The Writers of ThunderCat Episodes

See my research comments.

An * means that I've got information on that writer.

Douglas Bernstein: THE EVIL HARP OF CHARR-NIN (w/ Denis Markell)

Beth Bornstein: MA-MUTT'S CONFUSION

*David Carren: LEAH (w/ J. Larry Carroll)

*J.Larry Carroll: THE SOUND STONES, HACHIMAN'S HONOR, TOTEM OF DERA, RETURN OF THE THUNDERCUBS, THE LAST DAY, LEAH (w/ David Carren)

Barney Cohen: THE GARDEN OF DELIGHTS (w/ Julian P. Gardner)

Jeri Craden: THE MUMM-RA BERBIL

Lawrence Dukore: THE TRANSFER (w/ Lee Schneider)

Herb Engelhardt: TOGETHER WE STAND, VULTUREMAN'S REVENGE

Sandy Fries: PSYCH-OUT, TIME SWITCH, CRYSTAL CANYON

*Julian P. Gardner: TROUBLE WITH TIME (w/ Ron Goulart), PUMM-RA, THE TERROR OF HAMMERHAND (w/ Ron Goulart), THE GARDEN OF DELIGHTS (w/ Barney Cohen)

Ron Goulart: TROUBLE WITH TIME (w/ Julian P. Gardner), THE TERROR OF HAMMERHAND (w/ Julian P. Gardner)

Annabelle Gurwitch: DREAM MASTER (w/ Heather M. Winters)

George Hampton: RAVAGE ISLAND (w/ Mike Moore), THE THUNDERSCOPE (w/ Mike Moore), MALCAR (w/ Mike Moore)

*Bob Haney: LORD OF THE SNOWS, ALL THAT GLITTERS, RETURN TO THUNDERA, DIMENSION DOOM, THE DEMOLISHER (w/ Peter Lawrence), SECRET OF THE ICE KING, MUMM-RANA

Becky Hartman: THE WILD WORKOUT

Peter Lawrence (Script Consultant): THE TIME CAPSULE, MONGOR, SNARF TAKES UP THE CHALLENGE, SIXTH SENSE, THE ASTRAL PRISON, THE ROCK GIANT, MECHANICAL PLAGUE, THE DEMOLISHER (w/ Bob Haney), EXCALIBUR, GOOD AND UGLY, THUNDERCUBS (1-5), CHAIN OF LOYALTY (w/ Bill Ratter), RETURN TO THUNDERA (1-5), THE HERITAGE (w/ Bill Ratter)

*Matthew Malach (Production Staff): THE SHIFTER, KEY TO THUNDERA, HELPLESS LAUGHTER, THE ZAXX FACTOR

Denis Markell: THE EVIL HARP OF CHARR-NIN (w/ Douglas Bernstein)

Mike Moore: RAVAGE ISLAND (w/ George Hampton), THE THUNDERSCOPE (w/ George Hampton), MALCAR (w/ George Hampton)

Kimberly B. Morris: THE TROUBLE WITH THUNDERKITTENS, THE TELEPATHY BEAM, THE FORMULA, THE MAD BUBBLER, DAY OF THE ECLIPSE, FROGMAN, GOODBYE JAGA (never released)

*Romeo Muller: THE MASK OF GORGON

*William Overgard: MANDORA - EVIL CHASER, THE FIREBALLS OF CASTLE PLUN-DARR, MANDORA AND THE PIRATES, DR. DOMETOME, THE THUNDER-CUTTER, SWORD IN A HOLE, SIDESWIPE, EXILE ISLE, THE JADE DRAGON, THE CIRCUS TRAIN, SCREWLOOSE, CRACKER'S REVENGE, SWAN SONG, THE BOOK OF OMENS

Danny Peary: THE MOUNTAIN

Stephen Perry: THE DOOM-GAZE, SAFARI JOE, QUEEN OF 8 LEGS, FELINER PART 1, FELINER PART 2, TIGHT SQUEEZE, TRAPPED

Howard Post: SPITTING IMAGE, RETURN OF THE DRILLER

Bill Ratter: RUNAWAYS, CHAIN OF LOYALTY (w/ Peter Lawrence), LOCKET OF LIES, BRACELET OF POWER, THE HERITAGE (w/ Peter Lawrence), TOUCH OF AMORTUS

James Rose: MUMM-RANA'S BELT

Lee Schneider: DIVIDE & CONQUER, MONKIAN'S BARGAIN, THE TRANSFER (w/ Lawrence Dukore), FOND MEMORIES

Bruce Smith: THE MICRITS, JACKALMAN'S REBELLION

Leonard Starr (Head Writer): EXODUS, THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE, BERBILS, THE SLAVES OF CASTLE PLUN-DARR, THE TOWER OF TRAPS, THE GHOST WARRIOR, THE SPACESHIP BENEATH THE SANDS, THE ANOINTMENT TRIALS (1-5), THE CRYSTAL QUEEN, THUNDERCATS HO! (1-5), MUMM-RA LIVES! (1-5)

*C.H. Trengove: TURMAGAR THE TUSKA, THE WOLFRAT, THE SUPERPOWER POTION, OUT OF SIGHT, CATFIGHT, HAIR OF THE DOG, THE MOSSLAND MONSTER

*Kenneth E. Vose: EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

Heather M. Winters (Production Staff): DREAM MASTER (w/ Annabelle Gurwitch)

Dennis J. Woodyard (Production Staff): SHADOW MASTER, WELL OF DOUBT

My Research Comments

Any writers (listed above) who come across this page are welcome to e-mail me and tell me their opinion of the ThunderCat characters!

