How He-Man Mastered the Universe
Toy to Television to the Big Screen
Nonfiction, Home & Garden, Antiques & Collectibles, Toys, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Popular Culture, Entertainment, Performing Arts
| Author: | Brian C. Baer | ISBN: | 9781476627069 |
| Publisher: | McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers | Publication: | March 10, 2017 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Brian C. Baer |
| ISBN: | 9781476627069 |
| Publisher: | McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |
| Publication: | March 10, 2017 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
Elaborate cinematic universes and sophisticated marketing tie-ins are commonplace in entertainment today. It’s easy to forget that the transmedia trend began in 1982 with a barbarian action figure. He-Man and the other characters in Mattel’s popular Masters of the Universe toy line quickly found their way into comic books, video games, multiple television series and a Hollywood film. The original animated series (1983–1985) was the first based on an action figure, and the cult classic Masters of the Universe (1987) was the first toy-inspired live-action feature film. But it wasn’t easy. He-Man faced adversaries more dangerous than Skeletor: entertainment lawyers, Hollywood executives, even the Reagan administration. The heroes and villains of Eternia did more than shape the childhoods of the toy-buying public—they formed the modern entertainment landscape.
Elaborate cinematic universes and sophisticated marketing tie-ins are commonplace in entertainment today. It’s easy to forget that the transmedia trend began in 1982 with a barbarian action figure. He-Man and the other characters in Mattel’s popular Masters of the Universe toy line quickly found their way into comic books, video games, multiple television series and a Hollywood film. The original animated series (1983–1985) was the first based on an action figure, and the cult classic Masters of the Universe (1987) was the first toy-inspired live-action feature film. But it wasn’t easy. He-Man faced adversaries more dangerous than Skeletor: entertainment lawyers, Hollywood executives, even the Reagan administration. The heroes and villains of Eternia did more than shape the childhoods of the toy-buying public—they formed the modern entertainment landscape.
