New Adventures Of He-Man 1990 Annual & Possible Season 2

Reading this sooo makes me wish there had been a second series(as if I didnt already!). I reckon if a second series had been Eternia based it probably would have drawn the classic fans back, it would have been interesting to see a dark Man At Arms somehow ruling Eternia with the classic characters back.

Were you planning to leave leave Primus all together? Would Skeletor still be with Crita and the Mutants when he returned to Eternia? Sorry for asking so many questions, but it's got me all excited! :)

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Originally Posted by Wacky Martin

Reading this sooo makes me wish there had been a second series(as if I didnt already!). I reckon if a second series had been Eternia based it probably would have drawn the classic fans back, it would have been interesting to see a dark Man At Arms somehow ruling Eternia with the classic characters back.

Were you planning to leave leave Primus all together? Would Skeletor still be with Crita and the Mutants when he returned to Eternia? Sorry for asking so many questions, but it's got me all excited! :)

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Gosh, now you've got me started. (Thanks.)

When I'm in pre-production development, I never think in terms of a just season for a series. You have to be ready to answer the question "Where do we go from here?" And the way to answer that question is to know where you're going to be in seasons two, three, four and five.

And while all of this is just quicksilver, 'cause it never happened, I suppose it's fun to speculate. I was going to have the gang return to Eternia, MAA now ruling and Skeletor alternately caught in the middle and working both ends against the middle.

My plan was to have the women -- She-ra, Teela and the Sorceress -- leave Eternia altogether and set up their power base on Primus. But when Primus would eventually be invaded by the Sith...(ooops! Wrong aliens.) -- let's just say some alien species -- He-man and MAA would realize they have no choice but to join forces to save them. In leaving for Primus, of course, they temporarily leave Skeletor to his own devices and, naturally, he soon rules Eternia. After He-man, MAA and the women kick some alien butt, all our heroes would see the error of their ways, reunite (can you imagine that climactic scene?) and launch an armada to wrest control of Eternia back from Skeletor and the mutants.

Fun mental candy. Boy, would I have loved to have gotten Joe Straczynski involved with THAT! Couldn't afford him, of course, but he might have signed on just for the sheer pleasure of it. The guy can cook!

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Originally Posted by Heeeere's Olesker!

Plus NA was an awful lot of fun to work on. I loved Skeletor like a brother and I hope that my taking the risk to inject some humor worked for some viewers. I remember Mark and I laughing so hard at some of Skeletor and the mutants' dialogue and antics that we had tears running down our faces. I took risks in the series because Mark not only allowed me to, but encourage me to. Can you imagine someone throwing a birthday party for Skeletor on MOTU? Sometimes things worked and sometimes they didn't, but I wanted it to be fun and different and, as I said in the bible, just a little kinder and gentler. And if some of Skeletor's actions brought a smile to someone's face...well, what was wrong with that?
TTFN

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I'm Really enjoying reading your thoughts about the series, and just wanted to say how much I loved Skeletor in the New Adventures, he's by far my favourite character, from any He-Man cartoon. In many ways I think it was more Skeletors show than He-Man's! He was hilarious a lot of the time, but then very menacing at others, one of my favourite Skellie moments is when he tries to sort out the mess at Slush Heads wedding by talking to the bride, but just ends up getting angry and making things worse :sklol:

And thankyou once again for taking the time to answer all our questions, As soon as you mentioned plans for a second series I just had to ask more about it. And by the sounds of it, I think it would have probably been the greatest He-Man series of all time :)

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Originally Posted by Wacky Martin

I'm Really enjoying reading your thoughts about the series, and just wanted to say how much I loved Skeletor in the New Adventures, he's by far my favourite character, from any He-Man cartoon. In many ways I think it was more Skeletors show than He-Man's! He was hilarious a lot of the time, but then very menacing at others, one of my favourite Skellie moments is when he tries to sort out the mess at Slush Heads wedding by talking to the bride, but just ends up getting angry and making things worse :sklol:

And thankyou once again for taking the time to answer all our questions, As soon as you mentioned plans for a second series I just had to ask more about it. And by the sounds of it, I think it would have probably been the greatest He-Man series of all time :)

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Thanks, WM. My boundless fascination with and love of Skeletor came through in the series. I've always felt villains are a lot more fun that heroes. Who entertains us more: Superman or Luthor, Batman or The Joker, J.R. Ewing or Bobby, Luke or Darth? The fun was twisting Skeletor a bit. Hey, it's not too often a regular guy like me gets to take Skeletor and tweak him. I think he kind of liked it because it allowed him to show the public that he was a multi-dimensional character. Who says being a villain can't be fun?

