Thundercats!

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The basic DNA of every bullshit CG fantasy action-mythology epic of the last 25 years is contained in this mock-trailer for Thundercats, and will be repeated again and again as long as bullshit CG fantasy action-mythology epics continue to be made. Brilliant career moves by Brad Pitt, Vin Diesel and Hugh Jackman, but who's the actress under the makeup -- Scarlett Johansson? I've only watched it once. (Congrats to WormyT, thanks to Jack Morrissey.)

The Wormy T guys are saying all the effects were done frame-by-frame in Photoshop, and that the footage was edited in Adobe Premiere.

Lighten Up, Guys<< previous | next >>Not This Time

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 22, 2008 at 5:40 AM

comment #1

wildphantom says ...

Great job.

Didn't WB greenlight a Thundercats movie last year? Only all-CG?
I used to LOVE the cartoon when I was a kid - seriously love it. Animation wise it was a revelation when it first aired.

Am very surprised they never remade the cartoon for a new generation, as they have done with Turtles and He-Man.

Posted by wildphantom at December 22, 2008 6:06 AM

comment #2

va says ...

Jeff --- this was a fake, no? The last two seconds of the trailer seem to suggest so, as there are words to that effect. It went by so fast, I couldn't read it all, and I'm too numb to watch the 2:30 necessary to get to that part again. This looked like a bad Power Rangers episode (no snark please; I had a son young enough to watch that stuff constantly - his taste is much better now)....

Posted by va at December 22, 2008 6:16 AM

comment #3

JaySmack says ...

Yeah, the whole idea is dervative as hell, but you have to admit it was pretty awesome to see how they took some of the crappiest genre films of the last eight years and CG'd Thundrecat faces onto everyone.

Zero points for concept, Top marks for execution.

Posted by JaySmack at December 22, 2008 6:28 AM

comment #4

thevisceral says ...

They threw a little Thunderdome and Aliens in there too, just for yuks.

Posted by thevisceral at December 22, 2008 6:30 AM

comment #5

Rich S. says ...

Isn't the actress Daryl Hannah in Blade Runner? One of the kicks looked familiar.

As an added bonus, they should have thrown in a "from the Academy Award Winning writer of Juno..."

Posted by Rich S. at December 22, 2008 6:32 AM

comment #6

Rich S. says ...

Actually, I think it's one of the women from Farscape, now that I've looked at it again. They also throw in the kid from Spy Kids.

Posted by Rich S. at December 22, 2008 6:34 AM

comment #7

Balerion says ...

Indeed, it's Gigi Edgley, who played Chiana on Farscape (from which all of her shots were taken).

Posted by Balerion at December 22, 2008 6:52 AM

comment #8

YRG says ...

All of the Vin Diesel clips were taken from The Chronicles of Riddick.

Posted by YRG at December 22, 2008 9:01 AM

comment #9

Bilge says ...

Cheetara needs to be way hotter than that, is all I have to say.

Posted by Bilge at December 22, 2008 9:46 AM

comment #10

BurmaShave says ...

I'm glad someone remembers FARSCAPE.

Posted by BurmaShave at December 22, 2008 11:23 AM

comment #11

Scott Mendelson says ...

This is truly inspired... the first trailer mash that I'd call art. Aside from the technical aspects, it really works as a deconstruction of both fantasy trailers and the sameness of so many in the fantasy/live-action cartoon genre. If this thing catches on, people may be laughing at the eventual GI Joe trailer.

Posted by Scott Mendelson at December 22, 2008 11:26 AM

comment #12

shepherd123456 says ...

i think the girl is victoria beckham. is wormy t a brit?

Posted by shepherd123456 at December 22, 2008 12:21 PM

comment #13

D.Z. says ...

I'm more surprised that Jeff even heard of the show, as it was more of a cult favorite, and not a phenomenon, like Transformers.

wild: "Animation wise it was a revelation when it first aired."

That's cus they got a lot of Japanese talent involved in the production.

va: Power Rangers is fine. It's WMAC Masters which was awful.

Posted by D.Z. at December 22, 2008 1:18 PM

comment #14

D.Z. says ...

Personally, I thought that show got old quick, and would rather see a Silverhawks movie.

Posted by D.Z. at December 22, 2008 1:23 PM

comment #15

Dan Revill says ...

I never watched Thundercats, but this was really well done!

Posted by Dan Revill at December 22, 2008 2:54 PM

comment #16

dinovelvet says ...

This was fantastic, it works brilliant because this is EXACTLY how the real life thing would look, beat-by-beat. I bet Michael Bay gets a boner watching this.

Posted by dinovelvet at December 22, 2008 3:17 PM

comment #17

Rich S. says ...

"This was fantastic, it works brilliant because this is EXACTLY how the real life thing would look, beat-by-beat."

And doubly awesome because now there is no reason whatsoever to actually make (or watch) the movie.

Along those lines, someone needs to get cracking on a Snorks trailer, stat. It's too late to avoid G.I. Joe and Transformers. But the more of these toy commercial shows we can keep out of the multiplex, the better.

Posted by Rich S. at December 22, 2008 3:38 PM

comment #18

Ray says ...

Frame by frame in Photoshop and composited in Premiere???? These guys are geniuses deserving of an Oscar.

AMAZING and BREATHTAKING work!!!!

Posted by Ray at December 22, 2008 3:47 PM

comment #19

D.Z. says ...

Rich: They're working on a Smurfs movie, if that helps.

Posted by D.Z. at December 22, 2008 8:01 PM

comment #20

MovieBob says ...

Wild:
"Animation wise it was a revelation when it first aired."

FWIW, one of the Japanese teams that got together initially as part of the Thundercats animation crew went on to become the backbone of Studio Ghibli (best known for the Hayo Miyazaki movies.) Watch a clip or two of Thundercats back-to-back with any of Miyazaki's more action-oriented films, you can really see the influence.

dino:
"I bet Michael Bay gets a boner watching this."

Eff Michael Bay, he'd HATE this - sitting there wondering why all the characters look recognizable and why no one is driving a muscle car.

What makes this spot perfect is that you can TELL that there's more than a little bit of fanboy wish-fulfillment going on... or at least seems to be. It's less a satire and more of an attempt to actually visualize the damn thing. I'll admit it: I wish this was real. It looks campy and ridiculous and malnutritional and silly but... dammit, a half-man/half-lion swordfighting with an alien mummy? For what does the fantasy cinema exist for, if not that? The movie this is "selling," I would garauntee you, would be better than "Transformers" was.

Posted by MovieBob at December 22, 2008 9:54 PM

comment #21

Rich S. says ...

What I want to know, with all these cartoon live-action movies come out, is when they're going to start serving breakfast cereal at the concession stand. Give me a bowl of Cap'n Crunch to munch on during the show and the illusion would be complete.

Posted by Rich S. at December 23, 2008 5:29 AM

comment #22