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58-475: The series was originally distributed by Rankin/Bass' then-parent company Telepictures Corporation , which would later merge with Lorimar Productions in 1986. In 1989, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by and folded into Warner Bros. , whose television syndication arm would eventually assume distribution of the show; Warner Bros. had the rights to the series (and all Lorimar-Telepictures programming) from that point on. Leisure Concepts which helped co-develop

116-415: A television syndication firm. The company made its origins when Telepictures decided to distribute four projects, one was a game show in collaboration with Jerome Schnur Productions, and to produce projects for network television and public television stations, mainly PBS , which was maintained by Charles Fries Productions to secure underwriting and had a deal to distribute Time-Life Television fare in

174-526: A 9% stake in Warner Communications (now Warner Bros. Discovery ), which set off talks about a possible merger between two entertainment entities. The following year, Warner Communications finally purchased the company. Lorimar Television became a separate subsidiary of Warner Bros. Television Studios until 1993, while Lorimar-Telepictures unit was folded into Warner Bros. Television Distribution . Telepictures became Telepictures Productions in 1990,

232-539: A child in the body of an adult. Together, the ThunderCats and the friendly natives of Third Earth construct the "Cat's Lair", their new home and headquarters, but before long, the Mutants have tracked them down to Third Earth. The intrusion of these two alien races upon the world does not go unnoticed, however, as a demonic, mummified sorcerer calling himself Mumm-Ra recruits the Mutants to aid him in his campaign to acquire

290-913: A distribution deal with Dick Clark Productions in order to expand its activities in order to distribute virtually all of the Dick Clark productions and TV specials. On February 19, 1986, the company merged with Merv Adelson and Lee Rich 's Lorimar Television , creating Lorimar-Telepictures and assumed production and distribution of shows like Dallas and Knots Landing . The company also began distribution of first-run episodes of Mama's Family in June 1986 in television . The company briefly dabbled into owning television station by purchasing charter Fox affiliate WPGH-TV in Pittsburgh and attempted to purchase then- CBS affiliate WTVJ in Miami . However, after CBS made

348-488: A favor to his friend, artist John Prentice , in the strip's final years . Starr expanded into animation in the 1980s, as he noted, "Started writing television scripts in the early 1970s, and in 1984 I was asked to develop and write the bible for the animated television show ThunderCats , and also act as the story editor and head writer. Moved to Westport, Connecticut in 1970 where I still live today." Starr eventually wrote 23 episodes for ThunderCats . He also worked on

406-459: A five-part mini-series—again written by Leonard Starr —that established the new characters and concepts that would go on to influence the rest of the season. In the case of "Mumm-Ra Lives!", these concepts included the debut of the villainous Lunataks , which became a third faction that existed for the rest of the series, and the new team of ThunderCats from ThunderCats – Ho! receiving their own headquarters and vehicles. The 1988 season began with

464-445: A half-hearted attempt to purchase Fox affiliate WCIX from Taft Broadcasting (CBS would later make a more serious attempt to purchase the station two years later and succeeded; it is now CBS owned-and-operated station WFOR-TV ), Telepictures backed off from purchasing WTVJ. ( NBC eventually purchased the station; it remains an NBC O&O today.) The company would then subsequently sell WPGH-TV to Renaissance Broadcasting after only

522-618: A new Thundercats comic with a spinoff Cheetos comic released in July 2024. Two video games based on the franchise exist: ThunderCats: The Lost Eye of Thundera , a 1987 side-scrolling video game; and ThunderCats , a 2012 Nintendo DS game based on the show's revival . Many years later, Cartoon Network 's official website featured a game that allowed visitors to play as Lion-O and rescue fellow ThunderCats while venturing into Mumm-Ra's tomb (this game, titled ThunderCats: Tomb of Mumm-Raa , can be found on an archived Toonami database). LJN produced

