Will Adam Wingard's THUNDERCATS Movie Be More Like The '80s Cartoon Or The 2011 Reboot? Here's The Answer

Will Adam Wingard's THUNDERCATS Movie Be More Like The '80s Cartoon Or The 2011 Reboot? Here's The Answer

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard could helm a live-action ThunderCats movie as his next project but will it be closer to the '80s cartoon or modern 2011 reboot?

By MarkJulian - Mar 31, 2024 09:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Thundercats
Source: Toonado.com

The fan-favorite  Rankin/Bass cartoon series ThunderCats made its television premiere in 1985 and ran for four seasons, totaling 130 episodes. Many years later, it was rebooted in 2011 for a single-season, 26-episode run on Cartoon Network before being discontinued because of poor merchandise sales.

A 2020 reimagining of the franchise, titled ThunderCats Roar - which was modeled after Teen Titans Go! also failed to catch on with viewers.

The franchise will be rebooted again, this time for a live-action theatrical release, with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire director Adam Wingard at the helm. Wingard officially boarded the project back in 2021.

However, it should be noted that there's no guarantee that the ThunderCats movie will be the next film that Wingard directs. He's also signed on to helm a remake of the 1997 John Travolta and Nicolas Cage sci-fi action-thriller, Face/Off.

Regardless of whether it's his next project, in an new interview with ScreenRant, Wingard touched on whether his upcoming live-action ThunderCats movie will be closer to the original cartoon or the 2011 reboot.

Replying to the question, Wingard stated:

"My version is going to be 100% the ’80’s version. I’ve seen the rebooted anime one, but if I’m honest, the 80’s one that’s what Thundercats is to me, and that’s what I’d be creating."

"When I was in high school, I was so into Thundercats that I wrote this 270-something-page screenplay, like hand-written screenplay on it. It was my biggest dream growing up, to make a Thundercat’s movie, and so, here I am with the ability to actually do that. I’m still kind of fulfilling that dream."

"When that dream started, it was well before the anime version, so that’s why. That’s what I know, and that’s the vibe. I’m trying to do it, and if Thundercats ends up happening, which I hope it does, my version, I’d want to bring to life the exact designs from the ’80s version."

"I want the looks of them; I don’t want it to be like, okay, it’s the movie, so you got to make them look more realistic somehow. It’s like No, no, no, no. I want to bring the cartoon and toys to life. I want to see the exact costumes and everything."

Recently at the premiere for The New Empire, Wingard shared, "It's been full steam ahead recently with ThunderCats and Face/Off recently, in terms of the script."

"We won't know [if that's my next project] until they get to the next phase, but they're [moving] along really well and the scripts are really amazing. I'm so excited about what they could possibly be."

"And there's [also the question] of what's going to happen with this series and where things go from here. So, I'm kind of open and keeping my options open...we'll see."

If you've seen both the original and 2011 reboot of ThunderCats, which series do you think is better suited for a live-action adaptation? Let us know in the comment section below.

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harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 3/31/2024, 9:31 PM
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tmp3
tmp3 - 3/31/2024, 10:07 PM
@harryba11zack - Troy’s so under-rated. It’s not… the best adaptation that the Iliad could have gotten narratively, but holy shit did it capture the scale and intensity so perfectly.
TheOtherOn
TheOtherOn - 3/31/2024, 10:34 PM
@harryba11zack - One of the best "fan made" trailers! Worth a (re)watch.

DanielPlainviewsGhost
DanielPlainviewsGhost - 4/1/2024, 3:28 AM
@tmp3 - Very underrated. Pretty brutal for PG-13, and like you said, the scale and intensity.

I think a lot of people either forget about it or just remember it not being great. Not a perfect movie but has some great moments with a stacked cast.
tmp3
tmp3 - 4/1/2024, 10:42 AM
@DanielPlainviewsGhost - I think one issue is it’s based on such a seminal work of the “western canon”, so people would scrutinize it with a greater intensity than if it was an original movie. Honestly think it’s the best non-Gladiator swords & sandals pic from that period
dracula
dracula - 3/31/2024, 9:32 PM
So lessons of the week and cheesy dialogue?