Chris here...

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Originally Posted by Heeeere's Olesker!

Well you're right on both counts: they were separate planets and each was in the other's future. Had the series continued, we would have had a skein in which we had He-Man, Skeletor and the mutants return to Eternia. What a reunion THAT would have been. I always felt badly that that didn't happen. I was empathetic to MOTU fans who felt disenfranchised and I felt the second season would help to address their justifiable concerns. Sadly, that didn't happen.

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First of all, Jack, can I thank you profusely for joining up to these forums - I have long been a huge admirer of your work, and have always been a very vocal advocate of the New Adventures series! I've always argued that seeing He-Man & Skeletor transported into a futuristic, sci-fi setting places a newfound emphasis on their conflict and adds a lot to the MOTU mythos. It kind-of makes the two seem like eternal enemies, bound to always be in conflict with the other, and, whilst I must admit I raised an eyebrow when I first saw the He-Man toyline on the shelves back in 1989, ever since I saw the cartoon it's been an element of MOTU that I have always enjoyed very much! :)

Can I also thank you for confirming my longheld suspicion that Eternia and Primus are not the same planet - as you may have read, this has been an ongoing debate between some of us for several years, and so it's nice to finally get confirmation. And, I promise I'm not just saying that because I was the one proved correct! ;)

I find your plans for the future of the NA series absolutely fascinating, and I feel that, had that come to pass, a lot of NA's detractors may have warmed up to the idea. I've got to be honest and say that the idea of Man-at-Arms going over to the "dark side" as it were is something I find a little hard to swallow, just because IMO it would have been out-of-character with the way he was portrayed in Filmation's MOTU cartoon - IMO you would have needed to come up with some kind of backstory for this switch, i.e., Man-at-Arms' mind becoming slightly unhinged as the result of some event. Did you ever get so far in the planning stages as to go into the whys and wherefores of his switch of sides? Obviously it's not true canon, but for me it is the next best thing!! :)

Once again, thank you Mr. Olesker for taking the time to speak to us all - I hope you'll stick around and partake in more conversations on these Boards! :)

Take care... :)

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Originally Posted by He-Fan

Chris here...



First of all, Jack, can I thank you profusely for joining up to these forums - I have long been a huge admirer of your work, and have always been a very vocal advocate of the New Adventures series! I've always argued that seeing He-Man & Skeletor transported into a futuristic, sci-fi setting places a newfound emphasis on their conflict and adds a lot to the MOTU mythos. It kind-of makes the two seem like eternal enemies, bound to always be in conflict with the other, and, whilst I must admit I raised an eyebrow when I first saw the He-Man toyline on the shelves back in 1989, ever since I saw the cartoon it's been an element of MOTU that I have always enjoyed very much! :)

Can I also thank you for confirming my longheld suspicion that Eternia and Primus are not the same planet - as you may have read, this has been an ongoing debate between some of us for several years, and so it's nice to finally get confirmation. And, I promise I'm not just saying that because I was the one proved correct! ;)

I find your plans for the future of the NA series absolutely fascinating, and I feel that, had that come to pass, a lot of NA's detractors may have warmed up to the idea. I've got to be honest and say that the idea of Man-at-Arms going over to the "dark side" as it were is something I find a little hard to swallow, just because IMO it would have been out-of-character with the way he was portrayed in Filmation's MOTU cartoon - IMO you would have needed to come up with some kind of backstory for this switch, i.e., Man-at-Arms' mind becoming slightly unhinged as the result of some event. Did you ever get so far in the planning stages as to go into the whys and wherefores of his switch of sides? Obviously it's not true canon, but for me it is the next best thing!! :)

