Mill Creek Acquires Rights to MYP Show

[BCI Guy]

They might actually do it:

In the last half of 2007, when the folks at now-defunct BCI Eclipse outlined their plans for home video releases of the 2002 ("Mike Young Productions") version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, they talked about a possible high definition release of the show, mentioning Blu-ray along with their standard DVD release. They still had those plans in mind by August 2008...just a few months before they were shut down by parent company Navarre.

Since then the home video license for the 2002 animated series has been picked up by Mill Creek Entertainment, which has already announced a pair of September 29th DVD releases, including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - The Complete Series (every episode on 4 discs; see cover art for the DVD set below). We held out little hope, honestly, that Mill Creek would move forward with any Blu-ray plans for the set, since BCI was of course a completely different company. But fans like our reader "Demetris G" (thanks for the heads-up!) wrote to Mill Creek and asked, and this is the reply they got from the studio:

Thank you for your interest in Mill Creek Entertainment and the upcoming He-Man DVD releases. To answer your request, there is a Blu-Ray version of this DVD set in the works and it is slated to be released sometime in 2010. The announcement of this release will made upon our website in the future so, please continue to monitor our site for details on this and other future titles.

We've double-checked directly with the studio on this, and they've confirmed that they do have it in mind....but added this important information that tells us to take it with a grain of salt: "the release is conceptual, and will still need to be approved by Mattel. However, if and when we secure permission, this release will rock your socks off!"

So Mattel could still veto a Blu-ray release, but Mill Creek would really like to do it. And what plans they have! They would like to do it as a Complete Series release, just like their DVDs, but with the graphics quality you expect from high-def. What about extras? They would most definitely include bonus material, and if possible commission new supplements just for the Blu release, and/or try to get an additional on-package item included with it.

They obviously haven't set a release schedule in stone, but would like to have it out in the first part of 2010 if at all possible (think March-ish)...but that could still move. Our contact also told us to disregard any package art that you may have seen online at any message boards, blogs, etc.; some intense fans have apparently taken the DVD art below and PhotoShopped it onto a Blu-ray package template, making it look like something from the studio. We're told (with a smile and a wink) that this homemade effort "is not from Mill Creek, and it’s not as good as ours will be!" Well, all right then...we'll hold you to that when the time comes.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/He-...y-Rumors/12311

[demiscy]

Updated information on the Blu-Ray release, etc.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/He-...y-Rumors/12311

They might actually do it:

In the last half of 2007, when the folks at now-defunct BCI Eclipse outlined their plans for home video releases of the 2002 ("Mike Young Productions") version of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, they talked about a possible high definition release of the show, mentioning Blu-ray along with their standard DVD release. They still had those plans in mind by August 2008...just a few months before they were shut down by parent company Navarre.

Since then the home video license for the 2002 animated series has been picked up by Mill Creek Entertainment, which has already announced a pair of September 29th DVD releases, including He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - The Complete Series (every episode on 4 discs; see cover art for the DVD set below). We held out little hope, honestly, that Mill Creek would move forward with any Blu-ray plans for the set, since BCI was of course a completely different company. But fans like our reader "Demetris G" (thanks for the heads-up!) wrote to Mill Creek and asked, and this is the reply they got from the studio:

Thank you for your interest in Mill Creek Entertainment and the upcoming He-Man DVD releases. To answer your request, there is a Blu-Ray version of this DVD set in the works and it is slated to be released sometime in 2010. The announcement of this release will made upon our website in the future so, please continue to monitor our site for details on this and other future titles.

We've double-checked directly with the studio on this, and they've confirmed that they do have it in mind....but added this important information that tells us to take it with a grain of salt: "the release is conceptual, and will still need to be approved by Mattel. However, if and when we secure permission, this release will rock your socks off!"

So Mattel could still veto a Blu-ray release, but Mill Creek would really like to do it. And what plans they have! They would like to do it as a Complete Series release, just like their DVDs, but with the graphics quality you expect from high-def. What about extras? They would most definitely include bonus material, and if possible commission new supplements just for the Blu release, and/or try to get an additional on-package item included with it.

They obviously haven't set a release schedule in stone, but would like to have it out in the first part of 2010 if at all possible (think March-ish)...but that could still move. Our contact also told us to disregard any package art that you may have seen online at any message boards, blogs, etc.; some intense fans have apparently taken the DVD art below and PhotoShopped it onto a Blu-ray package template, making it look like something from the studio. We're told (with a smile and a wink) that this homemade effort "is not from Mill Creek, and it’s not as good as ours will be!" Well, all right then...we'll hold you to that when the time comes.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/He-...y-Rumors/12311

[jmb410s]

Good news! This is what might make me break down and get a Blu-ray player. I am still an old hold out since blue-ray can't be played on my laptop

[hhhelmsley]

Great news indeed!!!

