The thunder- thunder- THUNDERCATS HOOOOOO!-thread

[GoldGoblin]

Panthro's size and hair is terrible,who thought he would look good like that?

 

[Casius--J]

Well I always expected them to have a anime look because let's face it they had one in the original series especially the intro.

 

[bell110]

Bell110, I was just responding to this guy:.

Oh. You're right, it doesn't make sense, and is completely unnecessary.

The anime influence has been around for 30 years

Transformers, Batman TAS and Batman beyond, Avatar the last airbender

For Batman TAS, scenes were animated overseas and then brought back to the states.

Just look at this scene from "Feat of Clay"

[YT]ERmAiXrsR1I[/YT]

I'll give you Avatar, but the rest are American. I'm talking anime as in a style. Just because something is animated in Japan doesn't make it anime.

 

[Longshot777]

Man why do they have their action figures so tiny????!!!


They look half the size of the GIJOE figures

 

[Metallo]

I'll give you Avatar, but the rest are American. I'm talking anime as in a style. Just because something is animated in Japan doesn't make it anime.

Well Transformers is part owned by a Japanese company and and appeared in Japan first in an earlier form. Mush of the animated material has been released there by them. The base robot designs for the first toys were done by Japanese companies. Typically Transformers animation style looked more "western" when animated by Toei but since at least three animation studios worked on it some episodes WERE more heavily anime influenced than others and more or less matched that actual drawing style from start to finish. Not anime as in place of origin/initially produced for the Japanese market but very close as far as style.

In fact the character models from the episode "Call of The Primitives" were done by Studio Ox, who specialize in anime style. The episode may have been animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, who also did work on Batman TAS. So as far as style anime style crept into both shows at times. And since The original toys WERE Japanese toys from the Diaclone line and the American TF cartoon was always intended to be released to Japan by Japanese company and TF co owner Takara I'd say its fair to say Transfomers has always had an anime style or influence.

And even if it didn't Takara continued to produce Transformers cartoons SPECIFICALLY for the Japanese market long after the American show ended. So most of that could be called anime.

 

[kane9321]

I also see He-Man and Link, don't know who the Flame sword belongs too.

thundarr the barbariant:

WHAT IN THE HELL DID THEY DO TO PANTHRO?...HES TWICE THE SIZE AS HE SHOULD BE
Cheetara looks like a little girl..."groans"

 

[bell110]

Well Transformers is part owned by a Japanese company and appeared in Japan first in an earlier form. Much of the animated material has been released there by them. The base robot designs for the first toys were done by Japanese companies. Typically Transformers animation style looked more "western" when animated by Toei but since at least three animation studios worked on it some episodes WERE more heavily anime influenced than others and more or less matched that actual drawing style from start to finish. Not anime as in place of origin/initially produced for the Japanese market but very close as far as style.

Anime itself is influenced by American animation. So the level of influence isn't the problem. If you look at Transformers and anime from the 80s, it looks different. I even remember as a kid thinking something was not quite right with the way Voltron was animated.

[/quote]In fact the character models from the episode "Call of The Primitives" were done by Studio Ox, who specialize in anime style. The episode may have been animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, who also did work on Batman TAS. So as far as style anime style crept into both shows at times. And since The original toys WERE Japanese toys from the Diaclone line and the American TF cartoon was always intended to be released to Japan by Japanese company and TF co owner Takara I'd say its fair to say Transfomers has always had an anime style or influence.

And even if it didn't Takara continued to produce Transformers cartoons SPECIFICALLY for the Japanese market long after the American show ended. So most of that could be called anime.

[/QUOTE]

I don't see any anime style in Batman TAS. And if there is, it's so minute it's hardly worth mentioning. And the fact that Transformers were Japanese toys doesn't matter. Art influences art, sure, but Transformers is not anime.

And yes, Takara did continue Transformers after it went off in the US, and it looked terrible.

But all that aside, anime has a distinct style, and that is the fad I want to go away. The look of Avatar and Teen Titans. Ben 10 has that style as well. And He-Man 200X had a little too much anime, but I still liked it. I can deal with it, I just don't like it.

 

[Smegger56]

Its different but at this point after all the updates of other 80's cartoons like GI Joe, He-Man, Ghostbusters, Transformers, etc I was expecting some changes. I mostly like the new look. I loved the original Thundercats growing up and I hope this turns out to be as good as the 2002 MOTU.

Its looking better than the update of one of my other favorite cartoons: GI Joe. I really don't care for the look or the setup to that new cartoon.

I'm curious to see the new Mum Ra now.

I was never expecting it to look the same. But after that original promo art that was released, it looked as though they where going to keep the look, just really update it.

I just look at Panthro and think 'WHAT THE *****?'

Tygra looks great, Lion-O is growing on me, Cheetarah looks like a little girl there.

But Panthro... I honestly think he puts me off the image. I really don't like his design. I honestly would like to know why the new show runners made him twice the size of the others and looking like he's on steds... with side hair.