First of all, is it any wonder that there were many plot-holes in ThunderCats? With this many writers contributing, they can't all have stories that agree 100% even if there was a writer's bible. (In case you're wondering, there are 34 people who wrote episodes for the ThunderCats.)

Going over my list, my favorite writer is by far, Peter Lawrence. (But I had that figured out pretty much before I had this list typed out.) Not only was he one of the few people who wrote episodes from the first season to the last, but he wrote many important episodes. Bob Haney, Kimberly Morris, Bill Ratter, Stephen Perry, Matthew Malach, Leonard Starr, and J. Larry Carroll all wrote incredible episodes as well, although I would hate to put these people in order by most to least favorite. :) There are other episodes I liked such as "Ravage Island" and "The Jade Dragon".

Note: Some of my information has come from Peter Lawrence himself. If you would like to ask him a question, you may email him at scribblersluck@aol.com Thank you, Peter! :-D

William Overgard: He seems the easiest to figure out, and since he is the most talked about writer, I'm going with him first. :) It is very apparent that he liked to bring in new characters to the ThunderCat world: Mandora, Cracker, Dr. Dometome, Hachiman, Capt. Shiner, Bragg, and the helpful Screwloose. Not only that, but Overgard liked to bring his characters back over and over again in his other episodes. Although I may not like these characters, I must admit that ThunderCats would not be the same without them. And other writers used the characters in their episodes...such as Starr using Capt. Shiner in ThunderCats Ho! I do like "Sword in a Hole" and "The Jade Dragon" despite the 'breathing in space' and Hachiman riding his 'flying horse' from his planet. (Funny, I always thought before this episode that Hachiman lived on Third Earth. Huh...) He has sinced passed away. We will certainly miss his writing!

Matthew Malach: This writer is the most humorous of all of them! I mean, he was the one who put Panthro in Snarf's body. What could be more funny than when Snarf/Panthro swinging the nun-chucks and trying to do a kick in the air? And I remember seeing Mumm-Ra in "Helpless Laughter" floating down the water and laughing hysterically as he says, "This isn't funny"!

Julian P. Gardner: Thanks to Peter Lawrence, I know that Gardner really is Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass. He only helped write episodes because there weren't enough writers at the time.

Bob Haney: He is known for his work on the Aquaman comics and was also a writer for the original 'Superfriends' cartoon. His first two episodes are shown with an episode in between them. That's why when the ThunderCats obtained that Thundrillium meteor, you didn't see them do anything with it until two episodes later in 'All that Glitters'. Do you blame Mr. Haney for continuing his storyline? I'm sure he just didn't get 'All that Glitters' done in time to go after 'Lord of the Snows'. Also, he made up the characters Snow-Man and Snow-Meow and used them again in 'Secret of the Ice King'. He also created Mumm-Rana. She had lots of potential. I'm surprised she wasn't used anymore than she was. Is it just me, or did you think she would help Lion-O defeat Mumm-Ra once and for all?

C. H. (Chris) Trengove: One of the few writers who contributed episodes for all four season. He liked to use ALL the ThunderCats in his stories. Recently, he has been writing for "Bob the Builder", a pre-school cartoon on Nickelodeon Jr. (I have a two-year old. Enough explanation.)

Romeo Muller: Mr. Muller wrote, in my opinion, the most involved storyline with "The Mask of Gorgon". The first time I watched it, I was like 'Huh? What just happened?' It's definitely one of the most advanced stories in the series. I like this episode. :) Unfortunately, Romeo Muller passed away in 1992. You can find more information about what he has done at Rankin-Bass's site (in the links section).

J. Larry Carroll and David Carren: These two authors wrote "Leah" and still continue to do many projects together. Carroll was one of the few writers who did NOT let Lion-O use the Sword of Omens to save the day (except "Totem of Dera" but then, ALL the ThunderCats had to join together to use the sword). I would have liked to see what kind of episodes he could have written for the first season. :-) You can find everything J. Larry Carroll had been involved with at Robert Burns site or Mystery Writers of America. For all the Star Trek fans out there, I recently found out that Carroll and Carren were story editors for at least one season on The Next Generation. Way cool!

Kenneth Vose: Although he only wrote one episode, the power of ThunderCats shines brilliantly through this writer. He set up a writing course at a college university (email me if you want the university name) thinking only a few students would sign up. Word got around that he wrote a tcat episode - the university had to literally turn students away as the class filled up quickly. Wow! Lucky people! Hey - if one of these writers offered a writing course at the university here, I would sign up in a heartbeat! :-) His episode deals with the idea "be careful what you wish for - you just might get it".

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