Holding Out For A He-Man
June 11, 2021 11:55 PM Subscribe
Netflix has dropped a teaser trailer for the long awaited Masters of the Universe: Revelation series.
With Kevin Smith as executive producer and Powerhouse Animation (Castlevania) handling the art, the trailer does a good job of showing the style of the remake, with several clips dripping with sakuga. Alongside the art, we get a first glimpse of Mark Hamill adding another iconic villain to his repretoire, with him playing Skeletor. (And the choice of music - as hinted by the title - is hilariously on the nose.)
With Kevin Smith as executive producer and Powerhouse Animation (Castlevania) handling the art, the trailer does a good job of showing the style of the remake, with several clips dripping with sakuga. Alongside the art, we get a first glimpse of Mark Hamill adding another iconic villain to his repretoire, with him playing Skeletor. (And the choice of music - as hinted by the title - is hilariously on the nose.)
Very interested to hear Stephen Root’s Cringer voice. Will he bring a bit of Office Space to the role?
posted by migurski at 12:03 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by migurski at 12:03 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Happy Pride month, everyone.
posted by slimepuppy at 1:52 AM on June 12, 2021 [24 favorites]
posted by slimepuppy at 1:52 AM on June 12, 2021 [24 favorites]
I'm only interested if it's as gay as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:00 AM on June 12, 2021 [27 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:00 AM on June 12, 2021 [27 favorites]
If it’s not gay, we will make it gay. Skeletor is going to get laid so much. And He-Man transforming from twink to himbo is truly magical. I really loved the new She-Ra but this is combining nostalgia and id insanely hard.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:10 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 5:10 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
I might watch this if their commitment to the source material includes updates of those goofy PSAs that related each episode to real life issues.
This trailer reminds me of a certain kind of edgy fanfic I used to seek out in the 90s and early 2000s where the author is obsessed with proving that an animated series really is and always has been grimdark, intricately woven, and mature and that all of the sillier "for kids" aspects of it are really the result of [executive meddling | standards and practices | they had to dumb it down for the toy sales] and should be just ignored. This series looks like it's channeling every single fan discussion from that era about what a reboot of a property "should" look like, right down to the fantasy of "it should air on HBO" and "look like an anime".
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:17 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
This trailer reminds me of a certain kind of edgy fanfic I used to seek out in the 90s and early 2000s where the author is obsessed with proving that an animated series really is and always has been grimdark, intricately woven, and mature and that all of the sillier "for kids" aspects of it are really the result of [executive meddling | standards and practices | they had to dumb it down for the toy sales] and should be just ignored. This series looks like it's channeling every single fan discussion from that era about what a reboot of a property "should" look like, right down to the fantasy of "it should air on HBO" and "look like an anime".
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:17 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
There were definitely a ton of manga/anime conventions in that trailer. Has that been the case in US shounen-ish animation in general? (I have not kept up.)
posted by trig at 5:18 AM on June 12, 2021
posted by trig at 5:18 AM on June 12, 2021
And on a different note, I'm so happy someone finally got around to making a show about Kyle's daydreams. I hope he and Rogelio are doing well.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:21 AM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:21 AM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Mark Hamill as Skeletor!
posted by doctornemo at 5:26 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by doctornemo at 5:26 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Oh. My. God.
I did not know that I needed this, nor the way I needed this.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 6:49 AM on June 12, 2021
I did not know that I needed this, nor the way I needed this.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 6:49 AM on June 12, 2021
There were definitely a ton of manga/anime conventions in that trailer. Has that been the case in US shounen-ish animation in general? (I have not kept up.)
Powerhouse (the studio handling the animation) has a house style that leans more towards anime in general - look at the Castlevania series on Netflix which they animated as well to get an idea of how they do things.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:55 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Powerhouse (the studio handling the animation) has a house style that leans more towards anime in general - look at the Castlevania series on Netflix which they animated as well to get an idea of how they do things.
posted by NoxAeternum at 6:55 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Not entirely on-topic but I just wanted to pop in here to say that the He-Man episode of The Toys That Made Us is kind of amazing and somehow perfectly encapsulates everything wonderful and everything horrible about men in a single episode.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:04 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by Parasite Unseen at 7:04 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
I dunno. I need to see them running diagonally across the screen, then he flips his sword to his other hand, then they run diagonally down the screen in a literal mirror image of the first clip. The sword flip is where the magic happens.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:15 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:15 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
It's like all the worst indulgences of American pop culture in the current era. No funding for new source material, unhealthy nostalgia, and remaking a terrible, awful original cartoon reusing the stupid tropes and awful animation of the original. Maybe there's going to be some postpostmodern ironic twist here that redeems it? I wonder how much money is being spent on this thing.
