In the genre of fantasy and sci-fi animated shows that dominated the airwaves in the 1980s, ThunderCats stands out. From its opening, filled with dynamic animation and a memorable theme song, to its original, carefully plotted backstory and episodes, it’s no wonder that generations have held tightly to their ThunderCats fandom in the forty years since the show debuted.
ThunderCats came about thanks to the creativity of Tobin “Ted” Wolf, who brought his concept for his sci-fi series about a race of catpeople to Stan Weston, president of Leisure Concepts, a licensing company. Weston approached Rankin/Bass, and the series was born from there.
The show centered on the titular aliens, a cross between humans and cats. Their planet, Thundera, dies, forcing them to flee their home. They come under attack by the series villains, The Mutants of Plun-Daar, but a group escapes in a ship that houses the Sword of Omens containing the Eye of Thundera, which is the ThunderCats’ power source.
The show revolved around these remaining ThunderCats battling to keep control of the sword.
The superhero characters on the show included Lion-O (voice of Larry Kenney), the leader of the ThunderCats; Panthro (Earle Hyman), who is skilled in martial arts and serves as the chief mechanic and pilot; Tygra (Peter Newman), the quiet, philosophical scientist, Cheetara (Lynne Lipton), who possess a sixth sense that helps keep them out danger, WilyKat (Lipton), and WileyKat (Newman), a young brother and sister, who have their unique abilities, Jaga (Earl Hammond), the wise mentor and Snarf (Bob McFadden), the cute comic relief of the series.
Then, there were other numerous characters on the show, including the reptilian and monstrous Mutants of Plun-Darr, such as Slythe (McFadden), Jackalman (Kenney), and Monkian (Newman).

The uniqueness of Wolf’s characters and their design on the show by such artists as Jim Meskimen, Bob Camp, Michael Germakian, and Pepe Moreno is one of the aspects of ThunderCats that connected with audiences. Each has a comic-book design of a superhero, coupled with the feral feline attributes and unique talents that helped them emerge as distinct personalities.
Although produced by Rankin/Bass, animation for ThunderCats was provided by Pacific Animation Corporation in Japan, who created stunning visuals. These are seen not just in the series’ exciting opening but also in its first show, as images of the ThunderCats ship and the destruction of their home planet play out with dynamic staging. The series has many scenes like this, such as Lion-O’s first dramatic encounter with the demonic villain Mumm-Ra (Hammond).
There was also sharp writing in ThunderCats. The first episode, penned by cartoonist Leonard Starr, smartly introduces the cast of the characters while they are on the ship escaping their planet. It also allows for exposition by Jaga about the back story of the Eye of Thundera.
Additionally, the studio partnered with a psychologist, Dr. Robert Kusis, PhD, who reviewed episodes to ensure that each had an appropriate lesson associated with it.
ThunderCats debuted in syndication on January 23, 1985, was a hit for four seasons and part of the pop culture landscape of the decade. A new version of the series, produced by Warner Bros. Animation debuted in 2011, and there has been talk of a potential full-length feature, which has yet to materialize.
Still, for so many, forty years later, nothing will ever top the original and Lion-O’s pulse-pounding call of “Thunder! Thunder! Thunder! ThunderCats Ho!”
This takes me back to a temp job I had for a few months in 1986. My supervisor was a very interesting guy with numerous other professional sidelines, including gospel singer, auto mechanic, tailor, competitive bodybuilder, stripper, and TV and VCR repairman. My office always had at least one of his clients’ TV sets in it that had to be kept running all day to make sure it was functioning properly. He didn’t mind if I turned the sound up, so every morning I would watch all the syndicated cartoons while I worked, and that’s how I became acquainted with “Thundercats”.
I liked it; it reminded me a little of some of the fantasy/adventure cartoons of my childhood, like “Space Ghost” and “The Herculoids”. You’re absolutely right about the stunning visuals, but I think Pacific Animation must have blown most of its budget on the promo and the opening title; the animation in the show wasn’t nearly as elaborate. This was a trait common to other syndicated cartoons of the 1980s, such as “Transformers” and “Jem”. But the opening would make you want to watch the show, which was the whole point.
My favourite character, by far, was the villain Mumm-Ra. I really liked his style. He was an inspiration and a role model, if I may use a couple of ’80s buzzwords. I used to recite his demonic incantation along with him: “Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!” “You watching that Negatron over there again?” my supervisor would call out from across the hall. “No, I’m not watching Negatron,” I’d tell him. “I’m watching Numb-Ra.”
I really liked that job and was sad when my assignment ended. I was much more deeply saddened, a few years later, to learn that my erstwhile supervisor died of AIDS at the age of 41. They had a huge memorial service for him at his church. There must have been a thousand people there, and no wonder. Anyone who’s a nice enough guy to let his temporary employees watch cartoons at work all day is bound to make a lot of friends.
By the way, the young Thundercat siblings are WilyKit (the girl) and WilyKat (the boy), not “WilyKat and WileyKat”, though they might have spelled their names Wile E. Kit and Wile E. Kat for all I know.
As something of an apologist for the Toyetic wave of toons/glorified commercials that came with the rise of syndication, this is one, which as I understand it in terms of pure ratings might have been the second most popular after He-Man., that just never grabbed me, not as a pre-schooler and not now. I think I could probably make a decent case that at least some episodes of (for example) Transformers were better written or at least had more interesting concepts, but I suspect when push comes to shove it might be that I just don’t find muscular cats to be all that cool. To each their own though,
For me Thundercats was a part of my work as I was working in Carrollton a suburb of Dallas and worked evenings and Toonami had it on at 3 or 4 so as I made pizzas I watched Thundercats and FYI the entire crew actually wanted to watch it so there was a group of us and didn’t care about anything else but seeing Thundercats! It was a good time in my life and it was especially enjoyable when you and all your friends or coworkers love the same show.
My favorite Thundercat was Panthro as I studied martial arts and the disciples you learn showed in the character Panthro and if you’ve ever worked on any vehicle you need to keep a calm demeanor and Panthro did!
I even collected the action figures when they came out and I would love to know if there’s a possibility that maybe we might see a remergance of Thundercats!? Or at least a update of what happened to the new Thundercats like Linxo, Pumira, and Bengali?
I recently acquired an original negative of the Thundercats logo main art that was used in the TV show between 1985 and 1989. The only thing I have been able to find out online about it is that there is a rumor that all the negatives were destroyed, which I don’t know if that’s true or not. If anyone has any information on the negative of this logo, will you please contact me? I would be forever grateful! Also, if anyone is interested, I am looking to sell it once I figure out its worth.
🤣 No mention of the awful “Thundercats Ho!”, as it should be.
Actually, it’s called “Thundercats Roar!” and while the show has ended, the creator of that infamous reboot has done variant covers for not only Dynamite Entertainment’s recent “Thundercats” comics series but also their new comic series based on Rankin/Bass other toy-based action cartoon, “Silverhawks”.
Thundercats was a bit before my time, however I have heard from viewers who grew up with it mention the studio working with Dr. Robert Kusis a few times in YouTube video commentaries. I know my generation, the millennials tend to roll eyes and say the usual ‘30 minute toy commercial cartoon from the 1980s’ remark, but from a business standpoint I can see why Thundercats and other franchises from that era were so successful. I did enjoy the 2011 reboot. As for that infamous parody reboot…perhaps it’s best that one goes down the memory hole.