Chibicats are Go!

The other day, as is their way, io9 republished a press release with no comment whatsoever on its content. But what a press release it was. For you, TSS readers, the highlights:

"Warner Bros. Animation has begun production on ThunderCats, an all-new animated series for Cartoon Network, based upon the iconic 1980s action classic... The 21st century reimagining of the series marks a creative collaboration between WBA and Studio4°C, one of the most vibrant animation studios in Japan, with credits including The Animatrix, Gotham Knights and Halo Legends. WBA is working closely with Studio4°C, utilizing the latter's expertise to give the ThunderCats characters a new cutting-edge look while remaining true to the compelling storylines and mythology of the original series."

Which has to be the best cartoon news since they brought Futurama back from the dead, don't you think?

Or is it just me? I wonder. ThunderCats was my cartoon of choice, when I was but a little lurker on the speculative threshold. My dad made a video tape of twenty episodes on grainy longplay for me, which I watched and watched until there were more scan lines on the screen drawn lines. He cut some black and red cardboard into that iconic cat-face, the show's logo, which I proudly displayed on my bedroom door.

The rest of the cartoons - your He-Mans and Ghostbusters and what not - I'd watch 'em, but they were nothing to me next to the bumbling adventures of Lion-O and Snarf and the rest of the crew. I loved me my ThunderCats.

This re-envisioning, then, leaves me with mixed feelings. There's the little kid inside me, stamping his feet and squealing with excitement, and the rational, critical adult I wear on the outside, thinking... what? ThunderCats, of course, isn't the first treasure trove of 80s nostalgia to be brought kicking and screaming into the modern day, but let's not speak of the others, for fear we jinx this one.

In fact, let's look to the positives. The anime production house lined up to assist in the creation of the new world order of ThunderCats is certainly a promising one. Yes, they've done some passable work in service of Western intellectual property in the past - namely Batman: Gotham Nights, Transformers Animated, The Animatrix and Halo: Legends - but Studio4°C have knocked out a few gems of their own, too: the 1995 film Memories and the mind-bending Tekkon Kinkreet in 2006, not to mention Tweeny Witches (better than it sounds, I swear) or the superlative Detroit Metal City OVA.

Studio4°C is a fine studio, in short, and if it brings its A-game, we can be certain of at least one thing: the new ThunderCats sure will look great. The notion that it will remain "true to the compelling storylines and mythology of the original" makes me giggle a bit, though. I mean, come on. I bought those ThunderCats DVDs collections a few years ago, and you know what? I even tried to watch a few episodes. But no.

I'm not at all sure what to make of this announcement, even now, but consider my interest piqued. To be sure, I'll be keeping my eyes open for the new series, whenever it airs.

Anyone else have happy memories of Lion-O and co. to share?

The Rise and Fall of Futurama

Did everyone hear?

Futurama's coming back!

You know, a couple of years ago, I'd have been tremendously excited to have one of my most fondly-remembered cartoons back on the air. When Fox canned Futurama back in 2003, I'll admit, I died a little inside. I simply couldn't fathom how the tired tripe that The Simpsons had become could still be kicking while a show as inventive and exponentially more engaging as Futurama toddled off into the great beyond.

When the news broke that Futurama was coming back, I was psyched. It wasn't, perhaps, in the format that I'd hoped it would be, but four feature-length films, I thought, would certainly tide me over till someone woke up and bought a new series. And they did. As per the teaser embedded above, new episodes of everyone's favourite Matt Groening show are scheduled to begin airing in June with "Rebirth" on Comedy Central.

But those films...

I won't bore you with the details, readers - I'm sure anyone who's seen them will know what I'm talking about - but suffice it to say that between the two I managed to sit through, near enough every inch of anticipation I felt for Futurama's return was lost. Between Bender's Big Score and The Beast with a Billion Backs, whatever love I had for Fry and Bender and Leela crashed and burned. This was not the Futurama I wanted.

I said to myself, maybe it's just me. Maybe I've gotten older and Futurama just isn't what I want anymore. No. I re-watched some of my old DVDs and the first four seasons are still stellar entertainment.

I said to myself, maybe they've lost a few writers, a few key cast members, something like that. No. With no notable exceptions that I could see, the cast and crew of the series were as involved with the four films as they were with the original episodes.

And so. In June, the new series starts in the States - which means here in the UK, we can expect it something in 2013 or thereabouts - and I just don't know how to feel about it. I won't get my hopes up again for them to be shattered as they were once before.

Then again, I feel a little disingenuous saying that. Because, bully for me, I am hopeful - against all good reason. Perhaps Futurama only truly flourishes in 20 minute-long installments. Perhaps the last few years and the rather cool reception to the movies have set the creators straight on what we want from the series. Perhaps... perhaps there is reason to hope.

Who's with me?