Is there a chance it died?

Is it normal for a franchise series to be announced and then not followed up on for months? I'm asking sincerely since I don't usually follow new series development.

We're all aware that the announcement for Thundercats Roar was met with an astoundingly negative reaction. Is it possible that The Powers That Be decided to just shelve the whole thing and move on? Is it normal for there to be no additional news, interviews, promos, etc. at this point? I suppose if the plan is for the show to debut in the fall, then perhaps we are still too far away. Having said that, I believe that the announcement having plenty of finished animation to show the audience was not an accident; they clearly wanted to test what the response would be for this extreme departure for Thundercats. We all know how that went. I think its possible that WB and CN decided to not continue, quietly walk away and hope the whole thing is forgotten.

I am interested in hearing if others have any thoughts on this.

You won't believe it but just a couple of days ago I was wondering the same thing. How come there is literally no news regarding ThunderCats Roar since its debut announcement almost a year ago? That does sound a bit strange.

I don't think I've heard of any show getting cancelled because of negative reaction on the promo only. I've heard of shows getting canceled after first season and some after only one episode but never at the promo stage. But it's not impossible I guess. Maybe WB and CN are making some changes to it? Maybe they are going ahead as planned but not making any further announcements due to fear of more fan backlash? Or like you said, maybe they have decided to quietly walk away from it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I thought the show was going to debut in Spring?

"Wilycub, post: 127508, member: 25043" said:

You won't believe it but just a couple of days ago I was wondering the same thing. How come there is literally no news regarding ThunderCats Roar since its debut announcement almost a year ago? That does sound a bit strange.

I don't think I've heard of any show getting cancelled because of negative reaction on the promo only. I've heard of shows getting canceled after first season and some after only one episode but never at the promo stage. But it's not impossible I guess. Maybe WB and CN are making some changes to it? Maybe they are going ahead as planned but not making any further announcements due to fear of more fan backlash? Or like you said, maybe they have decided to quietly walk away from it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I thought the show was going to debut in Spring?

I agree that I have never heard of a show or film being cancelled at the reaction of a promo, however, I feel that this may be something of an unprecedented occurrence. What I mean is that, in all situations I can think of, the typical process for rolling-out a new franchise show or movie goes like this:

- Project is announced. Maybe the names of some of the creative team are given out along with a statement from them saying something to the effect of "We really want to make this good." Some people are excited, some people are a little cautious, and then of course there is always the onslaught of fans who are typically never happy and insist that the last show/movie around the franchise was better and should be followed up on or that the franchise should just be left alone, etc.

- Some months go by. Maybe the fans get a sneak peek from filming locations, or maybe some designs from the project leak out. Either way, the reactions, with some variability regarding the percentages of who-lands-where go about the same; Some are excited, some are unsure, some are positive it will kill the franchise/their childhood/their reason to go on living/the rules of the physical universe, etc.

- Finally we get an actual preview that shows major facets of the finished project. Typically, the same mixed reaction happens as stated above but usually by this point people have had time to sit with the idea of the project, especially if it is going to be a radical departure from what came before. Either way, this moment usually happens once either many episodes are already in the can or (in the case of films) has already been completed if not nearly completed. In other words, even if public reaction is fairly negative, the project will still come out one way or another.

In the case of Thundercats Roar, no one had any inkling that a new show was even in the works. At least, I didn't. I'll be honest; Never in my life have I experienced such a feeling of excitement matched with immediate disappointment as when I read the headline "New Thundercats Series Coming..." and then looked down to see the character artwork under the headline. It was very jarring and I don't think I was alone. Now I can't say for sure, but it might have gone differently if word first came out that a "new Thundercats series is being developed to be based on comedy" and then, months later, animation and design were revealed. Even as I typed that I suspect that it wouldn't have changed things very much.

