Last week the folks at He-Man.org scored a terrific
interview with BCI, the makers of
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVDs for North America. We here at TVShowsOnDVD are very excited by these releases, including naming next Tuesday's
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Best 10 Episode Collector's Edition our "Pick of the Week"! And now, just ahead of that street date, we want to make sure everyone's attention is drawn to the exciting information He-Man.org has worked hard to procure about the future of
He-Man on DVD. We urge everyone to read the
interview for themselves, but here are some highlights taken from it:
- Disc art for the Best-of set that releases next week includes He-Man on Disc 1 and Skeletor on Disc 2. DVD disc art for the season sets will feature other characters that appeared on the television program represented on the discs.
- Season sets for He-Man will be 6-DVD sets in "really cool" digipaks (a "digipak" is the cardboard fold-out packaging like what's been used on Transformers, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files and Friends season sets), with an SRP of $49.98 each. For retailers that insist on saving shelf room (mass merchants, mostly), there will be an alternative "thinner" plastic box with the same 6 discs and pack-ins (art cards, etc.), at the same SRP. BCI intends to announce prior to release which retailers will carry each type of season set package. When do those releases start? Season 1, Volume 1 will be released October 18th, with follow-ups about three months apart, including two 6-DVD sets for 1990's The New Adventures of He-Man (no best-of's for that second series).
- Episodes will be in production order, making any needed modifications to that order that will ensure storyline continuity. "...All 130 episodes will be released, divided into 4 box sets, each containing 32 or 33 episodes each. Each of these four releases are on our production schedule. They will ABSOLUTELY be coming out - rest assured!" Note that BCI's license currently runs for 5 years, giving them plenty of time to release everything in various configurations. If sales warrant it, BCI would love to release some sort of super-collection pack "down the road."
- Hallmark did a "remarkable" restoration job on He-Man before selling the Filmation library to Entertainment Rights. However, the work was done in PAL format (European video format, at a different frame rate than North America's NTSC). BCI has transferred the masters ER provided into NTSC, but die-hard fans may notice a very VERY slight hint of speed-up when watching these DVDs. It is not of major concern, however, and for the vast majority of people there will be no noticable difference, and little to no impact. These transfers should be very satisfactory.
- Spanish soundtracks aren't locked in yet, but Entertainment Rights is working on trying to provide them if possible. French soundtracks aren't available for every episode. Therefore, at this time BCI can only promise English soundtracks. That will be in the original 2.0 format.
- Each DVD will have easter eggs, and BCI will hold off giving hints for a few weeks following each release in order to allow fans the opportunity to discover them on their own.
- Bumpers were removed from the episodes during the remastering process (prior to Entertainment Rights aquiring the library). BCI is interested in including these as extras, but if included they won't be at the same hight quality level as the episodes are.
- As many hard-core fans probably know, there has been a scene missing from "Diamond Ray of Disappearance" (Skeletor attacking Orko with the diamond, missing, and Orko escaping into a forest). The episode masters that Entertainment Rights have provided do NOT contain the missing scene, but BCI is interested in obtaining an unrestored copy of the missing scene and including it as a bonus item on one of the releases.
- Pack-in bonus items for the DVD sets - such as toy figures, posters, comic books, etc. - are all being looked at, but much will depend on what rights are available and what co-operation BCI receives.
- She-Ra continues to be controlled by Entertainment Rights, but the rights are split with Mattel (and in a different manner than He-Man rights are), so ER is looking to do other projects with the She-Ra property besides DVD home video. The indication is that ER does not want to award DVD rights for She-Ra to any outfit until they explore these other ideas and can possibly tie in the DVD release to them. This includes The Secret of the Sword, which ER counts as part of the She-Ra library. The only appearance of The Princess of Power on DVD that BCI can currently guarantee is The He-Man/She-Ra Christmas Special, due on DVD for Holiday Season 2005.
- Other than continuing the art cards and documentaries, BCI has very little material to use for extras on 1990's The New Adventures of He-Man. BCI is keeping their eyes open for material worthy of use on those DVDs, however.
- Mattel entirely controls the 2002 Masters of the Universe series, and BCI is seeking to work with Mattel to license the DVD rights to that, as well as work with Mattel to aquire more bonus material to use on the other He-Man franchise DVDs. Mattel toy commercials, for example, would be an item of interest, but it depends on Mattel. In the meantime, expect one extra that is a documentary strictly about the various Masters of the Universe toys.
Thanks to all of our readers - starting with Joe Clark - who have written to us, letting us know about the interview at He-Man.org's site. Well done, guys...LOTS of info in there! As Andy Mangels (
He-Man documentary director for these DVDs) has pointed out on the 4th page of reader feedback for that interview, the art cards, documentaries, and easter eggs that are including on next Tuesday's "
Best of" release will NOT be duplicated on future DVD releases. Therefore, if you want to get everything, you'll certainly want to pick up the release on the 12th. You'll be able to pick it up or
order it online from Best Buy for $14.99, or you can order it online from e-tailers like
Amazon.com, who's currently pre-selling it for $17.49.
OR, if you happen to be in San Diego in a week's time (July 14th-16th), then you'll probably want to attend the San Diego Comic-Con and see massive
Masters of the Universe promotion going on there! BCI has partnered with Tower Records to give away lots of free goodies at Tower's booth, including
He-Man temporary tattoos and on Saturday at 3PM you can show up at the Tower Records booth in your
Masters of the Universe costume for a chance to win a highly collectible, specially autographed
Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe DVD! All weekend long you will see lots of
He-Man alumni, including Lou Scheimer, Erika Scheimer, Adam Hughes, Bruce Timm, Tom Tataranowicz, Tom Sito, J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Dini, Emiliano Santalucia, and more! For the complete schedule of
He-Man events at Comic-Con, check out the information at He-Man.org.
Speaking of
He-Man alumni, it is our sad duty to pass on that Norm Prescott has passed away. Norm was the co-founder and chairman of Filmation, and producer or executive producer of many Filmation series including
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra: Princess of Power and others such as
Shazam!, Star Trek: The Animated Series and
Bravestarr. Norm's voice was heard on just about every Filmation series, either as a narrator or as a guest voice. He's has a great career, and will be greatly missed.
Variety has a nice
obituary about him, and no registration is required to view it. Godspeed, Norm Prescott!
Don't forget that DVD isn't the only way you can get
He-Man on home video. BCI is also putting out a pair of UMD videos for play on the Sony PSP system.
Read our June news story for complete info! And stay tuned, because we'll have more - much more! - about
He-Man DVDs just as soon as details are ready to be shared.
