One of the most memorable eras for animated series is the 1980s. Thundarr The Barbarian, a story set in a dystopian future of 3994 AD where the planet is a wrecked wasteland, is one of the series that helped spark it. Thundarr, Princess Ariel, and Ookla the Mok, three pals, travel on adventures in this wilderness.
Steve Gerber conceived the show, which was produced by Ruby-Spears Production. It lasted two seasons, with thirteen episodes in the first and eight in the second. It’s a shame it’s no longer available.
Thundarr The Barbarian quickly became a classic show that drew inspiration from a number of noteworthy works and went on to inspire other works in the future, including He-Man. In this video, we’ll discuss why the show is such an 80s classic. We’ll discuss our primary characters as well as some fascinating facts about them.
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What Makes Thundarr The Barbarian A Glory Of 80s Cartoons?
Thundarr The Barbarian hit the screens in the year 1980. It created a huge shift in the cartoon category of visual entertainment since the animated series that came out during the late 70s in America were often, not that good. Of course, you can blame budgetary issues for that alongside comedy that was gradually getting stale with the audience.
In the 60s, the Hanna-Barbera style of stagnant animation revolutionized the game. With animation being super expensive before Ronald Raegan’s time as President, Hanna-Barbera began to use static backgrounds to cut down on costs. Gradually, the limited movement became a coveted style in itself with the characters performing very limited motions against stationary backgrounds.
Things have changed a lot today and Western cartoons excel in fluid motion as they adhere to the framerate of twenty-four frames per second. However, things weren’t so different in the 80s itself. As a result of this, Thundarr the Barbarian wasn’t VERY different from the Hanna-Barbera shows it took animation inspiration from.
If you assume that this can reduce the splendor of the series, then that’s not true. We’ve already mentioned how that particular limited movement style became a coveted art form in itself. For example, Japan tends to use this technique for anime since their budgets are often a lot less compared to Western cartoons like The Legend of Korra. But that doesn’t hinder anime’s popularity at all and in fact, the 6 to 12 frames per second framerate motion in their animation has helped solidify its popularity. The same can be said for Thundarr The Barbarian.
Being a work of the early 80s, the people didn’t have other, more fluid works of animation to compare it against. On top of that, its plot and setting are what helped make Thundarr The Barbarian a cut above the rest. It took direct inspiration from several comic books such as Flash Gordon and R.E. Howard’s Conan the Barbarian.
The story, as we know, is set in a dystopian future, namely, 3994 AD. The Earth is a wasteland that has been divided into territories, with each territory being a kingdom. A majority of these kingdoms have wizards as rulers.
At the forefront, we have Thundarr himself. He was inspired by comic book heroes like Thor. He is muscular and possesses a powered weapon called the Sunsword, which can carry out several marvelous feats.
Cartoons and fantasy action plots are no strangers to having a trio at the forefront so it is no surprise that Thundarr fights his battles with his two friends – a sorceress called Princess Ariel and Ookla the Mok, a strong lion-ish creature that walks on two legs.
Even before the world from Thundarr had turned into a dystopian wasteland, it was set in a future. The future of 1994, which ironically close to 28 years into the past now. A runaway planet from outer space hurled itself between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which caused widespread cosmic destruction. Humanity was ruined, the Earth’s geography was turned over its head, and the moon was split. Two thousand years pass by and the Earth is reborn once again. But it’s nothing like the world that existed before the catastrophe.
This new world is overrun by sorcery, extremely advanced science, and savages. And in this world full of savages, Thundarr The Barbarian, a former slave who escaped captivity, wants to fight for justice. As a result, he fights the evil sorcerers with his two friends and his prized weapon.
Notable in the setting is its constant visual references to original historic places in the United States of America. The show depicts New York City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Mount Rushmore among several others places. However, they are all in ruins from the cosmic destruction and the subsequent passage of time.
The moon also looks slightly different. Following the split from the runaway planet, the stray pieces of the moon were drawn together by gravity and they closely resemble what the moon once was. The world has changed but it has settled into a new balance.
With Ruby-Spears at work, it is no secret that Thundarr The Barbarian will feature comedy, which is also a prevalent characteristic in cartoons. However, the production company’s comedic works in animation, which was prevalent throughout the 70s, weren’t seen in the best of the lights. Primarily due to its monotonous nature. And if you want an adventure series, you have to break the monotone.
And so, Ruby-Spears sought out Steve Gerber, a comic legend who excelled at writing action and had contributed to notable works such as Howard the Duck and Marvel’s Iron Man, Sub-Mariner, and Daredevil. For Thundarr, he contributed to setting the tone for the show with its sorcery blended with the sci-fi world. Even the villains, who are wizards, incorporate advanced science into their physiologies. There is Mindok the Mind Menace, a scientist from the pre-cataclysm world who lost his body but retained his mind via artificial means. Cyborg wizards aren’t out of the norm either. But the show has organic villains such as amphibious warriors, and werewolves as well.
You could call the show’s choppy animation a blessing in disguise. Visual mediums as versatile as animation can be splendid enough to not require a strong plot at all. Even if they do have a strong plot, the animation takes things to a whole new level. So when you don’t have the budget to pull off animation to its highest levels, you have to make your plot and design your strongest suit.
For Thundarr The Barbarian, legendary comic book artist Alex Toth came through with some of the designs and brought this futuristic fantasy aesthetic to life. He was joined by another legend, Jack Kirby. This is the man who has created Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Darkseid, Professor X, and the list goes on. With the reins of design in his hands, Thundarr The Barbarian was catapulted to atmospheric levels.
