Studio 4°C to do ThunderCats Anime
ThunderCats, Hoooo! Warner Bros has revealed that a brand new ThunderCats series will be coming to Cartoon Network in 2011. Despite being an American-based cartoon series, WB has chosen Japanese anime studio Studio 4°C to animate it. Thus making this an American original anime, or AOA if you would. Considering that the original ThunderCats cartoon series from the 1980s also had Japanese studios help out on the animation (& that the nostalgic series is extremely popular among many American anime fans), it's only fitting to have this modern adaptation become even more anime-like.
As early as 2006, there were rumors going around that WB Animation was working on a new ThunderCats cartoon series. Though it's doubtful the series currently in development will be like what was being said back then. A year later, Warner was in talks to make a live-action movie based on the franchise. That most likely fell through as well, but a well done fan-made trailer hit the web about another year after that.
Studio 4°C is no stranger to AOAs, as Warner has contracted them several times in the past for the same thing. The two companies have previously worked together on three separate straight-to-DVD anthology titles- Halo Legends, Batman: Gotham Knight, & the Animatrix. All American properties that were given an anime twist. But now, they're doing Warner's first anime series ever. Cartoon Network (which at one point aired the original series on their Toonami block) & Warner Bros were quick to capitalize on the anime connection in their press release:
Roaring to life through WBA and Studio4°C’s use of the Japanese animated artistry of anime, “ThunderCats” characters Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, Panthro, Cheetara and others will spring off the screen with realistic cat-like characteristics inconceivable in previous incarnations.
The new “ThunderCats” will appeal to viewers who have loved the characters all their lives as well as young newcomers to the franchise. A sweeping tale combining swords and science and boasting ferocious battles with the highest of stakes, the grand origin story of Prince Lion-O’s ascension to the throne - and of those who would thwart his destiny at any cost - takes on epic dimensions in this sharp new telling. As the forces of good and evil battle each other in the quest for the fabled Stones of Power, Lion-O and his champions learn valuable lessons of loyalty, honor and mortality in every episode.
Press Release: http://site.wizardworld.com/blog/2010/06/02/breaking-news-thundercats-returns