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Rating: 7.5 stars

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toy movie toys movie about movies interview chicago filmmakers chicago cinema society corporations greed

All movies seen on 08/16/2014

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Toy Masters (2014)

Directed by Corey Landis, Roger Lay, Jr.

Documentary | History

Overview

First ever feature-length documentary on the world-wide phenomenon that inspired an entire generation of children and became a billion dollar franchise—“Masters of the Universe”. Features interviews with the key creative personnel behind every version of the best selling toy line and all incarnations of “Masters of the Universe” on television, film, stage, and print, tracing the inception and ups and downs of the fantasy juggernaut.

Length 105 minutes

Actors

J. Michael Straczynski | Gary Goddard | Corey Landis | Tom Sito

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

I’m reluctant to give this a higher rating despite how fascinating this movie is. Reason being is that the film is not finished and needs more editing. Too much focus is on the two men, Roger Sweet and Mark Taylor, and their contention on who really came up with the idea for He-Man. and the Masters of the Universe.

I like this drama which is reminiscent of KING OF KONG but it could be tightened up a bit. What I really like about this film is that you don’t have to be fan of He-Man to enjoy this story. It’s about product design, corporate control, marketing, TV syndication, movie making. Hits on so many things tied to a brand property. This movie should be shown in every college business school.

Truth is that several people were involved with the creation of He-Man/MOTU and it’s comical how these men won’t let it go. Actually it’s rather sad esp. for Roger Sweet, who somehow expects Mattel to give him credit for the idea and a share of the revenue even after all these years. It’s as though these men are oblivious to how corporations work.

Beyond that I find the story of how Mattel created such a huge property, launched a cartoon series, then managed to destroy it all in a matter a few years time. Mainly due to corporate greed, mismanagement and poor marketing. Incredible what they were able to do on both ends of this brand and product lifecycle.

The film also gave me the urge to watch all the He-Man cartoon series and revisit the movie. Big thanks to Neil Caldrone and CCS for bringing this movie to Chicago despite it still not being done (it’s been in production for years!!). Not sure why IMDb still lists it as 2012 release, perhaps due to its initial screening at Fantasia Fest that year.

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