Unfortunately, the show ended up having only twenty-one episodes. If it had come out later, the popularity of Star Wars would surely help increase the popularity of Thundarr. And a higher production budget could also allow the show to be extended beyond the few episodes that we have seen. But nevertheless, it set itself apart by bringing a fresh wave of novelty to the Western animation industry.
Thundarr The Barbarian: The Protagonists Of The Series
With a rich background and lore for this fantasy sci-fi, we must dive into the main trio who are ever-present throughout this story.
Thundarr
Starting with the protagonist himself, Thundarr is a hot-headed man with a strong sense of loyalty. He became a slave quite early into his life and was forced to fight as a gladiator. He was also the favorite gladiator of the evil wizard named Sabian.
The wizard had an adopted daughter, Ariel. Thundarr eventually became friends with her and Ookla and with her help, managed to escape following a slave revolt. After this, the three of them began to fight the oppression and enslavement across their world. They freed the people and fought the evil wizards.
He has been created under the image of heroes such as Thor and Conan The Barbarian. He is a muscular man with blond hair and carries a sword called the Sunsword. He was given this sword by Ariel herself so that he could defeat the wizard that kept him as a convict.
The blade of the Sunsword is made of pure energy, which makes it super formidable. It can deflect magical and technological blasts, and sorcery spells, cut through any material barring the Swamp Beast’s shoulder and bronze with ease, and project energy blasts itself.
Thundarr can ignite and extinguish the blade with his mental commands. In fact, any wielder can, provided they charge it themselves at the Pool of Power.
With this sword by his side, Thundarr is a force to be reckoned with. And just like most textbook heroes, Thundarr is also a reckless man who charges at his opponents without thinking much and picks the strongest ones for battle. However, he is smart enough to know when to retreat unless his friends are in mortal danger.
Princess Ariel
Princess Ariel is the adopted daughter of the evil wizard Sabian and a friend of Thundarr’s. She learnt a lot about the history of the Earth and also about magic while studying in her father’s library. She is also the one who freed Thundarr and Ookla and is now the brains of their trio.
It is teased that Ariel may have oriental origins. As a sorcerer, she is quite formidable and has often beaten several evil wizards in duels, namely, Striya and the Abyss Wizard. She can animate objects and machinery, teleport herself, levitate others, create energy blasts and spheres, and manipulate matter to an extent. She can also hypnotize others to make them reveal secrets. She’s not the one to mess with.
Ariel also has a crush on Thundarr but he seems to care for her dearly in a very platonic way. Welcome to the friendzone Ariel.
Ookla
Similar to Thundarr, Ookla the Mok was also a captive of Sabian. He is insanely strong and can easily rip heavy objects apart. He has the face of a lion and the body of a human with ape-like strength.
He often uses a long box with arrows that can paralyze his opponent. He communicates by howling and both Thundarr and Ariel seem to understand him perfectly. Similar to how your friend can speak nonsense but you will still understand them.
For transportation, he sits atop a four-legged creature from the equort species. These creatures are horses with reptilian features.
Interesting Facts About The Series
Thundarr The Barbarian has a fantastic roster when it comes to the people involved in its making. And with so many legendary heads working on the same project, several interesting things have been born in and out of the series.
The Origin Of Ookla’s Name
Our humanoid lion and monkey hybrid is slightly reminiscent of the Star Wars character Chewbacca. He was named by the creator Steve Gerber and his friend after two things, a puppet character named Kukla from Kukla, Fran, and Ollie and the abbreviation of the University of California, Los Angeles that is UCLA. Why someone would refer to UCLA to name a character is a mystery, but an interesting fact nonetheless.
The Writers Of The Storyline
Some of the legends who were involved with creating the storyline for Thundarr The Barbarian alongside Steve Gerber were Martin Pasko, Buzz Dixon, Ted Petersen, Mark Evanier, and Christopher Vane.
The names are recognizable as Mark Evanier has previously worked on Garfield and Friends. Meanwhile, Buzz Dixon is the one who worked on Alvin And The Chipmunks, the original Transformers, and the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Gemini’s Uncanny Resemblance To Darkseid
Jack Kirby has designed most of the characters for the series. Having created Darkseid for DC, Kirby decided to somewhat base one of his bigger villains, the cyborg known as Gemini, on his iconic Apokoliptian supervillain Darkseid.
As a result, Gemini could should laser beams out of his eyes, much like Darkseid’s Omega Beams.
Ariel’s Kryptonite
Ariel is smart, charming, and extremely powerful. With her vast knowledge on sorcery and her several abilities, it might feel like there’s nothing that she cannot do. However, characters having a weakness or two helps add some spice to the story. And so, Ariel also has a weakness which resembles that of Wonder Woman’s.
Since she needs to use her hands to cast her spells, tying her hands together is an easy way to neutralize the threat she poses.
The Reason Behind The Show’s Cancellation
Thundarr The Barbarian has only twenty-one episodes. Despite its high ratings, it was discontinued. For long, many believed that this happened since the show had violence. As it was targeted towards children, the violence from the action could not fly under the radar.
However, this was proven to be false by Mark Evanier, who claimed that the show was cancelled so the Laverne & Shirley In The Army could air.
Thundarr The Barbarian made history despite having only twenty one episodes. This is a testament to how marvelous the show is from an entertainment and a technical standpoint.
And with that, today’s video comes to an end. What did you think of Thundarr The Barbarian? Did you enjoy this video? If yes, then don’t forget to like and comment on this video. Till then, goodbye. And have a nice one!