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So, I will admit, I don't have too much of an attachment to the idea of seeing another live-action Masters of the Universe reboot in theaters because I wasn't around for the original 87 film. So, pehaps I'm just talking up nothing here. HOWEVER, I still love movies, I love animation in general A LOT, and I love MotU/PoP. So, I think I want to say something here.
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I think a live-action adaptation of Masters of the Universe is more fundamentally flawed than many people think. See, I don't know how many people here have heard this, but I want to say something to make sure those everybody here DOES hear it: There's a reason these franchises were animated to begin with. Yes, hand-drawn animation is HARD. It's a long, stressful, and extremely grueling process when one wants to make something that looks great. But the results are more than worth it. With animation you can do just about anything you want as long as you get your style down. It provides the ability to create enviornments, character designs, and forms of expression in a convincing way. Often the attempts to recreate all that in live-action looks far more odd and uninspired. I think the worlds of Eternia and Etheria are prime examples of this.
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Just think about he huge list of overall failures or "mid" results we have seen with live-action adaptations in comparison to when animated properties are still animated when going to the big screen. From your Last Airbenders to your Netflix Cowboy Bebops to the subpar live-action Disney remakes that started declining in quality since 2017. Sure, you have your exceptions, but usually if one was asked now, they could count them all on one hand. Bumblebee, Netflix One Piece, 2016 Jungle Book, 1990 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but again, these are the exceptions. And there are just as much if not MORE examples of theatrical movies that were animated just like their original material and even cases where the reverse was an improvement. Just last summer, Mutant Mayhem became the most critically acclaimed TMNT movie, and remember how a lot of people will agree that the 1999-2000 animated sequel series to the Tri-Star Godzilla remake was a better product than the original film itself.
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I was reminded of how we're SUPPOSEDLY getting a live-action Amazon She-Ra series when I was watching the live-action Netflix Avatar remake. Spoiler alert, I was not too fond of how they adapted the world of ATLA in live-action in this most recent attempt. I found it a bit stale, watered down, having way less engaging characters a huge exposition problem, and even completely missing the anti-colonization and rejection of power fantasy messages that the original was all about. But beyond that, it just reinforces my idea that the world of animation allows these things to be...well, what they are originally!
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I don't know how many people here watch a lot of video essays, but there's a lot of interesting stuff regarding this topic you can get from them. I'm big on more political media-based analysis, but I also love essays regarding simple ways art is made and how it is expressed, and when I heard the live-action MotU movie will apparently STILL be a thing, I was reminded of Sideways's video on why the music in live-action Disney remakes feels off. In it he brings up what Howard Ashman said about why animation is such a good route for musicals. Ashman was a playwright and lyricist who was hugely responsible for the songs we loved hearing in Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty & the Beast. He said that the abstract expression of animation allows you to suspend your disbelief far easier. It's a medium where everything can feel like the same, unified world as opposed to trying to use live-action to mishmash together multiple rushed effects to imitate something you can already see. Why would you want to see the same thing but lesser?
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I don't know if this movie (should it come out) will be good. I do hope I'm wrong with my expectations. But what I still firmly believe is that the medium of animation is just as valid to portray fantasy worlds, themes, characters, ideas, etc. just as much as live-action. In fact it kind of has a lot of advantages over live-action. I can see why a lot of people think remaking or adapting tons of animated properties can be seen as disrespectful to animation when it seems like studios are telling us these new versions are the "real" versions of the story.
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One thing that really popped into my head was perhaps there's a reason the desire for an animated Dreamworks She-Ra movie is growing in comparison to the expectations for a live-action adaptation of Adam and Adora's world. Obviously, great characters, stories, themes, etc. we got from 2018-2020 on Netflix, but I think there's another simple reason why a Dreamworks She-Ra movie can seem more appealing to tons of fans. We want to see the lovely medium of animation more in that movie we want.