Still, my point stands that this situation is very different. The only project I'm aware of that comes even close is The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance in the sense that a promo was released and a date of 2018 was given along with a very brief synopsis. Now, of course the promo did not show any new work but overall I believe the public was excited. Well, 2018 came and went and I think it was only at the tail end of 2018 that we got some more news along with the voice-acting cast, etc. I don't even know if this applies to my point. I must just be rambling, I apologize.

In this era of information, has there ever been another instance where a known property just announced a new project from out of nowhere along with seemingly finished designs and animation/footage?

Very well said, BB! I remember the huge fan backlash that followed the announcement of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. Anti-Craig websites were created, petitions were signed and what-not. But the studio went ahead and made the movie, released it and it became a huge hit. A number of TV shows also received a lot of negative feedback when they were announced, either due to casting choices or plot changes, but even then the studios proceeded (sometimes making a few changes) and released the show. If the ratings/viewership was bad, then it would get cancelled.

What I'm trying to say is that if the studios have faith in their project and especially if they already have some of it already shot, then they will release it, irrespective of what people say. But with "Thundercats Roar", I'm not sure of either of those things. I don't think WB and CN really have a lot of faith (or put a lot of thought and heart) into this show. If they did, it certainly doesn't feel that way. Like you said, the more likely scenario would have been first only announcing that they are working on a new TC show and then every week/month or so we would get more and more info and previews.

But with TR, it's like they just got the idea for the show one day, quickly put together a promo and made the announcement. It doesn't seem like something that was in the works for a long time, like pretty much every other show. I remember hearing/reading that the promo itself was put together quite quickly and in just a matter of days. That itself seems fishy. Also in the promo the only complete piece of animation was the title sequence segment (inspired by the 80s title sequence). We didn't get a glimpse of any scenes from a single episode which makes me wonder if they even had completed an episode at that time. If not, then it is highly likely (following the backlash) that they decided to can the series altogether, and hence we haven't heard anything about it.

Or it is quite possible that WB and CN intentionally created just the promo to test the waters, and after seeing the reaction, decided not to go ahead with it. Again this is all speculation on my part.

With the reaction from the fans I wouldn't be surprised if WB shelved/cancelled the project.
Thundercats Roar seems more like a desperate attempt to cash in on the trend of shows like Adventure Time, Steven Universe and Teen Titans Go.
Thundercats Roar reminds me also of an attempt to follow Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Granted the fans of TMNT haven't been overly enthusiastic towards ROTTMNT but nowhere near the fans reaction to Roar.
I do know that ROTTMNT was in development for around two years before it debuted on TV.
Even with the fans reaction Nickelodeon still built hype for the show and allowing different companies to release various merchandise based on ROTTMNT and the movies and classic cartoon. Yet WB are the complete opposite and have remained silent with no information on the Roar cartoon or and merchandise.

"Mark M, post: 127518, member: 5058" said:

With the reaction from the fans I wouldn't be surprised if WB shelved/cancelled the project.
Thundercats Roar seems more like a desperate attempt to cash in on the trend of shows like Adventure Time, Steven Universe and Teen Titans Go.
Thundercats Roar reminds me also of an attempt to follow Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Granted the fans of TMNT haven't been overly enthusiastic towards ROTTMNT but nowhere near the fans reaction to Roar.
I do know that ROTTMNT was in development for around two years before it debuted on TV.
Even with the fans reaction Nickelodeon still built hype for the show and allowing different companies to release various merchandise based on ROTTMNT and the movies and classic cartoon. Yet WB are the complete opposite and have remained silent with no information on the Roar cartoon or and merchandise.

The thing with the TMNT franchise is that unlike ThunderCats, they have been creating a new TV series every couple of years since the debut of the first cartoon series. This way the franchise is always alive. Also with every series, they try something different, whether it is the look/design or the story. Some have been great, others not so much. But even if a TMNT series turns out to be really bad, the fans don't worry to much or get overly angry because they know that pretty soon a new and different series will be launched.

