Man-E-Prefaces
He-Man has been a part of my life since the day of my birth. In a waiting room outside of the maternity ward in a small hospital in Albert Lea, Minnesota, my three-year-old-brother Von was playing with some action figures. When the nurse came to invite him into the room to meet his new baby brother, he refused. The woman said he would need to wear the sanitary smock to enter the sterile room, and that would cover up his Masters of the Universe t-shirt.
“But this is He-Man,” Von told her. “He’s the best! I want my brother to know who He-Man is.” And so, my very first day, I learned.
Later, when the time came for me to come home, my parents told my brother that I’d brought him a present. They handed him a brand new Stratos action figure, from the first wave of the Masters of the Universe line. He looked up at them, bewildered. “How did he know this was the one I wanted?” he asked.
Though the cartoon was off the air by the time I was old enough to appreciate it, I grew up with dozens of VHS tapes full of recorded episodes and several of the bright, blocky action figures that felt massive in my small hands. The theme song was a constant anthem in our house. It was years later when I saw the Masters of the Universe film for the first time, and seeing the familiar characters appear slightly different, and in live-action, sparked the fascination in me all over again. I spent the next several years tracking down the film’s reviews, actors’ interviews, and overall trivia, just as so many young people grew up collecting the rare action figures and home video releases of the Filmation cartoons. The favorite things from our childhoods always have a special place in our hearts, but for many of us of a certain age, there’s something extra special about He-Man.
The well-worn He-Man t-shirt my brother wore to the hospital on the day of my birth. It was likely one of the first things I ever saw.
The characters mean a lot to a lot of different people. For many children of the ’80s, Masters of the Universe is a way to remember our formative years. It’s a way to introduce our children to the things we marveled at when we were their age. It is also a remarkably agile franchise, with a new edition popping up every few years (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, 1983; the live-action Masters of the Universe film, 1987; The New Adventures of He-Man, 1990; and another animated reboot in 2002) to hook a new generation.
As this is written in 2016, there have been new movie adaptation rumors swirling for the past several years. Some 30 years ago, Masters was panned for being the first film based on an action figure. And now, we live in a world with four Transformers films and two based on GI Joe, along with many more sequels and spin-offs announced for each. It’s no longer uncommon even for board games like Battleship to be adapted into a big-budget adventure film.
Pop culture has finally caught up with He-Man.
Mattel debuted the Masters of the Universe toy line in 1982, and it was a runaway success. Characters like Man-At-Arms and Evil-Lyn, along with the heroic He-Man and dastardly Skeletor, struck some special chord in the hearts and minds of children across the planet.
Certainly some of this can be attributed to the size of the figures; He-Man was not a small, fragile toy, like the 3?-inch Star Wars toys Hasbro had been releasing since the late ’70s. He was a big, powerful toy to match the big, powerful character. More so, he was wish fulfillment in its most basic form: a man of solid muscle who would take any beating a young child’s imagination could come up with. And with the swivel-waist “power punch” feature, he was a toy that could return that beating in kind.
There was an elegance in the simplicity of the characters and their world. He-Man and Skeletor were engaged in the ultimate battle of good versus evil. As “the most powerful man in the universe,” He-Man was as virtuous as he was physically strong, an aspirational figure. His nemesis, Skeletor, did not simply wear a black hat, he was a walking personification of fear and death. His face was the stark yellow skull of Memento Mori, and his skin was blue, otherworldly and unsettling when compared to the tan muscles and handsome face of his adversary. There were dozens of other figures, along with their vehicles and play sets, but it was always just as easy to separate the good guys from the bad.
The world they inhabited, Eternia, was designed to maximize playability. The land was a bizarre combination of sword and sorcery and science fiction. He-Man was a brawny barbarian with a John Carter–like chest harness who carried a battle axe, yet he could ride on the back of a giant green tiger as easily as he could fit in a flying car shaped like a falcon. There were castles and ray-guns and mermen and magic. In Eternia, anything could go. There were enough outlandish accessories and bizarre characters to keep up with a young child’s imagination.
