated in the series. I am 90% certain that the exact quote was "Back when this was still first earth..", and 100% certain about what the quote meant. Even if you were to ignore this reference, there are just far too many other references in the series to things that exist in our world today for it not to be Earth sometime in the future. Vanessaezekowitz 23:13, 13 September 2006 (UTC)

If anyone is interested: After Slythe asks: "You know of the Eye of Thundera, yes?", Mumm-Ra replies: "I have known of its power for a thousand years, from a time when this was still First Earth." 1:15 of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifB2RjC26e4 Ragzouken 19:13, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Re: First/Third Earth. I remember a UK strip (I'm pretty sure it was an annual, rather than a regular comic) where Lion-O was tricked into entering some cave of... mists.... thing... and was sent back in time to First Earth, where he witnessed Mumm-Ra constructing his pyramid. In fact, in a rather cliched time-travel paradox, it turns out it was Lion-O who gave him the idea for his sarcophagus or something like that, explaining that he knew he was evil and what he was going to do, and so Lion-O is inadvertently responsible for Mumm-Ra's presence on Third Earth. At that time, Mumm-Ra had tricked the people (who looked human) into thinking he was a good and benevolent ruler. He was also able to remain in his Ever-Living form indefinitely, not yet withered by the vast passage of time.

Cheetara was the only 'Cat with Lion-O, and she was also tricked into going through the portal, but she ended up in (I think) Fourth Earth, again helping human-alikes, this time wearing typical futuristic sci-fi shiny suits, defending a family from big flying insect things.

That's almost as much detail as I can remember, in case I've jogged someone's memory. I've no idea if it was considered canon, but if anyone has the annuals knocking around it would be a good place to look. Spiral Wave 01:26, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

There was never a statement in the series relating Third Earth to our Earth. Sure, there is the whole "First Earth" quote, but that doesn't relate it to our planet. The presance of humans doesn't make it our Earth. We can't whip out the forensic scientists to tell us if these were the same planet. The presence of any type of Egytian artifacts does not mean it's our planet. If Egyptians artifacts were a vaild argument, then you could use the logic "well Third Earth has unicorns, unicorns are fictional, therefore Third Earth existed in an alternate universe and has no relationship to our planet". The best that can be done is that we can speculate about what the author's did or did not intend. That being said, speculation is not fact and does not belong on Wikipedia. If there is an official statement from an author or producer about what the intention was, then we can state how our planet relates to Third Earth. I am removing reference to Third Earth being related to our Earth unless there is hard evidence, not speculation, that justifies it.Bridger.anderson (talk) 18:40, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Question: Would a visual representation of Third Earth on a computer screen within the show itself, one showing the planet as having the same continental outlines as our planet, be sufficient evidence? If so, someone should check out the episode "The Last Day" (Season 3, episode 20). I believe I saw just such an image when I watched the episode on my DVDs a few hours ago. If so, it might be the hard evidence needed to put the issue to rest. —Preceding unsigned comment added by FlameStrike (talk • contribs) 13:58, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Being an encyclopedic website, there should be a quote either directly from the series or from an author relating it to our planet. All of the similiarties between the cartoon and our planet are not hard evidence. There are more examples of dissimilarities in the series than of similiarites, however similarities and dissimilarites are irrelevant, there needs to be a quote from either one of the authors, or the series itself.153.90.192.96 (talk) 17:45, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Also, factual statements such as "there are many similiarites to our Earth and Third Earth some of which include Egyption Artifacts, etc" would be acceptible in the main article. I would go so far as to say that it is appropriate to create a section "similarities of third earth to modern day earth" and list the similiarties.Bridger.anderson (talk) 21:01, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

first episode
I recently saw the first episode of thundercats again and it never mentions that lion-o's pod malfunctioned. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Duokenshin (talk • contribs) 20:21, 2 September 2005 (UTC)

However, it is generally accepted by the fanbase that his pod malfunctioned. How else could he have aged so rapidly yet none of the other ThunderCats did? - DrachenFyre 20:36, September 2, 2005 (UTC)


 * i jus saw it too, and the explanation given there is not that it malfunctioned, but that ageing did occured on the pods. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 200.113.116.135 (talk • contribs) 17:55, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

the exact quote from jaga is "although the suspension capsules slow down the aging process some aging does take place", he may be saying the capsules arnt 100% reliable and are pronce to malfunctions, in episode 82 they are disposing of the capsules because they are dangerous. Later in the second episode tygra says Lion-O spent 10 years in suspension, considering he appears to have grown from a youth to a young adult this implies the pods completely failed to have any effect on Lion-Os aging. This makes it fairly clear that the pod has in some way malfunctioned. Discordance 18:20, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

I remember the comics clearly stated that he aged more quickly due to pod malfunction, but I don't have a copy of anymore so can't add a reference.

