Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, Hoooooooo! We all used to get excited every time Lion-o would let out his battle cry and call the Thundercats to his aid to fight alongside him against Mumm-Ra the ever living and his minions!
The cartoon series was one of the best of its kind in the 80s and was loved by a generation of kids, and still holds up well today, especially compared to some of the trash they put on for kids now! But did you know these facts about Thundercats?….
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1. It wasn’t screened straight away
The Thundercats first season was completed in 1983, but wasn’t actually shown publicly until 2 years later in 1985.
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2. It was supposed to have a big-screen version
The program became so popular that a big screen animated movie was completed, “Thundercats Ho! The Movie” and was all set to be released at cinemas around the World.
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3. The studio bottled it!
After seeing big budget animated films based on animated TV shows, such as Transformers The Movie and My Little Pony The Movie do very badly at the box office, the studio got cold feet and decided to release Thundercats Ho! The Movie as a TV movie instead of spending the money releasing it at the box office!
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4. It has never been released uncut
When released for DVD, Thundercats Ho! The Movie was split in to 5 parts and released as 5 episodes, but the film has never been released in its uncut state as a single movie on DVD.
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5. Mumm-ra briefly had a weakness
In early episodes of Thundercats, Mumm-Ra had the unusual weakness of not being able to see his own reflection and this would see him reverting back to his mummified state. This was removed as a weakness for Mumm-Ra in later episodes.
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6. The majority of characters are aliens
The program is set on Third Earth, yet the Thundercats are from Thundera and the mutants are from Plun-Darr, meaning that the main characters in the program, both good and bad, are largely aliens!
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7. Lion-O is a kitt in adult clothing
The main hero, Lion-O goes in to suspended animation as a child and wakes up as a grown man (cat), so although he is adult in looks, he is still actually a child in mind.
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8. Mumm-Ra’s beginnings are not clear
While Mumm-Ra has several aspects that seem to relate to Egyptian mythology, such as being mummified and living in a pyramid, his true beginnings are never explained, though it is suggested that he is an ancient being who has survived his own civilisation.
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9. There are more Egyptian references
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When we see inside Mumm-Ra’s pyramid, we see statues that have the bodies of men, but the heads of animals, including a boar and a crocodile. This is very similar to how some of the Egyptian Gods are envisaged, suggesting even more similarity to their culture.
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10. It had a similarity to another hit cartoon
At the end of most episodes, one of the main Thundercats would address the audience, giving advice to the viewers and tips about life. This was akin to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe which also followed a similar trend.
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11. A TV stalwart once made a Freudian slip!
When introducing an episode of the show, Philip Schofield once accidentally presented it as “Thunderpants” rather then Thundercats, as Thunderpants was a popular joke about the show at the time!
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12. One of the producers had a lasting contribution to the show
While the theme tune and incidental music for the show were written by Bernard Hoffer, it was actually producer Jules Bass who wrote the now-famous lyrics for the opening theme song of Thundercats!
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Was Thundercats one of your favourite shows? Where did it sit for you in the “big three” of He-Man, Transformers and Thundercats? Let us know all of your Thundercat related thoughts in the comments as always. Thundercats, Hoooooo!