For you, what were the main differences between these two great shows?
Originally posted on the ThunderCats forums and moved here to the heman.org Masters of the Universe forum.
Are we talking about the original shows or their rebooted versions?
If it’s the latter, i would say that He-man was trying to be similar to the OS yet different from it at the same time, while Thundercats was trying a bit too hard to be different from or similar to the OS at times.
Hi, srebak. Are you referring the old “He-Man” and “ThunderCats” shows, or simply the rebooted ones?
I was referring to the latter, but i wasn’t sure if the OP was
That is a tough one, they were both great. Growing up I loved Thundercats a lot more but I suppose the biggest difference was that Thundercats had a better consistent cast of core characters where as He-Man had some really good characters but did not make enough appearances throughout the series to give them time to shine and make them as memorable.
A few differences off the top of my head:
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ThunderCats had a much better sense of a continuing storyline. Yes, there were plot holes at times, but the show quite often built upon events in previous episodes. He-Man was written so that the episodes could be shown in any order without confusing the audience, so there were almost no call-backs to previous events.
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ThunderCats had a better sense of continuity as well. Yes, there were contradictions at times, but not to the level seen in He-Man, where characters changed alliances between episodes, previously defeated/vanquished foes returns without explanation, and power levels/abilities fluctuated as the plot dictated.
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ThunderCats had better animation. Just look at the opening sequences. Case closed. The action scenes in ThunderCats are much more fluid and exciting.
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Both had awesome music. It’s a draw.
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He-Man had more charm and humor. ThunderCats tried, but it was overall a more serious show, sometimes losing its sense of fun in the process.
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ThunderCats was scarier. He-Man was more kid-friendly.
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He-Man had better toys. I collected both, and the He-Man toys were just more fun. The T-Cats toys were way too stiff and clunky.
The main difference for me is, I was a big fan of Thundercats, but He-Man never grabbed me in the same way back then. Maybe it’s because it was on ITV, while Thundercats was on BBC1, and I tended to watch BBC more - but I still watched quite a few episodes of He-Man.
Animation-wise - well, He-Man was Filmation, so it’s always going to be trailing. Granted, some of the animation in Thundercats looks a little dated at times, but I suppose a lot of 80s animation does these days, even from shows I loved, and still do.
I never had the toys for He-Man, but I had quite a few of Thundercats. All the original Cats except Wilykat, along with Mumm-Ra, Jackalman and (for some reason) Robear-Belle. I also had the Fistpounder, but as only season 1 was ever broadcast over here, the vehicle didn’t really mean anything to me.
The moral-of-the-story bit at the end of He-Man is a bit patronising. Thankfully in Thundercats it was done with more subtlety.
For me both was awesome, and even today still, I love both properties. But ThunderCats has something that grabs me more, I am not 100% sure if it is the better animation or the better continuity of the story, but I do like it a bit more than He-man. He-man toys where better, have to agree, but luckily we should have them on par within the next few years now that we will have both in the same scale and sculpting style! ThunderCats have the better cartoon, but a much worse reboot!
Both were and still are bad ass shows, but in my opinion I feel ThunderCats was the more creative of the two as far as character uniqueness, story progression, and character development.
I love the original He-Man and ThunderCats cartoons because they excellently blended science fiction and fantasy and were full of memorable characters. Can you imagine if both MOTU and T’Cats crossed over in 1986? 
Then that would have been awesome! I have often wondered what a MOTU and ThunderCats crossover would have been like. A crossover with the entire MOTU Classics line would be interesting. For example Chief Carnivus from 200X MOTU and his people could have been Thunderian. (Sorry didn’t mean to go off topic.)
It’s alright. ^_~
Makes me think of a funny image that I saw on facebook a while back, of Lion-O and He-Man arm wrestling - with Mumm-Ra and Skeletor in the background, and of course Mumm-Ra was rooting for He-Man, while Skeletor was cheering on Lion-O!
LOL!
Secretly they are from Thunderia … shhhhhhhh 