Roger Sweet, creator of the iconic character He-Mandied at the age of 91 after a prolonged fight against dementia, according to the American media. Variety.
Sweet, who was a designer at Mattel in the 1970s and 1980s, created He-Man after that company rejected a deal to produce “Star Wars” toys in 1977.
In search of commercial success in the same niche, Sweet created a prototype of He-Man from another action toy, a figure called Big Jim, to which he added clay to give it more volume.
The toy, officially launched in 1982 and selling millions of units, became a success; He had his own line of toys and, a year later, he had his own cartoon series, “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.”
The series had 130 episodes and aired between 1983 and 1985.
Sweet’s death comes at a time of renewed interest in the franchise, after Amazon, MGM and Mattel announced an action film about He-Man, which will be released in theaters on June 5.
Actor Nicholas Galitzine will play He-Man in a film in which he will be accompanied by Camila Mendes, as Teela; Jared Leto, as Skeletor; Alison Brie, as Evil-Lyn, and Idris Elba, as Man-At-Arms.
The story once again places the viewer in the kingdom of Eternia. “In the most remote regions of space, the kingdom of Eternia is threatened by the evil Skeletor and his hosts of darkness. To save his father’s kingdom and protect the lives of his loved ones, young Prince Adam must recover a mythical sword and become the legendary warrior known as He-Man,” says the film’s official trailer.
International media have highlighted that villain of the live-action, who is played by Leto, is a more terrifying version than the cartoon.
He-Man first appeared in 1981, as a DC Comics creation. The animated series The masters of the Universe It was released in 1983 and achieved international notoriety.