580-517: A planet called Third Earth . The series plot begins with the dying planet Thundera meeting its end, forcing the ThunderCats (a sort of Thunderean nobility ) to flee their homeworld. The fleet is attacked by the Thundereans' enemies, the Mutants of Plun-Darr , who destroy most of the starships in the "ThunderFleet", but spare the flagship hoping to capture the legendary mystic Sword of Omens they believe

638-487: A producer of syndicated programming that Warner Bros. Television would distribute. Later on that year, David Salzman, founding partner left Lorimar to start Warner-affiliated production company with Millennium Productions, covering affiliated houses like Lorimar Television and Telepictures Productions. Beginning in 1994, certain Telepictures shows, such as Extra , were co-produced by then-sister company Time Inc. , under

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696-464: A rather small circle of voice actors , with only six actors providing voices for the entire first season. Every actor provided multiple voices, although the distinctive baritone of Earle Hyman (Panthro) left the actor providing only very occasional guest voices in comparison with his fellow performers. In particular, as the first season's only female actor, Lynne Lipton (Cheetara and WilyKit) provided voices for every single female character that appeared in

754-411: A special battery-powered key ring that came with the figure was pressed into a slot in their backs. PVC companions were packaged with some figures in 1986, including WilyKat with Tygra, WilyKit with Cheetara, Snarf with Lion-O, and Ma-Mutt with Mumm-Ra. The PVC companion figures were also produced as full size articulated figures. LJN did produce a few variant figures including the young Tygra version and

812-404: A year in ownership; WPGH-TV, which went through several owners in the 1980s, would not have stable ownership until current owner Sinclair Broadcast Group (which had been outbid by Telepictures for the station in 1986) bought the station from Renaissance in 1990. In 1987, Lorimar Television was created as a separate production entity of Lorimar-Telepictures. Around this time, the company purchased

870-446: Is on board. The sword holds the Eye of Thundera, the source of the ThunderCats' power, which is embedded in the hilt . Though the Mutants damage the flagship, the power of the Eye drives them back. The damage to the ship means the journey to their original destination is not possible, instead having to journey to "Third Earth", which will take much longer than they had anticipated. The eldest of

928-781: The Harry "A" Chesler and the Funnies, Inc. studios, contributing to the early comic book features produced at these studios. For Funnies, Inc., he began as a background artist, eventually inking Bob Oksner 's pencils. He graduated to drawing for early Timely / Marvel Comics titles, including the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner . Throughout the 1940s, Starr worked for a plethora of publishers of both comic books and pulps , including Better Publications , Consolidated Book, Croyden Publications, E. R. Ross Publishing, Fawcett Comics (doing Don Winslow of

986-588: The Rankin Bass series Ghost Warrior (1985). In the 1980s Starr attended as a guest several comic conventions held in New York. Also, he was a guest at the 1982 San Diego Comic-Con , at which he received an Inkpot Award . In 1979 he revived the comic strip Little Orphan Annie . The strip had been in reprints since 1974 after a string of unsuccessful artists had succeeded the famous creator Harold Gray , who had died in 1968. Retitled Annie , Starr's incarnation of

1044-483: The ThunderCats Museum in 2014. Telepictures Telepictures (also known as Telepictures Productions ; formerly known as Telepictures Distribution and Telepictures Corporation ) is an American television show and filmmaking company, currently operating as a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Entertainment . Telepictures was established in 1979 by David Salzman , Michael Jay Solomon , and Michael Garin as

1102-515: The BBFC, who recorded it being 90 m 31s excluding 5 seconds cut for a Universal rating. It was actually the first five episodes of season 2 edited to look like a feature-length film. Season 2 never aired in the UK. This VHS may have been shown on American TV by stations without access to the individual episodes. In 2008–2009, Warner Bros. was in the process of creating an animated film based on ThunderCats . It

1160-407: The Eye of Thundera and destroy the ThunderCats so that his evil may continue to hold sway over Third Earth. The basic plot above holds strong for the first season of the show, and served as the basis for a vast array of stories that freely mixed elements of science fiction and fantasy into a traditional good-versus-evil tale that steadily introduced more and more recurring allies and villains into