Once again, thank you Mr. Olesker for taking the time to speak to us all - I hope you'll stick around and partake in more conversations on these Boards! :)

Take care... :)

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I felt the same way when I first saw the toyline. But I knew what Mattel was trying to do. Aside from the desire to sell new action figures and playsets, they took a long hard look at MOTU. The writing on MOTU had been stunning and groundbreaking. It was a watershed series and did things no other series had ever done. However, it had run its course. We couldn't simply have more of the same. The series needed to change and Mattel decided on going sci/fi. Debate that all you wish, but they didn't have a lot of choices, since MOTU had done fantasy. I do feel if we'd been able to bring NA characters back to Eternia that the series might have gone on an prospered. We'll never know.

As for MAA turning evil, well of course you're right that it would take some doing. But then who could have envisioned young Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker going to the Dark Side? So events do happen, inner torments do come out. On the other hand it might have been something as simple as He-man/Adam leaving Eternia. Nature abhors a vacuum, and having He-man leave would surely have created a power vacuum on Eternia. What I saw happening was that someone else -- one of the women -- would try to step up in a benign way. At that point years of repressed hostility that MAA had over never having risen to the heights he felt he deserved to rise to would have taken over. And he would decide there was no way he would let someone else move into the position of power he'd waited so long for. So he would battle against the new aspirant and defeat her -- part of the reason my posts #30, #33 and #34 in the New Adventures of He-man 1990 Annual thread talk about the women leaving Eternia. And once MAA took over...well, Lord Acton made a fine observation when he said, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." With no Sorceress and no He-man to temper him and with only a weak, once great monarchy standing in his way, I saw MAA consumed by the absolute power finally within his grasp.

It would only be much, much later -- when those he cared about (and driven away) were in mortal dangers from outsiders, partly because of his actions -- that he would see the light and redeem himself. And what a moment that would be: All Heaven rejoices over a lost sheep returned to the flock.

You know for years I've been telling a writer friend of mine, M.J. Spickett, she should write a He-man novel and see if Mattel would be interested in having it published. M.J.'s an awesome novelist with a great imagination but absolutely no time to write anything but the novels she's presently working on which is a real pity because I think she would do a great job and she is a huge fan. Unfortunately neither one of us got to watch the NA series, or at least not enough episodes to have a clear memory of it. But my theory still stands; I really think someone should try writing a full length novel. I know you worked on NA Jack, but have you watched either the original or new series? And if given the chance would you be interested in writing the novel? I have many ideas of what I would like to see in it but like M.J. said, neither she nor I have enough credit under or belts to convince Mattel to have it published.

I was mainly thinking of a novel because such shows as Transformers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men, Star Trek, Star Wars and numerous other tv series and cartoons now have novels for adults and young adults alike and was wondering if MOTU could pull it off too. What do you think? It may be a long shot but I'm sure every on the Org would be interested.

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Originally Posted by Jettara

You know for years I've been telling a writer friend of mine, M.J. Spickett, she should write a He-man novel and see if Mattel would be interested in having it published. M.J.'s an awesome novelist with a great imagination but absolutely no time to write anything but the novels she's presently working on which is a real pity because I think she would do a great job and she is a huge fan. Unfortunately neither one of us got to watch the NA series, or at least not enough episodes to have a clear memory of it. But my theory still stands; I really think someone should try writing a full length novel. I know you worked on NA Jack, but have you watched either the original or new series? And if given the chance would you be interested in writing the novel? I have many ideas of what I would like to see in it but like M.J. said, neither she nor I have enough credit under or belts to convince Mattel to have it published.

I was mainly thinking of a novel because such shows as Transformers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men, Star Trek, Star Wars and numerous other tv series and cartoons now have novels for adults and young adults alike and was wondering if MOTU could pull it off too. What do you think? It may be a long shot but I'm sure every on the Org would be interested.

