The Futuristic Toy Moms HATED (Captain Power)
Summary
TLDRIn 2147, humanity battles the Bio Dread Empire in 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future,' a groundbreaking yet controversial interactive TV show from 1987. Combining live-action with computer-generated characters, it allowed kids to engage with the show using a PowerJet XT-7 toy. Despite ambitious ideas and a talented team, the show faced criticism for promoting violence and struggled with distribution and toy integration. Despite its failure, it influenced future sci-fi franchises and demonstrated the impact of innovative ideas, even in failure.
Takeaways
- 😀 The script discusses the failed interactive TV show 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future' from the late 1980s, which combined live actors with computer-generated characters and toys that interacted with the show in real-time.
- 🤖 It highlights the ambitious concept of the show, which was set in a post-apocalyptic world where humanity was at war with machines, and Captain Jonathan Power was the last hope against Lord Dread and his Bio Dread Empire.
- 🎮 The interactive element of the show relied on a toy gun, the PowerJet XT-7, which could shoot at targets on the screen, a feature that was innovative but faced criticism for promoting violence in children's programming.
- 📺 The show was a mix of live action and 3D animation, targeting both children with its toys and adults with its serious themes and storytelling, creating a disconnect in its audience and marketing approach.
- 💡 The script delves into the creation of the show, the partnership between Gary Goddard and Mattel, and the challenges they faced in merging interactive technology with a live-action series.
- 👎 The show faced significant backlash from parents and advocacy groups, who believed it blurred the lines between children's entertainment, warfare, and toy commercials, leading to a media war against it.
- 📉 Despite high production values and a talented team, the show was not a commercial success, with toy sales failing to meet expectations and contributing to its cancellation after one season.
- 🔍 The script explores the technical aspects of the interactive toys, explaining how photodetectors and light signals allowed the toys to interact with the show, but also revealing the technical issues that arose during production.
- 📚 It mentions the influence of Captain Power on later shows and movies, suggesting that while the show itself failed, its fingerprints can be seen in the success of other sci-fi franchises and interactive entertainment.
- 🚀 The script reflects on the risks taken by the creators, the innovative technology used, and the potential paths the show could have taken had the vision for the toys and the series not been so intertwined.
- 📽️ Finally, it notes the legacy of Captain Power, including attempts to reboot the show and the continued love from a dedicated fanbase, despite its ultimate failure and obscurity.
Q & A
What was the premise of the show 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'?
-The show was set in a post-apocalyptic future where machines had nearly eradicated humanity. Captain Jonathan Power and his team of specialized soldiers, equipped with powersuits, fought against Lord Dread and his Bio Dread Empire, representing mankind's last hope for survival.
How was the interactive TV concept of 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future' unique?
-The show combined live actors with computer-generated characters and used special signals from the TV that allowed toys, such as the PowerJet XT-7, to interact with the show in real-time, allowing viewers to shoot at the bad guys on screen.
What controversy surrounded the show due to its interactive nature?
-The show faced criticism for glorifying violence in children's programming. It was accused of blurring the lines between children's shows, warfare, and toy commercials, leading to a media war against it by groups like Action for Children's Television.
Who was Gary Goddard and what was his role in the creation of 'Captain Power'?
-Gary Goddard was a director who had recently worked on Mattel’s Masters of the Universe live action film. He pitched the concept of 'Captain Power' to Mattel, which combined his vision for a live action sci-fi show with Mattel's interactive TV toy technology.
What were some of the production challenges faced by 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'?
-The production faced challenges such as integrating the interactive technology into the show seamlessly, the high cost of production due to live action and visual effects, and the mismatch between the show's serious, adult-oriented themes and the toy-focused interactive elements.
How did Mattel's approach to distribution affect the show?
-Mattel's decision to self-distribute the show rather than partnering with a Hollywood distributor led to inconsistent airing times across different TV stations, which made it difficult for the target audience, primarily children, to consistently watch the show.
What was the interactive technology behind the toys used in 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'?
-The toys used photodetectors, sensors that measure light intensity, to detect flashing red and yellow signals from the TV screen at specific frequencies, allowing the toys to interact with the show by registering hits or avoiding damage.
How did the show's creators intend for the interactive elements to be integrated into the episodes?
-The creators initially believed the interactive technology would use an invisible infrared signal, allowing for seamless integration without disrupting the viewing experience. However, this was later changed to visible flashing targets, which were added in post-production.
What was the impact of 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future' on the entertainment industry?
-Despite its failure as a TV show and toy line, 'Captain Power' had a hidden influence on the entertainment industry, with its talent contributing to successful projects like Babylon 5 and Star Wars prequels, and its concepts influencing shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation and Power Rangers.