1218-583: The Lunataks, Ratilla, Cannon-Blaster and Quick-Jaws from the Bezerkers as well as the Feliner, Thunderstrike and Luna Tacker. Photos of these were featured in the 1987 LJN catalog. Other ThunderCats merchandise of the 1980s included, among other items, a board game , TV tray table , an electronic racing set, tin lunch box , clothing and apparel. A retro spurt occurred in the mid-1990s and 2000s (decade) that began with

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1276-730: The Middle East. The company syndicated Rankin-Bass 's programming and specials that were produced from 1974 to 1988, including new and successful animated series, such as ThunderCats and SilverHawks . Telepictures bought Rankin-Bass outright in 1983. It managed the NIWS news service, and by 1982, had formed a joint venture with Gannett Broadcasting to start out the Newscope program through Gannett/Telepictures. In addition, Telepictures had syndicated numerous television programs such as My Favorite Martian , Here's Lucy , Love Connection , and

1334-517: The Mutants and the Lunataks removed from Third Earth as well. Ultimately, Mumm-Ra failed and the Ancient Spirits of Evil exiled him to the farthest corner of the Universe. In the opening miniseries, Peter Lawrence's "Return to Thundera!", the ThunderCats returned to New Thundera to rebuild their society, but before departing, they destroyed Mumm-Ra's pyramid. This enraged the Ancient Spirits of Evil to

1392-603: The Navy , 1944–46), Hillman Periodicals and M. C. Combs. He worked with Joe Simon and Jack Kirby on their earlier romance comics titles, in particular the Crestwood/Prize title Young Romance . In the late 1940s, he drew for EC Comics , including War Against Crime , before working both as an advertising artist and producing a large amount of work for both the American Comics Group and DC Comics titles during

1450-574: The Peter Lawrence-scripted "ThunderCubs" which, though named for its plot about the ThunderCats being transformed into children, was principally about Mumm-Ra reconstructing Thundera in order to retrieve both the weapon that had originally destroyed it (the Sword of Plun-Darr) and the legendary Treasure of Thundera. In the course of the adventure, the treasure—containing the Book of Omens, a tome holding all

1508-448: The Telepictures company. In 1995, Time Warner Entertainment formed Telepictures Distribution as a division of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution , running over the oversight of then-EVP Scott Carlin. The company distributed non- Warner Bros. produced programming to which the syndication rights have been licensed to Warner and/or Turner as well as Warner properties. Upon Time Warner 's purchase of Turner in 1996, some of

1566-486: The ThunderCats action figures from 1984 to 1987. The ThunderCats line was based on the animated series which was actually created in 1983. Due to difficulties, it would not air until 1985. Each figure had an action feature of some sort, and the line also included a unique "laser" light-up feature that interacted between the Cats' Lair playset, some figures, and some accessories. Lion-O's eyes and Mumm-Ra's eyes would illuminate when

1624-421: The ThunderCats logo and DVD box sets of the original series have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years as nostalgia for the former children's favorite has grown. A film adaptation of the series was announced in June 2007; Aurelio Jaro was making an animated feature film of ThunderCats , based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. Jerry O'Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct. The film

1682-638: The ThunderCats, Jaga, volunteers to pilot the ship while the others sleep in capsules . However, he dies of old age in the process, but not before ensuring they will reach their destination safely. The flagship contains the young Lord of the ThunderCats, Lion-O, as well as the ThunderCats Cheetara, Panthro, Tygra, WilyKit and WilyKat, and Snarf . When the ThunderCats awaken from their suspended animation on Third Earth after ten "galacto-years", Lion-O discovers that his suspension capsule has slowed, rather than stopped, his aging. He has now become essentially

1740-494: The US over a number of volumes in the following order: Warner Home Video have released the entire ThunderCats series in the UK in the following order: In January 2009, IGN named ThunderCats as the 49th-best show in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows. On 16 November 1987, a VHS called 'Thundercats Ho!' was released in the UK by Video Collection International . The film was submitted to