What's next, a Krull reboot?
posted by Nelson at 7:27 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
What's next, a Krull reboot?
posted by Nelson at 7:27 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
The sister show "She-Ra" was given a reboot that not only exceeded the original, but was damn fine television, period. I'll at least be giving this a look unless the reviews make it clear that it's a lazy cash grab.
I don't think reboots are themselves necessarily creatively bankrupt. Plenty of stories are "Shakespeare with the serial numbers filed off," and the Flintstones was just animated Honeymooners. Reboots are a way of getting eyes on the show and setting baseline expectations easily, but it doesn't have to mean it's a lazy rehash.
posted by explosion at 8:18 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
I don't think reboots are themselves necessarily creatively bankrupt. Plenty of stories are "Shakespeare with the serial numbers filed off," and the Flintstones was just animated Honeymooners. Reboots are a way of getting eyes on the show and setting baseline expectations easily, but it doesn't have to mean it's a lazy rehash.
posted by explosion at 8:18 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
Isn’t the guy who voiced Skeletor (a chap named Oppenheimer, IIRC) still around and working cons? If so, replacing him with the Luke Skywalker guy seems like a snub.
posted by acb at 8:25 AM on June 12, 2021
posted by acb at 8:25 AM on June 12, 2021
I was uncertain until I saw that Orko was in it. Now I'm here for this.
posted by DingoMutt at 8:33 AM on June 12, 2021
posted by DingoMutt at 8:33 AM on June 12, 2021
What's next, a Krull reboot?
Nah. It's time for the world to get a reboot of Captain Planet, guest starring Greta Thunberg. Where nobody has any superpowers and the show instead teaches kids about the power of collective action. The title character doesn't actually need to exist; it's just the Ned-Ludd-like shared persona used for anonymity by the Planeteers: a movement of people taking direct action against climate change deniers, fossil fuel companies, crypto-mining polluters, corrupt politics and other threats to the planet.
If you thought the right-wingers were mad about She-Ra, you ain't seen nothing yet. They'll be begging for it to stop and for kids TV to be merely a bit gay again.
posted by automatronic at 8:36 AM on June 12, 2021 [20 favorites]
Nah. It's time for the world to get a reboot of Captain Planet, guest starring Greta Thunberg. Where nobody has any superpowers and the show instead teaches kids about the power of collective action. The title character doesn't actually need to exist; it's just the Ned-Ludd-like shared persona used for anonymity by the Planeteers: a movement of people taking direct action against climate change deniers, fossil fuel companies, crypto-mining polluters, corrupt politics and other threats to the planet.
If you thought the right-wingers were mad about She-Ra, you ain't seen nothing yet. They'll be begging for it to stop and for kids TV to be merely a bit gay again.
posted by automatronic at 8:36 AM on June 12, 2021 [20 favorites]
Alan Oppenheimer is 91 now, so even if he is still working cons, he may not have wanted to work on a multi-season production run for a new series.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:45 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:45 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
I was uncertain until I saw that Orko was in it. Now I'm here for this.
Voiced by Griffin Newman! I'm here for that. For at least an episode...
posted by paper chromatographologist at 8:52 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Voiced by Griffin Newman! I'm here for that. For at least an episode...
posted by paper chromatographologist at 8:52 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
NGL I got a little giddy watching the trailer yesterday. I was one of those kids who watched every day after school.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:06 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:06 AM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
... remaking a terrible, awful original cartoon reusing the stupid tropes and awful animation of the original.
Tropes, sure, but the animation looks amazing, considering the source. A lot of the excitement probably comes from people who remember the original series, which barely moved.
