I was definitely a fan of Thundarr back in the early 1980s. Naturally the biggest reason for this was the "Sunsword" wielded by Thundarr himself. Being a huge Star Wars fan, I pretty much fell in love with any weapon resembling a lightsaber back then, and this show took full advantage of that fandom. While only 21 episodes in length, Thundarr has still managed to keep himself relevant with channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang airing repeats regularly. Now, some 30 years after its premiere, the entire series has been collected in a four-disc manufacture-on-demand DVD set available at the Warner Brothers Archive. Having had a chance to re-watch this childhood favorite for the first time in over a decade, I am pleased to say that Thundarr - though cheaply produced and completely devoid of substance - is still a very entertaining show.
There is no real overriding story to Thundarr the Barbarian, just the setup introduced in the show's title sequence. Basically, a runaway planet (I blame the parents) hurtled between the earth and the moon causing catastrophic destruction. The resulting natural disasters cast human civilization into ruin, and mankind was all but wiped out. Two-thousand years later, earth has been reborn as a strange and savage world where both super-science and sorcery now reign supreme. No longer the dominate life form of the planet, humans find themselves constantly under attack from evil forces that seek to either enslave or destroy them. Fortunately Thundarr and his companions - Ukla the Moc and Princess Ariel - have chosen to wander the desolate wastelands of earth and fight for truth and justice.
With a premise like that, it should be no surprise that Thundarr was an episodic cartoon series. The stories were all self contained and usually followed the same recognizable pattern. Thundarr, Ariel and Uklah ride out of the wilderness and discover a group of people (usually humans) being attacked/captured. Our heroes then intervene - with varying degrees of success - and eventually chase off the attackers. Realizing that the only way their new friends will ever be free of tyranny, Thundarr and his comrades then set out to rescue any captured victims and defeat the evil creature(s) responsible. Of course it would be an exaggeration for me to say that all of Thundarr's 21 episodes followed this same formula, but at the same time I wouldn't be all that far off either. Yet despite these paper thin plots, I found the repetitive storytelling in Thundarr strangely entertaining.
One of the reasons I liked this show's writing is because Thundarr - unlike the other action-adventure cartoons that followed it - doesn't dumb itself down for the audience. Sure, there's no substance to the story, or clever subtext with layered meanings, but at the same time there's also no "cute" animal sidekicks or public service morals either. Violence was tame of course, but nowhere near as bad as the other 1980's action-adventure programs. Additionally, the small number of episodes created for each of Thundarr's two seasons helps keep the series from becoming stale. In short, Thundarr the Barbarian doesn't wear out its welcome and rarely panders to its audience - or their parents - while trying to be something that it isn't. Cartoons like GI Joe, Transformers, He-Man and Thundercats would have been much better off had they been able to display a similar brand of integrity.
The show's characters - much like its plot - manage to be both one dimensional and fun at the same time. Thundarr himself is every bit the barbarian the show's title implies. He's loud, boastful and thinks every problem should be solved with either his sunsword or his fists. His flippant disregard of female opinions with a roll of the eyes while muttering "women” is also hilariously chauvinistic and backwards. Princess Ariel would be the beauty and brains of the outfit. Besides her good looks, the young sorceress possesses extensive knowledge and insight into the world prior to the "Great Cataclysm", and uses that information to both educate her companions and reward us - the audience - for knowing what is happening before the exposition kicks in. Ariel is also the obligatory magic user/supernaturally sensitive member of the group, an action-adventure tradition that has only grown over the years (seriously, just off the top of my head there's Ariel, Jedda from Defenders of the Earth, Niko from Galaxy Rangers, Cheetara from Thundercats, Tula from Pirates of Darkwater and - more recently - Gwen Tennyson from Ben 10). Ukla is a Chewbacca knockoff, both in appearance and purpose. He's incredibly big and strong, loses his temper easily and communicates with a series of strange growls. Ukla also serves up a good portion of the show's comedic relief by falling into funny situations resulting from his diminished intelligence, brutish strength or fear of water. As I said before, none of these characters have any depth or dimension to them. They take nothing away from their journeys, the interpersonal dynamics never change and the characters don't evolve as the series progresses. That said I never felt frustrated by Thundarr and his friends. The show's episodic format - along with the character's charm - helped me to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Obviously there's nothing brilliant about Thundarr (whether it be the character, or his show). The cartoon was insanely formulaic and used convenient deus ex machinas far too often. The characters were similarly one dimensional and the stories completely devoid of substance. Compare this to the action-adventure standards that would come about in the early 1990s, and you would be justified in calling this show bad. Yet, when you consider the time period this show was created in - as well as the egregiously bad cartoons that would follow it - I can't help but cut Thundarr some slack. Though neither clever nor original, I still found this program both fun and easy to watch, like reading an old 1960s comic book.
