ThunderCats is an American media franchise based on a fictional group of cat-like humanoid alien characters created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf. The characters were originally featured in a TV series named ThunderCats, running from 1985 to 1989.
The series was originally distributed by Rankin-Bass Productions' then-parent company Telepictures Corporation, which would later merge with Lorimar Productions in 1986. In 1989, Lorimar-Telepictures was purchased by and folded into Warner Bros., whose television syndication arm would eventually assume distribution of the show; Warner Bros. have had the rights to the series from that point on.
There were also several comic book series produced. A ThunderCats comic book series based on the animated series was originally published by Marvel Comics through its Star Comics imprint in 1985, lasting for 3 years and 24 issues. During this time, a new series was published by Marvel UK consisting of 129 issues and was also published for three years. Beginning in 2002 ThunderCats titles were published by Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics and included 5 non-canon mini-series and several one-shots. A side-scrolling video game based on the series, ThunderCats: The Lost Eye of Thundera, was published in 1987.
Items of clothing featuring the ThunderCats logo and DVD boxsets of the original series enjoyed a resurgence the mid-to-late 2000s as nostalgia for the former children's favorite grew. It was announced on June 7, 2007, that Aurelio Jaro is making a CGI-animated feature film of ThunderCats, based on a script written by Paul Sopocy. In October 2007, Variety magazine revealed that Jerry O'Flaherty, veteran video game art director, had signed on to direct. The film is being produced by Spring Creek Productions. It was originally set for a summer 2010 release, but it has since been reported that the movie is on hold. Concept art for the film has also been leaked online.
In June 2010, a press release revealed that a new animated series by Warner Bros. Animation was in production for Cartoon Network with animation provided by Studio 4°C.
