A Fistful O' Trailers

Well, it's a slow week around these here parts. Baseball season has begun, and my Yanks are doing their thang rockin' the Bronx into the late hours of the night again. :) They just won three out of their first four games of the season. Here's hoping that, despite my severe misgivings about our pitching this year, that maybe just MAYBE we'll have enough to muscle our way to the top spot in the league again. I don't care how many power bats we have at the plate -- it won't mean dick without power on the mound as well. At least our bullpen is looking fairly decent, though. It's our starters I'm worried about. I smell a big trade coming up in the next month or so to help on that front, because as of right now we are sorely missing Andy Pettitte.

Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about baseball. Nope. Actually, hadn't planned on saying much at all. What I *did* come here for was to show off two new and exciting video clips. The first one is for the new Thundercats cartoon coming out on the Cartoon Network sometime later this year. I talked about this project two months ago here in this entry, and even showed a very rough teaser. But now they've just released an actual full-fledged trailer.

Check it out by clicking here.

Now, I'm a little iffy on this. To me it looks and sounds good, sure. I like some of the nods to the original cartoon, but not so much some of the departures for some reason. It's interesting that Mum-Ra still looks pretty much the same, as does Jaga. But Lion-O is very different compared to his 80s counterpart. Slithe seems more bluish this time around, too. But as a massive mutant toad, I suppose he could go either way, right -- green or blue? The only major element missing from this trailer, though, is Panthro. Where the hell did he go? We know he's in the series thanks to the promotional art that's been circulating, but I guess he just didn't make the cut for this particular trailer. Oh well. You do, however, catch a glimpse of Snarf. Ugh! I hated Snarf. Luckily for me, it seems that he will be voiceless this time around. Just a sidekick/pet I'm guessing, rather than Lion-O's incessantly annoying nursemaid. Which, to be honest, was just straight up weird in the original series.

Ultimately I will have to wait and see with this. From the trailer, I'm not liking how it's implied that the entire race of Thundercats live on 3rd Earth -- rather than hailing from another planet called Thundera. Perhaps the original story was just too uncomfortably close to Superman's Kryptonian origins? I always thought this was so even back when I was an 80s kid watching this cartoon. But of course these days Superman is even more in people's faces, so it's kinda hard to ignore blatant ripoffs now without hordes of avid followers crying foul. Of course, it could be that the trailer is misleading. There could be more going on here than what we can assume. Like I said, we will have to wait and see.

In the meantime, the other big video I wanted to show off is, of course, the airing of the first 14 minutes from the premiere episode of HBO's Game of Thrones. It appeared this past Sunday night just before the 3rd episode of Mildred Pierce. I didn't watch it. Like I've mentioned before, I wanted to save the awesome for when the full episode airs on the 17th. But for those of you who don't care about such things, or who just want a glimpse to decide whether or not to invest in this show . . . here's the first 14 minutes for you to take a gander over:




(Please click here for the Youtube version if the above vid doesn't work or is too choppy.)


I'm hearing from a lot of sources that this first episode is beyond amazing! For those critics who have been privy to advanced screenings, some are saying that it is the best of the new crop of cable shows premiering this month. Meaning, it's better than even Camelot (no surprise there) and The Borgias (whoa!). A lot better, in fact. Hmm, I don't know. I've seen the first episodes now of both these shows, and they're only "okay." So it could be that Thrones doesn't have a high bar to hop over. Still, as a big fan, I am optimistic and do honestly feel that this show is going to surprise a lot of people.

If any of you are brave enough to check out the preview clip above, please voice your opinions in the comments section below. You don't have to worry about spoiling anything for me as I already know, story-wise, what's going on in this clip. But at the very least tell me if what you've seen so far is enough to make you want to watch the rest of the episode, and perhaps even the rest of the season.

Okay? Cool beans!

Ta-ta for now.

Thundercats . . . HO!!!!

Ah, god bless the Cartoon Network. They know how to make an old 80s kid proud!

Yes, folks. A reboot of the classic 1985 kid's cartoon, Thundercats, is slated for release on the network sometime later this year. And I couldn't be happier, despite all the naysayers. I originally broke the news about this back in June last year, and above is the first released official artwork of the new show. Below is how the characters used to look back in the 80s:

As you can see, there's . . . uh, been a few changes. But no prob, I never said they had to bring back the exact same program. Updating it for today seems the best choice, and I'm digging the more anime slant to the animation. As you can imagine, there's been a lot of skepticism by old school fans of the show. People that I should really call my peers since they're in the same age range to appreciate all this as myself. But whereas those folks are already assuming that this will bomb, I myself hold out hope that it might do well.

Some of you might recall, but around this time last year I wrote out this blog entry detailing my Top 10 favorite tv cartoons of all time. Click the link if you want to refresh your memories, or perhaps read it for the first time. And just for reference, here are two more pics to show you the changes that are coming in this new iteration of the Thundercats license -- the 80s version followed by the 2011 one:

Wow, I'm actually stoked! Lion-O looks very young. Right now there's no telling whether he will stay this way beyond the initial 3-episode pilot arc. Some think this is the younger, pre 3rd Earth Lion-O . . . but I think this is the way he will look for the entire show. Which would be cool, because he's obviously younger than the way he was depicted in the old 80s version, but not so young as to not realistically take on the mantle of their leader. The fact that he wields both the Sword of Omens and Claw in the above pic demonstrates that this is Lion-O after already becoming Lord of the Tundercats.

In any event, only time will tell. For some reason there is no exact release date yet for this show. I'm guessing will see it for the Fall slate later this year. Bummer!

But, hey, in the meantime you have this brand new teaser trailer just released by the network. For those aficionados out there, see how much you can glean from the quickly-cut footage. I've been able to spot a few interesting tidbits myself. How 'bout you?





As you can see, this looks like it will take the mythos in a darker, more serious direction. If the original show had one detraction, it's that it was too kiddy and cheesy even during its time. Personally, this is the type of direction I like best: mature, gritty, and more emotionally rewarding.

If the video above doesn't work, simply click on this YouTube link to go to it directly. Then come back here and discuss the footage in the comments below, won't you kindly? Oh, and if you would like to see the original Thundercats intro sequence from the 80s version, click here.

I'm heading off to my grandma's house now to dust off my Thundertank, sword, and original figurines. Sword of Omens . . . give me sight beyond sight!