MovieChat Forums > Masters of the Universe (1987) Discussion > Possible classic MOTU characters in this

Possible classic MOTU characters in this

posted 9 years ago by Boxbest
12 replies | jump to latest

What characters wouldn't have been too expensive for this film?
I say Fisto could have been a part of the story. The same goes for Jitsu.

Maybe Tri-Klops instead of Blade? What about Zodak, Moss Man, Clawful, Stinkor, Trap-Jaw, Webstor, Kobra Khan, Mer-Man and Spikor? They aren't dependent on heavy cgi, just people dressing up.

Others like Stratos, Ram Man, Sy-Klone, Buzz-Off, Man-E-Faces, Two-Bad, Roboto, Mekaneck and Orko would have been too difficult with the limited budget.

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

There were a few previously existing characters they could have done, but Mattel wanted new characters created in hopes of selling toys of said new characters thus strengthening their property, which was losing a lot of momentum at the time.

In fact Mattel's hopes were that this film would breathe new life into Masters Of The Universe, but sadly it didn't go as planed and the toy line was cancelled shortly after. The only movie figures that got made were Gwildor, Blade and Saurod.

The new characters did share some traits with older characters. Gwildor and Orko were both characters used for comic relief. Blade and Tri-klops both had something going on with their eyes, and were both sword wielding characters, and both Karg and Trap-jaw were amputees with a hook appendage.

I would have loved it if Mattel made Movie figures of He Man and Skeletor, but sadly it has not happened yet, maybe someday they'll get the rights to produce those figures in their current "Masters Of The Universe Classics" collectors line.

[–] EmperorGalvatron 9 years ago

Given how Saurod looked I'd say that Kobra Khan and Mer-Man could have been done. Mer-Man might have looked a bit different, but I think he was possible. Tri-Klops would have been fairly easy, Trap Jaw...maybe. His cybernetics would have to be toned down.

Ram Man and Stratos could probably have been done visually, though I don't know how you'd have shown Stratos' flying on the limited budget. Ram Man could have just been a guy in armor who headbutted stuff. Rather silly, though perhaps doable.

[–] Boxbest 9 years ago

No, Ram Man would NOT work in this film.
Fisto on the other hand, would have been very easy.

And I agree that Tri-Klops would have been quite easy too.

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

Given how Saurod looked I'd say that Kobra Khan and Mer-Man could have been done. Mer-Man might have looked a bit different, but I think he was possible. Tri-Klops would have been fairly easy, Trap Jaw...maybe. His cybernetics would have to be toned down.

Yeah, I think they probably could have done Mer-Man, Tri-Klops and maybe Trap-Jaw convincingly. I always kinda thought Saurod could have been a Snake Man TBH. At one point Gary Goddard wanted to have Snake Men in this film. In an interview he said....

Prior to production starting, I had added an entire sequence involving the caves beneath Grayskull where the Snakemen have come in order to help defeat Grayskull, joining with Skeletor. The heroes are dragged into the tunnels and a lot of action takes place amid the tension of them trying to escape from the caverns.

That Sounds pretty cool. Here's the whole interview....
http://www.motumovie.com/2010/02/q-with-director-gary-goddard.html

Ram Man and Stratos could probably have been done visually, though I don't know how you'd have shown Stratos' flying on the limited budget. Ram Man could have just been a guy in armor who headbutted stuff. Rather silly, though perhaps doable.

I agree, I think Stratos would be out due to the budget, but Ram-man could have been done. In the 2002 MYP Cartoon Ram-man was basically just as you suggested, "a guy in armor who headbutted stuff."

[–] Boxbest 9 years ago

Jack-o-lantern:

I know that some of the new characters shared similarities with the classic ones :)

However, the MOTU property was not becoming less popular by the time they made this. It was the film itself that pretty much sunk the MOTU fame.

Because:
A) the people in charge had no sense for how adapting something like this
B) the budget was not big enough
C) this film is quite gray and boring. Langella's performance is pretty much the only thing that makes this worth seeing

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

Boxbest

However, the MOTU property was not becoming less popular by the time they made this. It was the film itself that pretty much sunk the MOTU fame.

I respectfully disagree, blaming the film for the downfall of the toy line is extremely illogical. As I've already stated Masters Of The Universe was indeed losing momentum by the time this film was released.
The toy line had a great run, but by 1987 it was already on its way out. I suspect that popular up an coming properties had a hand in Masters being cancelled. I don't think it's a coincidence that MOTU was cancelled only a year after the mega hit cartoon and toy line "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" was released back in 1987.

