What about Thundarr the Barbarian?

[The Lizard]

There’s this Japanese cartoon that everybody in my generation loves as a kid
It’s Goldorak
Apparently it was created by Mazinger’s creator
But not even the Japanese knows it, because according to them it was just a copy of
“The great” Mazinger
They sell it to the French who made it popular for the rest of the world.

Oh yeah, I know Goldorak. That was the name for Grendizer in France and Italy. I had a little toy figure of Grendizer when I was a kid.

 

[Thundarr]

no from the tv show martial law

Don't think I ever saw Martial Law. But didn't she also play the sorceress in The Scorpion King? If that is her, I'll deffinately add her to my list. That movie Rocked! (Pardon the pun)

 

[Thundarr]

I've got some Thundarr info for you guys if any of you are interested.

1) If you want to sign the on line petition to get Thundarr The Barbarian officially released on DVD, log onto www.petitiononline.com/thundarr/petition/html

2) If you want to order unofficial copies of Thundarr The Barbarian on VHS or DVD, you can order them through...

www.fantastictoons.com

www.imissmytvshow.com

or...

www.cartoonsaloon.com

3) If you want to read more about Thundarr, fan fiction, fun facts, the Joe Ruby & Ken Spears interview, etc, you can log onto www.thundarr.com

4) If you want to play the Thundarr The Barbarian Role Playing Game Under The Broken Moon, log onto www.rpglibrary.org/settings/thundarr/

5) If you want to order the Thundarr action figures, log onto...
www.toynami.com.thundarr.html

6) If you want to see Teletoon Retro add Thundarr The Barbarian to their line up, email them at [email protected] and tell them so. If enough of us write in, there's a good chance that they'll listen.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Is he really so obscure that no one would pay attention to him?

Yes.

 

[3dman27]

don't think i ever saw martial law. But didn't she also play the sorceress in the scorpion king? If that is her, i'll deffinately add her to my list. That movie rocked! (pardon the pun)

thats the one

 

[Thundarr]

thats the one

Thanks, the addition has been made. Check out the post because I made some other additions too.

 

[Thundarr]

So how do you think they should handle Ookla's equart mount? Here's how I see it...

1) Every time Ookla mounts the equart, both mount and rider are done in CGI. I know a lot of George Lucas fans out there would probably think this a great idea, but I disagree. The trick to using CGI is "Less is more". That's why The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return Of The King were so much better than The Franchise Menace, Attack Of The Clowns, and Revenge Of The S#!t.

2) Use animatronic mounts for close ups of Ookla mounting, sitting on, and riding the equart, then switch to CGI for wide angle shots of Ookla and the others riding their mounts. This is what was done in the Jurassic Park and The Lord Of The Rings trilogies. I prefer this method to the first one.

3) Buy a baby draft horse, have it raised and trained as a mount. Then when it's full grown and ready to be ridden, fit it with a specially made Motion Capture Animation suit (like what Andy Serkis wore in The Lord Of The Rings when he played Gollum). Then whoever is playing Ookla will mount and ride him as written in the script. The computer geeks can then use the information captured by the suit to animate and fill in the equarts movements. This will keep everything looking natural and as real as possible.

4) A combination of #2 and #3, using the animatronic equarts for close ups and the MCA trained draft horse for wide angle shots. I like this plan best, as it helps keep the equart looking as real as possible at all times.

 

[Thundarr]

I've done some research and found the (alleged) contact information of a bunch of my favorite directors. Guys who would most likely do a good job of directing any of the movie suggestions we've made. Here they are (in no particular order)...

PETER JACKSON

FAO: Peter Jackson
Wingnut Films
P.O. Box 15-208
Miramar
Wellington
New Zealand

RON HOWARD

Ron Howard
c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California
90212-1825
USA

JOHN MILIUS

John Milius
9336 W Washington
The Mansion
Culver City, California
90232
USA

ROB REINER

Rob Reiner
c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
USA

or...

