Episode 1: Secret of the Black Pearl
We begin en media res as our heroes Thundarr Ookla and Ariel are riding through the swamps and find and old man being menaced by humanoid rats known as “Groundlings” (not to be confused with the comedy troupe). The heroes save the codger and he gives them a magical black pearl to take to the island of Manhat. But the groundlings are in the employ of a Man E Faces style wizard named Gemini who wants the pearl because it is the only thing that can resist his evil power.
The heroes are chased by groundlings on motorcycles and Thundarr goes to town on them with this sun sword which totally isn’t a ripoff of a lightsaber. Ariel uses her magic to ferry them to Manhat where Thundarr learns of “moo-vies” as depicted in the screenshot. Gemini’s robot knights kidnap Ariel, Thundarr very easily learns how to fly a helicopter, and Thundarr and Ookla save Ariel from Gemini’s conspicuously high tech tower. Gemini chases them on a cloud and uses his magic to animate the Statue of Liberty, which then blasts at the innocent people of Manhat with its now fully functional torch. But Thundarr stops lady Liberty with the black pearl and Gemini fucks off somewhere, presumably to return later. The people of Manhat celebrate the heroes before they are off to more adventures.
All in all a pretty spectacular first episode. The voice over work for Thundarr is hilariously cave man stilted, and Jack Kirby gets credit for character designs, which are great. Lots of bits of recycled animation as was the custom of the times. The 5 or so credited writers really earned their pay here though they failed to predict 9-11 as the twin towers are present 😢. 5 stars.