Seasons?
I know there are webpages out there that say Season 2 was 1986-7, but I remember when seeing the episodes air a few years ago (2001 to be precise), the copyright date at the end of some of them was 1987 and for others 1988. I remember seeing somewhere that Thundercats went into a 1 season hiatus for the 1986-7 season while 65 episodes of the cartoon series Silverhawks were aired (a show which featured some of the same voice actors as Thundercats). The only Thundercats episode/s produced in that span was Thundercats! Ho!, a 5-parter which introduced the 3 other Thundercats. That may have been first released as a video before being broken up into episodes for syndication.

Episodes with 1987 in their credits span from "Mumm-Ra Lives! Part I" to "Vultureman's Revenge". Episodes with 1988 in their credits span from "Thundercubs Part I" to "The Book of Omens". I've seen some sources say from "Return to Thundera Part I" to "The Book of Omens" were aired in the 1989-1990 season. I'm not sure what that is about, though it might be possible they filled their remaining episode order in terms of production in 1988 and just held half the episodes over to make another season out of the episodes made (A 5th season of Futurama aired even though there were only 4 seasons of production. That "season" was made from several unaired episodes from previous seasons).

By the way, a lot of webpages out there operate on certain assumptions with cartoon series. They assume 65 episodes will be aired 5 episodes a week for 13 weeks without any mistakes in airing or delays in production of some episodes. These cannot be considered reliable because we don't know if the webpages actually confirmed the airdates or just looked for the first Monday of September and started counting off air dates from there on out. What I'm saying is we don't know for sure if the episode airdate list is correct and has been generated by looking at actual data or if it is just a theoretical list of when episodes most likely aired. In the case of Thundercats, it is known to be false.

And many series have 65 episode orders but don't air all 65 episodes over a single season. Transformers for example, aired 16 episodes in Season 1 and 49 episodes in Season 2 (16 + 49= 65) and G.I. Joe produced two 5 episode mini series in 1983 & 1984 before getting a first season and that season had 55 episodes (50 if you count the 1985 Mini-Series as separate from the 1985-6 Season).

I would ask for the 1986-7 data to be confirmed. If it cannot be, then the wiki page should state the lack of certainty regarding when the second half of the series aired. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 139.67.201.239 (talk • contribs) 21:35, 4 November 2005 (UTC)

I recently split the episode guide into 4 seasons and then back into 2 based on various information I found on the internet, although I would question the air dates I have put on the page now. Here is a scan of a script cover for episode 123: http://www.purrsiathunder.org/graphix/scripts/script123/Scan0002.jpg Labeled August 10th 1988... So i doubt it could have aired November 28th 1986 like my other source states. I'm at a loss of how to reliable find the correct dates. Discordance 19:11, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

From the script covers ive found season 2 seems to have been written by february 1987, season 3 febraury 1988 and season 4 august 1988, probably being shown 1987-88, 1988-89, and 1989-90 which are the rough dates I got from here http://tcats.shipunderground.com/episode.html

Perhaps I should self revert back to Discordance 19:26, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

I wonder if anyone knows someone who worked for a tv network in programming in the late '80s who had a good memory. Hmmm, would any records exist, like documents of orders to air what episodes when, like daily schedules for channels? I don't know enough about behind the scenes television to know how it precisely works.


 * Correct, the "original airdates" commonly listed online are untrue. ThunderCats HO! aired in '86, first showing one Friday night as a full-length movie, later split into 5 parts that were cycled into regular episode rotation. Then Silverhawks came to air in 1986-87, bumping ThunderCats by a half-hour. Mumm-Ra Lives (1-5) aired (again, first as a full-length movie) one weekend afternoon in 1987. (...I actually have that page from the old TV guide listing clipped out, somewhere. One couldn't help notice that the tone of the show had skewed younger/dumber from this point.) At the time, apart from recording all those original airings, I kept a personal calendar record of day-by-day episode listings (which I still have...somewhere) because in that age before such information was made available through the magical internet, I was trying to figure out for myself the official episode chronology (and also because I was cartoon obsessive :p) but soon discovered that station airings were inconsistently ordered in any event. Of the remaining Season Two episodes, Cat Fight up until Ravage Island came scattered between rerun episodes throughout 1987-88, and sometime later (after still more reruns of all of those) followed by the span from Time Switch to Vultureman's Revenge, as I recall.  The episodes from Thundercubs (1-5) onward didn't show up until the 89-90 season,  when the show had moved from weekday afternoons to an early morning timeslot. ~ 172.144.130.85 17:22, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

The infobox had the series running from 1985 to 1987, contrary to the prose (the final season being 1989 to 1990). I've changed the infobox accordingly, but we could do with a reference, especially since IMDb states it as running from 1985 to 1987. - Dudesleeper / Talk  19:13, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