With ThunderCats, once the original series ended, it seemed like that was it for the franchise. Then when the 2011 series was announced, naturally fan expectations were sky high because the span between the two was almost three decades. That series too was cancelled prematurely, angering fans even further. Almost a decade later and we get announcement of ThunderCats Roar, something totally different than what a lot of fans were expecting. So the backlash is not in the least bit surprising.

If TCats had been treated the same way as TMNT i.e. a new series every now and then, then there wouldn't have been that much backlash for TCats Roar because even if fans had disliked the look and tone of the show, they would have known that a new different series would be round the corner and they could forget about the one that they did not like. But with TCats, every time a new series is announced (after a long break), fans want it to be the best of the best (a difficult thing to do) and there is enormous hype surrounding it. So if it doesn't match those expectations, it gets cancelled and fans feel that they might never get another series ever.

"Wilycub, post: 127520, member: 25043" said:

The thing with the TMNT franchise is that unlike ThunderCats, they have been creating a new TV series every couple of years since the debut of the first cartoon series. This way the franchise is always alive. Also with every series, they try something different, whether it is the look/design or the story. Some have been great, others not so much. But even if a TMNT series turns out to be really bad, the fans don't worry to much or get overly angry because they know that pretty soon a new and different series will be launched.

With ThunderCats, once the original series ended, it seemed like that was it for the franchise. Then when the 2011 series was announced, naturally fan expectations were sky high because the span between the two was almost three decades. That series too was cancelled prematurely, angering fans even further. Almost a decade later and we get announcement of ThunderCats Roar, something totally different than what a lot of fans were expecting. So the backlash is not in the least bit surprising.

If TCats had been treated the same way as TMNT i.e. a new series every now and then, then there wouldn't have been that much backlash for TCats Roar because even if fans had disliked the look and tone of the show, they would have known that a new different series would be round the corner and they could forget about the one that they did not like. But with TCats, every time a new series is announced (after a long break), fans want it to be the best of the best (a difficult thing to do) and there is enormous hype surrounding it. So if it doesn't match those expectations, it gets cancelled and fans feel that they might never get another series ever.

Exactly. I am a pretty big fan of TMNT as well (Hey Mark M., I don't post a lot but I've seen you over on the Technodrome forums, haven't I?), and being a fan of TMNT can be a lot more fun if only because there is such a plethora of media, toys, merchandise and collectibles. If one had to live on the substance of a franchise alone, fans of TMNT (and Transformers, Power Rangers, etc.) would be fat, happy and have enough nourishment stocked up to survive the Zombie apocalypse. Fans of Thundercats meanwhile would be hospitalized, meagerly surviving on the occasional outlying figure releases (think Funko, TLS or Mattell) that usually do not even constitute a full meal. Forget about fans of Silverhawks or Captain Planet - they are being kept alive by machines in a special ward just waiting to have their organs donated to people who need them. I may have lost the metaphor somewhere.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also rolled out in the typical way. We were told first that it would be happening, the new angle the creators were going with, etc. and then we slowly saw new stuff come out. All the while we were mostly still chowing down on the overall satisfying 2012 series. When you're sitting around bloated from a great Thanksgiving dinner, its not that upsetting when the chef tells you next week we may only be eating fish sticks.

One thing did occur to me, though. If WB and CN has decided to entirely pull the plug, wouldn't they take down their announcement video on YouTube? I just looked and it is still there with currently 1.8k likes and...24k dislikes.

"ButterflyBoy, post: 127522, member: 16168" said:

Exactly. I am a pretty big fan of TMNT as well (Hey Mark M., I don't post a lot but I've seen you over on the Technodrome forums, haven't I?)...

No not me, I am not a member there. I should probably join it at some point.

