ThunderCats is an American media franchise, featuring a fictional group of catlike humanoid aliens. The characters were created by Tobin "Ted" Wolf and originally featured in an animated television series named ThunderCats, running from 1985 to 1989, which was animated by Japanese studio Pacific Animation Corporation, and co-produced by Rankin-Bass Animated Entertainment. Like its predecessor Masters of the Universe, the ThunderCats franchise simultaneously launched as a line of action figures produced by LJN and a syndicated after-school weekday cartoon.