Thunderbirds Are Go is a reinvention of the classic 1960s Thunderbirds, and features Rosamund Pike (The World’s End, Gone Girl) as Lady Penelope and brings back David Graham from the original Thunderbirds!
Amazon’s brand-new original animated kids series aimed at children aged 6 through 11, features the world’s most famous family of heroes, International Rescue. The series catapults the five brave Tracy brothers back onto television screens, where they’ll pilot their remarkable, cutting-edge vehicles from the depths of the oceans to the highest reaches of space, performing impossible rescues across the globe.
Produced by ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures in collaboration with world-famous Weta Workshop, the series is made using a unique mixture of CGI animation and live-action model sets. Thunderbirds Are Go will deliver a new level of action-adventure animation for today’s audience while paying tribute to the legacy of model locations from the original series.
Thunderbirds Are Go is executive produced by Estelle Hughes (Driver Dan’s Story Train), Giles Ridge (Pocoyo), Richard Taylor (The Lord of the Rings), and Andrew Smith (District 9), written by Rob Hoegee (Generator Rex, Teen Titans), and directed by David Scott (LEGO Star Wars) and Theo Baynton (The Wotwots). It is distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.
Thunderbird fans got a sneak peek of the all-new series at the Thunderbirds Are Go panel at WonderCon, where they premiered the trailer.
I remember watching the original series that used marionettes and model sets. I thought the “Supermarionation” used in the show was pretty amazing, like stop-motion or the Godzilla movies. There was a live action movie, that I thought was okay, that came out in 2004 which starred Bill Paxton, Vanessa Hudgens, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Edwards and Sophia Myles.
I was able to screen the first few episodes before it airs on Amazon. It’s much more modern with the CGI animation mixed with the live-action model sets. Comparing it to the original Thunderbirds is like comparing and apple to an orange. The original series is such a classic with its use of “Supermarionation” but I enjoyed this new take on the Thunderbirds series.
This new animated series is pretty much the same as the original series, with a couple of changes:
• The name of the character Tin-Tin Kyrano was changed to Tanusha ‘Kayo’ Kyrano.
• Jeff Tracy, the father, is assumed dead after his ship crashes – so he is not featured in the new-series.
• Grandma Tracy appears from the original series, Fermat (Brain’s son) and Onaha (Tin-Tin’s mother) from the movie do not.
Thunderbirds Are Go will officially premiere on April 22nd. A special one-hour sneak preview will premiere on April 15th with Ring of Fire – Parts 1 and 2.
