Thundarr the Barbarian
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From left to right Ookla, Ariel and Thundarr
Thundarr the Barbarian was a Saturday morning animated television series, produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. It was broadcast during the early 1980s. Action figures of the three main characters were released by Toynami in 2004.
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[edit] Concept and characters
Twenty-one half-hour episodes were produced by Ruby-Spears Productions -- an independent animation house formed by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, the uncredited co-creators of Scooby-Doo -- 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.
Loosely inspired by R.E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Thundarr the Barbarian was set in a future (at the time of production) post-apocalyptic wasteland divided into kingdoms or territories--the majority of which are ruled by wizards--and whose ruins typically featured recognizable geographical features from the United States, such as Mount Rushmore, New York City, or Washington, DC. 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 is now in two pieces, though both pieces still orbit in proximity to one another, and seem to orbit at roughly the same height as the intact Moon once did. The shattered moon and the ruins of the former human civilization were supposedly caused by the passage of a large rogue asteroid between the Earth and the Moon, which, from scenes shown in the opening sequence, caused radical changes in the Earth's climate, geography, and tidal effects, the latter presumably because of the damage to the Moon. However, by the time period in which the series is set, the Earth and Moon seem to have settled into a new balance.
In this setting, Thundarr, a muscular warrior, and his companions Princess Ariel (who was a formidable sorceress) and the Wookiee-like Ookla the Mok battled evil wizards who combined magical spells with technologies from the pre-catastrophe world. Further Star Wars influences can be seen in Thundarr's weapon of choice, the "Sun Sword", which projects a blade-like beam of energy when activated, and can be deactivated so that it is only a hilt. The Sun Sword is magically linked to Thundarr and as such, only he can use it.
Bob Ridgely was Thundarr's voice actor, frequently uttering such pronouncements as "Demon dogs!" and "Lords of Light!" Princess Ariel was played by Nellie Bellflower. Henry Corden was Ookla.
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 signifcantly to the series. Indeed, the evil wizard Gemini, the only repeating villain on the show, resembles Darkseid, an infamous Kirby villain.
The show itself was actually the creation of Steve Gerber, creator of Marvel Comics' Howard the Duck. The name Ookla actually comes from 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 hadn't 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 don't you call him 'Ucla'?" 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.
The opening narration to the show is as follows:
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!
[edit] Episodes and locations
[edit] Season 1 (1980-1981)
- Secret of the Black Pearl - New York, New York
- Harvest of Doom - Central America
- Mindok the Mind Menace - Cape Canaveral, Florida
- Raiders of the Abyss - Seattle, Washington
- Treasure of the Moks - Norfolk, Virginia
- Attack of the Amazon Women - Mount Rushmore
- The Brotherhood of Night - Washington, DC
- Challenge of the Wizards - Las Vegas, Nevada
- Valley of the Man Apes - San Fernando Valley, California
- Stalker from the Stars - Denver, Colorado
- Portal Into Time - San Antonio, Texas
- Battle of the Barbarians - San Francisco, California
- Den of the Sleeping Demon - San Jose, California
[edit] Season 2 (1981-1982)
- Wizard War - St. Louis, Missouri
- Fortress of Fear - La Brea Tar Pits
- Island of the Body Snatchers - London, U.K.
- City of Evil - Boston, Massachusetts
- Last Train to Doomsday - unknown (Central America ?)
- Master of the Stolen Sunsword - Los Angeles, California
- Trial by Terror - Atlanta, Georgia
- Prophecy of Peril - unknown
[edit] Voices
- Thundarr the Barbarian:' Bob Ridgely
- Ookla the Mok: Henry Corden
- Princess Ariel: Nellie Bellflower
[edit] Credits
- Executive Producers: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, Peter Zeamus
- Directed by: Charles A. Nichols, John Kimball, Joe Ruby, Ken Spears
- Story Editors: Steve Gerber, Mark Evanier
- Supervising Story Direction: Gordon Kent
- Voice Director: Alan Dinehart
- Animation: John Shook, Norm McCabe, Terry Harrison, Earle Jackstone
- Music Supervisor: Paul De Korte
- Music by: Dean Elliott
- Music Editor: Joe Sandusky
- Unit Auditor: Henriette Pacile
- Studio Managers: Anne Luiting, Jeff Cooke
- Assistants to the Executive Producers: Erika Grossbart, Sandra Benenati, Valerie Menk, Thomas Anderson, Kayte Kuch
- Production Assistants: Debby Ruby, Teri Taylor, Joyce Benson, Cathy Rose
[edit] External links
- Thundarr the Barbarian at the Internet Movie Database
- Toonopedia entry
- Petition to have show released on DVD
- Thundarr.com (Fan site run by Kenn Hoekstra)
- Thundarr.com - Interview With Joe Ruby & Ken Spears
