After all the controversies, Thundercats Roar is finally out and its actually good?

[Rocha]

Last year Cartoon Network released a teaser announcing that they would be making a new reboot of the Thundercats IP, under the title of Thundercats Roar. As you would have expected, people on the internet lose their shit, claiming that the show would be a "disrespect to the original series" and "ruin their childhoods". Fastforward to now, and the first two episodes of the show were finally released, and they are actually quite good? The show is a humorous take on the Thundercats franchise, focusing a lot on visual gags and action scenes.
What i loved the most about the show was the whole esthetic of everything: The simple designs of the characters gives the animators freedom to do lots of silly faces and poses, the backgrounds are beautiful drawn, the storyboard is really creative, with lots of cool angles and poses and the coloring of the show is really vibrant and nice to look at. While some of the jokes were hit and miss, there were some really good ones and i looking forward to next episodes.
But from what i saw on social media people are really negative with this show. So Era, what are your Thoughts about Thundercats Roar?

 

[metsallica]

This aired? When is it on?

 

[Atom Heart Mother]

I think it still looks bad. Can't stand the new style of Western cartoons. It's trying too hard to ape Adventure Time.

 

[metsallica]

Oh looks like they're in the app, TV not until next month.

 

[Fright Zone]

I saw a clip and I thought it looked fun, I'd like to watch it but it's not available in the UK I don't think.

 

[Slayven]

I hope it does well at it 6 am on a thursday timeslot. Steven Universe and Teen Titans go need 8 hours of air time or the network will collapse

 

[Rocha]

This aired? When is it on?

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It's on the CN app, they haven't announced yet when it will air.

 

[Whitemex]

So like TTGo!?

 

[Platy]

Teen Titans Go had the best DC movie in a long time and people still complaim it is bad

Ignore the haters

 

[Rocha]

I hope it does well at it 6 am on a thursday timeslot. Steven Universe and Teen Titans go need 8 hours of air time or the network will collapse

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They have so little faith in Roar that they only released on their app Lmao

 

[astro]

The original Thundercats struck an amazing balance between mystery, adventure, danger, even horror. The atmosphere was very strong. It felt mature without being gratuitous or edgy, and the characters felt well established.

Stand out VAs, excellent music, strong design and good animation, memorable heroes and villains, along with one of the coolest themes ever made.

This new show might be good, but it's so far removed from what I loved about this show I can't care.

 

[Rocha]

I think at least we can all agree that the ending credits is good right?

https://youtu.be/zYAWr6tvfBc

 

[SageShinigami]

It looks like trash and I'm not watching it. That doesn't mean it IS trash, but it doesn't appeal to me. Most cartoons don't these days, and they haven't for like a decade almost. That's fine. I'm 32 now, and when the art style of most cartoons stopped appealing to me around 2012 or so when Cartoon Network killed all their action series and made a bunch of stuff that looked like Adventure Time. Maybe I've outgrown cartoons. Maybe it's just a trend and one day we'll go back to stuff with visuals I actually like. (Duck Tales looks great, so it's not as if I hate ALL cartoons these days.) Who knows? If the kids enjoy this, then good for them--this can be their Thundercats for their generation.

 

[Vargas]

The music is the only redeeming thing about the show.

 

[spookyduzt]

I gave it a shot. Really? That was good? It just took the piss out of the original in an art style that made me want to claw my eyes out. Using the original music was nice, but that's literally the only positive thing I can say about it.

 

[metsallica]

Just watched the premiere, it was cute.

 

[Sou Da]

I mean I wouldn't call it good but it's not what I expected, it's pretty much ThunderCats: The Abridged Series. Why are weebs being so obnoxious about this online though? You go into the replies for any of the animators and you get nothing but anime avatars and hazbin hotel reaction images.

 

[Akira86]

I think at least we can all agree that the ending credits is good right?

https://youtu.be/zYAWr6tvfBc

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this is something I would have rushed to hate as a kid, and I loved watching Maya the Bee.

 

[etrain911]

I think it still looks bad. Can't stand the new style of Western cartoons. It's trying too hard to ape Adventure Time.

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This is how I feel as well. The AT aesthetic feels homogeneous in some ways on CN.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I hope it does well at it 6 am on a thursday timeslot. Steven Universe and Teen Titans go need 8 hours of air time or the network will collapse

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SU only gets like an hour a week, 8 times a year.

 

[Rev408]

I'm not into the look of this at all, it's just not for me.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Saberspark dropped his opinion on the show so far just a few hours back.

Spoiler

In brief he's Meh on it, needs to see more of the season to get a general opinion, but doesn't thank it's deserving of the backlash it's been getting.

It also feels like CN sorta gave up on the show and dumped it out because even the animators of the show were surprised that it's out. That's a shame for them.

 

[Woozies]

Watched it, it's like MaoMao but nowhere near as funny or compelling. Just kinda there.

 

[Lost Lemurian]

I gave it a shot, didn't want to be one of the haters. It's...not good. Animation aside, the writing is pretty abysmal, even for a kids' show. I really dislike the character designs, the actual animation is terribly tweeny-looking, the composition of the shots is boring. Bleh.

