Thundarr the Barbarian the 1983 animated series

Thundarr the Barbarian the 1983 animated series

Thundarr the barbarian is an American Saturday Morning animated series created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series aired for two seasons on ABC from October 4, 1980 to October 31, 1981, and was rerun on NBC in 1983.

Thundarr the Barbarian is set in a future (c. 3994) post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories - most of which are ruled by wizards - and whose ruins exhibit geographic features typically recognizable from the United States, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Denver, Atlanta, Boston, San Antonio and its Alamo, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Cape Canaveral and the Grand Canyon. Other episodes with recognizable settings are set outside of the United States and include Mexico and London, United Kingdom. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken into two pieces. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were caused by the passage of a fleeing planet between Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from the scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in climate and geography. of the Earth. However, over the time period in which the series is set, the Earth and the Moon appear to have stabilized in a new physical balance. The Earth is reborn as "New Earth", a world of "ferocity, superscience and witchcraft" much more chaotic than "Old Earth" (the name of the show for the pre-apocalyptic world).

The hero Thundarr, a muscular warrior, and his companions, Princess Ariel, a formidable young sorceress, and Ookla the Mok, a powerful lion-like biped, travel the world on horseback, fighting injustice. Their main opponents are evil wizards who combine magical spells with revive technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. [3] Some of these evil wizards enlist the service of some mutant species to carry out their orders.

Other enemies include The Brotherhood of Night (a group of werewolves who could turn others into werewolves with their touch), The Stars Cosmic Stalker (a predatory and malevolent cosmic vampire), and various other mutants. Intelligent humanoid-animal races are the rat-like Groundlings, the crocodile-like Carocs, and speaking Hawk - and pig-like mutants. New animals that existed include fire-shooting whales, a giant green snake with a grizzly bear's head, and mutated dragonflies and rabbits.

Thundarr's favorite weapon, the Sunsword, projects a blade-like energy beam when activated and can be deactivated so that it's just a hilt. The Sunsword's energy blade can deflect other energy attacks than magical ones, can cut almost anything, and can interrupt spells and magical effects. The Sunsword is magically linked to Thundarr and as such, only he can use it; however, this link can be broken. 

Comic book writer and artist Jack Kirby worked on the design for the show. The main characters were drawn by fellow comic writer-artist Alex Toth. Toth, however, was not available to continue working on the show, so most of the wizards and other villains and secondary characters appearing on the show were designed by Kirby. He was brought into the show on the recommendation of comic writer Steve Gerber and Mark Evanier. 

The series was the creation of Steve Gerber. Gerber and friend Martin Pasko were having dinner in the Westwood area one evening while Gerber was developing the series. Gerber commented to Pasko that he hadn't yet decided on a name for the wookiee-like character that the network insisted on adding to the series, despite Gerber's objections. As the two walked past the UCLA campus gate, Pasko joked: "Why don't you call him Oo-clah?" Pasko later became one of several writers also known for their work in comics, such as Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, to contribute to the show. After writing several scripts, individually and in collaboration with Gerber, Pasko became a story editor in the second season. Other writers included Buzz Dixon and Mark Jones 

Characters

Thundarr

The main protagonist of the series. He is a barbarian who was once a slave to Sabian until he was freed by Princess Ariel and given the Sword of the Sun which he uses as a weapon in his fight against evil wizards and other villains. Thundarr was known to frequently utter such statements as "Demonic Dogs!", "Lords of Light!", And his war cry "Aaaaa-HEE!". Thundarr, along with his friend Ookla, are largely oblivious to the world and rely on Ariel's guidance, but Thundarr is respectful of the knowledge gained.

Okla the Mok

Ookla is a member of the Mok species, a lion humanoid with fangs and yellow eyes. In Thundarr the Barbarian's backstory, Ookla and Thundarr were enslaved at the court of the wizard Sabian until Sabian's stepdaughter Princess Ariel helped them escape. Like Mok, Ookla has great strength, usually fighting by ripping off a nearby sapling or piece of scrap to beat up his enemies. On some occasions he is shown using a longbow that shoots a paralyzing type of arrow. However, he is also the most likely of the heroes to charge directly into an enemy attack or to be enraged by unusual annoyance or threats. The moks inhabit their territory, ruled by a king; they fear and hate water. Although they prefer to face dangers on land rather than travel on water, in extreme cases they can be persuaded to fight on water. While Ariel generally understands Ookla, Thundaar is more knowledgeable about Ookla, possibly because they became friends and worked together during the time they were enslaved. While Thundarr and Ariel ride horses for carriage (his is white, his is brown), Ookla's steed is another quadrupedal species called an equort.

Princess Ariel

Ariel is a powerful sorceress. Not much was revealed about her past before she met Thundarr, except that she was the stepdaughter of an evil wizard named Sabian. She learned about the history of the Earth from her library, and therefore is considered the "academic" of the group. In the episode "Battle of The Barbarians", it is revealed that Thundarr was once a slave to the evil wizard Sabian before being freed by Princess Ariel. It was never revealed exactly where a princess was. The most common feats of magic involved creating constructs of light, such as arches and bridges, exploding spheres and levitating weights to evoke nets, screens or bridges over chasms. It could also produce powerful bursts of energy, blinding light, and magically revived machines. When his wrists are tied together, he cannot use his magic and is vulnerable to capture. Sometimes he shows romantic feelings towards Thundarr; even though he never gives them back outwardly, it is clear that he cares a lot about her and considers her an important member of the team. Ariel's clothing consists of knee-high boots, wrist bracelets and a cyan (with yellow trim) swimsuit with an open back and bare legs reminiscent of a bathing suit.

Created by Steve Gerber, Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
Developed by Steve Gerber
Written dto Buzz Dixon, Martin Pasko, Mark Evanier, Ted Pedersen, Steve Gerber, Christopher Vane, Roy Thomas
Directed by Charles A. Nichols, John Kimball, Rudy Larriva
Voice actors Robert Ridgely, Nellie Bellflower, Henry Corden, Narrated by Dick Tufeld
country of origin United States
Number of seasons 2
Number of episodes 21
Production
Executive producers Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Jerry Eisenberg, Ruby Spears
Distributor
Filmways, Taft Broadcasting (season 2), Warner Bros.
Original ABC network
Data October 4, 1980 - October 31, 1981

Source: wikipedia