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It's an interesting idea. But like your friend, I have a very full plate. I've had five novels published and currently have a proposal for a new mystery series with my publisher. Right now I'm writing a twenty-six episode work-for-hire series for China, I've got three projects that are in pre-production and I'm directing/producing a pilot for PBS. So while I love He-man and NA with all my heart (and those are sincere words; not glib ones), time constraints just don't allow me to undertake speculative projects.

Well that's understandable, a little sad but difinitely understandable. Hey, maybe you can give M.J. some advice on how to break into movies, I know she wants to go in that direction with her writing. She deals with fantasy and technology much like Motu but in the here and now. It's too bad you both have your plates so full because I think either one of your, or even Larry DiTillo would have done a great story. Oh well. Hey, if you're interested in checking out some of her stuff hit the link bellow, I edit her stuff and helped build the site. I know I must sound odd but as I see it it's what happens when you hang around a writer often enough :hmlol: you get addicted to their work and encourage everyone you meet to read it to.

Okay, now I'm babbling...way too early in the morning for me to be on the net.

Later!

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Originally Posted by Jettara

Well that's understandable, a little sad but difinitely understandable. Hey, maybe you can give M.J. some advice on how to break into movies, I know she wants to go in that direction with her writing. She deals with fantasy and technology much like Motu but in the here and now. It's too bad you both have your plates so full because I think either one of your, or even Larry DiTillo would have done a great story. Oh well. Hey, if you're interested in checking out some of her stuff hit the link bellow, I edit her stuff and helped build the site. I know I must sound odd but as I see it it's what happens when you hang around a writer often enough :hmlol: you get addicted to their work and encourage everyone you meet to read it to.

Okay, now I'm babbling...way too early in the morning for me to be on the net.

Later!

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Well my first question was definitely going to be "What are you doing on the web at 6 in the morning?!!!" On the other hand, that's when I used to go to bed after a night of writing NA.

Really I think you're on to a great idea. The reality is that trying to sell a series to television is sort of like trying to hit a ping-pong ball out of Yankee Stadium with a broomstick handle. But it does happen and I'm blessed to have a pretty good batting average.

The key to your idea is getting the right writer. When I first approached Larry about writing for NA, he was gracious enough to read the series bible, but ultimately told me it wasn't for him. I cannot tell you the measure of respect I had for him because he loved MOTU so much that he wouldn't work on NA and earn the far above average script fees Mattel was paying. So I'm not sure he would want to get involved with it at this point. Too, Larry is simply a brilliant writer, and brilliant writers -- like Joe and Paul -- are either very much in demand for projects that have already been green-lighted or are working on their own, wholly owned projects.

So what you need for that idea is to find someone who has the time to work for nothing on a highly speculative project...which is, of course, exactly what Sylvester Stallone did when he wrote ROCKY all those years ago. And we all know it turned out pretty well for Sly, so I hope someone gives it a shot.

You never know, though. You've put a burr under my saddle and its started to rub against me. I was up until three last night because of your idea, so maybe it works on me long enough that it refuses to go away. I tend to listen to the little guy who lives just under the bottom-most rib on the left side of my chest when he starts pounding on my ribcage. But I do know that the next year of my life is filled way over the rim.

As for your friend, I'd love to talk to her about how she can break into film -- I really would. But it's a trap for me. I've done that before and it rapidly spins out of control. Before I know it I've got scores (literally) of people who want the knowledge it's taken me a quarter of a century to accumulate. And, as you can tell from this and other posts, once I start writing about matters I'm passionate about, it's hard for me to turn it off. I'm not trying to be an SOB here. It's just that I only have so much time -- and I've also got a wife/angel, two children and a Westie/devil that want my attention. So it's tough for me to spend time mentoring others. I do believe in mentoring -- as if it werent' for Jean Chalopin, Andy Heyward and Haim Saban taking incredibly generous amounts of time early in my career to bring me along, I wouldn't be where I am. But I limit myself to working with one or two people a year of my choosing so I can continue with the business of writing and producing. I so sincerely hope this doesn't come off as sounding pompous, because I don't mean it to be. It's just the reality of my life, such as it is. I do hope you understand.