Watched the first episode of "The Owl House" right afterward and was blown away by how good it was. Definitely gonna keep watching that.

As an aside, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a great example of a reboot with a radically different style that still looks *gorgeous*. Some of the best-animated fight scenes in Western cartoons.

 

[Deleted member 5334]

The discourse that's going on Twitter and Social Media as a whole is an absolute mess and people are intentionally seeking out production staff members and users who enjoy it and harassing/threatening them. Some people have locked their twitter account, with at least one person leaving Twitter all together (believe both cases were production staff members).

When it was originally announced, I did have a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction because of what happened to the prior show, but I'm open minded to this (and still need to watch it, which it's honestly really well animated and has a lot of energy from clips I saw of it). That said, I think people need to learn it's okay to not like something, but you can't just seek users out and harass them for enjoying it (as well as attacking members who worked on the show). It's an absolute mess.

I don't get why people think this is absolutely okay to do so.

 

[I KILL PXLS]

I watched the first (full) episode and it's fine. Not amazing, but has some highlights. This isn't one of those shows that's kind of still for adults, it's straightly aimed at kids so don't go in looking for that. If you're looking for an action cartoon, this ain't it either. Definitely a comedy focus.

 

[P-Bo]

Tried watching for a bit--the jokes and writing did nothing for me, will be skipping this one; then again I haven't been the demographic for this franchise for awhile now, so whatever, new fans enjoy I guess.

Spoiler

The animation is still hideous.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

Just watched it and well, uh... in terms of writing at least it's pretty much trash.

There's no actual humor. Or characterization. Or story. It's just a procession of "here's another dumb old cartoon character. They have a stupid design and stupid name. Watch them say dumb things to show how awful the entire idea of the Thundercats is."

The animation is fine for what it is. There's a couple of good jokes. Mostly just dull.

 

[Stage on]

I watched the first (full) episode and it's fine. Not amazing, but has some highlights. This isn't one of those shows that's kind of still for adults, it's straightly aimed at kids so don't go in looking for that. If you're looking for an action cartoon, this ain't it either. Definitely a comedy focus.

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I'm going to call bull on the aimed at kids thing since you pretty much need to have seen the original series to have any context for a huge chunk of the jokes. Not to mention the fact that they straight up reused a bunch of the original soundtrack.

 

[I KILL PXLS]

I'm going to call bull on the aimed at kids thing since you pretty much need to have seen the original series to have any context for a huge chunk of the jokes. Not to mention the fact that they straight up reused a bunch of the original soundtrack.

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I think people conflate these type of in jokes and call backs etc with trying to aim appeal at old fans when really they're there because the creators of the show are old fans. Well, a combination of that and throwing in a little something for old fans who watch these with their kids.

 

[Reverse Giraffe]

The controversies? Why don't people like it? Is it because of the art style?

 

[HotHamBoy]

I watched the first (full) episode and it's fine. Not amazing, but has some highlights. This isn't one of those shows that's kind of still for adults, it's straightly aimed at kids so don't go in looking for that. If you're looking for an action cartoon, this ain't it either. Definitely a comedy focus.

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Very bizarre tact to take a fairly small property that only survives in the public consciousness as nostalgia-bait for people in their 30s and not give them a single thing to grab onto to want to watch it with their kids, let alone solo.

The controversies? Why don't people like it? Is it because of the art style?

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Apparently the art style was a huge turn-off because it is A) a drastic tonal redesign and b) highly derivative of the aesthetic trend in current kids cartoons

I'll add the observation that it's also not very "toyetic" meaning the designs don't lend themselves well to action figures which is kind of ironic since selling toys was the sole purpose of the original show (and the other cynical shows of its ilk at the time in the 80s).

But then I guess it turns out the writing is bad as well, it's aimed 100% at kids with no layers for adults like Adventure Time and Steven Universe have and the animation isn't even that interesting, regardless of the visual style.

I mean I wouldn't call it good but it's not what I expected, it's pretty much ThunderCats: The Abridged Series. Why are weebs being so obnoxious about this online though? You go into the replies for any of the animators and you get nothing but anime avatars and hazbin hotel reaction images.

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Side note: Hazbin Hotel fucking sucks so I'm not surprised its fans suck too

 

[Pendragon_1095]

I think it still looks bad. Can't stand the new style of Western cartoons. It's trying too hard to ape Adventure Time.

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It was cute at first since there were other cartoons doing their own thing but now every cartoon looks like they can be each others spin-offs. There's like no variety anymore.

I will admit that I do like Gumball and Mao Mao but I just don't have the patience to watch these 15 minute episode cartoons.

*Edit- I also like JLA, Craig of the creek and DC Super Hero Girls but I don't watch them regularly. CN pretty much sabotaged JLA. Have no idea how well DCSHG is doing.

 

[Doober]

This is gonna be another one of those times when anyone who doesn't like this animation trend gets lumped in with twitter trolls and virulent haters by an overly effusive fanbase, isn't it?