There was nothing else like it on the market, and it opened the doors to a new level of imagination and physicality in action figures. The action figures were packaged with a minicomic to explain more about the characters and their world. Eager to capitalize, Mattel pushed into storybooks and full-length comic books from DC Comics, video games, trading cards, and all other sorts of merchandise. Everything the hero attacked fell easily, and Masters of the Universe was a hit in all its many forms. Soon, it seemed only natural the He-Man brand would expand onto the airwaves.
In 1983, the Filmation company created the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Lou Scheimer and the Filmation animators pushed the toy’s concept further than the simplistic mythology shown in the minicomics. The animators were much more interested in telling stories than merely selling products; they created characters like Orko, the floating magical comic relief, and stressed the concept of He-Man’s secret identity, Prince Adam. These additional wrinkles became some of the best known and well-loved elements of the He-Man franchise.
Like its action figure inspiration, the TV show also broke new ground. Cross-media marketing, like a children’s show based on a toy line, was unheard of in the early ’80s. There was even some question of its legality. Filmation took the risk to create the Masters cartoon, and then had to find someone to air it.
Even with the success of the toy line, the major television networks were unwilling to take the risk. And so Scheimer made the very uncommon move to sell the show directly to syndication; forgoing the traditional first run on the major networks, he sold the series to individual, local stations. These stations could smell a hit, and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe did not disappoint.
The show was not without controversy. There was plenty of fuss from concerned parents about the cartoon’s perceived violence, along with the ethics of broadcasting what many considered a “program-length commercial.”1 Still, it ran for two 60-episode seasons, produced a spin-off in She-Ra: Princess of Power, and sold plenty more toys. With He-Man at his peak, Mattel began looking for another way to capitalize.
However groundbreaking the animated series had been, in the mid–’80s, a live-action film based on an action figure was absolutely unheard of. Masters of the Universe would be the first. Still, the company put the call out to Hollywood, courting several studios before deciding on Cannon Films, the scrappy B-movie studio whose shady bookkeeping practices had left them, unbeknownst to Mattel, teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.
Cannon hired first-time feature director Gary Goddard to helm the project. Goddard battled Mattel to treat the source material with a serious eye instead of as a marketing tool, and fought Cannon to ensure the crew got paid when the project slipped over budget and behind schedule. In the end, Cannon closed production before filming had completed. Goddard was forced to pay out of pocket to get the last few shots needed to complete the climactic showdown between He-Man and Skeletor.
The film, against all odds and despite box office failure, emerged as highly watchable. Goddard brought a keen attention to lighting, as well as set and costume design, giving Masters a unique look. The script also kept the pace brisk enough to keep the plot from collapsing in on itself. It brought a surprising edge to many of the characters, to stop them from coming off as too “kiddie” to be enjoyable for adult audiences. Though Dolph Lundgren’s performance as He-Man is fodder for the cult classic and “so bad, it’s good” audiences, the film also featured a mesmerizing turn from future Academy Award nominee Frank Langella as Skeletor.
But it was all for naught. After He-Man blazed a trail with innovative action figures and the first cartoon based on a toy, critics considered a live-action movie a bridge too far. Compounding issues, Masters was released as the He-Man fad had begun to fade. Cannon, in its money troubles, was not able to market the film properly. The box office receipts both companies anticipated didn’t come through. When it was removed from theaters, the figures sat unsold on toy store shelves, and Cannon quietly slumped its way out of business.
There have been a few more attempted resurgences of the brand since the 1987 film, each with varying degrees of success. But nothing has been able to match the levels of excitement He-Man and his friends had initially inspired. While Mattel’s attempts to connect with new audiences have floundered, its core fan base has stayed faithful. The children who grew up on the toys, cartoons, and film have grown into adults with fond memories and the disposable income to feed their nostalgia. Mattel began releasing new action figures in the old style through their direct order service online. This new line, called Masters of the Universe Classics, evolved to include the Filmation-centric Club Grayskull.