1798-418: The adventures depicted occurred one day after the other), the five parts of the mini-series were erroneously aired (and released on DVD) with multiple other episodes between each installment. When the series returned in 1987, it was revealed that the evil wizard Mumm-Ra had survived. "ThunderCats – Ho!" and its follow-up, "Mumm-Ra Lives!", set the pattern for the following three seasons, each of which began with

ThunderCats (1985 TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1856-515: The animated series was originally published by Marvel Comics through its Star Comics imprint in 1985, lasting for 3 years and 24 issues. During this time, a new series was published by Marvel UK consisting of 129 issues and was also published for three years. Beginning in 2002 ThunderCats titles were published by Wildstorm Productions , an imprint of DC Comics (Warner Bros.' corporate sibling ), and included 5 non-canon mini-series and several one-shots . Dynamite would partner with WB create

1914-478: The animation in particular receiving heavy praise from critics), the series failed to make any real impact and viewing figures slowly declined after the first episode, with blame falling on a relatively dark and complicated storyline considering the show was aimed at 6-12 year olds. Merchandise struggled to sell, and as a result the show was cancelled after only one season. There were also several comic book series produced. A ThunderCats comic book series based on

1972-725: The classic and the 2011 series. In February 2011, Mezco Toyz acquired the ThunderCats license to produce large scale rotocast figures based on the 1980s animated series. Lion-O was the first announced figure in their toyline. Jerry Macaluso, owner of Pop Culture Shock, collectible statue company, announced in March 2010 that he had acquired his "dream license". The company went on to produce premium format ThunderCats statues (1:4 scale, over 30 inches) of Lion-O and Mumm-Ra. Prototypes of Cheetara and Tygra were developed and displayed online and at San Diego Comic-Con respectively, but didn't reach minimum pre-order thresholds. The prototypes were donated to

2030-666: The comic strip On Stage , later titled Mary Perkins, On Stage for the Chicago-Tribune-New York News Syndicate . Characterized by a mix of soap opera , adventure and humor, the strip featured tight, realistic graphics and, from the beginning, strong layouts, design and storytelling. He received the National Cartoonists Society 's Story Comic Strip Award for On Stage in 1960 and 1963, and their Reuben Award in 1965. He continued producing Mary Perkins, On Stage until 1979. Starr would later cite

2088-549: The day, or could have done so if they had seen it. The first half of Season 1 featured a gentle continuity, with early episodes following on from one another and establishing recurring concepts, although this became less common as the season transitioned into its second half, which comprised mostly incidental one-shot adventures. Tying the second half of season one together was the overarching five-part adventure written by series head writer Leonard Starr , "Lion-O's Annointment", in which an unarmed Lion-O faced off against first each of

2146-555: The early to mid-1950s. His DC work spanned a large number of covers, and work on titles as diverse as Doctor 13 , House of Mystery , Gang Busters , Pow-Wow Smith, Indian Lawman and Star-Spangled War Stories , mainly prior to 1957. For ACG, he worked on Adventures into the Unknown , Operation Peril and Soldiers of Fortune among other titles. In 1955–56, he moved from comic books to comic strips with uncredited work on King Features ' Flash Gordon . In 1957, Starr created

2204-416: The familiar 1980s ThunderCats emblem on T-shirts and has since grown to include new T-shirt designs and various other ThunderCats-themed apparel such as hats and belt buckles, plus a tan backpack with the ThunderCats on it. In May 2009, Warner Brothers gave Hard Hero the rights to produce a line of collectible statues based on the ThunderCats characters. In 2011, Bandai released a new toylines, based on both