Best,

Jack

That's okay, M.J. was reading over my shoulder (one of the bad things about sharing an office and yelling out "Jacke responded!", she sort of jumped up to see what you wrote, smiled and said, "See, this is why he's so good, he's busier than me to mentor too many people right now." and went back to work on her latest novel smiling) and says it's okay. She's actually pretty busy herself right now. We have one novel due out the end of August and another for Christmas, so between writing and producing she's loaded down with work but is happy that you commented on my idea, although now she's teasing me for bugging you about it. That's what happens around here, we're always tormented each other. Our office is so heckic you would think we were crazy. Between research material and our own personal hobbies and interests it's like living in a zoo. He both collect He-man and Transformer stuff which line our shelves, as well as custom figures of her characters we've gone about creating with the help of an author friend. Anyhow, she says thanks and completely understands about you being unable to mentor her, with so much work under your belt time is a precious thing.

As for the MOTU story idea, let it simmer, you may get interested in it if she doesn't decide to give a try first :sklol: Well, maybe not. I better go before she pulls a skeletor and whack me with a staff. :sklol: Later!

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Originally Posted by Jettara

That's okay, M.J. was reading over my shoulder (one of the bad things about sharing an office and yelling out "Jacke responded!", she sort of jumped up to see what you wrote, smiled and said, "See, this is why he's so good, he's busier than me to mentor too many people right now." and went back to work on her latest novel smiling) and says it's okay. She's actually pretty busy herself right now. We have one novel due out the end of August and another for Christmas, so between writing and producing she's loaded down with work but is happy that you commented on my idea, although now she's teasing me for bugging you about it. That's what happens around here, we're always tormented each other. Our office is so heckic you would think we were crazy. Between research material and our own personal hobbies and interests it's like living in a zoo. He both collect He-man and Transformer stuff which line our shelves, as well as custom figures of her characters we've gone about creating with the help of an author friend. Anyhow, she says thanks and completely understands about you being unable to mentor her, with so much work under your belt time is a precious thing.

As for the MOTU story idea, let it simmer, you may get interested in it if she doesn't decide to give a try first :sklol: Well, maybe not. I better go before she pulls a skeletor and whack me with a staff. :sklol: Later!

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When I said I couldn't mentor, I meant 'for right now'.

Noel Coward: "Work is much more fun than fun." Vraiment, n'est pas?

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Originally Posted by Rodster6

I didnt realise primus was eternia in the future in the cartoons?

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There's an episode of New Adventures I can't remember the title of but it shows the Mutants finding a man from the past in suspended animation who is a rock star in the style of 80's/90's Earth! It seemed really wrong to me when I saw it since it seemed to be suggesting that Primus was Earth at some time in history.... :hmconf:

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Originally Posted by Killian

There's an episode of New Adventures I can't remember the title of but it shows the Mutants finding a man from the past in suspended animation who is a rock star in the style of 80's/90's Earth! It seemed really wrong to me when I saw it since it seemed to be suggesting that Primus was Earth at some time in history.... :hmconf:

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That's "Rock to the Future". Earth does get a mention here as Hank Zappa's homeworld, but it doesn't get suggested that Primus is Earth.

[QUOTE=Heeeere's Olesker!]When I said I couldn't mentor, I meant 'for right now'.
QUOTE]

Okay, whenever you can just drop her a line at mj_spickett@yahoo.ca I know she'll appreciate it, I certainly would if it helps her break into the business. She works so hard that sometimes she can't see the trees through the forest and gets stumped on what to do...well at least I do and she's the one trying to help me.

Hehe, this must be pick on Jettara day, at least with my co-workers. M.J.'s been picking on me, not just for this but because I spent the last two days nagging her to get herown space on msn and she finally did and then I had to get her up and going about putting something in it. Now she's bugging me to write an outline of what I would like in the MOTU story since I'm the one always bringing it up. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. :hmblsh: Ah well, bugging her is fun and on a hot day like this I need a break from editing every now and then.