New series?
I have heard a bunch of rumors about a new Thundercats series being developed for Toonami? Does anybody know if this is true? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.101.81.251 (talk • contribs) 01:00, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I haven't heard anything. Can you provide sources where you heard this? - Seinfreak37 16:56, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Edit: Found a mention on a fan-forum, still no source provided however: "Warner Bros. Animation is working on a new Thundercats series. The initial info says they are planning for a late 2006 release but that probably will be pushed back. Yes a T-Cats revival it's not all that surprising given TMNT, Transformers, He-Man and GI-Joe all have had revivals within the past 5 years and only more revivals will be on the way it seems." -Seinfreak37 16:59, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Here is confirmation: http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=5390 --Atomic Duck! 22:58, 13 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Note: "Confirmation" in quotes: the story is nearly a year old (dates to 8-24-2005) -Seinfreak37 15:22, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Here's a link (third paragraph) which states that a new series is in the works, as well as new collectibles and more stuff. It has been rumored before, yet there was no vaild information. Now it's confirmed and it's only a matter of time, so be alert! —Preceding unsigned comment added by MJBFitzgerald (talk • contribs) 18:55, 17 August 2006 (UTC)


 * copied relevant section: "Warner Bros. is also working on securing new licensees to re-launch the ‘80s animated series, The Thundercats. Warner Bros. has the classic as well as new licensee to develop product for children, including an updated Thundercats look and collectibles for early fans."

This does state nowhere that a new series is in the works, it states that WB wants the liscencees (which it may not get). It mentions collectibles and new look, but not a TV series. A relaunch might be just a comic book series. --Anibas 19:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I read recently on a message board that a new series is in development from the same company that did Teen Titans, if anyone can documented info on this it would be a great addition to the page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.109.248.114 (talk • contribs) 23:28, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Natives of Third Earth
This section needs expanding, I dont have time to do it right now, but mafetet appears briefly for one episode and gets half the section, whereas the warrior women havnt even been mentioned, their queen and another warrior woman are among the major supporting characters in the series. Discordance 11:12, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Bengali and Tygra...brothers?
I recall in Part 5 of Thundercats Ho! The Movie, Tygra grasps Bengali's hand and shoulder, saying "Brother". Now, after that, it was NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN during the remainder of the run of the show. I don't believe that it was ever intended to have Tygra and Bengali as "brothers" in the blood sense. Rather, it was probably meant to mean Tygra and Bengali as "brothers" in the sense of being from the same "tiger clan", for lack of a better term. I reiterate...it was NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN in the show. Does that constitute them being blood brothers or clan brothers? - The One and Only 23:51, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

I think "brother" was meant as a fellow Thunderian.But you're right about them being of the "tiger clan" as the two of them bear a striking resemblense.The only significant differences between their appearnces are their colours. I actually mistook them for the same person until I saw Bengali appear in the cartoons.Nadirali 17:21, 8 December 2006 (UTC)Nadirali

Spoiler Warnings
I took the liberty of adding spoiler warnings on this article. There are various plot details revealed and I feel a notice is necessary.

I'm confused
I just purchased Season 2, part I as a gift. It contains 34 episodes. Yet, this article states that seasons 2-4 contain 20 episodes each. Am I missing something?

You purchased "Season 1, Part 2". Season 1 had 65 episodes and was broken into 2 parts for release since 65 episodes is *a lot* of DVDs to bundle in one box. Many other cartoons that released DVDs which had seasons of 40 or more episodes broke those seasons into 2.


 * _;

Well, the article itself remarks that the Season 2 DVDs come in two boxes, totaling 65 episodes, so the introduction is probably wrong.

Unsourced material
Do we have citations for any of this? - brenneman  {L} 08:56, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Material added

Insignia
Both the insignia and the jewel embedded in the Sword of Omens were referenced as the "Eye of Thundera". Check the episodes "Snarf Takes Up The Challenge" and "The Ghost Warrior". In "Snarf Takes Up The Challenge", Tygra comes upon a crystal labyrinth with carved Tygra heads. As he looks at the door, emblazoned with the ThunderCats insignia, he goes..."The Eye of Thundera?". In the episode "The Ghost Warrior", when Grune is attacking Cat's Lair, Lion-O takes out the Sword of Omens and proclaims "Your fate will be sealed by the symbol you betrayed, Grune...the Eye of Thundera!" Two on-screen and canonical pieces of information for ya! - DrachenFyre &gt; YOU! 22:48, 17 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Hey I don't have the DVD's so I can't check the episodes, but I'll take your word for it. Technically though "The Eye of Thundera" is the jewel embedded in the Sword of Omens, and the Insignia is really just exactly that, an insignia which identifies Thundercats. --NeilEvans 22:54, 17 August

2006 (UTC) Well as the jewel embedded in the sword of omens changes its appearence from the cats eye to the insignia when ever Lion-O uses it to call the Thundercats I would say it was reasonable to refer to both images as the Eye of Thundera. Elaverick 14:56, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

Was Ted Wolf British?
Just read this review on IGN's Website about Season 2, Volume 2's DVD box set and it claims that Ted Wolf was British, not American.

IGN REVIEW HERE

Does anyone know if this is true or a mistake?

He may be mixed up with the series "Natural Born Kittens" which is another animated anthropromprohic cat show breated by a Brit, Funded in America and animated in Japan out soon.

Any help?