Metal Life exclusive interview with POWER OF GRAYSKULL co-director Robert McCallum

Metal Life exclusive interview with POWER OF GRAYSKULL co-director Robert McCallum

Do you remember when and where you were when you first saw He-Man on TV?

I was likely at my grandparents house and only 3 or 4 years old – but I was hooked.

What about the action figures?

Not particularly but I remember going to get She-Ra when that line came out very specifically and was very excited to have her as part of “my guys.”

And, I imagine it goes without saying, since you’ve made a tribute to the product in doc form, but were you fanatical about the brand?

Was I? I still am! Well as a kid, I was fanatical in the sense that I ran around with a sword saying“I have the power” and played endlessly with my action figures. I still might do those things today.

For you, was it about the cartoon series, the toys or the Dolph Lundgren-movie?

Equal parts cartoon and toy. I loved watching the show but my own adventures would last for hours and hours. The movie was weird to me when it came out. Only skeletor seemed to make sense to me as a kid in that it seemed the most related to the cartoon. The rest seemed very different. Not bad, just different.

All those things are covered in the documentary. Was it hard to decide how much time to dedicate to each though?

Yes and no. We only had to work with the things our interviewees gave us and most of the time we weren’t heading down any weird tangents. The live-action portion of the doc is pretty beefy but it also hadn’t been covered that much before and represented a new take on the world and marked the end of the toy-line and cartoon – a point that’s hard to showcase without exploring the film in depth, I think. All in all, we were on some sturdy rails for most of our process with very little discussion about including or limiting certain aspects.

Were you surprised Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella wanted to be involved in the documentary -since the film was considered a bit of a box-office flop at the time?

It was incredible to have both Frank and Dolph involved. I think they came on board precisely because the live action film is often overlooked. It’s also a bit of a cult hit now and that’s gotta feel good for both of them. I love Langella’s performance in particular and as a kid, I wanted to be Dolph even though he looked different from the cartoon He-Man.

Whose story, in the documentary, do you personally enjoy the most?

Gwen Wetzler. We don’t spend a lot of time with her but she’s a treasure, a wonderful lady and a real important part of the He-Man story. Look her up because she’s the real deal.

About Power of Grayskull:

Discover the history of Mattel’s definitive action figure toy line this September!

From Randall Lobb and Robert McCallum, THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL : The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe chronicles the beginnings and blockbuster-success of ‘80s toy sensation He-Man in an exhaustive, captivating 95 minute documentary that melts back the plastic on Eternia’s best-kept secrets!

Featuring Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Richard Edlund, J. Michael Straczynski, Alan Oppenheimer and many more, the “fantastic documentary”* THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL will be available on digital and DVD for the first time this September from High Octane Pictures.

In the early 1980s He-Man arrived on the scene and hit the world with a punch as powerful as the character himself. Designed in the wake of Conan the barbarian and under the shadow of Star Wars, He-Man’s surprising popularity spawned a multi billion dollar empire that included toys, comic books, cartoons, live-action movies and a literal sister spinoff show – She-Ra – and continues to appeal to a ravenous fan-base today. Watch as artists, creators and collaborators dig deep, tell tales and share the surprising developments of an unlikely, unparalleled pop culture success in this Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the
Universe. Do you have the power?

THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL has the power on DVD and Digital now from High Octane Pictures.