Why did 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future' ultimately fail?
-The show failed due to a combination of factors, including high production costs, controversy over its violent content, inconsistent distribution, and a mismatch between the show's serious themes and the interactive toy concept, which led to poor toy sales and the cancellation of a planned second season.
Are there any efforts to revive 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'?
-There were plans to reboot the show as 'Phoenix Rising' in 2017, and a 40-minute animated fan film was released in 2021, indicating ongoing interest in the property. However, as of the script's knowledge cutoff in 2023, a full revival had not materialized.
Outlines
🤖 The Rise and Fall of Captain Power
The script introduces the futuristic setting of the year 2147, where humanity is on the brink of extinction due to the Metal Wars led by Lord Dread. Captain Jonathan Power emerges as humanity's last hope, supported by a team of combat masters. The narrative then shifts to the real-world year of 1987, where an 8-year-old boy uses a PowerJet XT-7 to interact with the television show 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.' The script discusses the show's unique interactive TV concept, which allowed toys to interact with the program in real-time, and the author's surprise at never having heard of the show despite being its target demographic. The author embarks on a quest to understand the show's creation, its ambitious yet controversial nature, and why it failed to achieve the success that its creators envisioned, despite having a dream team of talent and significant financial backing.
🎮 Unraveling the Mystery of Captain Power
The author delves into the history and technology behind the 'Captain Power' show and its interactive toys. After acquiring various toys and training VHS tapes from 1987, the author tests the functionality of the Powerjet and describes the interactive gaming experience. The script then explores the show's production, revealing discrepancies between the toys and the show's content, and the author's confusion about the lack of interactive elements in the episodes. The narrative discusses the controversy surrounding the show, including criticism from child advocacy groups and the media's portrayal of violence in children's programming. The author highlights the challenges faced by the show's creators, including the ambitious goal of combining serious themes with toy sales, and the resulting conflict with Mattel's marketing strategy.
🚀 The Ambitious Vision of Captain Power
This section details the origins of 'Captain Power' as a concept by Gary Goddard, following his work on the Masters of the Universe film. Goddard's idea was to merge Mattel's interactive TV technology with a live-action sci-fi show. The script outlines the development of the show, which featured a team of soldiers led by Jonathan Power fighting against Lord Dread's robot army. The author discusses the challenges of integrating the interactive technology into the show, the creative team's intentions to produce a show with serious themes for both adults and children, and the missteps in marketing and distribution that contributed to the show's obscurity.
🛡️ The Controversial Impact of Captain Power
The script examines the public backlash against 'Captain Power' due to its violent content and the merging of toy commercials with children's programming. It describes the efforts of advocacy groups like Action for Children's Television and the impact of their lobbying on the show. The narrative also highlights the contrasting opinions on the show, from negative reviews labeling it as a glorification of violence to positive reviews by critics like Gene Siskel, who praised its production quality and storytelling. The author reflects on the disconnect between the show's intent and its reception, and the technological challenges of implementing the interactive elements.
🔍 The Hidden Influence of Captain Power
This paragraph explores the indirect influence of 'Captain Power' on subsequent sci-fi franchises and the entertainment industry. The author notes similarities between elements of 'Captain Power' and later shows like 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and 'Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'. It also discusses the careers of the show's creators and how they contributed to successful projects such as 'Babylon 5' and 'Industrial Light & Magic'. The script reflects on the show's innovative approach to storytelling and technology, and how its legacy is felt in current entertainment despite its initial failure.
💔 The Tragic Tale of Captain Power's Demise
The final paragraph concludes the story of 'Captain Power', highlighting the financial and creative risks taken by its creators and the ultimate failure of the show and its toy line. The author discusses the high production costs, the limitations of the toys, and the misalignment between the show's vision and Mattel's marketing strategy. It also mentions the attempts to reboot the show and the continued affection of its fanbase. The script reflects on the paradoxical impact of failure in the entertainment industry and how 'Captain Power', despite its commercial failure, left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness of science fiction and toy culture.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Metal Wars
💡Captain Jonathan Power
💡Bio Dread Empire
💡PowerJet XT-7
💡Interactive TV
💡Gary Goddard
💡Mattel
💡OverMind
💡Action for Children’s Television
💡Serialised Drama
💡Phoenix Rising
Highlights
In 2147, humanity is nearly eradicated by machines in the Metal Wars, with Captain Jonathan Power emerging as the last hope against Lord Dread's Bio Dread Empire.
The show 'Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future' is an ambitious interactive TV experience combining live actors with computer-generated characters.
The PowerJet XT-7 toy allowed 1987 children to interact with the TV show in real-time, shooting at the bad guys on screen.