This trailer reminds me of a certain kind of edgy fanfic I used to seek out in the 90s and early 2000s where the author is obsessed with proving that an animated series really is and always has been grimdark, intricately woven, and mature and that all of the sillier "for kids" aspects of it are really the result of [executive meddling | standards and practices | they had to dumb it down for the toy sales] and should be just ignored. This series looks like it's channeling every single fan discussion from that era about what a reboot of a property "should" look like, right down to the fantasy of "it should air on HBO" and "look like an anime".
Oh absolutely. If the She-Ra reboot was the result of transformative fandom -- that is, reshaping the original material into shoujo for a new audience -- this looks like the apex of curatorial fandom. All the original character models appear, and the difference is purely in production values and (presumably) more "mature" storylines, by 1990s standards anyway. Hell, even Orko is doing something that's supposed to be badass. I expect I'll tune in at least once. (I feel bad about missing She-Ra just because I didn't tune in at first, being busy, and it had four seasons before I knew it.)
posted by Countess Elena at 9:30 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Tropes, sure, but the animation looks amazing, considering the source. A lot of the excitement probably comes from people who remember the original series, which barely moved.
This trailer reminds me of a certain kind of edgy fanfic I used to seek out in the 90s and early 2000s where the author is obsessed with proving that an animated series really is and always has been grimdark, intricately woven, and mature and that all of the sillier "for kids" aspects of it are really the result of [executive meddling | standards and practices | they had to dumb it down for the toy sales] and should be just ignored. This series looks like it's channeling every single fan discussion from that era about what a reboot of a property "should" look like, right down to the fantasy of "it should air on HBO" and "look like an anime".
Oh absolutely. If the She-Ra reboot was the result of transformative fandom -- that is, reshaping the original material into shoujo for a new audience -- this looks like the apex of curatorial fandom. All the original character models appear, and the difference is purely in production values and (presumably) more "mature" storylines, by 1990s standards anyway. Hell, even Orko is doing something that's supposed to be badass. I expect I'll tune in at least once. (I feel bad about missing She-Ra just because I didn't tune in at first, being busy, and it had four seasons before I knew it.)
posted by Countess Elena at 9:30 AM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Glad they replaced the original He-Man's iron cross logo with a big red H.
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:42 AM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 9:42 AM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
Metafilter ate my old post, which sucks.
This is not a new reboot ala She-Ra. It's a continuation of the original story instead of Yet Another Failed Reboot. It's going to be exactly what you expect, and I spent far too many hours in my backyard fighting with plastic Swords of Power with my brother to not want to sit down and watch it.
Be as cynical as you want. It's going to bring me and my brother joy.
posted by gwydapllew at 10:04 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
This is not a new reboot ala She-Ra. It's a continuation of the original story instead of Yet Another Failed Reboot. It's going to be exactly what you expect, and I spent far too many hours in my backyard fighting with plastic Swords of Power with my brother to not want to sit down and watch it.
Be as cynical as you want. It's going to bring me and my brother joy.
posted by gwydapllew at 10:04 AM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
I'm still waiting for a live action reboot of Thundarr the Barbarian.
posted by thedward at 10:21 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by thedward at 10:21 AM on June 12, 2021 [9 favorites]
I wonder how much money is being spent on this thing.
Sure is a shame Netflix redesignated all that funding they were going to use to cure cancer.
posted by howfar at 11:24 AM on June 12, 2021 [20 favorites]
Sure is a shame Netflix redesignated all that funding they were going to use to cure cancer.
posted by howfar at 11:24 AM on June 12, 2021 [20 favorites]
Who knows, y’all? Sometimes it’s the reboots that have the longer lifespan. Someone out there was grumbling when they filmed Silence of the Lambs again (and then did a series!), and now Manhunter is just not much seen anymore. Maybe Nü-He-Man will eclipse that magisterial serial grandeur that lives in many of our minds. The trailer looks like a fine stab at old wine in a new bottle.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:59 AM on June 12, 2021
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:59 AM on June 12, 2021
That trailer does not excite me at all. It should be a more masculine, maybe older-demographic extension of the new She-Ra universe. Noelle (last name?) and the team proved themselves so thoroughly being able to make a good new thing from a mediocre old thing. Those folks should be EPs. What a massive missed opportunity.
posted by Sterros at 12:36 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Sterros at 12:36 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
What's next, a Krull reboot?