Castle Rock Entertainment
335 North Maple Drive
135
Beverly Hills,CA
90210
USA

or...

www.rob-reiner.com

You can also register at www.movieeye.com for free and find the contact information of virtually any celebrity you could ever hope to meet. I don't know how reliable any of these addresses are, or the Rob Reiner website, but it wouldn't hurt to write them and ask them to consider making Thundarr. If you have the time and the ambition you could try writing a script and sending it to them. Or you could simply write them a letter giving them the address of this website, right down to the thread location, and hope they log on, read our ideas and our comments, and say "Hey! These are some pretty good ideas! I think I'll do that!" The odds are between slim and none that that will happen, but anything's possible.

So go ahead, use this information to try and get these people to make Thundarr The Barbarian: The Movie. You never know, we just might see some results. Especially if we all write in. Like a letter writing campaign or something. Hey, stranger things have happened (like a man with almost no votes being named President of The United States... twice).

 

[Thundarr]

Here are some more addresses I've found...

TIM BURTON

Tim Burton
c/o Tim Burton Productions
8033 Sunset Blvd
Suite 7500
West Hollywood, CA
90046
USA

or...

c/o William Morris Agency
151 El Camino Drive
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
USA

GEORGE LUCAS

George Lucas
Industrial Light & Magic
3155 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael, CA
94901
USA

or...

P.O. Box 2459
San Rafael, CA
94912
USA

or...

P.O. Box 2009
San Rafael, CA
94912
USA

OLIVER STONE

Oliver Stone
201 Santa Monica
#610
Santa Monica, CA
90401
USA

or...

520 Broadway
#600
Santa Monica, CA
90401
USA

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Steven Spielberg
c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
USA

or...

Dreamworks SKG
1000 Flower Street
Glendale, CA
91201
USA

or...

c/o Creative Artists Agency
2000 Avenue Of The Stars
Los Angeles, CA
90067

QUENTIN TARANTINO

Quentin Tarantino
c/o William Morris Agency
One William Morris Place
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
USA

or...

c/o A Band Apart
7966 Beverly Blvd
3rd Floor
Los Angeles, CA
90048
USA

or...

c/o A Band Apart
8439 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA
90069-1921
USA

or...

5700 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
90036-3659
USA

JOSS WHEDON

Joss Whedon
Studio Fan Mail
1122 South Robertson Blvd
#15
Los Angeles, CA
90036
USA

or...

c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA
USA

or...

c/o Mutant Enemy Productions
1000 Amherst Avenue
Los Angeles, CA
90049
USA

or...

c/o Mutant Enemy
P.O. Box 900
Beverly Hills, CA
90213
USA

or...

c/o UPN
11800 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
90025
USA

or...

c/o United Talent Agency
9560 Wilshire Blvd
#500
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
USA

 

[The Lizard]

Well, Thundarr the poster certainly gets an "A" for enthusiasm. And optimism.

 

[3dman27]

So how do you think they should handle Ookla's alien mount? (I'm sure the species has a name, I think Ariel mentioned it in one episode, but I don't remember what it was). Here's how I see it...

1) Every time Ookla monts the animal, both mount and rider are done in CGI. I know a lot of George Lucas fans out there would probably think this a great idea, but I disagree. The trick to using CGI is "Less is more". That's why The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return Of The King were so much better than The Franchise Menace, Attack Of The Clowns, and Revenge Of The S#!t.

2) Use animatronic mounts for close ups of Ookla mounting, sitting on, and riding the creature, then switch to CGI for wide angle shots of Ookla and the others riding their mounts. This is what was done in the Jurassic Park and The Lord Of The Rings trilogies. I prefer this method to the first one.

3) Buy a baby draft horse, have it raised and trained as a mount. Then when it's full grown and ready to be ridden, fit it with a specially made Motion Capture Animation suit (like what Andy Serkis wore in The Lord Of The Rings when he played Gollum). Then whoever is playing Ookla will mount and ride him as written in the script. The computer geeks can then use the information captured by the suit to animate and fill in the creatures movements. This will keep everything looking natural and as real as possible.

