The Real Reason ThunderCats Was Canceled
Toying with violence? Mishandling a cinematic debut? This is how things went from "ThunderCats... Ho!" to "ThunderCats... No!"
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00:00Toying with violence? Mishandling a cinematic debut? Here's how things went from
00:05THUNDERCATS HO to THUNDERCATS NO.
00:09Let's get down to brass tacks. Controversial is the last word that comes to mind when watching
00:14an episode of Thundercats. In fact, the show's creators were so dedicated to promoting a positive
00:19message that they brought in a qualified psychologist to analyze each script and make
00:24sure the stories contained strong moral themes. But that didn't stop Thundercats from being
00:28unfairly judged by the naysayers. The most popular kids' cartoons of the 1980s were routinely
00:34criticized by influential protest groups who argued that these shows were nothing more than
00:38violent toy ads. Naturally, Thundercats caught the ire of some of these groups, resulting in
00:43a campaign to have it removed from syndication, along with shows such as Teenage Mutant Ninja
00:47Turtles and He-Man. According to the New York Times, action for children's television led the
00:52charge in the war for the children's souls. The group even took its protests to the Federal
00:57Communications Commission. However, its censorship campaign was dismissed after the government agency
01:02deemed the cartoon suitable for public consumption, provided that they didn't advertise their own
01:06merchandise during episodes. Similarly, the series worried bosses at the BBC and the UK,
01:11who refused to air it unless specific cuts were made to the episodes.
01:15During the golden age of children's cartoons, millions of young viewers tuned in to watch the
01:20shows and convince their parents to buy all of the tie-in merchandise that accompanied them.
01:25So you can understand why studios felt compelled to make spin-off movies based on some of the most
01:30popular series at the time. Unfortunately, films such as Transformers The Movie,
01:35GoBots Battle of the Rock Lords, and My Little Pony bombed at the box office,
01:40leading to the cancellation of Thundercats Ho as a theatrical release. Thundercats Ho was instead
01:45released as a TV movie before being turned into five separate episodes that ushered in season two.
01:51The plot sees the titular cat-like heroes out to find three more fellow felines who escaped
01:56the destruction of the planet and ended up on Third Earth, all the while adding more context
02:01to the Thundercats' history. That being said, turning movies into succinct 20-minute TV episodes
02:06requires cuts to be made, often resulting in some key story beats being removed.
02:11In the end, the repurposed Thundercats Ho story confused viewers more than it should have.
02:16It turns out that adding a bunch of random episodes to the beginning of the second season,
02:20without offering any real explanation, didn't improve the show's continuity. Of course,
02:24if the box office performances of the aforementioned movie spin-offs were anything
02:29to go by, it's possible that kids were simply turning their attention to other cartoons.
02:36Thundercats got off to a flying start, with Animation Studio Rankin-Bass Productions creating
02:4165 episodes for season one alone. Greenlighting such a large number of episodes was quite
02:47standard in the 1980s. Basically, having such a large quantity of programming allowed television
02:52networks to broadcast popular series five days per week for a span of 13 weeks. In regard to
02:5780s animated shows, bulking up on episodes also gave the broadcasters plenty of material for
03:03syndicated reruns for years to come. Following the success of the first season of Thundercats,
03:0865 episodes were ordered by the Telepictures Corporation for a follow-up. But the days of
03:13fresh episodes of Thundercats airing every single day for weeks on end were gone. Instead,
03:18the network opted to release the new batch across three 20-plus episode seasons, which aired between
03:241987 and 1989. Thundercats was no longer viewed as a worthwhile long-term investment. At the same
03:31time, it must be said that any show that survives for 100-plus episodes must be chalked up as a
03:37success story in the grand scheme of things. Was Thundercats set up for the sole purpose
03:42of selling toys? Absolutely not. However, despite the series' strong moral fabric and
03:48commitment to entertaining storytelling, the merchandise was always going to influence the
03:52series. According to Thundercats writer Kimberly Morris, the creators were often instructed to
03:56write new characters into their stories at the behest of the toy manufacturer, LJM. However,
04:01the creative team supposedly relished the opportunity to give the toy concepts some
04:05interesting backstories and were more than happy to oblige. When the sales started drying up in
04:10the late 1980s, though, the show's cancellation was all but inevitable. By the time Thundercats'
04:15fourth and final season rolled around, LJM had stopped producing action figures to tie in with
04:20the series. Therefore, the decision to discontinue the line before the fourth installment aired
04:25suggests that the writing was on the wall for the show heading into the remaining episodes.
04:29The story didn't end on a sad note, at least. Time has been kind to Thundercats and its action
04:35figure line. According to Transformerland, LJM's figures, vehicles, and cards have become
04:40desired collectibles that command a hefty price tag to this very day.
04:44"...let me show you what it's capable of in the proper hands."
04:48It's rare for any popular 1980s IP to ever truly fade away. If the live-action adaptations of
04:54Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tell us anything, it's that Hollywood keeps them
04:59on ice until the iron is hot again. Thundercats is no different. As it was reported, Godzilla
05:04vs. Kong director Adam Wingard would be tackling a hybrid CGI and animation film adaptation of the
05:09famous feline warriors. Discussing his plans with Deadline, Wingard revealed he would be looking to
05:14the original series for inspiration. He also revealed he was a major fan of the franchise
05:19in general, saying,
05:20"...I was writing my Thundercats screenplay through my entire 10th grade year,
05:24and I was handwriting it. The screenplay itself ended up being 272 pages long."
05:30However, there have been no major updates about Wingard's proposed film since 2021.
05:35This doesn't mean that Thundercats won't ever appear again in different iterations,
05:39as they've been rebooted twice courtesy of 2011's Thundercats and 2020's Thundercats Roar.
05:44It seems like Thundercats refuses to abandon its place in the pop culture pantheon.