Pickup the pieces of your weapon...the glaive. Avoid all boulders.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:32 PM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
Pickup the pieces of your weapon...the glaive. Avoid all boulders.
posted by kirkaracha at 1:32 PM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
I DEMAND STINKOR
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:57 PM on June 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by Huffy Puffy at 1:57 PM on June 12, 2021 [4 favorites]
Stinkor will be there! Voiced by Jason Mewes. (Of course.)
posted by gwydapllew at 3:02 PM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by gwydapllew at 3:02 PM on June 12, 2021 [3 favorites]
STOP SAYING DROPPED
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:48 PM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 3:48 PM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
While my inner eight year-old is thrilled I find myself wondering, where is the grimdark reboot of Howdy Doody so my parent's generation doesn't feel left out.
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:02 PM on June 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by Ignorantsavage at 4:02 PM on June 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
Are we still doing grimdark? I thought everything was heckin' wholesome now.
posted by acb at 4:10 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by acb at 4:10 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think the Boomers’ grimdark childhood entertainment reboot was IT. The monster made a lot of jokes about it, and IT was a clown, after all.
posted by Countess Elena at 4:32 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Countess Elena at 4:32 PM on June 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
where is the grimdark reboot of Howdy Doody
If you consider the existential horror of Toy Story, I think this film has been made.
posted by SPrintF at 5:38 PM on June 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
If you consider the existential horror of Toy Story, I think this film has been made.
posted by SPrintF at 5:38 PM on June 12, 2021 [8 favorites]
Plenty of stories are "Shakespeare with the serial numbers filed off,"
To be fair, Shakespeare was mostly earlier stories with the numbers left on.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:41 PM on June 12, 2021 [10 favorites]
To be fair, Shakespeare was mostly earlier stories with the numbers left on.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:41 PM on June 12, 2021 [10 favorites]
It's like all the worst indulgences of American pop culture in the current era. No funding for new source material, unhealthy nostalgia, and remaking a terrible, awful original cartoon reusing the stupid tropes and awful animation of the original.Let’s not pretend this is a feature of “the current era.” Do you have any idea how many different adaptions and reboots were made of Zorro and The Lone Ranger in the 1920s through the 1950s? (See also the Blondie cinematic universe.)
posted by mbrubeck at 5:56 PM on June 12, 2021 [5 favorites]
TIL that He-Man ran for just 2 seasons… and 130 episodes.
Good Lord that’s a lot of episodes. No wonder they re-used so much animation.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:34 PM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Good Lord that’s a lot of episodes. No wonder they re-used so much animation.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 6:34 PM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
Yeah. Filmation really knew how to crank out the animation.
Fun fact: He Man's original executive producer Lou Scheimer, the president and CEO of Filmation, once picketed his own studio when the Animation Union went on strike to protest production being shipped overseas. His studio was of course doing all their work stateside, but in solidarity with the union of which he was member, he walked out and marched around the building he owned along with other union picketers. Also, his father once punched Adolf Hitler in the face.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:48 PM on June 12, 2021 [16 favorites]
Fun fact: He Man's original executive producer Lou Scheimer, the president and CEO of Filmation, once picketed his own studio when the Animation Union went on strike to protest production being shipped overseas. His studio was of course doing all their work stateside, but in solidarity with the union of which he was member, he walked out and marched around the building he owned along with other union picketers. Also, his father once punched Adolf Hitler in the face.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 7:48 PM on June 12, 2021 [16 favorites]
where is the grimdark reboot of Howdy Doody so my parent's generation doesn't feel left out.
If I had a nickel for every evil puppet movie I’ve ever seen, I’d have some nickels.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:24 PM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
If I had a nickel for every evil puppet movie I’ve ever seen, I’d have some nickels.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:24 PM on June 12, 2021 [6 favorites]
What's next, a Krull reboot?
I would watch the HELL out of that, not least to see a gooseberry pie the size of a house.
I'm still waiting for a live action reboot of Thundarr the Barbarian.
I'd watch the hell out of THAT, too. With Ookla the Mok! and Princess Ariel!
