Nearly every child of the 80s would recall yelling “I have the power”, sword raised, à la He-Man. According to a writer who features in the 2017 documentary The Power of Grayskull: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe , the catchphrase popularised by the He-Man animation series is about the ability to transform yourself into your true inner self. For most children who avidly watched the series, He-Man represented not just strength but also agency. Every time the docile Prince Adam raised the Power Sword and said the magical words, he became the most powerful man in the universe capable of absolutely anything. The attraction was instant.
Randall Lobb and Robert McCallum’s exhaustive documentary charts out the events that led to the creation of the He-Man universe, its considerable presence and success within American popular culture at one point and its eventual decline. It is full of anecdotes and recollections attesting to the superhero’s popularity among children. Frank Langella, who played Skeletor in the 1987 film Masters of the Universe , for instance, recalls how his young son would run around the house wearing He-Man’s belt, carrying his sword and shouting out the slogan.
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Relying on the traditional talking heads format, the documentary aims to provide a “definitive history”. Representatives from each of the bodies involved in the creation of this billion-dollar franchise (like toy company Mattel which created the action figures, Filmation which produced the hit animation series) discuss the various artistic, commercial, social and cultural factors that needed to be considered at each point to sustain the universe. Their perspectives not only bring in a wealth of trivia but also offer valuable practical and creative insights. An animator, for instance, points out how heroes have never had spaces in their teeth, while a voice artist describes how he went against the norm by giving Skeletor not a predictably villainous but a surprisingly comic laugh.
One of the most interesting facts about the franchise, one that people in the film repeatedly return to, is how it began not conventionally in the pages of a comic book but through the under-pressure release of a new product by a toy company. The hyper-masculinity of the character was the result of the popularity of male action figures at the time, and was balanced later with the introduction of powerful female characters like Teela and He-Man’s sister She-Ra.
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As the toy line flourished, new elements and characters were added. The idea of ‘retrofitting’ defines how the He-Man universe grew. Writers were brought in to make the universe more vivid with characters and histories when Mattel decided to advertise their product through an animation series. Shrewd business decisions lay behind much of what is perceived as fruits of the imagination — and this is nowhere more apparent than in the story behind the creation of the mighty Battle Cat. To curtail expenses, a tiger was borrowed from Mattel’s Big Jim line, painted green and orange, and hitched with a saddle to create the superhero’s fearless mount.
The visual of a vibrant multiverse connected by delicate threads appears at the start of each new section in the film. Indeed, the idea of plurality, as opposed to that of a single creator, lies at the heart of the He-Man story. By featuring a host of commentators — designers, writers, artists, actors, historians, marketing gurus, brand analysts and collectors — each helping to highlight aspects of the colourful history of the franchise, the directors have given credit where it’s due.
Cinema, coffee and canines are the three great loves of this Mumbai-based film writer. @cinememsaab