[krosfyah]

Here's what annoys me about this, before boomerang in the UK bought the rights for filmation and now thi s mill creek business, the rights were for sale, why the hell didn't mattel take advantage and buy back their stuff? they had the perfect chance. who the hell is running that show?

[demiscy]

Here's what annoys me about this, before boomerang in the UK bought the rights for filmation and now thi s mill creek business, the rights were for sale, why the hell didn't mattel take advantage and buy back their stuff? they had the perfect chance. who the hell is running that show?

Mattel has other more "important" brands to worry about.. So Mattel leaves all the hard work to other companies and just collects the money

[BCI Guy]

Here's what annoys me about this, before boomerang in the UK bought the rights for filmation and now thi s mill creek business, the rights were for sale, why the hell didn't mattel take advantage and buy back their stuff? they had the perfect chance. who the hell is running that show?

This "Mill Creek business" has nothing to do with the Filmation rights. They just sublicensed the 2002 series from Navarre.

Classic Media bought the Filmation rights from ER.

Now I'm sure Mattel could've bid on the entire library, but its very unlikely that they would've been able to cherry pick just MOTU and POP. I'm sure it was "all or nothing".

[krosfyah]

This "Mill Creek business" has nothing to do with the Filmation rights. They just sublicensed the 2002 series from Navarre.

Classic Media bought the Filmation rights from ER.

Now I'm sure Mattel could've bid on the entire library, but its very unlikely that they would've been able to cherry pick just MOTU and POP. I'm sure it was "all or nothing".

I assumed that, but they still could have done it all and looked to license or sell the other properties. it was a wasted opportunity. you get Bravestarr MOTU and POP (the latter two being worth a lot esp with live action movies in talks) and I think Bravestarr done right would make a great flick.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

Nice to hear it's coming back out, but seems odd considering the others weren't released that long ago.

[BCI Guy]

I assumed that, but they still could have done it all and looked to license or sell the other properties. it was a wasted opportunity. you get Bravestarr MOTU and POP (the latter two being worth a lot esp with live action movies in talks) and I think Bravestarr done right would make a great flick.

Honestly, there is almost no interest in anything outside of MOTU and POP. Maybe they could've licensed a bit of it, but to sell the Filmation catalog w/o He-Man and She-Ra would fetch very little.

Bravestarr could make a great flick, but it has such a small following, you'd be better off creating a new "space cowboy property".

What we don't know is how much those rights are worth to Mattel. They obviously have plenty of MOTU and POP to draw from between the toys and the 2002 series. It would probably cost them considerably less to license what they need from Classic Media for MOTUC, because I can't see why Classic Media would want anything to do with the toy part of the rights. Its in both parties best interests to work together because then the 2 companies can cross-promote each others products.

[krosfyah]

Honestly, there is almost no interest in anything outside of MOTU and POP. Maybe they could've licensed a bit of it, but to sell the Filmation catalog w/o He-Man and She-Ra would fetch very little.

Bravestarr could make a great flick, but it has such a small following, you'd be better off creating a new "space cowboy property".

What we don't know is how much those rights are worth to Mattel. They obviously have plenty of MOTU and POP to draw from between the toys and the 2002 series. It would probably cost them considerably less to license what they need from Classic Media for MOTUC, because I can't see why Classic Media would want anything to do with the toy part of the rights. Its in both parties best interests to work together because then the 2 companies can cross-promote each others products.

I understand, but I still personally think in the long term (look at all the odd legal foolishness we're dealing with now not to mention in the past) to just outright own your property. I hear what you're saying regarding Bravestarr, but it's still easier to use the groundwork out there to make the flick since so much stuff exists to draw from (so much meaning 65 episodes of mythos) doing a new space cowboy property movie might work too but you gotta work harder and people fans and non fans will miss out on all the cool Bravestarr specific stuff. (I guess it depends on POV though)

See I'm remembering back on the halmark days, when EVERY property was getting dvd releases and HM was just sitting on MOTU with no plans to use it for anything, classic media may not want anything to do with Mattel and thus we lose out on Shadow weaver, Shokoti and all the other cool filmation only characters as toys OR in new media. if Mattel owned the full property then they could do anything they want without bothering with clearance. Mind you I'm no MBA or anything, but the Business grads at Mattel from mine and many other's pov's have messed up a LOT in the last 10 years (if not more) and as a fan, I'm tired of hearing "we don't own the rights, sorry the rights aren't ours, it may happen but the legalities involved are just not worth it. it's annoying and if I were in business I'd be embarrassed to have to constantly disappoint people because I don't outright own the property that my company started.