The TMNT comment is speculation on my part so I'll list some other sources to strengthen my argument.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masters_of_the_Universe#Origin_of_the_franchise

Although Mattel had hoped that the movie would boost sales of the toyline, it instead had no effect on the line's falling sales, and the MOTU toy line was finally discontinued in early 1988 under immense financial difficulties.

Wikipedia may not be the most reliable, so here are some others....

http://www.motumovie.com/2010/02/q-with-director-gary-goddard.html

In this interview Gary Goddard (the film's director) had this to say....

At the time we started production, the He-Man toy line was beginning to wane, and Mattel was desperate to see the toyline live again.

If that's not enough check out this article....

How Did This Get Made: Masters of the Universe (An Oral History)

http://www.slashfilm.com/masters-of-the-universe-oral-history/

Toward the end of the article....

There’s definitely some truth to Stout’s comment about timing. In addition to Cannon falling apart, Masters of the Universe was also up against the fact that by the time the film came out, the toy line had declined tremendously.

Tom Kalinske Mattel, President- Of course I had hoped for a great film that would add new life to the Masters Brand, but it’s hard to complain. The line had been very, very good to us for most of the decade

John Weems Mattel, SVP of Entertainment - We had had a phenomenal run. From ’82 to ’87, it was a huge chunk of Mattel’s business. But eventually things slowed down and the retailers started to get stuck with it.

Tim Kilpin Mattel, Marketing Manager for Masters of the Universe - 84 was a big year for Masters. And ‘85 was big too, but we shipped too much merchandise and left a lot behind. So it was a tough year for us in ’86.

Another article....

http://www.avclub.com/article/read-how-masters-universe-went-hit-toy-flop-film-226258

Despite the shoot being a lot of fun—Chelsea Field and Gary Goddard both compare it to summer camp—Masters Of The Universe was plagued by poor timing. The Mattel toy line was cooling off considerably by 1987, ironically undone by rival franchises following the Masters template.

If anything I would say the declining interest in the MOTU property hurt the film, and not the other way around as you suggest. The film may not have helped boost toy sales, but it did little to hurt the already fading property.

As for the other stuff you wrote....

A) the people in charge had no sense for how adapting something like this

Although there is some truth in this, you should keep in mind Mattel was very involved with making this film. They knew what they were getting.

B) the budget was not big enough

On this we agree.

C) this film is quite gray and boring. Langella's performance is pretty much the only thing that makes this worth seeing

What you have here is an opinion. It may be the most popular opinion, but it's an opinion nonetheless. It also happens to be one that I (as well as many others) disagree with. This film has its flaws, but I happen to love it. As a devoted lifelong fan of MOTU I've found something to love in all its incarnations.

Cheers
🎃

[–] Boxbest 9 years ago

Thank for your long reply :)

I want to add that I strongly believe MOTU could have been big again after this, IF they had made a better film.

#Set the film completely on Eternia.

#Put more money in the production to do it justice.

#Use the classic characters, not new ones (Royal couple, Tri-Klops, Orko, Ram Man, Stratos, Trap-Jaw and Mer-Man).

#Have a better story

Just imagine how awesome it could have been. Don't you think it could have been a big succesful blockbuster? The potential was there.

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

I want to add that I strongly believe MOTU could have been big again after this, IF they had made a better film.

#Set the film completely on Eternia.

#Put more money in the production to do it justice.

#Use the classic characters, not new ones (Royal couple, Tri-Klops, Orko, Ram Man, Stratos, Trap-Jaw and Mer-Man).

#Have a better story

Just imagine how awesome it could have been. Don't you think it could have been a big succesful blockbuster? The potential was there.

I agree that a better film could have helped, but I'm not sure how much. Masters had been out for a while by that point, and unfortunately it was no longer the new cool thing that kids were talking about. There were a lot of new exciting cartoons and toys coming out at that time (TMNT probably being the biggest), and I think a lot of fans were moving on.

I never grew out of toys or He Man, but I remember a lot of my friends were either moving on to the next big thing or were simply getting too old for toys. Some of them were moving on to boobs, and though I knew from very early on that I shared their love for boobs, I also felt there was room for He Man as well. I remember after the cancellation of the line, me being the naive kid that I was, I called Mattel thinking I could make a difference by telling them how much the Property meant to me and others, well, they humored me at least lol.