Oh, as for the being up a six in the morning thing...well we had a camp out at M.J.'s cabin last night and when you get a bunch of single late twenty-somethings and a punch of lap tops we get a little crazy. On top of that M.J. has insomia and when she does sleep she snores...don't let her know I told you guys. :hmroll:

Well back to work I go. I'll pop back in in a little while.

My word, I just read what the plans were for season 2, and wow if only it had came to be, imagine how far the series could have gone! I'm sure most people that had given up on He-Man at the that point due to the drastic change would have gone "Well, they are back on Eternia now, maybe I should give it a chance." Everyone likes continuity, and what better continuity than bringing He-Man back to his home planet and re-introducing old characters!? I have to say I am very impressed with the creative arc that should have been. O man, "If only...".

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Originally Posted by Killian

There's an episode of New Adventures I can't remember the title of but it shows the Mutants finding a man from the past in suspended animation who is a rock star in the style of 80's/90's Earth! It seemed really wrong to me when I saw it since it seemed to be suggesting that Primus was Earth at some time in history.... :hmconf:

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Actually, the point was that the love music and worship of those who create it is universal. Remember the penultimate musical scene in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS? Music is our universal Rosetta Stone.

One of the most refreshing things for me about Rock to the Future, was that it didnt go down the road of saying 'rock and roll is evil' like some other shows did, but rather had He-Man saying that it was only rhe way skeletor used the music that was evil.

There were some episodes that actually had some 'Wild West' influences in them in particular 'Festival of Lights' with the rodeshow and 'Fading Star' where Dukan, the hero from Primuses past, dressed like a cowboy and rode around on a horse, even having a showdown with Skeletor in this old west town.

Out of interest Jack, did you mean to put those kinds of things in, or were they more a result of how the characters were drawn and such? :)

[QUOTE=Heeeere's Olesker!]Actually, I meant to put those things in. I worked sooooooo hard In trying to inculcate subtlties into the series. And in writing those subtle points -- sometimes all too infrequently referring to MOTU characters and bemoaning that I coudn't do it more often -- I was trying to write letters of respect to all who loved MOTU -- to all of Joe and Larry and Paul's fans. I was surely hoping to write to a new audience, but I was also trying to indicate my respect to all of you who loved those wonderful writers of MOTU -- i.e, that you were all several cuts above the traditional animation audience. Can you possibly imagine how gratifying it is -- sixteen years later -- to learn that you guys got it?

What you need to understand is the deep and abiding respect I had for MOTU. It was not easy to try to step into those shoes. I knew Mattel wanted to distance NA from MOTU. But I had spent a few years in the same offices as Joe Straczynski at DIC and I felt he was such a towering figure as a writer-- something I regrettably never articulated to him -- that I felt even working on NA was a daunting task. And I undetstood the context of the times that MOTU came out in. Guys like Joe and Paul Dini and Larry DiTillio were trailer blazers -- truly going where no man had gone before.

So when I created NA I found myself conflicted. I'd signed on to create a totally new series, intentionally distanced by Mattel from the orginal. And Mattel was writing these ridiculous check to me week after week -- I'm talking $20,000, $30,000. But I also felt I owed so much to Joe and Larry and Paul. So it was tough to separate myself from them. So I tried, in a lot of subtle way, to pay homage to them.

What has always been a hole in my heart is that a lot of MOTU fans and writers of that series thought I'd betrayed them and didn't respect MOTU. As I said in other posts on another thread, I deeply respected Larry DiTillio's decision not to work on NA after he read my series bible. But what bothered me was that I knew he thought I'd betrayed MOTU. If only the series had gone to Season Two, we had returned to Eternia and been able to unite our NA characters with the MOTU characters. What a wonderful world that could have been. I should have talked to Larry about that sat the time. Bujt everything was so compressed by the urgency of Mattel to have those 65 episode written. It was tragic that we missed out on bringing Larry and Paul and Joe into the fold.

Quel dommage.

I find all these revelations fascinating- many thanks to Jack for coming here and enlightening us!