Now, who's down for a new New Schmoo?
posted by hearthpig at 4:04 AM on June 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
I would watch the HELL out of that, not least to see a gooseberry pie the size of a house.
I'm still waiting for a live action reboot of Thundarr the Barbarian.
I'd watch the hell out of THAT, too. With Ookla the Mok! and Princess Ariel!
Now, who's down for a new New Schmoo?
posted by hearthpig at 4:04 AM on June 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
No mention of their writing staff? Which included:
J. Michael Straczynski
Paul Dini
Brynne Stephens
Larry DiTillio
Bob Forward
and David Wise
And Dorothy Fontana wrote one...
posted by mikelieman at 6:22 AM on June 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
J. Michael Straczynski
Paul Dini
Brynne Stephens
Larry DiTillio
Bob Forward
and David Wise
And Dorothy Fontana wrote one...
posted by mikelieman at 6:22 AM on June 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
Now, who's down for a new New Schmoo?
You think it's funny, but over on Amazon Prime, there's a reboot of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and the less said of 2018's Netflix reboot of ReBoot, the better...
posted by mikelieman at 6:25 AM on June 13, 2021
You think it's funny, but over on Amazon Prime, there's a reboot of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and the less said of 2018's Netflix reboot of ReBoot, the better...
posted by mikelieman at 6:25 AM on June 13, 2021
Let’s not pretend this is a feature of “the current era.”
Quite the opposite really. Original plots and characters have really only become valued in the last couple of hundred years of Western storytelling, something fundamentally connected to the emergence of Romanticism and the notion of artist as genius (with the root of that word: 'gignere'/'to beget’, being particularly important). On the whole, I tend to think it's a cultural phenomenon that does more harm than good, because it tends to identify cultural production with a small elite group, rather than as a form of labour that we all contribute to in varying ways and degrees.
posted by howfar at 9:48 AM on June 13, 2021 [8 favorites]
Quite the opposite really. Original plots and characters have really only become valued in the last couple of hundred years of Western storytelling, something fundamentally connected to the emergence of Romanticism and the notion of artist as genius (with the root of that word: 'gignere'/'to beget’, being particularly important). On the whole, I tend to think it's a cultural phenomenon that does more harm than good, because it tends to identify cultural production with a small elite group, rather than as a form of labour that we all contribute to in varying ways and degrees.
posted by howfar at 9:48 AM on June 13, 2021 [8 favorites]
I agree with howfar and am reminded of this from Andrew Simonet's Making Your Life as an Artist:
posted by HeroZero at 12:25 PM on June 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Like scientists, at the end of our research, we [artists] share the results with the public and with our peers. Some research is “basic,” useful primarily to other researchers. Some is “applied,” relevant to everyday life. Both are essential. And most artists do some of both, creating experimental work that pushes the form as well as work that is more broadly relevant...I think it's possible for all of this to be true while also acknowledging that a He-Man reboot is inherently a shameless cash grab. It can be both.
Though certain scientists win the Nobel Prize and get famous, all scientists know they are standing on the shoulders of thousands of researchers all over the world who have been asking questions. And while some artists will get the fancy awards (and maybe even get on TV), we know they are standing on the shoulders of thousands of artists who have been doing artistic research for decades.
posted by HeroZero at 12:25 PM on June 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
a He-Man reboot is inherently a shameless cash grab. It can be both
Hopefully it will be an example of possibly my favorite genre: things that are much better than they need to be.
posted by trig at 2:35 AM on June 14, 2021 [7 favorites]
Hopefully it will be an example of possibly my favorite genre: things that are much better than they need to be.
posted by trig at 2:35 AM on June 14, 2021 [7 favorites]
My favourite He-Man fact: Why does He-Man ride a tiger?
posted by Harald74 at 5:08 AM on June 14, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by Harald74 at 5:08 AM on June 14, 2021 [12 favorites]
Also this is the He-Man reboot I wanted, but maybe not deserved...
posted by Harald74 at 5:10 AM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Harald74 at 5:10 AM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
My favourite He-Man fact: Why does He-Man ride a tiger?
