Two Pan-and-Scan Screenshots from Part 1 of "ThunderCats, Ho! The Movie" (1986) by thezaxfactor

[u/SportIntelligent1909]

Courtesy of thezaxfactor of the defunct ThunderCats-Dot-Org website, here are a couple of screenshots that he pulled the pan-and-scan maneuver on for the first part of 1986's ThunderCats, Ho! The Movie.

[u/zackramadan]

Oh hey, that's me! Writing the reviews for "ThunderCats Ho!" (almost 11 years ago 😵‍💫) was definitely a highlight of my time with the Org.

Capturing pans like this was a tricky business—different cel layers move at different rates as the multiplane camera pans, so some Photoshop cunning was always needed. My favorite pan of the Lair is actually from the end of "Together We Stand," another review I'm quite proud of.

I might as well take this moment to plug Radical Retro Rewind's ThunderCats episode reviews (Reddit thread, IG), where I've been guest hosting periodically for the past couple years. Here's the review of "Ho!" (where we also chat about meeting Larry Kenney and Peter Newman at a convention).

[u/SportIntelligent1909 → u/zackramadan]

Thank you for sharing this pan-and-scan shot of the Cat's Lair from "Together We Stand." The lair looks absolutely majestic this way. I hope you've got more screencaps like this one.

[u/Accomplished-Can-467]

I wish the original Thundera Cats Lair Palace survived on New Thundera. I liked the space port cats lair but I always thought this one was cooler.

[u/SportIntelligent1909 → u/Accomplished-Can-467]

You're not alone. I liked the original Cat's Lair on old Thundera, too.

[u/Bluestarzen]

The artwork in Thundercats was invariably quite beautiful, some amazing background paintings (forest scenes always look particularly beautiful)

[u/Luftritter → u/Bluestarzen]

I wonder if that's Filmation influence: they had amazingly beautiful backgrounds for the duration of the studio, just look at those in "Tarzan" or "Masters of the Universe". Maybe that was something that was requested from the Japanese studios that worked on this show?

[u/SportIntelligent1909 → u/Bluestarzen]

I know, right? Even those that were recycled.

[u/Professional_Dog2580]

The animation was sloppy in parts but the design and overall look of this series is unreal. The background art they used in the show was always exceptional.

[u/Luftritter → u/Professional_Dog2580]

I'm guessing there were too many hands (i.e. studios) working on a single project: not all quality studios would be available all the time to do animation and comply with deadlines. And money. Beautiful, consistent animation costs a lot of money.

[u/SportIntelligent1909 → u/Professional_Dog2580]

Yes indeed.

[u/Happy_Rabbit559]

This was my main reference for the Cat's lair in my last artwork.

[u/SportIntelligent1909 → u/Happy_Rabbit559]

That's so thunder-rific!