Thing about a lot of 80’s cartoons is that they had awesome set up but the actual episodes are very light on story, maintaining status quo

Of 80’s show that had occasional story development, i can only think of Transformers

He man 2003 and Thundercats 2011 kind of took the great set up and was able to actually develop it

80’s shows seem to have been very restricted , a lot being just toy commericals.
BritishMonkey
BritishMonkey - 3/31/2024, 9:32 PM
I can get behind that.
SuperCat
SuperCat - 3/31/2024, 9:37 PM
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Monkeyballs2
Monkeyballs2 - 4/1/2024, 1:06 AM
@SuperCat - that’s a metaphor for boners. Isn’t it?
SuperCat
SuperCat - 4/1/2024, 3:04 AM
@Monkeyballs2 - LOL!!
ANewPope
ANewPope - 3/31/2024, 9:38 PM
Well, one thing's for certain

It's not going to be ANYTHING like this festering pile...
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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2024, 9:42 PM
@ANewPope - I never saw it since the Teen Titans Go-esque approach didn’t appeal to me…

Was it really that bad?.
AnthonyVonGeek
AnthonyVonGeek - 3/31/2024, 9:45 PM
Thundercats Ho! Let’s go!
marvel72
marvel72 - 3/31/2024, 9:45 PM
And so it should be.
TheLight
TheLight - 3/31/2024, 9:47 PM
I'm loving the sound of that!


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And as long as we get these too, albeit with some minor updated tweaks. That guitar rift better feel the same!





TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2024, 10:11 PM
Certainly understandable that his version would be much more like the 80’s cartoon since it’s the one he grew up just like I would base a Thundercats movie if I got to direct it on the 2011 reboot which I enjoyed & grew up with (have seen episodes here & there of the 80’s show).

Would be interesting to see how he brings the exact costumes to life and such since idk if Lion-O running around with his bare legs would work in this day & age lol but we’ll see (I was hoping they would atleast borrow some elements like the costumes from the modern version)…

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Also , I worry about it looking like CATS so I hope Wingard can avoid that (maybe a mix of practical & CG would work best).

Anyway , hope it does happen because this is an underrated franchise and Adam certainly seems passionate about it…

Having seen GxK , dude will certainly bring the vibrancy and 80’s vibe to life well imo.
HermanM
HermanM - 3/31/2024, 10:12 PM
He has the exact right attitude, passion, enthusiasm, and respect for the material to make this thing, as well as the talent. I hope he makes it. He would do a great job. I would love to hear someone talk about a comic book movie this way, especially DC. DC and other CBMs deserve this same level of dedication. Adam has done a great job so far. I wish him well.
HistoryofMatt
HistoryofMatt - 3/31/2024, 10:12 PM
The one thing I need is the music. The music was amazing. Not just the theme, which is the greatest cartoon theme song ever (sorry, Batman: TAS), but the themes for the individual ThunderCats were so freaking awesome.

Panthro's theme is so good and motivating, it's part of my workout mix. Tigra's theme is mysterious and cool. Cheetara's theme is great, too. And of course, the best theme of all... the theme for the ThunderTank (which is like Panthro's theme on steroids).

I need the music, Adam Wingard. I need the music.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2024, 10:15 PM
?si=gUCU8HfRmtlUvahh

?si=kXsga6iAb94vt3Mh

I hope we get an homage to the original theme.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 3/31/2024, 10:15 PM
I like his enthusiasm, but the 80's version is a paper thin cartoon, the 2011 version lends its self much better to a live action movie in both story and aesthetic.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2024, 11:26 PM
@1stDalek - I agree but to be fair , seems like aesthetically he wants it to be in the more colorful 80’s vein which could work.

