Robert Lamb introduces us to aspects that were taken from
his average episode.
Do
you agree with our review of "Capture the Comet Keeper,"
that it was not one of the your best scripts?
From
memory, I really don't have any objections to your comments.
This was not a great episode. However, it started out better.
I have included scans of several pages of my first draft
script dated July 18th 1984. You will notice quite a few
differences from the final episode.
What
major differences were there between the first draft and
the finished script?
First
of all I had cast Beast Man and Trap Jaw as Skeletor's foils.
Arthur Nadel, one of the Filmation honchos, had me replace
both of them with Two Bad. MU126, the production number
for "Capture the Comet Keeper," was one of the
last He-Man scripts and Two Bad's agent a.k.a.
Mattel demanded more exposure for his client.
What
about the character of Zagraz, the comet keeper?
I
liked the character of Zagraz in a goofy sort of way. Zagraz
had been patterned after radio comic Ed Wynn's Mad Hatter
in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. His character
design bore a resemblance to Merlin in Disney's The
Sword in the Stone.
What
about the way Zagraz treats the comets in this episode?
They are almost like pets.
Though
Zagraz treated the comets as pets, he didn't call them by
name in the first draft. No Doodles. I don't know what I
was thinking. After Arthur gutted some of my favorite lines,
I think I just came up with the cutesy name out of spite.
In the first draft Skeletor does not end up in the mud with
Two Bad. We leave Snake Mountain with the sounds of Skeletor
being chased by that last comet.
The
second season really changed Skeletor from an evil figure
to a more comedic one, didn't it?
By
this time we had adjusted to the idea of Skeletor being
more comical than scary. The second thing you will notice
in the script pages is that I elaborated more on Skeletor's
evil. I tried to bring back a balance between humorous and
malevolent. There is a scene where he tempts a boy to break
a window. This was an obvious attempt to devilize him. Arthur
did not approve. Arthur also canned most of Skeletor's name-calling.
I peppered his dialogue with epithets because of how much
kids liked it. You'll also find some Easter eggs in the
scene descriptions. These were inside jokes just for the
storyboard department. Some of them even made it into the
final script. See if you can find them.
Where
you happy with the major revisions made to your script?
Now
having said all that, not all the revisions I did lessened
the story. There were places that needed tightening. But,
my preference is for my first draft. And now you have most
of the major missing pieces.
Trap
Jaw hopes Skeletor will not break into song.
Skeletor
targets a young boy.
The
boy caves in to Skeletor's encouragement.
Skeletor
is only interested in wrongdoing.
He-Man
races into action and Teela makes a good point.
Trap
Jaw's density vexes Skeletor.
Skeletor
sends Beast Man and Trap Jaw out after He-Man and Teela.
