The Unknown Facts about Masters of the Universe
Here are some of the facts about MOTU that you probably didn’t know….. read on…..
Here are some of the facts about MOTU that you probably didn’t know….. read on…..
* Strange as it may seem, there is a sequel to the MOTU movie in existence- but not as a He-Man movie. The Jean-Claude Van Damme movie "Cyborg" was written as the sequel to MOTU, but the characters were changed after MOTU’s demise in the toyshops. It is still sometimes shown as "Masters of the Universe II: The Cyborg"!
* The Sorceress has not always been the Sorceress….. in the early mini-comics, she was called The Goddess and wore Teela’s snake armour. The Teela figure, therefore, could be used as either Teela or the Goddess- but there was a lot of confusion between the two characters, so Filmation solved it by giving The Goddess a completely new appearance and changing her name to the Sorceress.
* We all know Teela as the adopted daughter of Man-At-Arms and the biological daughter of the Sorceress….. but her original origin in the rare ‘Tale of Teela’ mini-comic was far more sinister. She was a clone of The Goddess, made by Skeletor, who intended to bring her up himself and make her an evil version of the Goddess. But Man-At-Arms fought Skeletor off and took Teela for himself, so she was brought up to be heroic.
* Skeletor’s true identity is thought to be that of Keldor, King Randor’s brother, who mysteriously vanished after dabbling too heavily in magic. This is hinted at strongly in the mini-comic "The Search for Keldor". Recent interviews with Mattel have confirmed that the minicomics would have revealed Skeletor as Keldor if they had continued, as Keldor was to be one of the main villains in the unmade "Powers of Grayskull" toy line.
* Some origin stories claim that Beast Man, Evil-Lyn and Tri-Klops come from Earth! They were said to have been aboard Queen Marlena’s ship when she crashed on Eternia, and transformed by radiation from the ship. Determined for revenge on Marlena, they joined forces with Skeletor….. but personally, I don’t go with that story.
* The cartoon movie "The Secret of the Sword" is an edited version of the first 5 episodes of She-Ra, and the five-parter was titled "The Sword of She-Ra". Also, She-Ra was originally going to be called "He-Ra", like the Greek goddess, but the name was already copyrighted so her name was changed to She-Ra!
* Mattel was going to produce another companion toy range for MOTU, called "The Powers of Grayskull", about the adventures in Pre-Eternia of a magician called He-Ro and his battles against King Hiss and The Snakemen. Prototype figures were made, but Mattel never gave the toy line a proper release.
* Mattel were going to make figures of Shadow Weaver and Scorpia from the She-Ra series, but although they had designs for the figures they never made them because they chose to discontinue the toy range instead.
* Other toys that were planned but never made include a full-size Cosmic Key from the MOTU movie, a Queen Marlena figure and a vehicle called the Gyratakker, intended to launch Rotar and Twistoid into battle.
* In Snout Spout’s first appearance in the She-Ra TV series, he was called "Hose Nose" but whether this was meant to be his real name or just a nickname is unclear. Chances are it could have been Mattel's working name for him.
* Originally Mattel did not intend to make a figure of Rokkon, just Stonedar- but they decided to make a Rokkon figure seeing as the mini-comic writers had given him important roles. They never made a Granita figure because they thought three of the same sort of figure would be too much.
* There were quite a lot of differences between the New Adventures toyline in the UK, and the US toyline. Some characters were known under different names (e.g. Flogg=Brakk, Slush-head=Kalamarr, Kayo=Tartarus, Tuskador=Incyzor, Quakke=Earthquake), and there were also extra characters- Lizorr and Darius.
* Sy-Klone wasn't originally going to be called Sy-Klone- the original name Mattel planned to give him was "Tornado"! This is evident by reading the mini-comic "Spikor Strikes" in which Sy-Klone is actually called Tornado in one panel... and although he's called Sy-Klone in the rest of the comic, if you look closely you'll see that his name is always written in slightly different handwriting from the rest of the comic! This was spotted very observantly by Miles "Snake Man" Jasem.
* MOTU figures are currently being sold in India! But there are several small differences... Skeletor's clothing is black, not purple and his skin is a darker blue tone, Moss Man's fur is thinner and his skin has a darker green tone, and Mantenna's armour and skin are also slightly darker colours! The reason for these changes is because Mattel made a deal with a major Indian toy company called Leo, which made alterations to the figures.
* Another variant in India is a Clawful figure that has green armor, yellow eyes, an orange belt and dark brown claws! The title card on his packet is also different, as it shows him catching Man-At-Arms with one claw and fighting Fisto with the other! The card shows Skeletor and Tri-Clops in the dark background. This is a very rare figure!
* When Mattel first designed the She-Ra storyline, Catra was going to be She-Ra's main enemy instead of Hordak. She wasn't a member of the Horde, and her main sidekicks were going to be Entrapta and Castaspella- yes, Castaspella was going to be evil! Her base was called Cat Tower, but when the cartoon was made, Filmation changed the story. Thanks to Alex Hawkey for this information.
* The She-Ra episode "The Locket" was originally written as a He-Man crossover featuring the Laser Bolt vehicle, but the script had to be changed at the last minute so the final result features only She-Ra. Also, the drastically uneven He-Man episode "The Ancient Mirror of Avathar" was originally going to reveal the whole history of Eternia, before the script had to be changed, hence why the final result is in such a mess! Thanks to Busta Toons for this information!
* In 1996, Lou Scheimer, producer of the original He-Man and She-Ra shows, planned to make a new He-Man related series titled "He-Ro, Son of He-Man". Unrelated to Mattel's unmade 'He-Ro' toy line, it was to chronicle the adventures of He-Man's adopted son, Dare, against the resurrected Skeletor. However, in the end the series was never made, but you can read the series bible on The He-Man and She-Ra Episode Review Website.
* Long-time He-Man fan Edwin Vasquez is hoping to produce a MOTU movie of his own. He is hoping for sponsorship from a film company to prevent it from having to be made on a low budget. I've read some of the script and it's really good, so let’s hope it does happen! To read more on this movie, click here!
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