|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 14, 2016 22:41:07 GMT -5
I also believe its presence was made necessary because Saturday morning cartoon characters weren't supposed to use sharp objects. Something about preventing kids from going for mom's steak knives and playing Thundarr or something. (Wasn't a similar argument used to explain replacing Johnny Storm by H.E.R.B.I.E. in the FF cartoon?) That's when you go into your dad's workshop and make your own wooden sword.  The Sunsword was a big appeal for the show and character for me. Lightsaber-ish, I loved the sound effect that accompanied it whenever Thundarr swung it. In fact, the only episode I recall vividly is the one where the sword is losing it's charge and Ariel leads them to a mystic pool or something where it can be recharged. However, whoever holds the Sunsword to recharge it will the sole wielder of it. So naturally, the villain of the weekend stole it from Thundarr and he had to race to retrieve it before bad dude could recharge/steal it. Which of course raises the obvious question of how and where did Thundarr acquire the Sunsword in the first place. I can't remember, how much of his past history was ever revealed in the show? Outside of the sequence in the opening credits of Thundarr breaking his chains in an arena like setting with the voice over hinting he escaped slavery by wizards to become the crusader against wizardry he was, I don't think we get much of an origin for Thundarr or how he met Ariel or Ookla. I could be wrong, I am slowly making my way through the episodes again, but I don't recall it ever being addresse dina any of the episodes I saw as a kid. -M |
|
|
|
Post by rom on Sept 17, 2016 13:53:01 GMT -5
You're right - we never got any kind of an "origin" for Thundarr on the series, other than what was seen in the opening intro. Presumably he escaped slavery, and hooked up with Princess Ariel & Ookla at some point later on. Maybe the show would have addressed this if it had continued?! It would have nice to have seen a back-story behind how he met his companions.
Here's something else to consider when watching Thundarr, and I don't mean any of this as negative in any way - I actually found it intriguing - and this makes the show more interesting to me:
When I first watched the show as a little kid, I took it at face value that 2,000 years after a series of environmental disasters (as seen in the show's intro) you would have mutants, wizards, monsters, etc. wandering around the Earth.
However, when watching it as an adult, I have to wonder how these mutations/anomalies came about? I.e., if there were just a series of environmental disasters - and that's it - this wouldn't necessarily result what we see on the series; note I lump the magic, strange animal people, monsters, etc. as all being mutations.
There was an episode involving an alien, but the alien left the Earth at the end. My understanding is that most of the anomalies we see on this Earth were all mutated from animals/people that were already there.
So, I'm guessing that with all of the environmental disasters in 1994 (land masses shifting, huge tidal waves, etc.) some radioactive waste/radiation and/or weapons got loose somewhere, and this somehow made it's way into the air/water/food sources - thereby causing all of the mutations over an extremely long period of time - note that obviously if this were to actually happen, you wouldn't see the mutations we see on the show. However, from a sci-fi/fantasty stand-point, radiation can cause all kinds of fantastic things (Spider-man, Hulk, the original Planet of the Apes films, etc.)...
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2016 14:16:25 GMT -5
You can't look too closely, or you start to wonder why after 2000 years the leader of the humans living in a capsized ocean liner still has an intact sailor captain outfit complete with white hat to wear while everyone else is in rags.
Also, Saturday morning cartoons never really did the origin thing for the most part. The intro did all the exposition set up you needed and then off to adventure because it was meant to be viewed on an episode not season or whole basis. The only Saturday morning cartoon I can remember really doing a season long story with its episodes was the Flash Gordon by Filmation that tried to capture the feel of a movie serials, but network execs did not like that because it made the rerun schedule problematic. So the lack of an origin episode for Thundarr does not surprise me.
-M
|
|
|
|
Post by rom on Sept 17, 2016 15:53:58 GMT -5
Good points.
On another note, I just watched the short youtube video "Lords of Light: The Story of Thundarr" for the first time (which starts off this thread), and it was interesting to see/hear one of the show's creators say that Thundarr got cancelled not because of low ratings, but more because the network felt it was "too violent."?! Which is strange, since I don't think it was any more - or less - violent than any of the other TV sci-fi/fantasy cartoons that were on around the same time - i.e. Super Friends/Super Powers, He-man & the MOTU (which came out later, admittedly), etc.
In any case, it's a shame the series didn't last longer. I can easily have seen Thundarr lasting 3-5 seasons, given that there was so much of the post-apocalyptic Earth that they could have explored & so many more adventures they could have had (beyond what we saw in the few episodes the show did run).
|
|
|
|
Post by Nowhere Man on Sept 18, 2016 22:21:49 GMT -5
You can't look too closely, or you start to wonder why after 2000 years the leader of the humans living in a capsized ocean liner still has an intact sailor captain outfit complete with white hat to wear while everyone else is in rags. This has changed the way I view Thundarr forever. I don't know if I'll make that purchase now. Just give me time... |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 22:51:20 GMT -5
Here's a still from the episode...  Raiders of the Abyss. Aside from the costuming issue, it's a great episode. One of the raiders on his giant bat mount...  and in the ruins of Manhattan's subway system they come across an ancient movie poster for Jaws 9....  -M |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 22:52:35 GMT -5
Oh and if they did a Thundarr comic, I would love to see MAtt Smith (he who did the Barbarian Lord OGN from which my avatar is taken) do some of the art, here's a sample of his Thundarr...  -M |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2016 23:01:51 GMT -5
And here's some Kirby concept art for the series...      Here's Kirby's art for Gemini and his robot knights, the villains of the first episode...  and some character desings for a leter episode by Kirby...  by comparison, here's a concept piece from Alex Toth for the series...  and an Alex Toth model sheet...  and more Toth goodness...  -M |
|
|
|
Post by rom on Sept 19, 2016 14:55:36 GMT -5
The Jack Kirby & Alex Toth concept art looks amazing! Thanks for posting. Not coincidentally I'm sure, that JK concept drawing of Gemini & his robot knights looks like Darkseid & his minions from Kirby's Fourth World series.
