He-Man

PSA Sunday: He-Man and She-Ra Talk About Inappropriate Touching

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 20th, 2011 at 11:56 am

I believe it was sometime in the mid-1980s when TV producers decided that their programming was a suitable replacement for actual parenting. As a child of that experimental era, I would spend roughly 25 minutes at a clip watching my cartoon heroes beat the crap out of villains, followed by a thirty-second PSA of them telling me that violence wasn’t the answer. Mixed messages?

While it’s great to look back on the PSAs of my childhood, sometimes they crop up with a certain amount of dark irony in lieu of current events. Take this clip from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in which He-Man, She-Ra and Orko want to talk to you about something that’s very personal…your body. Hit the jump to hear their “touching” message and click here for our previous PSA Sunday videos.

THUNDERCATS Ho! Movie Update, Online 8-Bit Video Game, and Porcelain Statues

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: December 27th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

With the success of 80′s properties like Transformers and G.I. Joe at the box office, it’s little wonder that movie studios are looking at what else they can grab from that decade so they can mine it for box office gold.  As most of you know, Hollywood is trying to make Robotech, He-Man and Voltron movies, and while those could be very cool, the one 80′s property I’ve always wanted to see is Thundercats.

I don’t know why this cartoon means so much to me (maybe it’s the cool logo), but I’ve always thought the story of humanoid cats fleeing their exploding world was ripe with potential.  Also, Mumm-Ra was awesome.  But even though I’d love to see it, I’ve spoken to a few reliable sources and they tell me the movie is no longer happening at Warner Bros.  I wish I wasn’t reporting that news.

But if you’re a fan of Thundercats toys and video games, then I got some good news for you as well.  Hit the jump for more:

Warner Brothers Doesn’t Have the Power: Backs Out of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE

by Jackson Bishop    Posted: September 10th, 2009 at 7:46 am

By the power of Greskull, it looks like Mattel is looking to shop the film rights to the story of Prince Adam and his continual battle to protect Castle Greyskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. The Joel Silver produced reboot of the toy-based franchise has been set up at Warner since 2007. Well now it seems the companies have mutually agreed to let Warner’s rights lapse, after failing to find a common ground on the film’s direction. For those that have lives or good taste in movies and don’t know, the He-Man property has been adapted for live action once before by Cannon films in the 1987 “Masters of the Universe”. The prospect of a new film has been on the table for quite a while now, but this development seems like it might be a bigger obstacle than both Beastman and Triclopse comin’ at ya. For more, raise your magic sword and hit the jump.

Rookie Writer Summons The Power of GRAYSKULL

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 12th, 2009 at 10:25 pm

I don’t know what screenwriters aspire to.  Clearly, it depends on the screenwriter, but I wonder how many lay awake at night and think to him or herself, “I wish I had the chance to re-adapt the cartoon ‘Masters of the Universe’ into a live-action film because I could really capitalize on some goofy nostalgia.”  Whether Evan Daugherty had that dream or not is unknown but he will be coming on board to rewrite Justin Marks’* script for “Grayskull” because you don’t want your movie about He-man to sound un-cool with a title like “Masters of the Universe”.

According to The Hollywood Reporter (who act like Daugherty committed the artistic crime of the century by getting this job; he’s not adapting Faulkner, here), Warners sees the big-screen version as a gritty fantasy and re-imagines Prince Adam (He-Man when he calls on the power of Grayskull) as a soldier who sets off to find his destiny, happening upon the magical world of Eternia. There, Skeletor has raised a technological army and is bent on eradicating magic.

I’m sorry.  You lost me at “gritty fantasy”.  It’s Masters of the Fucking Universe.  You can’t just have fun with it?  He-Man had a Prince-Valiant haircut and wore furry underwear.  Who wants a “gritty fantasy” from that?  Who is so emotionally retarded that they need their silly property about a man who cries out “I have the power!” to be deadly serious?

C’mon, Daugherty.  Prove the haters (read: me and people who agree with me) wrong and make this film entertaining and not just an attempt to cater to he-men-children.

*Who, as the go-to guy for adapting “Street Fighter”, “Voltron”, and “Shadow of the Colossus”, probably did have that dream

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