Following the release of “Godzilla vs. Kong”, it was revealed that director Adam Wingard is set to helm the hybrid film of the hit 1980s cartoon series, “ThunderCats”.
The project, which has been developing under Dan Lin and Vertigo’s Roy Lee – the same producers of Wingard’s “Death Note”, will be presented as a hybrid of CGI and animation, and will focus on the ThunderCats fleeing their dying home planet of Thundera.
Speaking about the project with Deadline, Wingard admitted that it was a passion project for him.
“Nobody on this planet knows or has thought as much about ThunderCats as I have. They gave me the reins. I saw this as an opportunity to do a new type of fantasy sci-fi spectacle film that people have never seen before. It’s got a rich mythology; the characters are fantastic. The colours. I want to do a ThunderCats film that takes you back to that ‘80s aesthetic. I don’t want to reinvent the way they look; I want them to look like ThunderCats,” he said.
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| Lion-O with the Sword of Omens |
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| Adam Wingard to helm the upcoming animation project |
As to why he chose CGI and animation instead of live-action, the director stated that he didn’t want the movie to look like the Tom Hooper flop, “Cats”.
“I don’t want those kinds of issues — no disrespect to that director, whom I don’t mean to throw under the bus any more than everyone else has. I want to do a movie you’ve never seen before. A hybrid CGI film that has a hyper real look and somehow bridges the gap between cartoon and CGI. That’s the starting point, and Simon Barrett and I are getting into the script now,” he added.
First aired in 1985, “ThunderCats” is an American animated television series that was produced by Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment and Leisure Concepts based on the characters created by Ted “Tobin” Wolf. The series follows the adventures of a group of catlike humanoid aliens living on the planet Thundera.
Although the original series ended in 1989, it was rebooted back in 2011 to 2012, and later as a lighter Cartoon Network show, “ThunderCats Roar”.
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| “ThunderCats Roar” was a much more fun comedic premise than its predecessor |
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| 2011’s “ThunderCats” looks more like an anime |