That is five kinds of awesome. I’ve always said that restrictions breed creativity. Having unlimited resources is a double-edged sword.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:01 AM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
That is five kinds of awesome. I’ve always said that restrictions breed creativity. Having unlimited resources is a double-edged sword.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:01 AM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I always thought it was to allow any household cats to be included in play.
posted by acb at 11:44 AM on June 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by acb at 11:44 AM on June 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
Also this is the He-Man reboot I wanted, but maybe not deserved...
I thanked you in my head for this many times while watching
posted by trig at 12:27 PM on June 14, 2021
I thanked you in my head for this many times while watching
posted by trig at 12:27 PM on June 14, 2021
Netflix has released a video of Smith talking about the series and the setup. He also pretty much reveals the big twist - if you know your MOTU lore.
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:34 PM on June 14, 2021
posted by NoxAeternum at 2:34 PM on June 14, 2021
I’ve always said that restrictions breed creativity.
When life hands you a tiger as big as a horse, put a fucking saddle on it.
posted by howfar at 4:00 PM on June 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
When life hands you a tiger as big as a horse, put a fucking saddle on it.
posted by howfar at 4:00 PM on June 14, 2021 [6 favorites]
I don't think about He-Man a whole lot but when I do, it's almost always under 2 circumstances:
1) when that 4 Non Blondes song is playing
2) recalling a comedy bit that pointed out that He-Man lives in a giant skull-shaped castle while his nemesis is Skeletor who is, well, y'know
I wonder if the reboot will address #2.
posted by mhum at 4:05 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
1) when that 4 Non Blondes song is playing
2) recalling a comedy bit that pointed out that He-Man lives in a giant skull-shaped castle while his nemesis is Skeletor who is, well, y'know
I wonder if the reboot will address #2.
posted by mhum at 4:05 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
He also pretty much reveals the big twist - if you know your MOTU lore.
I'm still not too keen on the way the new series is being sold as a continuation of the show and as a gift to original fans, but I'm willing to cut them a little slack because of how much that probable twist is riling up the comments sections. IIRC, this twist is like the one interesting thing that the original show had going for it because watching Skeletor try and then fail miserably to capture Castle Grayskull gets old fast (She-Ra was at least part of a rebellion trying to overthrow an already victorious Horde)
Also, the way Kevin Smith was talking about something happening that results in a loss of innocence reminded me of the GI Joe episode of Community when Jeff kills Destro to everyone's shock and horror.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:57 PM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm still not too keen on the way the new series is being sold as a continuation of the show and as a gift to original fans, but I'm willing to cut them a little slack because of how much that probable twist is riling up the comments sections. IIRC, this twist is like the one interesting thing that the original show had going for it because watching Skeletor try and then fail miserably to capture Castle Grayskull gets old fast (She-Ra was at least part of a rebellion trying to overthrow an already victorious Horde)
Also, the way Kevin Smith was talking about something happening that results in a loss of innocence reminded me of the GI Joe episode of Community when Jeff kills Destro to everyone's shock and horror.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 4:57 PM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alan Oppenheimer is 91 now, so even if he is still working cons, he may not have wanted to work on a multi-season production run for a new series.
He did record some Skeletor memes a couple years back.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:55 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
He did record some Skeletor memes a couple years back.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:55 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
Watching the trailer it really looked like my memory of the old He-Man cartoons. The animation is a bit better but it's still the same style, it isn't like those Transformers shows where they look nothing like the original cartoons for example. I'm probably not going to watch this, it doesn't look like something my kids will be in to and my own watch-list isn't very long but I go through it at a snail's pace so I'll likely never get around to it, but Netflix has more money than God and if they want to spend some of it hiring people to make the cartoon then I hope they do a great job and make lots of people happy.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:38 PM on June 14, 2021
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 7:38 PM on June 14, 2021
What's next, a Krull reboot?
I'd like to remind everyone that Krull ends explicitly promising a sequel where Hero Guy's son goes on to conquer the universe.
posted by JHarris at 8:07 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'd like to remind everyone that Krull ends explicitly promising a sequel where Hero Guy's son goes on to conquer the universe.
posted by JHarris at 8:07 PM on June 14, 2021 [2 favorites]
I don't think about He-Man a whole lot but when I do, it's almost always under 2 circumstances:
1) when that 4 Non Blondes song is playing
You mean when that totally awesome techno cover of that 4 Non Blondes song is playing, right?
posted by gtrwolf at 9:03 PM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
1) when that 4 Non Blondes song is playing
You mean when that totally awesome techno cover of that 4 Non Blondes song is playing, right?
posted by gtrwolf at 9:03 PM on June 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
Alan Oppenheimer is 91 now, so even if he is still working cons, he may not have wanted to work on a multi-season production run for a new series.
