Thundarr the Barbarian
Thundarr the Barbarian is an American Saturday morning animated series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran for two seasons on ABC from October 4, 1980 to October 31, 1981, and was rerun on NBC in 1983.
Plot
Thundarr the Barbarian is set in a future post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories — the majority of which are ruled by wizards – and whose ruins typically feature recognizable geographical features from the United States, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Seattle, the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Denver, Atlanta, Boston, San Antonio and its Alamo, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Cape Canaveral, and the Grand Canyon. Other episodes with recognizable settings are set outside the United States, include Mexico and London, U.K.. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken in two pieces. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were caused by the passage of a runaway planet between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth's climate and geography. However, by the time period in which the series is set, the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new physical balance. Earth is reborn as "New Earth", a world of "savagery, super-science, and sorcery" far more chaotic than "Old Earth".The hero Thundarr, a muscular warrior, whose companions include Princess Ariel, a formidable young sorceress, and Ookla the Mok, travel the world on horseback, battling mostly evil wizards who combine magical spells with reanimating technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. Some of these malevolent wizards enlist the service of certain mutant species to do their bidding.
Other enemies include The Brotherhood of Night, the cosmic Stalker from The Stars, and various other mutants. Intelligent humanoid-animal races include the rat-like Groundlings, the crocodile-like Carocs, and talking 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 weapon of choice, the Sunsword, projects a blade-like beam of energy when activated, and can be deactivated so that it is only a hilt. The Sunsword's energy blade can deflect other energy attacks as well as magical ones, can cut through nearly anything, and can disrupt magical spells and effects. The Sunsword is magically linked to Thundarr and as such, only he can use it; however, this link can be disrupted.
Comic book writer-artist Jack Kirby worked on the production design for the show. The main characters were designed by fellow comic book writer-artist Alex Toth. Toth, however, was unavailable to continue working on the show, so most of the wizards and other villains and secondary characters that appear on the show were designed by Kirby. He was brought onto the show at 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 night during the time Gerber was developing the series. Gerber commented to Pasko that he had not yet decided upon a name for the wookiee-like character the network insisted be added to the series, over Gerber's objections. As the two walked past the gate to the UCLA campus, Pasko quipped, "Why not call him Oo-clah?" Pasko later became one of several screenwriters also known for their work in comics, such as Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, to contribute to the show. After writing several scripts, singly and in collaboration with Gerber, Pasko became a story editor on the second season. Other writers included Buzz Dixon and Mark Jones.
Characters
The series' narrator was Dick Tufeld.- 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 Sunsword which he uses as a weapon in his fight against evil wizards and other villains. Thundarr was known for frequently uttering such pronouncements as "Demon dogs!", "Lords of Light!", and his war-cry "Aaaaa-HEE!". Thundarr, along with his friend Ookla, are largely unknowledgeable about the world and rely on Ariel's guidance, but Thundarr is respectful of knowledge gained.
- Ookla the Mok – Ookla is a member of the Mok species, a leonine humanoid with fangs and yellow eyes. In Thundarr the Barbarians backstory, Ookla and Thundarr were enslaved in the court of the wizard Sabian until Sabian's stepdaughter Princess Ariel helped them escape. As a Mok, Ookla has great strength, usually fighting by ripping up a nearby sapling or piece of wreckage to club his enemies. On a few occasions he is shown to use a longbow that fires a type of paralyzing arrow. However, he is also the most likely of the heroes to charge right into an enemy attack or to be enraged by unusual nuisances or threats. Moks dwell in their own territory, ruled by a king; they fear and hate water, preferring to face overwhelming odds in battle rather than wade through a stream to escape. Both Thundarr and Ariel generally understand the howls that make up Ookla's speech, but Thundarr seems to know more about Mok culture than Ariel, perhaps because he and Ookla met and worked together as slaves before either met Ariel. Whereas Thundarr and Ariel ride horses for transportation, 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 of Earth's history from his library, and thus is considered the "academic" of the group. In the episode "Battle of The Barbarians", it is revealed that Thundarr was once a slave of the evil wizard Sabian before being freed by Princess Ariel. It was never revealed exactly where she was a princess. Her most common feats of sorcery involved creating light constructs, ranging from throwing exploding spheres to levitating weights to summoning nets, shields, or bridges over chasms. She could also produce powerful energy blasts, blinding light and magically reanimate machines. When her wrists are bound together, she cannot work her magic, and is vulnerable to capture. At times she shows romantic feelings towards Thundarr; although he never outwardly returns them, it is clear that he does care greatly for her. Ariel's attire consists of knee-high boots, wrist bracelets, and an open-backed, leg-baring cyan costume which resembles a bathing suit.
Additional voices
- Henry Corden – In addition to Ookla the Mok, Corden voiced: Caroc Leader, Gemini, Vortak, Skullus, Captain Willows, Mutant Deputy #2
- Michael Ansara – Vashtarr
- Marlene Aragon – Maya
- Liz Aubrey – Valorie Storm
- Michael Bell – Yondo
- Alan Dinehart
- Al Fann
- Joe Higgins – Korb
- Stacy Keach Sr.
- Keye Luke – Zevon, Kublai
- Chuck McCann – Artemus, Mutant Deputy #1
- Nancy McKeon – Tye
- Julie McWhirter – Stryia
- Shepard Menken
- Alan Oppenheimer – Mindok, Morag
- Avery Schreiber – Octagon
- Hal Smith – Simius
- Joan Van Ark – Cinda, Queen Diona
- Janet Waldo – Cerci
- William Woodson – Crom
Production
Episodes
Season 1 (1980)
All episodes of season 1 were directed by Rudy Larriva and produced by Jerry Eisenberg.Season 2 (1981)
All episodes of season 2 were directed by Rudy Larriva and John Kimball, with animation supervision by Milt Gray & Bill Reed.DVD releases
The debut episode of Thundarr the Barbarian was released on DVD as part of Warner Home Video's Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1980s compilation series. The DVD set, containing episodes of ten other shows, was released on May 4, 2010.On September 28, 2010, Warner Archive released Thundarr the Barbarian: The Complete Series to DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The DVD set is branded as part of the Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection as Thundarr and the other 1978–91 Ruby-Spears programs were sold to Turner Broadcasting in 1991 alongside Hanna-Barbera by Great American Broadcasting.
Influence
In a November 2017 interview with Revolver, Morbid Angel guitarist Trey Azagthoth stated that the band's new album, Kingdoms Disdained, is based on Thundarr the Barbarian,There is also a Flik band from New York called Ookla the Mok.
The series was referenced and was involved in the plot of the third season episode "One Watson, One Holmes" of the CBS television series Elementary.
In Fairlady #3, by Brian Schirmer and Claudia Balboni, the characters Dunkarr, the Barbarian, Ari and Oosk were inspired by the main characters in the series.