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When Ellen Page yelled "ThunderCats are go!" to announce her labor in Juno, we were certain that a ThunderCats revival was right around the corner. Sure enough, Warner Brothers announced a CGI movie based on the '80s cartoon series, which followed the adventures of catlike alien superheroes.
Now we get the news that Lion-O and Mumm-Ra's big-screen battle has been put aside indefinitely. This follows rumors from September that a new live-action He-Man movie has been trapped in the Hollywood vortex. By the power of Grayskull! -- what's happening to our favorite childhood characters? Could this really be the beginning of the end for the '80s-toy-movie trend?
Given the mega-success of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, you'd think studio execs would be pouncing on every inch of Saturday morning nostalgia they could grab. Thundercats and He-Man seem perfect for the big-screen treatment: they were full of quirky characters (remember He-Man's ride, the cowardly green tiger Cringer?) and bloodless battles on otherworldly planets.
On second thought, maybe that's the problem. GI Joe and the Transformers both translated into dark, violent movies. Could it be that a loincloth-wearning muscle-man and a team of cat-faced aliens are just too goofy, too cartoon-like for today's sophisticated kids?
Guess we should stop holding out for that Snorks movie...
PHOTOS: Take the Kids! 2010's Biggest Family Films
Chime In: Do you like seeing your favorite '80s cartoons on the big screen?
