The Power Of Grayskull: He-Man Documentary on Netflix

[Werewolf]

I don't know if I subscribe to that - seems more like the toy line had just run its course.

I am beyond tired of the She-Ra blaming as well. It couldn't have been that the popularity of the Sword and Sorcery genre was waning, increased competition, Real Ghostbusters or TMNT craze, the live action movie failed, etc. Nope it had to have been She-Ra, If anything She-Ra extended the property a bit longer after MOTU had ran its course. Not to mention MOTU at its worst would still have been a big enough seller for any other company. That's why we got the sci-fi New Adventures reboot so soon. Because they realized they killed off the property too quickly. Its just the blame game and using She-Ra as the scapegoat.

I just know I adored He-Man and She-Ra as a kid. Those toys were so magical to me.

Same here.

[palitoy]

I really enjoy that series, but the formula seems to be "find one person to portray as a nut".

And BONG!

[Earth 2 Chris]

I wonder if the manner in which he was depicted in "Toys that Made us" set him off.

I really enjoy that series, but the formula seems to be "find one person to portray as a nut".

Chris

[Mary Canary]

Personally I didn't find the doc added a whole lot more than the Toys That Made Us episode, other than more attention was paid to the movie. I did enjoy seeing the cast and crew interviews. I believe the director, Gary Goddard, got into some hot water recently? But can't remember what that was all about. Also it's funny how there's always this woman saying She-Ra was to blame for He-Man's demise because boys thought she made him wimpy. I don't know if I subscribe to that - seems more like the toy line had just run its course. I mean, the lifespan for a lot of lines is much shorter and it had a good run, but kids do grow up and get into other things while younger children maybe discover something "new" vs. the toy line their older siblings might have played with.

I just know I adored He-Man and She-Ra as a kid. Those toys were so magical to me. I can still remember how Moss Man smells. It's cool seeing all the retro reimagined stuff from Matty Collector, Funko, etc. But I don't have the room or the budget to invest in any of that. And are kids today interested in high end versions of things their parents played with? It makes me wonder... We have our reimagined toys from the 70s and the 80s, maybe even into the 90s, but as we get older and therefore the folks younger than us get older, will there really be any epic toy lines to reimagine and bring back for the kids of today who are the adults of tomorrow? "Remember your first iPad?" Are we a dying breed?

[palitoy]

^Which was how? I did not see the show.

While I thought the overall argument over who-made-who allowed for all parties to have an equal say, the editing seemed to highlight Sweet's quirky personality a great deal, things like repeating him saying "BONG!" over and over again.

[PNGwynne]

^Which was how? I did not see the show.

My knowledge of MOTU history is limited to Wikipedia and the Dark Horse book "The Art of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe." I know MOTU was originally planned as a Conan line, Skeletor is very Thulsa Doom.

[palitoy]

Ok so the Roger Sweet thing bugged me but i just read in the review posted above:

That missing person is Roger Sweet, one of the original creators of He-Man. Over the years, Sweet has grown increasingly adversarial towards the other former Mattel employees who worked on Masters of the Universe, and has refused to take part in any new documentaries on the subject. He is discussed at length, but does not contribute any of his own words to the project.

I wonder if the manner in which he was depicted in "Toys that Made us" set him off.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Ooh, this will make for nice viewing over the long weekend.

Chris

[palitoy]

Well done movie, funny Mattel actually officially rejected Star Wars the way people falsely say Mego did.

I noticed that Jason's Flash Gordon was put there to describe Mego and there were some factual errors about the action figure market but considering they were based on the folks at Mattel's memories and perception I think they're fine.

I found it strange that Roger Sweet wasn't involved in this.

Also, the car from Logan's Run makes a cameo!

[Allie Fox]

Very good history of thus franchise from start to "finish."

...and don't think we missed the Bif Bang Pow! Flash Gordon figure.

[palitoy]

Cool, I'm going to check this out this weekend.

[Mary Canary]

It's a nice companion to the Toys That Made Us episode.
I especially liked the segment about the live action movie, with star interviews and production artwork of the characters (Saurod, Teela, even She-Ra!).

[ZombieJimC]

I watched this on Friday when it first became available and I really enjoyed it.

[Bruce Banner]

Watched the documentary yesterday. Overall, very well put together.
I would have liked more content covering the early era of MOTU (pre-Filmation)... but still, can't really complain.
Lots of fascinating looks at concept art and early character designs.
(And for fans of the movie, there are some awesome and informative interview segments featuring Frank Langella.)
Definitely worth watching.

[jacoblb]

Love MOTU and the TTMU episode. If it's as good as the TTMU episode then I'll be satisfied.