They did bring him back to reprise his role as Moss Man which was one of the many other voices he did on the original run. It's presumably a smaller role, but it'll still let him be a part of things.
posted by radwolf76 at 4:37 AM on June 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
They did bring him back to reprise his role as Moss Man which was one of the many other voices he did on the original run. It's presumably a smaller role, but it'll still let him be a part of things.
posted by radwolf76 at 4:37 AM on June 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
I'd been trying to figure out what was bothering me about He-Man's smile at 0:52 and then I realized it was because I was not used to seeing facial expressions on He-Man. (Even in the 00's remake it was mostly Adam or other characters emoting.)
I might watch this if their commitment to the source material includes updates of those goofy PSAs that related each episode to real life issues.
Probably not. Those were a result of laws requiring that some percent of children's television had to be "educational". Those stingers with morals or trivia were there so they could claim the show's airtime as part of that quota.
He also pretty much reveals the big twist - if you know your MOTU lore.
When I read this before watching the video I thought the twist was that someone remembered that Queen Marlena was an astronaut from Earth who crashed onto Eternia and it was heavily implied she had figured out Adam's secret ID and was doing the Mom thing of letting him tell her when he was ready. I hope they don't drop that. It was one thing in the 1980's for a show geared to boys to say "she fell in love with a king and decided to retire from being badass because that's what women do when they get married" and quite another to say it in the 2020's.
The character arc Smith actually mentioned was set up so hard in the original series I feel silly talking around it like it's a spoiler. Of course, how the character finds out what the audience already knows could go a number of different ways.
posted by Karmakaze at 11:14 AM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I might watch this if their commitment to the source material includes updates of those goofy PSAs that related each episode to real life issues.
Probably not. Those were a result of laws requiring that some percent of children's television had to be "educational". Those stingers with morals or trivia were there so they could claim the show's airtime as part of that quota.
He also pretty much reveals the big twist - if you know your MOTU lore.
When I read this before watching the video I thought the twist was that someone remembered that Queen Marlena was an astronaut from Earth who crashed onto Eternia and it was heavily implied she had figured out Adam's secret ID and was doing the Mom thing of letting him tell her when he was ready. I hope they don't drop that. It was one thing in the 1980's for a show geared to boys to say "she fell in love with a king and decided to retire from being badass because that's what women do when they get married" and quite another to say it in the 2020's.
The character arc Smith actually mentioned was set up so hard in the original series I feel silly talking around it like it's a spoiler. Of course, how the character finds out what the audience already knows could go a number of different ways.
posted by Karmakaze at 11:14 AM on June 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
I feel like I'm missing what the twist/secret is, so someone just MeMail my dumb ass.
posted by Saxon Kane at 5:07 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Saxon Kane at 5:07 PM on June 22, 2021 [1 favorite]
Is it really a secret? Kevin Smith is kind of dancing around it but they had at least one entire episode about it back in the old days even, I figured it was established. In a show where the plot of one episode is literally Skeletor is mad at the circus, it was awesome that they actually had an episode that established something actually awesome and secret in it, that wasn't just the by the numbers kids TV that every other show did, and that He-Man also did 99% of the time.
I mean obviously someone thinks it's a spoiler to reveal it, so instead I'll just link to the official episode on Youtube, and you can spoil yourself if you choose.
posted by JHarris at 9:03 PM on June 22, 2021
I mean obviously someone thinks it's a spoiler to reveal it, so instead I'll just link to the official episode on Youtube, and you can spoil yourself if you choose.
posted by JHarris at 9:03 PM on June 22, 2021
Written by Paul Dini, directed by Marsh Lamore.
posted by mikelieman at 6:16 AM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by mikelieman at 6:16 AM on June 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by NoxAeternum at 11:59 PM on June 11, 2021 [7 favorites]