I’m sure he could update the story to more modern sensibilities if he wants to which is where I think taking inspiration from the 2011 one would be best because it was more layered
HistoryofMatt
HistoryofMatt - 3/31/2024, 11:39 PM
@1stDalek - Tell me you haven't watched ThunderCats without telling me.

For its time, ThunderCats told intricate, intertwined stories that built on each other. Yes. I'm talking about STORY ARCS. Joss Whedon didn't invent those for Western Television. ThunderCats was written by guys steeped in anime, so while the show was toned down for American audiences because of the FCC regulations about violence, and it had to have a lesson learned by the end of every episode, it was much deeper than you're insinuating
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 4/1/2024, 5:14 AM
@HistoryofMatt - It did fall into that typical '80s Western cartoon thing, but you're right, I remember the storytelling from that show most of all. It was this whole mythology that I always thought needed to be a live action, big budget series of movies.

The opening episodes were epic and the show continued on with it's own respectable continuity from there. It was something that you could invest in. Sure it still presented itself as having an '80s cartoon status quo and moral messages and such, but it did the other thing also. He-Man you could watch any episode in any order and if you were a casual viewer, you would think the same of Thundercats too. But to get the full experience you really need to start from the beginning and go all the way to the end, because it does actually play fair with any kids that were paying attention to the story beats.

The 2011 show was obviously written by people who appreciated the storytelling in the '80s show because they kept that tradition alive. That show is also quite epic, imo. They basically did Thundercats meets Lord of the Rings meets Star Wars.

Both shows are epic, the 2011 one is maybe more obvious, but for an '80s cartoon the OG was revolutionary in this respect.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 4/1/2024, 4:04 PM
@HistoryofMatt - I have watched Thundercats, though it's been many long years since and it was reruns since I'm a 90's kid. So fair enough
HistoryofMatt
HistoryofMatt - 4/1/2024, 5:46 PM
@1stDalek - They had to fit what they wanted to do into the FCC-mandated restraints of the time, but ObserverIO is correct in that this show was nothing like MOTU or GI Joe or the other shows of the time. It had story arcs, and told a long-term story from the first episode until the last. It wasn't a show of one-offs. What came before had consequences for what came later.

Was it as deeply serialized as something like Robotech? No, but for what it was, there was a lot of subtext there that older viewers could see beneath the more kid-friendly aspects of the show.
1stDalek
1stDalek - 4/2/2024, 8:30 PM
@HistoryofMatt - Thanks for the explanation. <3
vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 3/31/2024, 10:18 PM
Godzilla X Kong is a great popcorn movie. Wingard is a good choice.

Studios should learn that their movie can be garbage storywise, just give the audience some good cgi fight choreography and make the people care for those fighting (unlike TF from Bay)
dragon316
dragon316 - 4/1/2024, 8:12 AM
@vectorsigma - depends how you look at it there where a lot of transformers cartoon series I never cared for characters except for skybite but other cartoon series I never cared for especially in beast wars and g1 and g1 mostly had annoying characters spike , Daniel, wheelie , humans, preceptor , I never really cared about any transformers in g1 series all I wanted see transformers no annoying humans can only think of three transformers series that had no humans in it Netflix half boring, and beast wars and beast machines
TheOtherOn
TheOtherOn - 3/31/2024, 10:33 PM

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TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 3/31/2024, 11:17 PM
@Deklipz - that sucks.

I do know they use the original premise of the show which is odd since that doesn’t really lend itself to a lighthearted & comedic approach since it starts with the destruction of their home.
Deklipz
Deklipz - 4/1/2024, 12:37 AM
@TheVisionary25 - It did suck. It was an incomprehensible mess of a show from the visuals to the sound design….it was the definition of a corporate designed shitshow.
YonnyLayna
YonnyLayna - 3/31/2024, 11:08 PM
Before that a Thundercats would be Perfect for a revival in the same fashion as X-Men 97
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/31/2024, 11:23 PM
This guy makes bad movies for a living.
valmic
valmic - 3/31/2024, 11:59 PM
My number 1 choice as Panthro for over 20 years

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