Ask Dan Norton Anything - a ThunderCats.org Q&A

Dan Norton is the creative instigator who kept pushing for a revival of the ThunderCats franchise at Warner Brothers. He was the Art Director of the 2011 animated series and created or oversaw the creation of the character, vehicle, location designs.

Dan was central to the overarching storyline and the creative choices made for the show. We're very happy to announce that Dan has agreed to answer your questions about the ThunderCats series and about Dan and his continued adventures.

So here's your chance to pose all those questions that have been on your mind!

All you have to do is make a post in this thread with your question, and we'll create a list of questions that we'll package up and get to Dan. So get started!

Ok hmmm...

1. Obvious question is Obvious: What was the last stone and what did it do? Also where was it hidden? The flashback kinda made it look like the Tigersharks might've had it.

2. The Crew's tumblr said that Javan's whip and Tygra's bracelet worked together somehow. What did they do?

3. How did Panthro lose his tail?

4. Why didn't the Cat's have the symbols on their belts? They had them on the toys.

5. Where did Tygra's armor come from? He had normal clothes in the premiere and then suddenly had a full set of what didn't look like Thunderian armor.

6. If Bengali was supposed to be Tygra and Cheetara's kid, does that mean there was going to be a time skip on a future season?

7. Where/how did Kit get her magic flute?

8. Can you tell us about some OS characters that didn't make it into the show, but were planned to eventually be included?

9. Was the Code of Thundera ever going to be part of the show?

10. I remember reading that humans were eventually going to be introduced. How was that planned to pan out?

11. If you had it all to do all over again is there anything you would have done differently?

....Ok that's all I can think of right now. lol

For many fans the look of the original characters, vehicles, some of the tech and other designs featured in the 80s cartoon are quite iconic. So when you were coming up with the revival of the show, how did you choose to strike the balance in representing those classic designs in a new way without necessarily being repetitive while still trying to keep the feel of the original?

What are the some of the examples which were a strict no-no in terms of design overhaul while others were subjected to a more radical change? Did the studio insist on a set of guidelines or was there total freedom on the creative end?

The show had its own new mythology and overall the show was more geared towards a new generation of kids, but was there consideration or pressure so as to not alienate the older fans with the change in mythos and designs?

Was Mandora ever considered to be part of the future line up of characters?

Are there any specific characters which were decided early on that they would never be considered for future seasons?

Was there a completed new design for Cats Lair?

Check out Larry's question to Dan from Facebook

Ha..brilliant :D.

*giggles*

Did he delete it? It's not there anymore lol

Edit: nevermind I just noticed that it was a shared post he commented on and not the original.

Hi, Mr. Norton. The questions about "ThunderCats 2011" that've been on my mind go like this:

Would the ThunderCats have been able to rebuild their city of Thundera and call it "New Thundera"?

Would the Wily twins have been able to find El Dara?

Did Cheetara have a background outside of the clericy?

Who was Tygra's birth mother?

If Lion-O obtained all four Stones of Power, would he have been able to master them?

Was there a plan to broaden the power of the Sword of Omens? Would it ever be able to warn of danger, or come when summoned? That's a slippery slope as the Original Series showed in making the sword a deus ex machina constantly, but just curious if its powers were going to grow as Lion-O did.

Were the Thundercats insignias ever going to show up on their belts? If so, when? What would the meaning behind their appearance have been?

1. Would Lion-O ever find true love?

2. Were Queen Willa and the Warrior Maidens ever going to appear?

Also I think we'd all agree that a general plot synopsis for what they had planned would be nice. Other than the stuff we've already heard about the Pumyra insect thing and Lynxo vs Slythe.

Hats of to everyone involved for setting up this Q&A!

Hello Dan,

I know others have asked the same, but I'm really curious:

What characters from the original ThunderCats show that we didnt see in season 1 were going to make an appearance in season 2? And could you elaborate on the role of a few of them?

And:

Why did you choose Lynx-O to be the murderer of the hatchlings of Slythe's tribe?