4) A combination of #2 and #3, using the animatronic mounts for close ups and the MCA trained draft horse for wide angle shots. I like this plan best, as it helps keep the mount looking as real as possible at all times.

as i recall the episode raiders of the abysss identified ookla's mount as an EQUART
the exact line came when sighting the raiders flying on giant bats ariels line was"bats the size of ookla's equart"

 

[Thundarr]

as i recall the episode raiders of the abysss identified ookla's mount as an EQUART
the exact line came when sighting the raiders flying on giant bats ariels line was"bats the size of ookla's equart"

Thanks! I'll make the necessary adjustment.

 

[Thundarr]

As you can probably tell, I'm quite interested in seeing Thundarr being made into a movie. There are a few reasons for this...

1) I truly believe it would make for an awsome live action movie.

2) Whenever a movie is based on a defunct television show that's not available on DVD is made, the original TV show always comes out on DVD right about the same time the movie hits theatres.

3) Often after a movie based on a cartoon comes out, they recreate the show for a new generation of audiences. Look at The X-Men and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, What's New Scoobie Doo, etc.

If we're really lucky, we'll have #2 and #3!

 

[Thundarr]

There were a few other people I'd thought of for the role of Ookla, but I think they're less ideal for the role than the ones I've mentioned above.

1) Ron Perlman, who played Vincent on TV's Beauty & The Beast. After so many years in the role that made him famous, he's used to all the prosthetic make up. Problem is that while he's quite a big guy, he's no Great Khali. They'd have to do a bunch of green screen effects and CGI to make him look bigger, and then what would be the point?

2) Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in Star Wars Episode III - VI and the Star Wars Holiday Special. Like Ron Pearlman, he's used to the prosthetic make up after all those years of playing Chewie. Unfortunately, moks are much thicker in the waist and broader in the shoulder than wookiees. The actor, while the right height, is the wrong girth.

3) Kareem Abdul Jabbar. He's the right height (around 7', I can't remember if he's under or over), has some acting experience (Bruce Lee's Game Of Death and various TV and movie cameos), and has studied kung fu under the tutelage of none other than Bruce Lee, so he can do many of his own stunts. He has the same problem as Chewbacca though, the right height but the wrong build. He'd be perfect as Chewie's nephew Lowbacca if George Lucas ever decides to do Star Wars Episode VII, VIII, and IX though.

4) That Romanian basketball player who starred in the movie My Giant with Billy Crystal. He's the right height and has at least some acting experience. Unfortunately he has the wrong girth.

5) The Chinese basketball player who was featured in a documentary a couple of years ago (something Yao? Yao something? I'm not a basketball fan). He also starred in a laptop computer TV commercial with little Verne Troyer. He has all the same benefits and hindrances as the last three entries.

6) Tall Paul. He was the scale double who played Aragorn, Gandalf, Borimir, and Legolas whenever they needed to be in a scene with Gimli or the hobbits and it would be too difficult to blue screen it.

7) Any of the people who played the non CGI wookiees in Star Wars Episode III. Perhaps the guy who played the other wookiee who helped Yoda escape Order 66 (I forget the character's name too). Unfortunately, many of them were NBA basketball players and most of those guys are long, lean and lanky.

Of course, the problem of the actors physique could be corrected by making the mok costumes with foam rubber fake muscles (kind of like the Ninja Turtles costumes in the original TMNT movie). It'll be a lot less comfortable to wear and harder to move around in, but it's doable.

 

[Thundarr]

Has anyone read the fan fiction stories on theThundarr website by Sheila Shillingburg? What were your thoughts?

