Articles
41 Years Ago Today, One of the Most Iconic ‘80s Cartoons Ever Premiered (And We’re Still Waiting on a Modern Reboot)
The ’80s was a truly remarkable decade when it came to cartoons and anime, and over the course of that period, a number of now-iconic franchises first hit the screen. One such franchise is one of the most identifiable 80s cartoons ever, and it made its debut 41 years ago. Unfortutnely even in a sea of big remakes and reboots, this franchise is still waiting for its modern reboot, and it’s one we absolutely need.
41 years ago, the world was first introduced to the world of ThunderCats, and it would kick off a franchise that is still beloved to this day. The series made its debut with a two-episode premiere on January 23rd, 1985, with Exodus being part one and The Unholy Alliance being part two, and the two-episode pilot would introduce fans to Lion-O, Monkian, Cheetara, Panthro, Mumm-Ra, and the rest of the now iconic crew.
The series would then become a major hit and would lead to four main seasons and a TV movie that was turned into a five-episode miniseries titled ThunderCats – Ho. The series would bring its story to an end with the series finale episode, The Book of Omens, which aired on September 29, 1989, and closed out a remarkable era for the franchise, but its popularity remained.
ThunderCats Deserves A Modern Reboot
As another 80s property finally returns to the big screen in Masters of the Universe, you can’t help but wonder when ThunderCats might get its own modern reboot. There have been attempts to bring back the franchise to the small screen, starting with the 2011 animated ThunderCats series for Cartoon Network. The series was a mix of Western and Japanese stylings, and featured redesigned costumes and a slicker aesthetic. Unfortunately, it was cancelled after one season, even though more episodes were initially planned.
Then, in 2020, another animated ThunderCats project was released in ThunderCats Roar, which also premiered on Cartoon Network. While the show was pretty close to the original in terms of its story, it featured a drastically different art style and weaved in more humor. That led to some divisive opinions about the project, and just like its predecessor, it was cancelled after just one season.
As of 2024, there was a live-action reboot in the works with Adam Wingard attached, but that project hasn’t received much of an update outside of it being in development for years. That said, Masters of the Universe is finally hitting theaters, so anything is truly possible.
Like MOTU, ThunderCats is ready for a modern reboot, and the secret to the sauce is likely leaning into what made the original great and taking a cue from that show’s overall look and characters. Masters of the Universe could really be setting the template for what adapting a classic cartoon looks like these days, and it seems to be embracing the bigger-than-life concepts and characters of the original series. The same goes for an animated series, and while tweaks and modern updates are fine, just bringing that original series to life for a new audience will go a long way. Hopefully, we’ll see it happen sooner rather than later.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
The post 41 Years Ago Today, One of the Most Iconic ‘80s Cartoons Ever Premiered (And We’re Still Waiting on a Modern Reboot) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
