My
name is David Turgeon and I am a member of the He-Man
and the Masters of the Universe mailing list. Through
a little research I have learned that you were at one time
a scriptwriter for this popular 80's cartoon. If you don't
mind, I would like to ask you a few questions about your
experiences with Filmation.
Ye
gods! He-Man! It's been a long time since I thought
about that show! I think I was still in college myself when
I wrote for it. It's been 15 years, so I'll try and remember
what I can.
Some
of your standout episodes included "Teela's Quest"
and "Prince Adam No More." Do you have any thoughts
or comments about those classic shows?
"Teela's
Quest" and "Prince Adam No More" - I'm a
big Stan Lee/Jack Kirby fan and I liked how their Marvel
Comics stories made superheroes more than just cardboard
cut-outs. They were big influences on my early cartoon work.
The title "Prince Adam No More" is, of course,
a direct rip from "Spider-Man No More," "The
Hulk No More," etc., all those portentous titles Stan
and Jack used to use every other month, it seems. Besides,
in classical myth, any interesting hero goes through moments
of self-doubt and change, and I wanted to weave that in
somehow. That's where those two stories came from.
Who
were some of your co-writers and how did you all work together
with your producers?
All
the producers wanted was the series to get done on time
and on budget. They didn't care what the characters did
as long as they had enough stock animation to cover the
action. Any interesting stories came out of the writers
themselves. Some of the better writers Tom Ruegger, Michael
Reaves, and that Babylon 5 guy whose name I can
never spell correctly. J. Michael, you know the guy. Everyone
else blew chunks. I don't mean to be nasty but they did.
What
was your favorite episode?
If
I had to pick one, it would be the Teela episode.
Who
was your favorite character?
Evil-Lyn.
At the time I was dating someone who looked just like her.
Don't ask.
What
are your thoughts on She-Ra?
I
never watched it sorry.
Do
you have any comments on Filmation's upper level management?
Dolts,
fools, idiots, drunks, child molesters, grave robbers, and
lousy writers. Also cheap, cheap, cheap! I've got stories
(about them) but they would get me sued. Besides, why should
I give them to you for free when I can write a tell-all
and make big bucks?
How
do you respond to claims made by Peggy Charren that He-Man
was nothing more than a 1/2 hour toy commercial?
He-Man
was a 1/2 hour toy commercial. I hate Peggy Charren but
she was right. Selling the product was the sole reason for
doing that show. Though occasionally we could slip in a
good story and made the characters more interesting for
a strictly non-kid audience.
What
do you think about the people who wanted He-Man
off the air due to its "Satanic influence"?
People
who think telepathy (which is about as far as the cartoon
went) is satanic are so far gone they'll believe anything.
It's lucky those whoo-hoos were picking on the tame stuff
and never caught onto any of the REAL messages we put into
the show. You know those quick morals at the end of the
show? In at least 5 of them you can hear Orko chanting "Satan
is lord!" under the soundtrack. Of course I wont tell
you which five...Thanks for your letter. I hope I was in
some way enlightening.