I do agree with both of you [USER=16168]@ButterflyBoy[/USER] and [USER=25043]@Wilycub[/USER] the problem with Thundercats is that Roar would only be the third Thundercats cartoon in the franchise.
WB should have been doing something with the Thundercats franchise over the years instead of leaving it to dwindle to what it has become.
Transformers, TMNT, Power Rangers even Scooby-Doo have always kept a media presence with TV shows, movies, comics, toys and video games. That is why they are still so successful.
Just look at Toy Fair a few weeks ago. The new Transformers, Power Rangers and TMNT toys looked amazing. Maybe if WB had done things different with Thundercats we could be getting similar products. Instead Thundercats fans have Roar and the possibility of Mattel continuing the Classics.

I have only seen a few episodes of ROTTMNT and overall I wasn't impressed. It really isn't the quality of the 2012 series which was amazing, but it's something different, they can't keep doing the same thing over and over. It's quite commendable they are trying new animation, origin, weapons, personalities etc. ROTTMNT is aimed at kids and I am cool with that as I know eventually, and if the rumours are true, TMNT will have more movies and shows geared towards the adult audience.
With Roar it seems to be more of a parody of the original which I doubt kids can really relate to without knowing the original.

Maybe with Roar being aimed at the younger audience WB will take risks and also create content for more mature fans.

I was really shocked when I found out WB were releasing a direct-to-DVD sequel movie to The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo called Scooby-Doo and the Curse of the 13th Ghost. The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo is some what regarded as one of the least popular series in the franchise, although I personally really like it. But yet WB actually made a sequel movie finishing off the story of the series, capturing the 13th ghost. The sequel movie was really good. :)

Maybe WB will do something similar with Thundercats and finish off the 2011 series with a direct-to-DVD movie. Or perhaps create a series of animated movies based on the original designs like the DC animated movies etc for the more adult fans.

Coincidently much like the somewhat unfavourable reaction from the fans towards Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles aimed at the younger viewers WB are making an animated movie of Batman vs TMNT aimed at more mature fans.
[USER=25043]@Wilycub[/USER] can you actually believe this is real and getting released soon. :biggrin
[MEDIA=youtube]dLZXFHIjZEY[/MEDIA]
Maybe a this could even lead to a Thundercats/He-Man crossover movie.:rolleyes:

[USER=5058]@Mark M[/USER] I saw on someone's Facebook page a picture of Batman vs TMNT and thought that this was just another fan art. After reading your above post I realized that this is a reality. The animation looks very good!

[USER=25043]@Wilycub[/USER] there was a cross over comic a year ago and I knew of it but haven't read it. When I seen rumours of a cross over movie a few months back I thought it was just a rumour and never thought any more about it. Then I also seen the trailer up on Facebook and at first thought it was something a fan created but then found out it is a real official movie.
I hope the rumours of Netflix doing a new reboot of the live action movies is also true. :D

I am pretty sure Roar is still a go. Jim Meskimen wrote something not too long ago about being involved in an episode and artist Joey McCormick recently posted a silly drawing of Mumm-ra farting.

Call me crazy, or an incurable crack addict, but I have always wanted to see a Scooby-Doo ThunderCats movie. Good Lord they did it with KISS (*LOVE* KISS like you wouldn't believe, no disrespect intended) so I feel anything is up for grabs now. I have had mixed feelings about ThunderCats Roar!, but at this point I'll take anything 'Cats related and hope the interest in the franchise itself will make for a new, more serious series that a studio/network will actually finish.

Does anyone know when the show will air?
Larry Kenny said sometime this spring! :panthro

"Originalthundercatroar, post: 127799, member: 584" said:

Call me crazy, or an incurable crack addict, but I have always wanted to see a Scooby-Doo ThunderCats movie. Good Lord they did it with KISS (*LOVE* KISS like you wouldn't believe, no disrespect intended) so I feel anything is up for grabs now. I have had mixed feelings about ThunderCats Roar!, but at this point I'll take anything 'Cats related and hope the interest in the franchise itself will make for a new, more serious series that a studio/network will actually finish.

I had the same thought about a Scooby-Doo/ThunderCats crossover, albeit in comic form. ;)