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Tobin Wolf's 1985 animated TV series "ThunderCats" was a very, very odd beast. The titular characters were superpowered humanoid/feline aliens from the planet Thundara, living at an unspecified time in history. The plot follows the ThunderCats after the destruction of Thundara, and their subsequent relocation to a distant world called Third Earth. Third Earth is sparsely populated by benevolent robot teddy bears called Berbils, but is also home to the occasional beasts and monsters. In a faraway cave rests Mumm-Ra (Earl Hammond), an impossibly ancient mummy that aims to take over the world with magic spells. He is able to transform into a muscled wrestler for short spans. 

The six ThunderCats have built a massive mechanical castle on Third Earth, and are led by the royal prince Lion-o (Larry Kenney), who is armed with the mystical Sword of Omens and a magical claw glove. His subjects include the fast-running Cheetara...

Read Robert McFadden's excellent New York Times obit of the British hero who died at 106, "one man who just decided to do the right thing," wrote Michael Phillips in the Wall Street Journal. A stock broker in the 1930s, Winton deferred a ski vacation to organize the rescue of hundreds of mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, just before World War II began.  Among the 669 Jewish children who Winton sent via train to England before the arrival of the Nazis were filmmaker Karel Reisz ("Isadora," "The French Lieutenant's Woman," "Who'll Stop the Rain") as well as the mother of The Hollywood Reporter and Kcrw's Masters, who interviewed Winton in London for NPR some years ago. She spoke to Kcrw about Winton, below. ...

Following the success of ThunderCats, Rankin/Bass released another animated series called SilverHawks. In this show, bionic policeman Commander Stargazer recruits the SilverHawks, a team of heroes who are "partly metal, partly real." They fight the evil Mon*Star, an escaped alien mob boss who transforms into an enormous armor-plated creature.

SilverHawks ran for 65 episodes in first-run syndication in 1986. The voice cast features many of the same talents who starred in ThunderCats. The cast includes Peter Newman, Adolph Caesar, Earl Hammond, Bob McFadden, Maggie Wheeler, Doug Preis, Peter Newman, and Larry Kenney.

The second and final volume of the animated series has just been released as part of a four DVD set. You can purchase all 33 episodes in SilverHawks: Season 1, Volume 2 or you can try to win a copy here. To enter, you need to merely post a comment below. You can...