One question that springs to mind is: Were there any plans to re-introduce 'classic' characters like MAA, Evil-Lyn etc. into the NA toy line, if they were going to become prominent characters in the series? It would have been cool to see the updated versions of these characters.

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Originally Posted by Mosquitor

I find all these revelations fascinating- many thanks to Jack for coming here and enlightening us!

One question that springs to mind is: Were there any plans to re-introduce 'classic' characters like MAA, Evil-Lyn etc. into the NA toy line, if they were going to become prominent characters in the series? It would have been cool to see the updated versions of these characters.

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I can't tell you what a pleasure it is to be here.

As for the introduction of MOTU characters, take a look at the posts from #27 on at THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HE-MAN 1990 Annual thread in this forum.

Best,

Jack

Further to that, Mattel did not have definitive plans for introducing new action figures. But if we got into Season 2 and I had my way -- and if NA was successful then I certainly would have had some leverage -- and we did return to Eternia, they almost certainly would have introduced new action figures. As I've said, MOTU had a long and glorious run, thanks to its brilliant (a word I do not use casually, BTW) writers. Mattel's thinking was they needed a new He-man incarnation because, after all, how many duplicates of MOTU He-man figures could kids collect. Thus, NA. Similarly, if I had convinced them to return to Eternia in Season 2, they would have wanted to come up with new versions of the old characters so they could sell a new line of action figures. And boy did I ever have that ammo waiting. As I said, I envisioned big changes as having happened on Eternia in He-man and Skeletor's absence. With MAA now risen to dictatorial power, I was going to have him clothed in Imperial regalia, a la Napoleon. Anyone associated with his regime would be wearing tons of gold braid, epaulets, the whgole nine yards. Conversely, with Teela, She-ra and the Sorceress now a rebel force, I was going to have them in Eternia's version of hot-looking military fatigues. Try to picture She-ra as a jungle resistance fighter! Remember Jenette Goldstein's INCREDIBLE turn as Pvt. Vasquez in ALIENS? Buff, tough, ready-to-kick your butt and lookin' just killer in that futuristic Marines outfit with her arms bulging. Talk about female empowerment. That's how I saw She-ra. Can't you just hear She-ra saying, "Hey, you guys have mess it up for long enough! It's time for a WOMAN to take charge!", just before she head-butts some imperial commander in charge of MAA's desert outpost. As for He-man, he also would have to go into true battle mode for his confrontation with the powerful and ruthless forces now under his one-time mentor MAA. So I saw him doing a really primitive return to nature -- animal skins and a Rambo sort of look. I wanted him to be gritty, grimy, face blackened with grease for night time ops, hair pulled back in dreadlocks. I wanted He-man to move to a new level -- one where he could get some street cred. If he was, as I said, "kinder and gentler" in NA, he was gonna turn into Clubber Lang in Season 2 -- in looks, action and dialogue delivery. You know, it's always the villains who are interesting in a series. In Season 2 we were going to finlaly have a hero who was every bit as dangerous as the villains -- transformed emotionally and philosophically because of the betray of MAA. (Listen to all those posts saying it's tough for them to imagine MAA going to the dark side. If they feel this way, iamgine how He-man would have felt, and what that would have done to him.) And I saw his entire look changing because of what he was going to put himself through. The emotional devastation of having to battle MAA would take a toll on his looks, his expression -- just everything. Eventually, when he and MAA would get back together in Season 3, and he'd return to what he had been. But for now he had to become almost part animal in order to rise to the task of challenging someone he so cared about...someone who had caused so much pain within him through their actions. He-man may be the strongest man in the universe, but MAA would have found his Achilles' heel, injuring his good heart, turning him cold, forcing him to use his powers in ways he could nevewr iamgined them used, in a conflict he could never have imagined himself in.

Gah. I already said something about it elsewhere, but this thread makes me mad - not because I DON'T like what's being said, but because I DO. Far too much.