A successful blockbuster may have been just what Masters needed, it certainly wouldn't have hurt, but I guess we'll never be able to say for sure. The line may have simply lived out its natural life.
Mattel was obviously hoping the film would put He Man back on top, but they kinda dropped the ball. As I've stated before, I love this film, but I know many fans consider it to be an insult to the property, and though I don't believe it hurt the already fading toy line, it also didn't help it any either.

Out of curiosity were you a fan of the New Adventures Of He Man or the 2002 remake Cartoon?

[–] EmperorGalvatron 9 years ago

Goddard's idea to put the Snake Men in sounded pretty cool. I like this film for what it is, but that's not to say that I wouldn't have liked to have seen a more faithful adaptation and definitely a bigger budget. Had Cannon not done Superman IV at the same time I suppose this could have gotten a bigger budget. Although, if the property was already waning then the studio may not have seen the need for it.

Guess we'll never know if a different movie would have saved(or at least extended) the franchise. If it was a huge success, then yes, but otherwise it clearly wouldn't have hurt, though we can't know how much it would have effected anything.

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

I think a big hit movie would have at least extended the life of MOTU. I don't know what Mattel was thinking, they knew what was at stake but dropped the ball. I'm a big fan of this movie, but I would love to have seen what this film could have been with a bigger budget. Cannon was a whole nother can of worms. From interviews I've read, I'm really surprised this film got made at all.

[–] Boxbest 9 years ago

Jack-o-lantern: A huge success would obviously have rocketed MOTU back up at the top again.
Of course it would have been cool again, something that the kids would talk about a lot. The interest in action figures would have increased a lot. That's how the market works.
When successfull, this film would have started a second phase of fame. Probably with new designs for all the classic characters and another wave of toys.
Then we would have gotten that sequel in 1989 etc

I didn't see much of New Adventures. It didn't feel like MOTU me.
The 2002 remake on the other hand, got my interest. I watched on cable every Saturday morning and it was like travelling back in time to 1986 when weekend mornings were dedicated to He-Man and the others :)
I think it was a part of Fun Factory (a children's show) at Super Channel. Am I right?

[–] Jack-o-lantern_2623 9 years ago

A huge success would obviously have rocketed MOTU back up at the top again.
Of course it would have been cool again, something that the kids would talk about a lot. The interest in action figures would have increased a lot. That's how the market works.
When successfull, this film would have started a second phase of fame. Probably with new designs for all the classic characters and another wave of toys.
Then we would have gotten that sequel in 1989 etc

I can't argue with that logic. From what I've read about their sequel idea, well, all I can say is thank God in never got made. Here's a link in case you're interested....

http://thecomicscode.weebly.com/masters-of-the-universe-2.html

I didn't see much of New Adventures. It didn't feel like MOTU me.
The 2002 remake on the other hand, got my interest. I watched on cable every Saturday morning and it was like travelling back in time to 1986 when weekend mornings were dedicated to He-Man and the others :)

My experience with New Adventures Of He Man was a bit odd. I had many of the figures (almost all), but I hadn't watched the Cartoon until I was in my 20s. TBH I don't even remember seeing previews for the show when it was being aired. I loved the figures, I remember seeing commercials for those, and I wanted them instantly. The first figures I got from that line was the He-Man VS Slush Head 2 pack, and man I loved them. Anyways, when they released DVDs of the show I bought them and finally got to see what I had missed.

I thought the show was pretty good, it felt different but not in a bad way. I'm glad they got rid of He Man's ridicules Filmation haircut, and I liked that they didn't reuse so much of the animation like filmation did. I did not like how Skeletor was made into a Joker rip off, that just did not fit his character. Filmation had better environment/atmosphere.
Jack Olesker (who wrote the series bible) had planned to take the story back to Eternia for season 2, sadly it was not to be.

The 2002 Cartoon is hands down my favorite incarnation of MOTU. I love the stories, characters, environment and animation. For me it was everything I ever wanted in the property. I bought the toys,posters,comics and whatever else I could find. I never really stopped collecting figures, but the 2002 relaunch reawakened the kid in me. I was really disappointed it wasn't a huge success like the original was in the 80s, but I'm grateful for what we got.

Mattel has been doing the MOTUC figures for a while now, but I just don't think they have the same charm that the 2002 figures had. They went back to less detailed figures and shared parts, which IMO was a step back, especially considering how much they charge for a figure. I know they reused parts in the original line, but I'm no longer an easily duped 6 year old. With that being said, I have a few of those figures as well 

I think it was a part of Fun Factory (a children's show) at Super Channel. Am I right?

I'm not sure tbh. I seem to remember watching He-Man after school, but I might be remembering things wrong, sorry 