When the Masters of the Universe film was released in 1987, critics and audiences were confused by the idea of a live-action film based on an action figure. Nearly 30 years later, though, that idea has come into vogue. After multiple movies based on media franchises who followed He-Man’s path from toy to cartoon and beyond, there are rumblings once again of another Masters movie.
At every phase of his evolution, He-Man has left a mark on the landscape of popular culture. After the overwhelming success of the action figure, he was the first one to break through to animated adventures. It didn’t take long for the imitators to follow, though. When the popularity of the Masters of the Universe characters began to fade in the latter half of the ’80s, it was eclipsed by the likes of GI Joe and Transformers, other franchises who began on the toy shelves and followed the path blazed by He-Man.
Decades later, those same franchises would follow him onto the big screen, with much larger budgets and, occasionally, better receptions at the box office. As recognized as the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon is for shaping a generation and the boundaries of cross-media franchises, the ground broken by the Masters film is often overlooked. As the forgotten cornerstone of pop culture turns 30, its place in history and its impact on our modern world of entertainment is due for reconsideration.
How He-Man Mastered the Universe will look at He-Man throughout the ages, from his contentious creation and initial success, and the controversies he caused. Time will also be spent on the Filmation company and its pivotal contributions to the Masters of the Universe brand, the rocky history of the Cannon film group, which was responsible for the failures the Masters film, and the director, stars, and designers who were responsible for its successes. I will also be checking in on the current state of the Masters of the Universe brand and the dedicated He-Man fans who have been with the character through his many changes.
Masters of the Universe not only provided fun and familiar characters to a generation, it also marked a turning point in the way we consume our popular culture. Nearly every popular franchise since 1982 has succeeded due to the ground broken by He-Man. Though many beloved characters have graced our toy boxes and television sets and movie theater screens, there’s always been something special about He-Man.
This book would not be possible without the help of some wonderful people.
I’d like to thank Gary Goddard, William Stout, Corey Landis, Stephen Tolkin and Tim Seeley for their time and for agreeing to speak with me for this project. Those interviews could not have happened without the help of Tom King and Blake J. Harris, among others. I received assistance from He-Man fans around the world and across the internet, including Peter Eckhart, Jérémie Damoiseau, James Eatock, the Power and Honor Foundation, the members of the he-man.org forums, and the resources of Wiki Grayskull (he-man.wikia.com), the Battle Ram blog (battleram.wordpress.com), and the Grayskull Museum (www.grayskullmuseum.com).
I am eternally grateful to John T. Atkin and James Sawyer. The research and interviews they did for Sawyer’s Masters of the Universe Movie site (www.motomovie.com) was a huge source of inspiration and very helpful in the formation of this book. The interviews collected by Blake J. Harris for his article “How Did This Get Made: Masters of the Universe (An Oral History)” for slashfilm.com was also key. Photos of the figures were taken by Rachael Layne, courtesy of the Jedi Alliance of Spokane, Washington. Many illustrations from the film’s production were provided by William Stout. The fantastic cover is courtesy of Eamon O’Donoghue.
Gigantisaur-sized thanks to Chris Carlson and Scott Eubanks for the encouragement and early, critical eye, and to Harmony Mason for her patience and support. I would have been lost in the Sands of Time without Vance Kotrla and Joseph Haeger’s incredible notes and edits. All overly-meticulous questions about minute pop culture details were directed toward Colby Park, Glenn Case, and James O’Coyne. Special accommodations were provided by B-Hatch and Glenn/Ron.
An extra special Preternia thank you goes to my parents, who have always been supportive of my career choice, and to my brother Von for introducing me to He-Man all those years ago.
Good journey, everyone!