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I think the movie is a fantastic idea! 😀Â
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The problem is MODERN "WOKE" HOLLYWOOD. They now have the technology needed that they didn't have back in 87. But Hollywood has a really bad habit of pissing all over the source material. And modern WOKE Hollywood has to change everything. You can bet your ass that there will be tons of race & gender swapping just like Revelation's King Grayskull.Â
Transformers is my favorite 80s franchise & after seeing how badly they butchered those movies, I really don't want to see how badly they will F up MOTU. They turned Starscream into a chicken/bug/ape monster. And look what they did to my favorite Autobot Wheeljack in Rise Of the Beasts. I refuse to watch ROTB because of what they did to my poor Wheeljack. What did he ever do to deserve that? I don't even want to think about how badly they will F up MOTU. And after they totally murdered Star Wars, I think it's in the fan's best interest to keep MOTU as far away from Hollywood as possible. You will not get anything close what you want or imagine or hope for. Â
@sci-fitsunami Nah, MotU and PoP should be what some deem as "woke". Filmation's legacy on both cartoons was given to us by gay artists. Lou Scheimer hired, worked with, and protected those people during a decade when a moral panic against them was at an all time high. There was even an episode of the original She-Ra called Book Burning which is not in anyway subtle. Erika herself admitted that all the LGBTQIA influence on the original was fully intentional when she came out in 2007.
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https://www.pride.com/box-office/2011/10/21/erika-scheimer-and-queer-appeal-she-ra
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Since I love talking about animation, from Avatar, to both Filmation and Dreamworks She-Ra, to Owl House, we should have "wokeness" in stories all about fighting unjust system and liberating the downtrodden. They just need to be good.
if this movie does actually happen now that Amazon has it I just hope it has a good story. I know animation has its upsides for fantastical works and love animated movies for this reason. They do have a lot of technology they could use now to make amazing worlds, that is if they actually put the budget in. I hold no judgment or even expectations for this movie. If it comes out I will see it to support the brand. If I like it so be it, and if not I’ll just keep liking what I do of MOTU/POP. A huge part of the problem is we have 40 years of head cannon and different iterations that there is a chance of being let down. I was there for the 87 movie. I saw it in theatres. Was it partly a let down yes of course. Where was Battlecat, Orko, and many others, why were we on Earth? Sure I was a bit sad about all of this but did I enjoy the movie? Hell yes I did I was 7 and already questioning different versions of characters and just accepted this. Either way I just hope it’s a good movie.Â
@thedoctor If only they gave the 1987 Masters of the Universe movie to Ray Harryhausen. There was no fantasy creature that legend couldn't handle.
@caliban I don't know if Canon could have afforded to use Ray for creatures. I didn't mind some of the effects and have come up with head cannon of how the universe worked.
@caliban I do know about his work on lower budget movies, but this is Canon we are talking about. Not the best track record or smarts. I do however feel what they did accomplish shouldn't be scoffed at. I was terrified of Skeletor but in the most wonderful way. Sure he had eyes and a face but I didn't care. The costumes were great minus Beastman not looking like he should, (just dye the fur). The set pieces were gorgeous.
The 1987 movie failed to bring MOTU to live action in the appropriate way. It's sad that there are a several fantasy/sci-fi films that came out years earlier that looked far better. Flash Gordon from 1980 is just one example of how a MOTU film could have been done at the time. It's very sad that our long suffering fandom only has that single piddling effort to look at.
@thedoctor Ray Harryhausen wouldn't have done MotU 1987 because he decided Clash of the Titans would be his last film. Some people have stated Ray could tell the FX industry was shifting towards animatronics, puppetry, etc. Ray had this philosophy that stopmotion was his thing specifically because he loved how it was in this grey area he was comfortable in. He stated fantasy is a dream world, something born out of imagination, so he liked stopmotion because it wasn't ENTIRELY convincing. IE stopmotion was believable enough for audiences to imagine it was there, but not too real to the point a lot of the charm of knowing it wasn't real was lost. Imperfection is beautiful, to quote Entrapta.
After watching "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves", I believe that an actual good MotU could happen, if they can get the right people on it.
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