Again, it's too bad Thundarr has never experienced a resurgence since the '80's (I'm not counting the 2010 DVD set or the three figures from 2004-ish).
|
|
|
|
Post by codystarbuck on Oct 15, 2016 21:41:06 GMT -5
Loved Thundarr. I was born in 1966, when cartoons were allowed more freedom. You had the great adventure cartoons in the 60s: Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Birdman, The Herculoids, etc. Batman was a hit in live action and spawned a hit in animation. However, the violence (they actually got to punch the villains) led to a slew of protests from people wanting to protect kids. Not the parents; but, people who appointed themselves guardians of the children. This led the networks to pass very strict guidelines. As a result, adventure shows all but died out, due to restrictions that made it hard to create drama. Mystery and comedy were the dominant genres on Saturday morning, in the 70s. You did get Star Trek and the Super Friends; but, they didn't get to throw a punch and almost weren't even allowed to touch the villains. Thundarr was a breath of fresh air (along with the Filmation Tarzan and Flash Gordon. However, that documentary ignored the creator of the whole thing, Steve Gerber. This was Gerber's idea, mixing elements of Planet of the Apes, Conan the Barbarian, and the kinds of things Kirby had been doing, that the companies and fans didn't support; but would discover later. Ookla derived from a joke that emerged from seeing UCLA on a campus building. Gerber developed the thing and wrote episodes, as did Marty Pasko and Mark Evanier. Kirby and Toth did conceptual art. Toth has remarked about being called in to design things that Kirby had already done. The end result is a mixture of the two styles, with Kirby coming out strongly in the villains and Toth in the heroes, though Ookla has strong elements of both.
To say it was cancelled is a bit much. It aired across two seasons and two networks; but wasn't given a new order for additional episodes. cartoons rarely lasted more than one episode order. getting a second order was a sign of massive success. Few got a third order.
As for the origin, it isn't covered. You are left to assume a lot, from the intro; but, taht was cartoons. Space Ghost didn't have an origin. We didn't even see under the mask! We do know he hates wizards and loves freedom. Ariel is a source of knowledge of the past, and lesser magic. Ookla is part of an animalistic race, but extremely strong and loyal. He is definitely inspired by Chewbacca.
The voice actors need to be praised. Robert Ridgely (not Ridgewater) was a long-time character actor and voice artist. he can be seen as the hunchbacked hangman in Blazing Saddles, the Beverly Hills mayor in Beverly Hills Cop 2, as a sleazy vitamin pill salesman in an episode of WKRP, and in Boogie Nights. he voiced Tarzan and Flash Gordon, for Filmation, as well as the Peculiar Purple Pieman of Porcupine Peak, in Strawberry Shortcake. He had a strong, rich voice and great comedic timing. he was a regular presence in commercials, both as an actor and narrator.
Nellie Bellflower worked as an actress on tv, in the 70s, appearing in episodes of Police Woman, Starsky & Hutch, Happy Days (as a stripper who dates Fonzie), Barnaby Jones, and Barney Miller (as a rookie cop who makes a drug bust). She then began to work regularly as a voice artist in Rankin-Bass' return of the King (as Eowyn), Flight of Dragons and The Last Unicorn. She then moved on to producing plays in New York, which led to producing movies, including Finding neverland and Mrs Pettigrew Lives For A Day.
Henry Corden was a character actor and voice artist, with a long list of credits in tv and film, as well as animation. As said, he took over the role of Fred Flintstone and was often the voice of villains, such as Gen. Urko in Return to the Planet of the Apes, Gemini and several other wizards, in Thudarr, and tons of incidental voices.
Other voice artists included Michael Ansara (Mr Freeze on Batman TAS and Kang, on Star Trek), Stacy Keach Sr (father of James and Stacy Jr), Keye Luke (Master Po on Kung Fu, the original movie serial Kato, and Zoltar on Battle of the Planets), Nancy McKeon (of The Facts of Life), Allan Oppenheimer (Skeletor, Ming the Merciless and Rudy Wells on the Six million Dollar Man early seasons), Hal Smith (Otis Campbell and multiple voices for Hanna-Barbera and others), Janet Waldo (Judy Jetson and Princess on Battle of the Planets), Joan Van Ark (Knotts Landing and the voice of Spider-Woman in the cartoon) and William Woodson (narrator of the Super Friends, after Ted Knight).
Thundarr was groundbreaking and is available from the Warner Archive and places that sell their dvds. It is manufacture-on-demand, so quality is about even with a vhs, rather than a commercially remastered dvd.
Thundarr made an appearance, as mafia muscle, in an episode of Harvey Birdman, "The Yabba-Dabba Don," with Fred Flintstone as a parody of Tony Soprano.
|
|
