I leave you with this video clip of the theme to either share my wonderment or look upon with disdain. Hands down, my favorite part of the theme is Cheetara’s run through a field of mutants, where the camera brilliantly switches perspective from first to third person. The camera then pulls out to reveal new surroundings as Lion-O dodges the blast and performs a backwards leap, does a dynamic mid-air pose and nails a landing that would make any gymnast cry tasty, tasty tears.īefore I split for a yummy tuna sandwich lunch, I just wanted to mention one thing. Mumm-Ra fires a blast from his hand, in close-up and towards the right of the screen. This shot ends with Mumm-Ra in an extended pose that suggests he’s about to commit to an action. The next one takes place in an entirely different location, but this goes unnoticed at first because of the extension of motion from the previous one. There’s also the aforementioned Lion-O leaping backwards sequence that begins with the introduction of Mumm-Ra, as he transforms from a cloaked mummy with bad teeth to super-buff bad guy with bad teeth.
As they explode, a colored cloud of smoke envelopes the screen and matches the colors and motion of Lion-O so closely that, while it takes place in a different location, the swing of his sword in the next frames feels like a natural extension of the previous shot. The former sequence ends with WilyKit swinging past the screen and tossing tiny colored balls at it. They pull off some brilliant shot transitions, as well. Of note is the one between the introduction of WilyKit and WilyKat to that of Lion-O swinging the sword of Thundera about in front of the Cat’s Lair.
THUNDERCATS INTRO SERIES
From the light of the Eye of Thundera racing towards Lion-O early on in the theme to Tygra leaping into the air, disappearing and then reappearing in the Thunder Tank (which is in the process of crashing onto screen), to Lion-O flipping backwards towards the end of the theme using a series of quick close-ups and wide shots (while never taking the camera off the character). The theme only slows twice (excluding the end, of course) once to establish the series’ most recognizable symbol, the Eye of Thundera, and a second time to allow the viewer to absorb a shot of the cast of heroes. Sad, sad admissions of a geek aside, the theme does manage to hit a lot of notes quite masterfully and you really do have to study it to appreciate how well it’s done. There’s constant motion from beginning to end. Every shot and character pose is dynamic. Let me tell you, that’s no easy feat with VHS and a cheap VCR. I would record some of the episodes and attempt to dissect the animation of the theme, because I wanted to know quite badly how they managed what they did. I singularly credit this opening theme with planting the seed of interest that led me towards choosing animation as a major in college 11 years after the show initially aired. Unless you’re seven that is(I was), then everything that follows is pure, unadulterated awesomeness. It’s a slick 1:15 of animation that gets you entirely psyched up to watch a cartoon that’s not nearly as good as what you just saw. “ut I got a little bit carried away.From the opening trumpets, to the over-the-top whining electric guitars, to the beautifully detailed and yet still fluid animation, there’s only one word suitable to describe the Thundercats opening theme, “badass”.
THUNDERCATS INTRO HOW TO
“Earlier this year, I thought I’d have a go at learning how to use 3D animation software, really just so I could do some simple effects in my films,” Booth stated in the description of the video on his official Youtube channel. Set to the theme song of the original show, Mike Booth’s stunning credit sequence features glorious 3D animation and brings the characters to life. One diehard fan, however, took matters into his own hands and recreated the opening of the original ThunderCats series using CGI.
Then there were also talks of a live-action film brewing, with many fans voting for their favourite stars to play Cheetara, Lion-O, Tygra, and Panthro. Although Cartoon Network revived the franchise with the comedic ThunderCats Roar, older nostalgic viewers weren’t impressed with the art style and the direction of the show. Over the years, fans have requested a reboot or remake of the popular action-fantasy ’80s show ThunderCats.
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