New "Thundercats" Series Reveals Its Anime Roots

The new Thundercats animated series, which is being produced in Japan by Studio 4*C (The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight, Tekkon Kinkreet, Halo Legends) and is set to debut on the Cartoon Network later this year, definitely has more of an “anime” look to it than the original 1980s Thundercats cartoon, even though that series was also animated in Japan.

While the Thundercats live-action movie appears to be stuck in Hollywood’s expansive “development hell,” the TV series, which was announced last summer, is on track for its 2011 debut and the new more anime-influenced character designs are on display in a recently released poster image and in the new series of licensed Thundercats toys based on the Cartoon Network series.


The new Lion-O has the faceted hairdo of a DBZ or Yu-Gi-Oh! character, while Cheetara is more waiflike in her new incarnation, and the bruising Panthro looks like he could have stepped right out of Heat Guy J. It turns out that the team’s pet/mascot Snarf, who does not appear in the poster illustration has a younger, somewhat less rotund appearance than the original character. The image of the new Snarf comes from the packaging of a new Thundercats Thunder Tank.

The sleek and powerful new Thunder Tank itself makes an interesting contrast to the original toy design. The packaging of the new Tank gives it a more massive appearance, but it also clearly pays homage to the original Thunder Tank concept.