2262-693: The key assets of Turner Program Services were folded into the company. In 2003, Telepictures Distribution was folded into Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. Leonard Starr Leonard Starr (October 28, 1925 – June 30, 2015) was an American cartoonist , comic book artist , and advertising artist, best known for creating the newspaper comic strip On Stage and reviving Little Orphan Annie . Born October 28, 1925, in New York City, Starr graduated from Manhattan's High School of Music and Art and then studied at Pratt Institute . While attending Pratt during 1942–43, Starr worked for

2320-421: The last of their race, to eventually arrive on the 3rd earth. In the new series the very first line states that the Thundereans are already on the 3rd earth. As the first few episodes progress the new writers seem to use Thundera but it isn't clear if they are referring to a planet or kingdom. Former Lion-O voice actor Larry Kenney returned to play the role Lion-O's father Claudus in the opening two-part episode of

2378-416: The name Time-Telepictures Television . Most shows produced by them bore a copyright for "TTT West Coast", while Sports Illustrated videos released during the timeframe bore a copyright for "TTT East Coast" instead. The joint venture ceased in 2003 and TTT productions were brought under the main Telepictures name. In 2004, John Rieber and Alex Duda via Streamroller Entertainment set up an overall deal with

ThunderCats (1985 TV series) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2436-482: The new series. In January 2011, a promotional poster featuring re-imagined designs for Lion-O, Cheetara, Panthro, and Tygra as well as design for the Sword of Omens and vehicles were shown at the London Toy Fair. The series began airing on Cartoon Network on July 29, 2011 with an hour-long premiere, while the UK premiere on Cartoon Network began on 10 September the same year. Despite an early positive response (with

2494-563: The original The People's Court with Judge Joseph Wapner . Telepictures also operated a small publishing arm, which published magazines, such as The Muppets Magazine and Challenge of the GoBots Magazine . In 1983, Frank Konigsberg 's Konigsberg Co. was merged into Telepictures. Also that year, the company launched its Perennial division, to distribute evergreen programming for syndication, such as Mayberry, R.F.D. and The New Dick Van Dyke Show . On March 21, 1984, it signed

2552-523: The other ThunderCats, and then Mumm-Ra, so he could truly earn his title as Lord of the ThunderCats. The five parts were: On all four days except the last, the Mutants tried to interfere with Lion-O's trials so that they could force the ThunderCats to remain leaderless. The other ThunderCats were each then forced to involve themselves in the conflict specifically to foil the Mutants' interferences—all while trying to avoid assisting Lion-O in his anointment trials. Although intended to be viewed consecutively (as

2610-560: The point that they brought Mumm-Ra back and installed him within a new pyramid on New Thundera. The season proved to be quite divorced from what had gone before, with adventures consigned almost entirely to New Thundera, and most villainous opposition coming from either Mumm-Ra or assorted new villains. The Mutants, Lunataks, and Captain Cracker all returned for one episode each. However, in the series finale, several conclusions are reached: Despite its large cast of characters, ThunderCats featured

2668-449: The running theme of the Ancient Spirits of Evil having to take a more active hand in pushing Mumm-Ra into action, culminating in another unique feature of the season—an actual finale episode, "The Last Day", in which the Ancient Spirits of Evil give Mumm-Ra one last chance to destroy the ThunderCats by sunset. Besides demonstrating their threat by making Ma-Mutt disappear, the Ancient Spirits of Evil stated that Mumm-Ra's failure will also have

2726-436: The season. Earl Hammond (Mumm-Ra and Jaga) and Bob McFadden (Snarf and Slythe) would most regularly provide the voices of guest characters. 1986's "Thundercats—Ho!" added Gerrianne Raphael to the cast as the voice of Pumyra, while 1987's "Mumm-Ra Lives!" saw the addition of Doug Preis as the voice of Alluro. Warner Home Video / Warner Bros. Family Entertainment released the entire original 1980s series of ThunderCats in

2784-470: The secrets of the ThunderCats, and many other mystical items—was scattered across the New Thundera, ushering in a new concept for the series: a season with an actual story arc. Continuity between episodes became tighter as the ThunderCats, Mutants, Lunataks and Mumm-Ra alternated their adventures between Third Earth and New Thundera, searching for the treasure and exploiting its powers. The season also featured

