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The Telepictures Character Bible
In 1984, before a single episode aired, Telepictures Corporation, the company distributing ThunderCats to stations around the world, sent licensees and animators an official set of character description sheets. It is the document that defined how the cast was meant to be drawn, colored, and written, so that every studio, comic, and piece of merchandise stayed on-model and on-character.
What this is
This is a presentation and style guide, what the industry calls a "bible." Telepictures compiled it so that anyone producing ThunderCats material had a single approved reference for who each character was. In the distributor's own words, the file existed to give creators the "correct, approved colors used in drawing each character," with the instruction that any color materials produced for the show use these "officially approved tones."
What survives here are the written descriptions: short, authoritative character briefs covering the seven ThunderCats plus Mumm-Ra and the Mutants. They read as the earliest official statement of each personality, written before the series found its footing on screen, and they are a fascinating look at how the property was first positioned to the people who would bring it to life. The original sheets carry the 1984 Telepictures Corporation copyright and the company's Sherman Oaks letterhead.
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