Thanks!
Justin

[LIST=1]
[*]* Past and Future of Pumyra.
[*]What's the history of Bengali?
[*]* Lion-O past. How he met Snarf?
[*]* The origin of the flute.
[*]* Past and Future of Cheetara.
[*]* The role of Hachiman.
[*]What happens to the mother of the cubs?
[*]* Past and Future of Panthro.
[*]* The role of Linx-O
[*]*the role of Lynxana.
[*]*The role of Vulture and Rataro.
[*]* Jaga past.
[*]* The future of the cubs.
[*]Is there anything else besides the possession of the stones in the head of Mumm-Ra?
[*]* How will be the relationship of Cheetara and Lion-O after what happened with Pumyra.
[*]¿Tygra become enemy of Lion-O? * Tygra future.
[*]Why the armor of Tygra gives the appearance of being made ​​for someone bad as Grune?
[*]Does the couple of Lion-O will be a panther? That has to do with the past of "Leo" and "Panthera"?
[*]¿Cheetara will remain a cleric or a princess?
[*]Eldara?
[*]Mandora?
[*]The role of Mumm-Rana
[*]The role oj Jagara
[*]The role of "Silver Hawks" and Tiger Sharks.
[*]The role of the soul stone.
[*]How was the relationship of Leo and Panthera?
[*]Why the symbol of Thundera and the Sword of omens is a panther, not a lion?
[*]What about the Lunataks?
[*]The role of the Warrior Maiden.
[*]Where did Tygra got the flower he gives to Cheetara?
[/LIST]

Questions

-What was the FOURTH Stone of Power going to be???????

-Were the Silverhawks going to appear???? (since Monstar was shown)

-Was Hachiman going to appear????

-What was Mum-Ra's true origin???

1)If you were going to time jump far enough into the future for Tygra and Cheetara to have a kid(Bengali) then were you making Kit a possible love interest for Lion-O or at least that she might at least develop a crush on him?

2)Were we ever going to see the warrior maidens and were they going to be human?

3)Was it true that you guys had plans to have Mandora and the Silverhawkes?

4)Were did Wily Kit get her flute?

5)Would Kit and Kat ever find that city of treasure they kept talking about?

6)Would Cheetara ever get psychic abilities like she had in the original series?

7)Would Kit and Kat ever get any special abilities/powers?

8)What was Cheetara's backstory, family life, etc.?

9)Would Panthr-O ever get his arms back somehow?

10)What is the last stone, what does it do, and were will they find it?

11)Will Lion-o ever find love?

12)Did Panthr-O ever have a wife, kids, or any living relatives?

13)Any chance we would see the Lunataks?

14)Were we ever going to see the ghost version of Grune?

15)Would they ever get to redeem Pumyra even if they couldn't save her life?

"Dragon78, post: 96239" said:

1) then were you making Kit a possible love interest for Lion-O or at least that she might at least develop a crush on him?

Wily Kit is very small for Lion-O, I don't think they have gone so down, I think it is Willa or Nayda.:thumbsup:

Not only for Dan Norton, but for everyone here... where did you guys get this Bengali being the son of Tygra and Cheetara thing?

"Tygra_Rules, post: 96241" said:

Not only for Dan Norton, but for everyone here... where did you guys get this Bengali being the son of Tygra and Cheetara thing?

On Facebok and Dan Norton confirmed in his DA account.

After seeing how the creative choices you and others made for the 2011 pretty much led to its downfall in hindsight if you were given the chance again what would you do differently?

What led to the decision to drastically change the Thundercats origin story from the original series?

How difficult was it to get the show made in the first place, and what is the general mood/attitude at Warner Brothers surrounding ThunderCats as a property?

What was the response among the production staff (or higher-ups) to Panthro losing his arms, and was there any hesitance to showing it? It's sort of a gruesome surprise!

I noticed on the Thundercats 2011 wiki page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThunderCats_(2011_TV_series)#Post-Cancellation_Info) that it mentions that Mummra would have tricked the Thunderkittens into giving him the sword so that he could send them to El Dara. I don't remember this being mentioned before and couldn't find it in the link that the wiki cites. I was just wondering if that was indeed the plan?

Also, what do you think WB's plans are for Thundercats in the future? Do you think they will make another run at a cartoon, movie, comic etc? Also, do you know if they had any plans for the upcoming 30th anniversary?