WEBVTT - The Monstrefact: Mumm-Ra the Ever Living

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

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,

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<v Speaker 1>ideas and monsters in time. Let us now turn our

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<v Speaker 1>attention to the chief antagonist all of the ThunderCats cartoon franchise,

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<v Speaker 1>mum Raw. Between and nine eighty nine, the original ThunderCats

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<v Speaker 1>show ran for a hundred and thirty episodes, chronicling the

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<v Speaker 1>struggle between the titular ThunderCats and the undying mummified sorcerer

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<v Speaker 1>mum Raw for control of the planet New Thunder Era.

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<v Speaker 1>The ThunderCats are, of course, cat people who display the

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<v Speaker 1>features of various feline species, and our masters of both

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<v Speaker 1>high technology and martial warfare. Mum Raw is a mummified,

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<v Speaker 1>desiccated living corpse who serves the ancient spirits of evil

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<v Speaker 1>from his black pyramid. He must return to his sarcophagus

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<v Speaker 1>to recharge, but may also transform in a full blown

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<v Speaker 1>hinge in sequence into the towering muscular warrior dubbed mum

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<v Speaker 1>Raw the Ever Living, He was quite honestly perfect, a

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<v Speaker 1>villain almost too awesome for the show he emerged from. Yet,

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<v Speaker 1>even as a child, in the back of my mind,

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<v Speaker 1>I always wondered if mum Ra was a cat or not.

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<v Speaker 1>The thunder Cats are, of course cat human hybrids, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's hard to deny that Mumra himself is not essentially

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<v Speaker 1>all of the same species. We see this in his

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<v Speaker 1>feline facial features especially. But while each thundercat is patterned

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<v Speaker 1>after a particular terrestrial feline species, what is mum Ra.

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<v Speaker 1>For starters, His blue gray skin is reminiscent of the

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<v Speaker 1>Russian blue cat breed. However, he is hairless, which instantly

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<v Speaker 1>brings to mind the hairless Sphinx cat breed, which was

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<v Speaker 1>a nineteen sixties product of selective breeding by humans. Both

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<v Speaker 1>of these are domestic. Meanwhile, with the ThunderCats, Jaga is

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<v Speaker 1>part jaguar, Lion Oh is part lion, Pantherro is part panther,

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<v Speaker 1>Tiger is part tiger, Chitara is cheetah, Willie Cat and

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<v Speaker 1>Willie Kit are both wild cats, and so forth. Is

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<v Speaker 1>Mamra alone seemingly linked to domesticated cats To some extent,

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<v Speaker 1>This might seem counterintuitive, because clearly this is Mamra we're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about. He is the most dangerous and powerful of

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<v Speaker 1>them all. Why would he be linked to the common

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<v Speaker 1>house cat. Well, the domesticated cat is a rather powerful species.

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<v Speaker 1>We have to admit that while it has not lived

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<v Speaker 1>alongside humans as long as the loyal dog, they have

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<v Speaker 1>still lurked, hunted, and slept in our domestic shadows for

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<v Speaker 1>thousands upon thousands of years. During that time, these cats

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<v Speaker 1>have spread around the world to every continent except Antarctica,

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<v Speaker 1>though they have visited, and I am told they did

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<v Speaker 1>not like it. Domestic cats have proven themselves rather destructive

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<v Speaker 1>as well. They are voracious predators, driving multiple species to

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<v Speaker 1>extinction and posing a continuing threat to birds, especially In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the University of Texas at Austin Biodiversity Center,

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<v Speaker 1>the numbers are pretty staggering. They write that in the

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<v Speaker 1>u s alone, free arranging domestic cats kill one point

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<v Speaker 1>three to four billion birds every year, and they kill

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<v Speaker 1>six point three to twenty two point three billion mammals annually. Amphibians, reptiles,

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<v Speaker 1>and insects are also impacted. So, yes, our domestic cats

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<v Speaker 1>are cute, they're amusing, but they're also destroyers and in

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<v Speaker 1>this perhaps they fitting likeness for Mum Ra. Now, there

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<v Speaker 1>is some discussion on to what extent cats may have

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<v Speaker 1>domesticated themselves in our shadow, and certainly cats do not

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<v Speaker 1>see to see us as a master's in the same

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<v Speaker 1>way that dogs too. But it brings me back to

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<v Speaker 1>the ancient spirits of evil that Mumra serves on the show.

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<v Speaker 1>They're represented by a bore, a vulture, a crocodile, and

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<v Speaker 1>an ox, and they might well be thought of as

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<v Speaker 1>great old ones and extra dimensional monster gods. But if

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<v Speaker 1>Mumra is a domestic cat, then perhaps we humans are

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<v Speaker 1>the ancient spirits of evil, the true enemy of the

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<v Speaker 1>various animal human hybrids that populate the ThunderCats universe. In closing,

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<v Speaker 1>I should also point out that yes, essentially Mumra is

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<v Speaker 1>a mummified cat, so he is linked to the actual

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<v Speaker 1>ancient Egyptian practice of mummifying cats, a practice that in short,

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<v Speaker 1>had connections both to the cat headed god Bastet, as

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<v Speaker 1>well as their fascination with an affection for the animals

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<v Speaker 1>in question. Cats have traveled with us everywhere, so why

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<v Speaker 1>not into the fee old of reads as well. Tune

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<v Speaker 1>in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week.

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<v Speaker 1>As always, you can email us at contact at Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow Your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your

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<v Speaker 1>Mind is production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts

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