2842-480: The sexy and capable female action heroine Kelly Green, were illustrated by Drake. In 1985 he wrote and illustrated an action/adventure graphic novel published only in France Operation Psy featuring Cannonball Carmody. That same year he was enlisted by artist Frank Bolle to take over writing the strip Winnie Winkle (without credit) which he did until its end in 1996. He also ghost wrote Rip Kirby as

2900-454: The show acted as a licensing agent for the series. It also aired on Cartoon Network as part of the Toonami block. There were also several comic book series produced: Marvel Comics ' version (currently owned by Warner Bros. rival Disney ), 1985 to 1988; and five series by Wildstorm , an imprint of DC Comics (Warner Bros.' corporate sibling ), beginning in 2003. Items of clothing featuring

2958-550: The silver rat-eye daggers for Rataro. There are also a few slight color variations of Lion-O, such as red and orange-haired versions. The third series of figures from 1987 are harder to find along with the Tongue-A-Saurus and Astral Moat Monster. Driller and Stinger are the toughest figures to track down; Stinger's wings are very fragile, making it next to impossible to find a loose, complete figure. An unproduced final series of figures would have included The Mad Bubbler, Red-Eye of

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3016-649: The strip received the National Cartoonists Society's Story Comic Strip Award in 1983 and 1984. Starr continued it successfully until his retirement in 2000. Beginning in 2006, Starr produced new artwork for the covers to the ongoing series of On Stage reprint volumes published by Classic Comics Press. To publicize the reprints he was a guest at the 2008 New York Comic Con and 2009 San Diego Comic-Con . He died June 30, 2015. Classic Comics Press has announced plans to publish Cannonball Carmody in English for

3074-684: The work of Alex Raymond and Milton Caniff as influences on the strip's artwork. Starr returned to comic books very briefly during the 1970s and 1980s, working on " Morbius, the Living Vampire " for Marvel in 1975 and providing art for DC's Who's Who in the DC Universe (1986) and for a Superman and Lois Lane story in Action Comics . For Dargaud in Paris, he created Kelly Green with Stan Drake in 1980. This series of graphic novels about

3132-501: The world of the ThunderCats . Futuristic technology is just as central to the series as magic and myth, but even in the midst of all this action, the series never underemphasizes the importance of moral values in solving problems. Each episode would normally include a short dénouement , featuring the characters recuperating after the events of the story and taking the time to single out a personal value or wholesome approach that helped save

3190-465: Was announced that Warner Bros. was once more actively developing a live-action ThunderCats film with Adam Wingard attached to direct the film, with a screenplay by Wingard and Simon Barrett , and Roy Lee and Dan Lin serving as producers. A new ThunderCats animated series produced by Warner Bros. Animation began airing on Cartoon Network from July 2011. Animation production was provided by Japanese animation studio Studio 4°C . Sam Register

3248-404: Was planned to be produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but the movie has since been put on hold . Concept art for the film has also been leaked online. The first season cost $ 15 million to make. Stanley Weston oversaw the creation of the series. ThunderCats follows the adventures of the eponymous team of heroes, cat-like humanoid aliens on

3306-451: Was rumored to be an original story expanding on the events of the first episode and the film's concept artwork (released in July 2009) contained the main character Lion-O and three locations. A two-minute test scene was filmed and presented to Warner Bros.; however, the movie has been put on indefinite hold, perhaps due to the critical and commercial failure of the 2008 movie Speed Racer (another Warner Bros. CGI project). In March 2021, it

3364-527: Was the executive producer and was joined by Michael Jelenic and Ethan Spaulding as the producers for the series. The show explained Lion-O's ascension to the Thunderean throne with a more original feel and darker style than the 1980s series. The new series made it clear in the very beginning, however, that they are not adhering to the original story line. In the original series the Thunder Cats leave Thundera, as

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