WEBVTT - The Monstrefact Redux: Mumm-Ra

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the

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<v Speaker 2>Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow

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<v Speaker 2>Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters

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<v Speaker 2>in time. Let us now turn our attention to the

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<v Speaker 2>chief antagonist of the Thundercat's cartoon franchise, Mumraw. Between nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty five and nineteen eighty nine, the original ThunderCats show

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<v Speaker 2>ran for one hundred and thirty episodes, chronicling the struggle

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<v Speaker 2>between the titular ThunderCats and the undying mummified sorcerer Mumraw

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<v Speaker 2>for control of the planet New Thunder Era. The ThunderCats are,

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<v Speaker 2>of course, cat people who display the features of various

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<v Speaker 2>feline species and are masters of both high technology and

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<v Speaker 2>martial warfare. Mumraw is a mummified, desiccated living corpse who

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<v Speaker 2>serves the ancient spirits of evil from his black pyramid.

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<v Speaker 2>He must return to his sarcophagus to recharge, but may

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<v Speaker 2>also transform in a full blown hingehin sequence into the

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<v Speaker 2>towering muscular warrior dubbed Mumraw the Ever Living, He was

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<v Speaker 2>quite honestly perfect a villain almost too awesome for the

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<v Speaker 2>show he emerged from. Yet, even as a child, in

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<v Speaker 2>the back of my mind, I always wondered if Mumraw

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<v Speaker 2>was a cat or not. The ThunderCats are, of course

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<v Speaker 2>cat human hybrids, and it's hard to deny that Mamra

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<v Speaker 2>himself is not essentially all of the same species. We

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<v Speaker 2>see this in his feline facial features especially. But while

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<v Speaker 2>each thundercat is patterned after a particular terrestrial feline species,

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<v Speaker 2>what is Mamra. For starters, His blue gray skin is

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<v Speaker 2>reminiscent of the Russian blue cat breed. However, he is hairless,

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<v Speaker 2>which instantly brings to mind the hairless Sphinx cat breed,

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<v Speaker 2>which was a nineteen sixties product of selective breeding by humans.

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<v Speaker 2>Both of these are domestic. Meanwhile, with the thunder cats,

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<v Speaker 2>Jaga is part jaguar, lion O is part lion, Panther

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<v Speaker 2>is part panther, Tigra is part tiger, Chitara is a cheetah.

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<v Speaker 2>Willi Cat and Willie kit are both wildcats, and so forth.

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<v Speaker 2>Is Mamra alone seemingly linked to domesticated cats to some extent.

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<v Speaker 2>This might seem counterintuitive, because clearly this is mamra we're

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<v Speaker 2>talking about. He is the most dangerous and powerful of

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<v Speaker 2>them all. Why would he be linked to the common housecat. Well,

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<v Speaker 2>the domesticated cat is a rather powerful species. We have

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<v Speaker 2>to admit that while it has not lived alongside humans

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<v Speaker 2>as long as the loyal dog, they have still lurked, hunted,

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<v Speaker 2>and slept in our domestic shadow for thousands upon thousands

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<v Speaker 2>of years. During that time, these cats have spread around

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<v Speaker 2>the world to every continent except Antarctica, though they have visited,

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<v Speaker 2>and I am told they did not like it. Domestic

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<v Speaker 2>cats have proven themselves rather destructive as well. They are

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<v Speaker 2>voracious predators, driving multiple species to extinction and posing a

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<v Speaker 2>continuing threat to birds especially. In fact, according to the

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<v Speaker 2>University of Texas at Austin Biodiversity Center, the numbers are

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<v Speaker 2>pretty staggering. They write that in the US alone, free

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<v Speaker 2>ranging domestic cats kill one point three to four billion

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<v Speaker 2>birds every year, and they kill six point three to

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<v Speaker 2>twenty two point three billion mammals annually. Amphibians, reptiles, and

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<v Speaker 2>insects are also impacted. So yes, our domestic cats are cute,

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<v Speaker 2>they're amusing, but they are also destroyers and in this

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<v Speaker 2>perhaps they fitting likeness for mum Raw. Now, there is

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<v Speaker 2>some discussion on to what extent cats may have domesticated

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<v Speaker 2>themselves in our shadow, and certainly cats do not seem

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<v Speaker 2>to see us as a masters in the same way

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<v Speaker 2>that dogs two. But it brings me back to the

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<v Speaker 2>ancient spirits of evil that Mumrah serves on the show.

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<v Speaker 2>They're represented by a bore, a vulture, a crocodile, and

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<v Speaker 2>an ox, and they might well be thought of as

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<v Speaker 2>great old ones and extra dimensional monster gods. But if

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<v Speaker 2>Mamra is a domestic cat, then perhaps we humans are

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<v Speaker 2>the ancient spirits of evil, the true enemy of the

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<v Speaker 2>various animal human hybrids that populate the thunder Cat's universe.

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<v Speaker 2>In closing, I should also point out that yes, essentially

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<v Speaker 2>Mamra is a mummified cat, so he is linked to

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<v Speaker 2>the actual ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying cats, a practice

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<v Speaker 2>that in short, had connections both to the cat headed

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<v Speaker 2>god Bastet, as well as their fascination with an affection

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<v Speaker 2>for the animals in question. Cats have traveled with us everywhere,

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<v Speaker 2>so why not into the feel reads as well. Tune

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<v Speaker 2>in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week.

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<v Speaker 2>As always, you can email us at contact at stuff

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<v Speaker 2>to Blow your Mind dot com.

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