Probably the biggest reason Thundarr succeeds, however, is the visuals. While the animation itself is very low budget - with minimal movement and recycled animation sequence being the norm - the background and production design for this series is phenomenal.
I mentioned before that watching Thundarr the Barbarian is like reading a good 1960s comic book. Well a big reason for this is because the bulk of the series design was done by the great Jack "King" Kirby. Now I'm not old enough to have enjoyed Jack's work when it was first published, but like any good comic fan, I spent much of my youth reading reprints and old torn up copies of Kirby's great runs on Fantastic Four, Captain America, The Avengers and X-Men. That being the case, it was an absolute treat to see all the great "Kirby Tech" (an endearing nickname given to the way Jack would render advanced technology) and character design work this legendary artist did for the various wizards, mutants and other creatures permeating the show. To be clear, the main character designs for Thundarr, Ariel and Uklah were NOT done by Kirby, but instead by Alex Toth. Toth was another veteran comic book artist, but while his work in that medium was impressive, he is best known for the Hanna-Barbera animation designs he did on shows like Space Ghost, Birdman, and the Herculoids. Like Kirby, Alex Toth was a master of his craft and it was a real pleasure to see his work on display here.
Besides the series design, Thundarr's backgrounds also provide a feast for the eyes rarely seen during this time. Being that the show was set in a post-apocalyptic future; crumbling cities, overgrown vegetation and overturned vehicles make up much of the show's landscape. This desolate, deteriorating reality is so well designed and rendered that it practically becomes a character all its own. True, the quality of these illustrations do vary - with some clearly showing their budgetary limitations - but the strength of the design always shines through, and the show looks great because of it.
Without question, the animation of Thundarr the Barbarian's is poor. Movement was sparse and stiff, there was a ton of recycled scenes (especially the ones where they're riding their horses) and animation glitches were not uncommon (keep an eye out for whenever Thundarr loses his sword hilt, you'll almost always see it show up on his wristband, even though it shouldn't be there). Still, the masterfully designed characters - and world - make this show's visuals a resounding success. Compared to the work coming out of Hanna-Barbera and even Warner Bros. at this time, I'm very impressed with the presentation and creative talent Ruby-Spears gave Thundarr.
Unfortunately, the voice acting in Thundarr is very much a product of its era. Outside of the solid work by Robert Ridgely (Thundarr) and Nelie Beliflower (Ariel), most of the voices in this show were either generic or repetitive (sometimes both). The villains were especially bad since many of them shared the same raspy, echoey voice found far too often in this genre. Equally bad was the in show music which was very recycled and unimpressive in its execution. So basically, the audio portion of Thundarr falls pretty flat. It's not horrible mind you, but doesn't rise above its peers and is often surpassed by them.
Thundarr the Barbarian is not a show I recommend for everyone. Unlike other cartoons of this time period, however, I do whole heartedly suggest that fans of the program pickup this MOD set. While many people have found themselves frustrated with the action-adventure shows of their youth, I think the potential for disappointment is far less likely here. The DVDs themselves are completely barebones - with absolutely zero extras - and the packaging/presentation is decidedly manufacture-on-demand. Still, the video quality is good - though clearly not restored - and the content more than makes up for the lack of extras.