After reading this thread...if NA would have gotten at least one or two more seasons, I'm sure I would have been watching regularly. The potential to have an abundance of actual character development was one of the things that the original MOTU was somewhat lacking in (although I doubt that was the writers' fault..I'm assuming they were under pretty strict guidelines back then as to how much they could mess with the characters).

It's the same reason I kind of got tired of reading stuff like Spider-Man, where I know at the end of the day he'll be alive and the core cast of characters will be mostly untouched. It's also the reason I LIKE reading something like Savage Dragon, because the creator is open to doing something to shake up the book's status quo whenever the inspiration hits. Having a fairly clean slate for NA was a great opportunity to develop a bunch of new characters while developing fresh storylines for some of the ones we were already familiar with.

MAA's proposed corruption-reign-redemption is the kind of stuff that interests me the most. It's annoying for me as a fan to think about missing out on stuff like He-Man's first confrontation with MAA and the realization as to what happened, so I can't imagine how frustrating it is for someone working on the creative end.


Side note: Jack, I've seen two or three Rocky references so far - are you a fan? Despite a couple of questionable sequels, I'm pretty much a sucker for anything related to that cast of characters. I'll likely be in the theater on day 1 for the new film...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KaneRobot

Gah. I already said something about it elsewhere, but this thread makes me mad - not because I DON'T like what's being said, but because I DO. Far too much.

After reading this thread...if NA would have gotten at least one or two more seasons, I'm sure I would have been watching regularly. The potential to have an abundance of actual character development was one of the things that the original MOTU was somewhat lacking in (although I doubt that was the writers' fault..I'm assuming they were under pretty strict guidelines back then as to how much they could mess with the characters).

It's the same reason I kind of got tired of reading stuff like Spider-Man, where I know at the end of the day he'll be alive and the core cast of characters will be mostly untouched. It's also the reason I LIKE reading something like Savage Dragon, because the creator is open to doing something to shake up the book's status quo whenever the inspiration hits. Having a fairly clean slate for NA was a great opportunity to develop a bunch of new characters while developing fresh storylines for some of the ones we were already familiar with.

MAA's proposed corruption-reign-redemption is the kind of stuff that interests me the most. It's annoying for me as a fan to think about missing out on stuff like He-Man's first confrontation with MAA and the realization as to what happened, so I can't imagine how frustrating it is for someone working on the creative end.


Side note: Jack, I've seen two or three Rocky references so far - are you a fan? Despite a couple of questionable sequels, I'm pretty much a sucker for anything related to that cast of characters. I'll likely be in the theater on day 1 for the new film...

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Yeah, I'm a HUGE Rocky fan. Ditto for Rudy, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and anything else with an underdog. Maybe it comes from my having submitted my first novel to G.P. Putnam's Sons back in 1975 in a shirt box, not knowing Putnam's was receiving three thousand unsolicited (read: unagented) manuscripts a year, out of which they published six. Mine was one of them in 1976. Sherry Lansing (Fatal Attraction, The Accused, Titanic) and Bill Castle (Rosemary's Baby, The Tingler, etc.) bought the film rights for MGM before it was out of galleys and I was fortunate enough to have it become a best seller. Dreams do come true. So that's why I love Rocky. It's also why I love George Patton's famous quote: L'audace, l'audace, toujours l'audace." Without audAcity, where would mankind be?

As a side note, your comments touch this aging, battle-scarred warrior's heart. To hear them from a MOTU fan brings me a bittersweet contentment I cannot do justice to with words. Maybe NA didn't get into Season 2, but at last some people now understand that I didn't want to betray MOTU fans, that I so greatly respected all the original writers and that it is an enduring wound for me that we were never able to return to Eternia and unite NA and MOTU fans.

Many thanks for your kind words.

I gotta tell, this is my favorite org thread, simply awesome. :)

And "NA Skeletor" still is my all-time favorite cartoon incarnation of ol' boneface. I really digged his portrayal there. :hmgrin:

(I guess I should change my rank to "NA-fanboy")

I love the ideas of season 2, and wish they could have come to pass.

Everyone wants MAA to turn evil! An evil opposite turned up in MVC comics, and the MYP were gonna turn him into a Snakeman!