But I still hope and feel this show will be great. If they go the route of a continuous epic story, showing us the destruction of Thundera, they will have a win

 

[Panthro]

Can I just say

How can they go from this promo image, which SCREAMED original look, just more awesome to...

... this? The only character that they've made look as good, if not better, is Tygra. I don't like the fact that Panthro is double the size of everyone and has hair, Cheetara looks like a little girl, and Lion-O... well, his look is growing on me.

The top picture was perfect. It looked as though the changes to characters would not be DRASTIC but they'd still put their stamp on it and moderise it for todays audience.

At the end of the day, I'm possibly being to harsh. I loved the original. It's my favourite Cartoon ever. I just hope they've got the right voices in and that the stories are amazing.

One thing. The top pic got the sword wrong lol. At least the new image has the original looking sword back

I'm still hopeful. You know, if they didn't have Panthro looking like he does, I may very well have been fine with it lol.

I just hope that with this show, they do something the last series didn't. Show the cats on Thndera, and showing the catstrophe happenning. And having continuous storyline throughout.

Anyways, I have faith it'll be awesome.

Thundercats HOOOOOOOOO

In the bold: maybe Panthro only looks bigger because he's closer to us in the shot while Tygra & Cheetara are pushed more into the background.

Anyhow, yeah, this new image is worlds removed from the initial Frank Frazetta-esque early promo pic, not sure what happened there.

Honestly, I can live with how my man Panthro looks (I've got a beard so who am I to judge if he wants to cling to what's left of his receding hairline & grow himself some muttonchops? ), I can live with how Tygra looks and I can even live with how Cheetara looks (even if she does look like Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War), the only one that really does not sit well with me is the Lion-O design. He looks kind of... androgynous. Not that I'm dismissing the show right off the bat becuase of the design of one character (even if it is the lead character). I'm hoping the writing will be good enough that when I actually sit down to watch it I won't care about the designs.

 

[Metallo]

Anime itself is influenced by American animation. So the level of influence isn't the problem. If you look at Transformers and anime from the 80s, it looks different. I even remember as a kid thinking something was not quite right with the way Voltron was animated.

it depends on the episodes you look at. Considering some of the same Asian animation studios did Transformers that style was bound to creep in. Some episodes don't fit the character models that were the norm for the average Toei animated episode. Voltron looks different because it was intended for The Japanese market and was re edited and dubbed for America by a different company years later. Much like Battle of The Planets and G Force. Transformers was intended for the American market first but Hasbro and Sunbow made it in cooperation with Takara to be released there as well.

I don't see any anime style in Batman TAS. And if there is, it's so minute it's hardly worth mentioning. And the fact that Transformers were Japanese toys doesn't matter. Art influences art, sure, but Transformers is not anime.

Certain TF shows like Victory did become more anime. And Victory was a contination of the 84 series. As for the toys the original diaclone toys were based on your classic mecha asthetic because thats what the TF's originally were. Its not something you usually saw in American produced cartoons of years ago. The way they were put together, the silver faces, the proportions, etc.

As for Batman the anime stlye influences are there in certain episodes. Depends on which ones you watch and which studio animated them though. I never said the entire series was pure anime.

And yes, Takara did continue Transformers after it went off in the US, and it looked terrible.

Which shows are you talking about? Headmasters looked about the same as the US episodes. Whats so terrible about the animation here? They basically used the same models for older characters too.
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If anything it looks as good or better than the US episodes. I'm not talking about the Unicron trilogy of the 2000s. I mean Headmasters and Victory. Victory was fairly good quality. They continued the actual CONTINUITY of American G1. The Unicron trilogy was a different continuity all together.

But all that aside, anime has a distinct style, and that is the fad I want to go away. The look of Avatar and Teen Titans. Ben 10 has that style as well. And He-Man 200X had a little too much anime, but I still liked it. I can deal with it, I just don't like it.

I don't think the style of The new Thundercats looks quite as stylized as Teen Titans. If this show is as good as MOTU 2002 then the way it looks doesn't matter nearly as much.

 

[Metallo]

I was never expecting it to look the same. But after that original promo art that was released, it looked as though they where going to keep the look, just really update it.

I just look at Panthro and think 'WHAT THE *****?'

Tygra looks great, Lion-O is growing on me, Cheetarah looks like a little girl there.

But Panthro... I honestly think he puts me off the image. I really don't like his design. I honestly would like to know why the new show runners made him twice the size of the others and looking like he's on steds... with side hair.

But I still hope and feel this show will be great. If they go the route of a continuous epic story, showing us the destruction of Thundera, they will have a win

Initial promo images are usually things done early just to build interest. There's many cases where the final look of a cartoon, film, or tv series don't perfectly match the promo or even match the promo art at all. I rarely ever base expectations on a early teaser image unless they state thats what they are goign for.

 

[Metallo]

In the bold: maybe Panthro only looks bigger because he's closer to us in the shot while Tygra & Cheetara are pushed more into the background.

