Thundercats (2011) Episode 1 And 2 Review

Seeing as how I have no life, I had no problem checking out the new Thundercats cartoon last night when it had its one-hour premiere. The original 80's series almost needs no introduction. Lion-O, Cheetara, and the gang save the day from the evil Mumra and the other forces of evil, while little darker plots would form behind the scenes. Cue 2011, where up to this point we've already had countless reboots of shows like Transformers and He-Man (most to very positive effect), and now, after all these years, Thundercats gets its chance to shine. Was it worth the wait, or having I been getting my hopes up these last few months?

I'll start off by going into the story. One can already see this is MUCH deeper than the plot that preceded it. We've got a wonderful setup of the planet of Thundera, with a castle and wonderful, detailed desert and plain lands. Lion-O is set to become the king of the castle, but his brother, and other members of his royal family are not so thrilled about this. They feel he is unfit to run a castle, and not yet matured. We notice other interesting positions for out main characters. Cheetara is a cleric for the castle, Panthro is a companion of Claudus, Lion-O's father, WilyKit and WilyCat are common thieves on the streets, and Snarf even returns, but instead of an annoying character, quite cute and funny this time around. There's plenty of other interesting characters, both new and old, and with very interesting positions.

Lion-O sees a strange vision of Mumra in the Sword of Omens, and they become attacked by the lizards they've been at war with for years not long after. It becomes up to our main characters to save the land, but the story is not quite so basic as it appears. There's plenty of plot twists and surprises that I won't reveal, but just trust me when I say that for an animated series, they are VERY well crafted and well executed.

It must be said the animation is absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful scenery and landscapes surround, while the characters are all bright and colorful, with a nice polish throughout. The look of the main characters is a bit more anime-style than the previous outing, but it is not to the point of obnoxiousness and I don't see many having any type of problem with this.

Overall, this episode has everything a premiere needs, great story, wonderful action sequences, even better characterizations and set up, and I for one can't wait to see where things are going next. I finally have a reason to watch cartoons on Friday night again. This series has quickly become a must watch.

9 out of 10