The Magical Mystery Treasure was pretty good. She really captured the feel of a Thundarr story. I didn't care for How To Catch A Vampire though. She used too much Marvel Superheroes crossovers. The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, Apocolypse, Sentinals, Hulk Busters, etc, etc, etc. I just couldn't get through it. In The Magical Mystery Treasure, The X-Men were mentioned but not really brought into the story. Then in How To Catch A Vampire it was like the Marvel Superheroes archives exploded and got dumped into the Thundarr Universe.

I think if Sheila wanted to have some comic/cartoon crossovers, she should have used characters from the same genre. Have Thundarr, Ookla, and Ariel travel back in time to meet King Arthur and The Knights Of The Round Table. Or travel even further back and meet Hercules, Iolas, Xena, Gabrielle, Autolocus, and Salmonius. Or travel to Hyboria and meet Conan, Jazmine, Prince Zula, Greywolf The Wizard, and Needle the Pheonix. Or maybe the kids from the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon could have returned to Earth, but found that they returned to Earth in the year 4000. Any of these would have been better than Thundarr and company meeting the entire Marvel Superhero and Villain roster.

 

[Diamondhead]

A lot has to do with memory though
Perhaps I was a little too young when I used to watch Thundarr and I don’t remember any of these episodes
But go ahead make Thundarr the barbarian movie
But I want to see a hardcore grown up version with no kiddies stuff
Since were all grown ups now!
I want to see a gut wrenching, Skull splitting, bloodied eyed popping version that’ll make a Conan the barbarian look like a fart face macaque in lion cloth bikini

I remembered I had this big crush on thunder's girlfriend
Which I don’t even remember the name!
Halle Berry would be nice for that part
Halle and Dolph Lundgren as thundarr
What the hell am I saying both of them are way too old now and
That lion face creature should be play by a guy like dennis rodman with no mask of “curse”

 

[Diamondhead]

Oh yeah, I know Goldorak. That was the name for Grendizer in France and Italy. I had a little toy figure of Grendizer when I was a kid.

Why those entire different name?
Why can’t he be simply called Goldorak
I don’t get it!
Unless it means something like… giant robot warrior from space.
No wonder why there’s no movie of it
By the way this “Grendizer” here kind of look likes a version of optimus prime

I hope Michael bay and Steven Spielberg introduce them in one of those next transformers movie.
Why not?

 

[Diamondhead]

anybody remember Galaxy high

 

[Diamondhead]

Little known fact: Ruby Spears is my moms porn name

really!
I thought it was chessie moore!?

 

[Thundarr]

A lot has to do with memory though
Perhaps I was a little too young when I used to watch Thundarr and I don’t remember any of these episodes
But go ahead make Thundarr the barbarian movie
But I want to see a hardcore grown up version with no kiddies stuff
Since were all grown ups now!
I want to see a gut wrenching, Skull splitting, bloodied eyed popping version that’ll make a Conan the barbarian look like a fart face macaque in lion cloth bikini

I remembered I had this big crush on thunder's girlfriend
Which I don’t even remember the name!
Halle Berry would be nice for that part
Halle and Dolph Lundgren as thundarr
What the hell am I saying both of them are way too old now and
That lion face creature should be play by a guy like dennis rodman with no mask of “curse”

I agree with you on making it a grown up version. All of the original fans have all grown up, and the cartoon itself is far more mature than your typical Saturday morning cartoon. Heck, I was just a kid the first time I saw Conan The Barbarian on video. I doubt making the movie R rated will affect the number of kids who see it very much. If they don't see it in theatres they'll at least see it on DVD.

As for Halle Berry as Princess Ariel? While she's a good enough actress to play the part, and I would love to see her in that blue monokini, Ariel is supposed to be Chinese (or at least some kind of Asian). Then again, film makers are always taking creative liberties with the core material of comics, books, and TV shows adapted into films. A black Kingpin in Dare Devil? A white Elektra? A third of The Lord Of The Rings was cut from the script for the movies. Much of the Harry Potter novels were changed while being adapted to film. Point is, they may very well get Halle Berry to play Ariel and make her black. Or they may decide she's going to be white like Thundarr and cast Angelina Jolie. Or they may make her Hispanic and cast Eva Mendez. Personally. I'd stick with Asian and cast Tia Carere or Kelly Hu.