[BCI Guy]

I understand, but I still personally think in the long term (look at all the odd legal foolishness we're dealing with now not to mention in the past) to just outright own your property.

Oh, it would be easier, but again, they'd also be buying Freedom Force, Mission Magic, Fraidy Cat, Wakky and Pakky, etc. (basically every property we put out - PLUS about 30 more that we had absolutely no interest in). There is a ton of content in that catalog that I'm not sure Mattel would think worth paying for just to get back the rights to the Filmation versions of He-Man and She-Ra.

[Fisto's Left Hand]

I'm guessing that Fat Albert, the DC stuff and Star Trek were not part of theFilmation catalog that was sold.

[BCI Guy]

I'm guessing that Fat Albert, the DC stuff and Star Trek were not part of theFilmation catalog that was sold.

Fat Albert is. ER had licensed that property to Ventura/First Look before we ever approached them about He-Man.

The DC stuff is owned by Warner Brothers, Star Trek by Paramount, Tarzan by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and Archies/Sabrina/Groovie Goolies is a joint ownership between the Archie Group and the owners of the Filmation library (currently Classic Media).

[krosfyah]

Oh, it would be easier, but again, they'd also be buying Freedom Force, Mission Magic, Fraidy Cat, Wakky and Pakky, etc. (basically every property we put out - PLUS about 30 more that we had absolutely no interest in). There is a ton of content in that catalog that I'm not sure Mattel would think worth paying for just to get back the rights to the Filmation versions of He-Man and She-Ra.

I understand, but in the long term I still think it would be worth it, even if you don't do anything with those other 30 properties. I'm probably being a bit naive in my judgement but I guess these days people don't think long term company benefits rather than short term personal benefits. If I OWNED Mattel I'd definitely buy the rights even with the others I had no interest in. but as an exec who could be fired or offered a better position any day, I guess I'd want my record to look more impressive and that's generally short term, high profile accomplishments. (I know there are other factors but I'm always going to be bitter about this rights issue and I can SEE rationale from a business POV but I won't necessarily agree with it. )

Fat Albert is. ER had licensed that property to Ventura/First Look before we ever approached them about He-Man.

The DC stuff is owned by Warner Brothers, Star Trek by Paramount, Tarzan by the Edgar Rice Burroughs estate and Archies/Sabrina/Groovie Goolies is a joint ownership between the Archie Group and the owners of the Filmation library (currently Classic Media).

I think if marketed right there is a market for Fat Albert collectibles. maybe not a big one but one that would make enough money to justify it, I'd love some horsemen sculpted Cosby Kids stactions!

[Mr. Shokoti]

I think if marketed right there is a market for Fat Albert collectibles. maybe not a big one but one that would make enough money to justify it, I'd love some horsemen sculpted Cosby Kids stactions!

There's got to be! I loved Fat Albert as a kid and still wouldn't mind having his stuff on DVD. I'm just some white guy in the midwest so the property definitely crosses racial/regional lines.

[Tallstar]

You know what I just realized?

These Mill Creek sets are going to come just a little before the re-release of MOTUC He-Man in October. Perfect opportunity to advertise He-Man, Teela etc.... like the King Grayskull, He-Man and Beast Man advertisement in Volume 3.

[demiscy]

They changed the artwork by mirroring the cover...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ima...F8&n=130&s=dvd

[merman_swimarooni]

I actually saw the Origins dvd set at my Wal Mart for 5 bucks. To me the packaging and art work seemed way cheaper than the BCI versions. It comes in a really thick case.

[Tallstar]

I actually saw the Origins dvd set at my Wal Mart for 5 bucks. To me the packaging and art work seemed way cheaper than the BCI versions. It comes in a really thick case.

Wowsers. It's out already? I thought it was supposed to hit end of September?

Anyhow, Mill Creek does budget sets. These are for folks who only care about the actual show on the discs.

[merman_swimarooni]

Yea I was suprised to see it too! And this is definatly a budget set. Won't be purchasing cause I already got the BCI versions, but definatly cool for anyone who might be curious about the series, and for only 5 bucks maybe more people will check it out!

[Tallstar]

Here's an article about the releases. Nothing new, but I like this part:

Regardless, Mill Creek is confident that they will be able to give this animation and others "new life" upon release late summer.

http://www.animationinsider.net/arti...articleID=2162

[Nicholi]

What exactly is the Origins release supposed to be? Does anyone actually know aside from guesses and speculation?

[demiscy]

What exactly is the Origins release supposed to be? Does anyone actually know aside from guesses and speculation?

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/He...-Universe/6244

[Tallstar]

12 more days until the Origins release! (Wal-Mart's site is showing a September 1st release date at limited stores)

I'll probably wait to pick it up somewhere else, since Wal-Mart's sales don't get counted on the charts. hehe