Why, yes. You did read that correctly. ThunderCats is returning to the small screen with a few changes in tow. According to Entertainment Weekly, Warner Bros. Animation will be reviving the beloved kids show on Cartoon Network in 2019.
Originally the show aired from 1985-1989 and followed the adventures of cat-like aliens from the planet Thundera who seek refuge on Third Earth. The new show titled ThunderCats Roar will keep the premise intact, but also bears clear distinct differences with an animation style more in line with all the other shows on Cartoon Network’s lineup.
“Staying true to the premise of the original series, Lion-O and the ThunderCats — Tygra, Panthro, Cheetara, Wilykat, and Wilykit — barely escape the sudden destruction of their home world, Thundera, only to crash land on the mysterious and exotic planet of Third Earth,” reads the reboot’s logline. “Lion-O, the newly appointed Lord of the ThunderCats, attempts to lead the team as they make this planet their new home. A bizarre host of creatures and villains stand in their way, including the evil Mumm-Ra, Third Earth’s wicked ruler who will let nothing, including the ThunderCats, stop his tyrannical reign over the planet.”
Finding its home at Cartoon Network will mean that the element of comedy will be far more infused than in the original series, however according to producer Victor Courtright, writers will be working to pack in as much action as the original.
“I think the world that they built lends itself really well to comedy because of how silly and crazy and outlandish those ideas are and some of those settings are,” says Courtright. “But at the same time, it wouldn’t be ThunderCats if it didn’t have super cool action elements because that’s what people came back to. It’s very much something that we want to lean on […] we’re not walking away from the action in any bit. Every step we take towards comedy, we take two more towards really cool action scenes and explosions and lasers and actions effects.”
