Thundarr the Barbarian

Thundarr the Barbarian is a Saturday morning animated television series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran 2 seasons, 1980–1981 and 1981–1982. Action figures of the three main characters were released by Toynami in 2004.

Production
Twenty-one half-hour episodes were produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, an animation house formed by former Hanna-Barbera head writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, from October 1980 to September 1982, when the show went off the air. The show ran on the ABC network. Reruns of the program appeared on NBC's Saturday morning lineup in 1983.

Plot
Directly inspired by comic books, with the likes of R.E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian and Flash Gordon, Thundarr the Barbarian is set in a future (3994 AD) 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, starting in New York City and working itself to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Mount Rushmore, San Francisco or Washington, D.C.

Other episodes with recognizable settings are located in Central America, while one is in London. Another notable feature of this future Earth is that the Moon was broken in two pieces, but the gravity of the pieces drew them back together, orbiting at roughly the same height as the intact Moon once did. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were caused by the passage of a runaway planet (more resembling a comet) between the Earth and the Moon in 1994, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth's climate, geography and tidal effects. However, by the time period in which the series is set (2,000 years later), the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new balance. Earth is reborn in a world of savagery, super-science, and sorcery.

The hero Thundarr (voiced by Robert Ridgely), a muscular warrior, was meant to be strongly akin to the comic book characters Thor the God of Thunder and Conan The Barbarian. In this setting, Thundarr and his companions Princess Ariel, a formidable young sorceress, and the Wookiee-like Ookla the Mok traveled the world on horseback, battling evil wizards who combine magical spells with technologies from the pre-catastrophe world.

Enemies include The Brotherhood of Night (a group of werewolves who could transform others into their werewolves by simple touch), the cosmic Stalker from The Stars (a predatory, malevolent cosmic vampire), humanoid lizards, and mutants. Intelligent humanoid-animal races include the rat-like Groundlings, the crocodile-like Carocs, and the cat-like Moks.

Further Star Wars influences can be seen in Thundarr's weapon of choice, the Sunsword, which 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. While many people believe that Kirby was the primary designer of the show (mainly due to his similarly themed Kamandi: The Last Boy On Earth), the main characters were in fact designed by fellow comic book writer-artist Alex Toth, who also designed the popular character Space Ghost for Saturday morning television. 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 comics and animation veteran Mark Evanier, who realized that the same imagination that produced Kamandi could contribute significantly to the series. Indeed, the evil wizard Gemini, the only repeating villain on the show, resembles Darkseid, an infamous Kirby villain.

The series was the creation of Steve Gerber, creator of Marvel Comics' Howard the Duck. Gerber had also created the similarly named 'Wundarr the Aquarian' for Marvel Comics. The name Ookla actually comes from University of California, Los Angeles (commonly known as UCLA). Gerber and friend Martin Pasko were having dinner in the Westwood area one night during the time Gerber was writing the bible for 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.

Opening narration
"The year: 1994. From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction! Man's civilization is cast in ruin! Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn. A strange new world rises from the old: a world of savagery, super science and sorcery. But one man bursts his bonds to fight for justice! With his companions Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil. He is Thundarr, the Barbarian!"

Characters

 * Thundarr (voiced by Robert Ridgely) – The main protagonist of the series. He is a barbarian that 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 frequently uttering such pronouncements as "Demon dogs!", "Lords of Light!", and the Thundarr war-cry "Aaaaahh-ee!".


 * Ookla the Mok (voiced by Henry Corden) – Ookla is a member of the Mok species, a leonine humanoid with fangs and yellow eyes. In Thundarr the Barbarian's back-story, 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 transport, Ookla's steed is another quadrupedal species called an equort.


 * Princess Ariel (voiced by Nellie Bellflower) – Ariel is a beautiful and 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. In the episode "Battle of The Barbarians", Thundarr was once a slave of the evil wizard Sabian before being freed by Princess Ariel. It is also thought that she gave Thundarr his principal weapon, the Sunsword. 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. At times she shows romantic feelings toward Thundarr. Though he never outwardly returns them, it is clear that he does care for her.

Cast

 * Robert Ridgely – Thundarr the Barbarian
 * Nellie Bellflower – Princess Ariel
 * Henry Corden – Ookla the Mok, Caroc Leader, Gemini, Vortak, Skullus, Set (in "Valley of the Man Apes") Captain Willows (in "Island of the Body Snatchers"), Mutant Deputy #2 (in "Trial by Terror")
 * Dick Tufeld - Narrator

Additional voices

 * Michael Ansara – Vashtarr
 * Marlene Aragon – Maya
 * Liz Aubrey –
 * Michael Bell – Yondo
 * Alan Dinehart –
 * Al Fann –
 * Joe Higgins – Korb
 * Stacy Keach Sr. –
 * Keye Luke – Kublai
 * Chuck McCann – Artemus, Mutant Deputy #1 (in "Trial of Terror")
 * Nancy McKeon – Tai
 * Julie McWhirter – Stryia, Cinda
 * Shepard Menken –
 * Alan Oppenheimer – Morag
 * Avery Schreiber – Octagon
 * Hal Smith – Simius
 * Joan Van Ark – Valerie Storm
 * Janet Waldo – Sersi
 * William Woodson – Crom

Crew

 * Alan Dinehart – Voice Director

Notable appearances in other media

 * A Cartoon Network promotional bumper features Thundarr, Fred Flintstone, and Chicken (of Cow and Chicken fame) supposedly commuting to "work" at Cartoon Network, and trying to find a parking spot in Fred's foot-powered car. Another features Thundarr and company with their voices dubbed over by toddlers speaking gibberish. Still another, from the Screwey, Ain't It? series, features Ookla the Mok repeatedly bashing a giant squid.
 * Thundarr appears in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "The Dabba Don" voiced by Doug Preis. He was shown with brown hair and as a goon even though he was not a Hanna-Barbera character like the others.
 * In the episode "Good Duck Hunting" of Duck Dodgers, Duck Dodgers proudly displays a Thundarr the Barbarian poster featuring Thundarr, Ookla and Ariel in his ship.
 * A filk band is named Ookla the Mok.

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 on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com. The DVD packaging mistakenly implies the series was made by Hanna-Barbera rather than Ruby-Spears, even though that was not the case.