Back in the 1990s - there was another cartoon series I enjoyed on CARTOON NETWORK namely Thundarr the Barbarian. It was sometime before the 1981 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon. Just take note that's before the very bloody Conan the Barbarian (1982) adult film. I'm going to revisit this cartoon for the heck of it. It's a very old cartoon as evidenced by the lower budget animation style.
The story is set in a ridiculously distant time in 3994 A.D. In 1994, a runaway planet caused a drift and the world supposedly ended in 1994. Talk about the funny thing that I was watching it in the 1990s! The series created a world that combined science and sorcery. Who says you can't have both science and sorcery? I never thought that the show became before He-Man. In a way, Thundarr's design inspired He-Man's design. He-Man also combined science fiction to the sword and sorcery genre.
The show only had 21 episodes. I mean freaking only 21 episodes. I decided to watch the final episode and... THAT'S IT? I guess that's been the problem of most American cartoons. Many times, I wanted to see a grand finale but you don't get it. I'm still upset at how Pirates of the Dark Water and Galtar and the Golden Lance ended. Instead, there was no ending for those shows. We never got to see the dark waters disperse. We never got to see Galtar finally defeat Tormac. In the case of Thundarr, the heroic character only fought one last wizard named Vashtarr, and the whole show got canceled.
Most the show villains were one-offers. Even the final villain Vashtarr was just a one-time villain. However, one villain that I took to liking was the villain Gemini. Gemini had two faces which altered depending on the situation. With the late Jack Kirby involved - it's no surprise that Gemini beras a resemblance to Darkseid from DC Comics fame. Gemini was the closest thing to Thundarr having an archenemy. It seems that Gemini was going to be the main enemy as evidenced by the opening.
Instead, the show got canceled. I would've wanted to see Gemini return after his second encounter. It'd be interesting if Gemini and Thundarr had a final battle. Instead, the whole show's cancellation left the show hanging. The show was a hit but it was canceled to make way for other things. I guess not so many have heard of this show.
I still think Thundarr did provide hints on what not to do. Eventually, we got the 1980s He-Man cartoon. The show managed to be more vibrant and colorful. Also, unlike Thundarr, He-Man had a defining recurring enemy in Skeletor.
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