 

[Thundarr]

anybody remember Galaxy high

Wasn't that about a high school for superheroes? They already made a movie about that, though it wasn't called Galaxy High. I'm not even sure if the writers were aware that there was a cartoon with more or less the same plot. The movie was Sky High.

 

[Thundarr]

So, getting a little off topic, if they were to actually officially release Thundarr The Barbarian in a DVD boxed set, what kind of special features would you add to the package? If it were up to me, here's what I'd do...

1) Disks 1 through 4 would have all 21 episodes of Thundarr, digitally remastered with 5.1 Dolby Digital stereo sound. They would be shown in the chronilogical order of their original broadcast.

2) Each disk would have at least one episode with the option of episode long comentary. Personally I'd use the comentary of producers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, writer Buzz Dixon, Nellie Bellflower (the actress who provided the voice of Ariel), and the Director Of Animation. The episodes to receive comentary tracks would be:

a) Disk 1: The Secret Of The Black Pearl (the world premier episode of Thundarr)

b) Disk 2: The Brotherhood Of Night

c) Disk 3: Battle Of The Barbarians

d) Disk 4: Last Train To Doomsday (featuring the return of the wizard Gemini).

3) Disk 5 will have all the special features, including a Making Of Featurette with interviews by the writers, producers, directors, and any surviving actors from the show. Also perhaps some former ABC executives who could tell us why such a popular show was cancelled prematurely, and Warner Brothers execs who can tell us why it took so damn long to get the show released on DVD. Any live action fan films (like the fan film Choices on the Dungeons & Dragons DVD boxed set) would be available. The Thundarr movie script of Buzz Dixon's performed in Radeo Play format (much as the Dungeons & Dragons episode Requiem was in their DVD boxed set). A Thundarr picture gallery. A DVD Rom option of getting the entire rules needed to play Under The Broken Moon: The Thundarr The Barbarian Role Playing Game. Buzz Dixon's Thundarr movie script written out.

4) A 5.5" X 7.5" mini comic book entitled Thundarr The Barbarian: Origins, written by Buzz Dixon and illustrated by Todd MacFarlain (Spawn), and will tell the story of the origins of the characters, how they met, and where Thundarr got his Sunsword.

5) A 15" X 22" poster of Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla.

 

[Diamondhead]

Wasn't that about a high school for superheroes? They already made a movie about that, though it wasn't called Galaxy High. I'm not even sure if the writers were aware that there was a cartoon with more or less the same plot. The movie was Sky High.

No it's about a school for humans and aliens all over the galaxy
I enjoyed it so much that I used to tape it
I still have a few episodes on VHS
Including the Bionics that I also love to watch in French “les bioniques”

 

[Diamondhead]

As for Halle Berry as Princess Ariel? While she's a good enough actress to play the part, and I would love to see her in that blue monokini, Ariel is supposed to be Chinese (or at least some kind of Asian). Then again, film makers are always taking creative liberties with the core material of comics, books, and TV shows adapted into films. A black Kingpin in Dare Devil? A white Elektra? A third of The Lord Of The Rings was cut from the script for the movies. Much of the Harry Potter novels were changed while being adapted to film. Point is, they may very well get Halle Berry to play Ariel and make her black. Or they may decide she's going to be white like Thundarr and cast Angelina Jolie. Or they may make her Hispanic and cast Eva Mendez. Personally. I'd stick with Asian and cast Tia Carere or Kelly Hu.

I thought princess Ariel was a mulatto or an Egyptian due to her bronzed skin!
Anyway who cares?
Get kristin kreuk then!
because princess "Ariel" has got to look like she's barely 20

 

[Diamondhead]

Wow!
I went to see an image of this kelly Hu on google
she'd be the splitting image of Ariel
she just has to get a tan.