 

[sir_crocodile]

I watched it. Was pretty average, though there were elements that I enjoyed.

However it used quite a bit of Bernard Hoffer music and didn't credit him, and Leonard Starr(writer of the original Exodus, head writer of the original Tcats) wasn't credited either, so I'm pretty eh on it overall

 

[tsampikos]

It's bad.

Some funny jokes here and there but it's mostly mindless with 0 budget and creativity and I have better things to do than commit time to this.

 

[I KILL PXLS]

Very bizarre tact to take a fairly small property that only survives in the public consciousness as nostalgia-bait for people in their 30s and not give them a single thing to grab onto to want to watch it with their kids, let alone solo.

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Well as Stage on mentions it does use a lot of the original music and has little nods here and there. You'll get a few member berries while watching but it's ultimately a different angle (comedy) going squarely for a kid audience.

 

[Protoman200X]

On the one hand, the bulk of the jokes boil down to how stupid the whole premise of Thundercats is & the characters make fun of how stupid everything is. Really, you pretty much need to have seen the original series to have any context of the jokes.

On the other hand, it wants to be a cartoony cartoon and be light-hearted fun. But I noticed the Grade 3 kids that I've help (as an assistant teacher) became disinterested & got bored within the first five minutes. Most of them were begging me to swap back to either OK-KO! or TTG.

So, this isn't really for the 30-somethings who grew up with the 80's show. And it isn't targeted to kids who will be put off by the premise and become bored. It feels like this show is being pulled in different directions without knowing what audience it wants to latch on.

Really, who's the audience for this?

I watched it. Was pretty average, though there were elements that I enjoyed.

However it used quite a bit of Bernard Hoffer music and didn't credit him, and Leonard Starr(writer of the original Exodus, head writer of the original Tcats) wasn't credited either, so I'm pretty eh on it overall

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Huh, I wonder why Starr & Hoffer we're not credited in this reboot, especially as like you said, they've basically reused the soundtrack from the 1980's show.

 

[Metal Slugger]

The original Thundercats struck an amazing balance between mystery, adventure, danger, even horror. The atmosphere was very strong. It felt mature without being gratuitous or edgy, and the characters felt well established.

Stand out VAs, excellent music, strong design and good animation, memorable heroes and villains, along with one of the coolest themes ever made.

This new show might be good, but it's so far removed from what I loved about this show I can't care.

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imagine having these feelings over CATS X He-Man the cartoon

 

[thetrin]

I really don't like how comedy dominates the cartoon landscape. I miss an action dominated cartoon scene.

Oh well, it's not for me.

 

[Piccalilli Shinpads]

Nah, not feeling it.

 

[maximumzero]

Mumm-Ra was the best part, as expected. Interested to see how well this holds up past the pilot.

 

[Deleted member 8852]

It's just a adventure-time wannabe bastardization, bring back proper Thundercats or just leave the franchise alone.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

It would have been ok if it was funny, but it's no Teen Titans Go.

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

It would have been ok if it was funny, but it's no Teen Titans Go.

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So you're saying it's funny then?

 

[Smash-It Stan]

There was a good revival years ago, but, as one of the animators said, you don't see anyone asking for that back so this new one shouldn't be offensive to you. And I actually completely agree with that. I agree with most of the detractors online about it's poor derivative artstyle from grown up Tumblr users, lack of actual humour, and it's weird need to have knowledge of the og material. But if any of this actually mattered that would mean there would've been demand for more of the 2011 series, but I've never seen any.

Because of that it's hard to feel like this is an actual slap to the face like Teen Titans go was when there, there was actual demand for the source material only to get monkeys paw'd. If anything I'd almost defend the new thundercats because CN isn't really putting any faith in it and randomly released it on the app. At least respect the work you commissioned

 

[Tigress]

Honestly, the original thundercats was absolute trash. I loved it as a kid but he one time I tried to watch it when I was older it was so cringe that even nostalgia didn't save it. They had a reboot a few years ago that was actually good but sadly they stopped it after the first season and never finished the story (and it was much more of a continuous story rather than just random stories like the first one). I'm totally not interested in this one not cause I care whether it "respects" the original cartoon, just not interested. And sad when I learned this wasn't them deciding to continue the first reboot of thundercats.

 

[Laxoon]

Fan of the original as a kid, all due to that hype ass theme song, but realize in retrospect so much of the cartoons from that era were total ass.

Saw this on a whim with my partner, we both thought it was total ass in a different way.
Idk what to call it but it felt like peekaboo humor where very often a characters big face pops into frame suddenly with a wacky expression and says something stupidly. There was a lot of that.
So it's wasnt funny and on top of that it was very ugly.

 

[janoGX]

I love that Shinsei Kamattechan made the intro for this. They need more widespread attention.

 

[Aske]

I'll totally watch it, but who is it for? The number of Thundercats fans who are okay with a goofy take on the franchise in 2020 must be vanishingly small. Newcomers won't get the references, and old ones still resent the cancellation of the awesome reboot from a few years ago and will feel like this is adding insult to injury.