Anyhow, yeah, this new image is worlds removed from the initial Frank Frazetta-esque early promo pic, not sure what happened there.

Honestly, I can live with how my man Panthro looks (I've got a beard so who am I to judge if he wants to cling to what's left of his receding hairline & grow himself some muttonchops? ), I can live with how Tygra looks and I can even live with how Cheetara looks (even if she does look like Deedlit from Record of Lodoss War), the only one that really does not sit well with me is the Lion-O design. He looks kind of... androgynous. Not that I'm dismissing the show right off the bat becuase of the design of one character (even if it is the lead character). I'm hoping the writing will be good enough that when I actually sit down to watch it I won't care about the designs.

Seems to me like they are just trying to make Lion O look younger and more "modern" looking to attract today's kids. As much as us older fans loved the old show they gotta attract a new younger audience based on what their tastes are too. I'd have preferred something more classic but I'm fine with what they are doing too. Its not surprising given the entertainment industries track record of updating older properties.

 

[Soapy]

I think they look great.

 

[gkokujin]

Panthro looks GREAT,

what are you yappin about??

Actually given the style its animated in, it WORKS.

cuz Jet Black thinks its awesome

 

[Ajendo]

This show better not suck.

In fact, I'm going on a mission to get a hold of all my favourite tv shows from the 80s to mid 90s and secure them in my vault. I've been dissapointed way too often with all these so called new takes and updates from films and tv shows of yestayear. It's bs.

 

[Smegger56]

Panthro looks GREAT,

what are you yappin about??

Actually given the style its animated in, it WORKS.

cuz Jet Black thinks its awesome

I honestly think he looks the worst of the characters, with Tygra looking the best (he looks as good (if not better) as the original.

But no, compared to the original Panthro, this one looks terrible IMO.

 

[Smegger56]

Initial promo images are usually things done early just to build interest. There's many cases where the final look of a cartoon, film, or tv series don't perfectly match the promo or even match the promo art at all. I rarely ever base expectations on a early teaser image unless they state thats what they are goign for.

Oh I know the purpose of promo work. But still, I got my hopes up with it lol. But hey, I'm starting to like the new Lion-O look, Tygra just looks great, Cheetarah looks like a girl and not a woman. But Panthro is my biggest issue at the moment.

 

[Metallo]

The only thing i don't like about Panthro is the hair. Like someone said he is bigger but he may be THAT much bigger because he's closer to the foreground in teh official pic. He looks a little smaller in that other leaked photo. Cheetara is obviously not that small its just perspective.

I do like Lion O's armor and I think Tygra looks awesome. I think the style is a good compromise. It could have been WAY worse.

 

[Metallo]

Why couldnt they just leave Panthro completely hairless on his head/face?

I wonder what the twins will look like..hopefully halfway decent like Lion-O and Tigra.

But I guess its better then where this was going

Exactly, man. At least we aren't getting the image on the right. I think the current designs are more faithful than that.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I'm seeing a lot of complaints about stuff like Cheetra looking too young and Pantro having hair in that promo pic. I haven't been following this closely or anything, but I was under the impression this show was suppose to be a prequel to the events of the original set several years before Lion-O became 'Lord of the Thundercats?' Wouldn't they be much younger, or am I misremembering something?

 

[Gold Samurai]

I'm fine with this new interpretation of Thundercats but they look anime inspired. Maybe it's because except watching a few episodes from the show I was never really into them and it's more TF and G.I. Joe for me.

New interview. It's standard practice to ship scenes for animators overseas to finish up

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2011/01/27/thundercats-tv-series-image-interview/

MTV: Everyone's asking about the anime vibe in the image. Will the series have an anime feel to it? Does the anime vibe extend beyond the character designs?

SPAULDING: [It will extend to] the visual storytelling as well. The original show was done in Japan, and many people probably don't know that. A lot of the artists went on to be in Studio Ghibli, and worked on [Hayao] Miyazaki's first film. So "ThunderCats" does have a footprint in Japanese animation. We're kind of going back and honoring that in the new series. I was always a huge fan of the original show and I love the Japanese animation and what they can do, so we're really going back to the roots.

Everyone who keeps giving the new show **** for being "anime-inspired" needs to READ THIS.

There's been an anime influence for 30 years!



Batman TAS,where scenes were made overseas then shipped back for completion

Just look at this scene from "Feat of Clay"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERmAiXrsR1I

 

[terry78]

Cheetara is now officially a Thundercat Ho.

 

[Crockett]

Everyone who keeps giving the new show **** for being "anime-inspired" needs to READ THIS.

There's been an anime influence for 30 years!

I'd like to point out that I wasn't *****ing that it looked anime, I just said that this interpretation was more noticeable than the 80's show. It wasn't a complain and I don't have a problem with Japanese animation.

 

[lorenzovanmatte]

Cheetara is now officially a Thundercat Ho.

t:

Wasn't there a Highlander cartoon series? They should add that to the awesome sword line up

 

[3dman27]

yes there was