We Talked ThunderCats.org's Relaunch on Rediscover the 80s

ediscover the 80s, a podcast covering retro pop culture, TV and toys, invited us on to talk about the ThunderCats.org relaunch. Host Wyatt Bloom sat down with site director Mark Sheard for episode 131, covering what happened to the site, why we came back, and what's coming next.

Doing this one was a nice chance to sit back and talk through the whole story, from the site going dark to bringing it back on a modern stack. Wyatt asked good questions, and it had me digging back through a lot of what got me into ThunderCats in the first place, watching it as a kid in South Africa, then getting real access to the wider world of comics and video stores once we moved to Canada. A few highlights are below, or catch the whole conversation at the link at the bottom.

On air

Highlights from the interview

On doing a reboot right

You have to really be respectful and celebrate what was great about the original. And if you can imprint that onto a new series and give it something that brings the modern kids into the fold, I think you can set something up for success.

South Africa to Canada, comic book culture shock

Moving to Canada meant we could finally get all the comic books in the world that didn't find their way over to South Africa, or watch any video or movie that was at Blockbuster. It opened up access to these things we loved but only had limited access to.

The original cast, still cracking jokes 40 years later

You can tell part of why the show was so fun was that they were having so much fun. These were, without me realizing it, the people together who were putting together memories for me.

On the movie, and why the site exists

It would be too bad if it faded away into obscurity. That's really why we love working on the website, and why we promote as best we can any kind of ThunderCats property or media that comes out.

Now streaming

Listen to the full episode on Rediscover the 80s

Episode 131: Interview with Mark Sheard, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and the Rediscover the 80s site.

Listen to the Episode

Highlights from the interview

Listen to the full episode on Rediscover the 80s

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