Class of 1997
First Toonami Series Acquired
First Toonami Series Aired

When you think of Toonami, what do you think of?

Dragonball Z? Gundam? ReBoot? Sailor Moon?

Batman? Big O? Tenchi?

Megas?

Maybe all of these. However, none of these shows would be on Toonami if it wasn't for the shows that came before it, and it all due respect, there is one show that has the distinction of being the first show!

And that show is Thundercats.

When Cartoon Network acquired Ted Wolf's classic action series (animated by Rankin-Bass for Lorimar-Telepictures, which became absorbed into Warner Bros.) in 1996, nobody knew that it would be the catalyst that would launch the most successful action block on cable. Sure, they could have easily put it on just another installment of Super Adventures, the traditional name of the daily action-animation franchise, but they decided to use Thundercats as a cornerstone of something much bigger. When they acquired Voltron and decided to have full rights to The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, Cartoon Network knew that they were going to have something very unique. Combined with classic action shorts and a mix of extreme sports interviews, this endeavor became known as Toonami, a block that's permanently under construction. Aside from Clyde49 rocketing to the Earth, the first thing you saw on Toonami was the familiar red and black Thundercats logo followed by the face of the Lord of the Thundercats, Lion-O. When the first episode ended, all that were watching realized that this block was going to be around for a long time.