The show was a mix of live action and 3D animation, with serious themes and adult-oriented content, unlike typical children's programming.
Gary Goddard, fresh from directing 'Masters of the Universe', pitched the concept of 'Captain Power' to Mattel, who were seeking the next big toy franchise.
Mattel's interactive TV toy technology was combined with Goddard's vision, creating a show that was both a live action series and an interactive experience for kids.
The show faced controversy for glorifying violence in children's programming, leading to a media war against it by concerned parents and activists.
Despite criticism, film critic Gene Siskel gave a positive review of the show, praising its production values and drama.
The interactive technology used photodetectors to sense light signals from the TV, allowing toys to interact with the show in real-time.
The interactive elements were shoehorned into the show after production, causing friction between the creative vision and the commercial requirements.
The show was a serialized drama with ongoing story arcs, a format not common in children's TV at the time.
The show's creators wanted to phase out the toys and focus on the storytelling, but Mattel's commercial interests clashed with this vision.
The show was a pioneer in using CG characters as part of the main cast and in creating a live-action toy-powered show.
Despite the show's failure, its influence can be seen in later sci-fi and toy franchises, such as 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' and 'Power Rangers'.
The show's high production costs and the failure of toy sales led to its cancellation after one season, despite plans for a second season.
Efforts to reboot the show in recent years have not come to fruition, leaving 'Captain Power' as a forgotten but influential part of TV history.
Transcripts
The year is 2147. The machines have already won, and 15 years of the Metal Wars have eradicated
nearly all of humanity. But out of the ashes of defeat, Captain Jonathan Power and his masters of
combat have risen up to become mankind’s last hope of defeating Lord Dread and his Bio Dread Empire.
But Captain Power can’t do it without you. He needs your help. And you are an 8-year-old boy
in 1987 armed only with a PowerJet XT-7 to shoot at your cathode ray tube television.
But you’re not just fighting Lord Dread and his Bio-Mech army.
You and Captain Power are fighting nearly every angry mom in America.
I was flipping through the January 1988 issue of Popular Science when
I found this article touting the future of interactive TV.
Jim Shefter was reporting on a new show that combined live actors with
computer-generated characters… and somehow it incorporated
special signals from the TV that actual toys could interact with in real-time.
For the first time in television history,
you could shoot at the bad guys – and they could shoot back at you.
I saw that the show was called “Captain Power
and the Soldiers of the Future,” and my immediate reaction was… “What!?”
I was a He-Man wielding, Thundercat-battling boy of the 1980s.
I was the exact demographic for a post-apocalyptic
robot-war spaceship shooting at the screen in my parents’ den TV show… and I’d never,
ever heard of Captain Power. Not the show and not the toys. I didn’t have them,
my friends didn’t have them, my cousins didn’t have them. How is that even POSSIBLE?
I had to find out why… or why not. And what I uncovered is one of the most ambitious,
influential, and controversial TV shows ever created. It had a dream team of
talent that seemed to guarantee success – but outside of a small,
dedicated fanbase, it’s fallen into total obscurity.
It’s the story of a great idea, a really unique show, a groundbreaking toy line,
outstanding talent, and a ton of money. What could possibly go wrong?
Well… everything.
You need to know about Captain Power. I started with the toys – it’s like how you always just
started playing an NES game without reading the manual. I teleported my mind to 1987,
which is where it always kind of lives anyway, and I eBayed the Powerjet XT-7,
the Phantom Striker, the Power On Energizer, the Interlocker, Power Laser,
some action figures, some birthday masks, and all 3 training VHS tapes.
After my experience with Butler in a Box, my first question was, “Does any of this stuff still work?”
First of all I needed two different types of batteries, a 9-volt and two double AA’s. Which
is kind of weird. So I powered up the Powerjet and popped in the first tape – which threw me
into a beautifully 2D-animated future war. It looks amazing. The Powerjet is also a gun,
and I need to shoot the blinking red targets on the screen and avoid the blinking yellow ones.
If you hit your target, it sounds like this … and if you take damage, it sounds like this…
After every battle you push a red button on the back that tallies the enemies you
hit minus the damage you received and reports your score through an
ascending scale of tones… that you just have to count and remember or write down, I guess.
You start with 5 points, but if you take too many hits and your score drops to 0,
Captain Power is automatically ejected from the cockpit of the Powerjet, sending him hurtling
down to his doom – which is really the carpet your mom wouldn’t let you eat snacks on.
And that’s it. That’s the 1987 future of interactive TV.
There had to be more to this – and there was. A lot more.
Because these radical 18 minute training tapes are not the TV show,
they’re standalone VHS games. And the manual says it works on black and white TVs,
which were still prevalent at the time, so how could the gun
even recognize the difference between red and yellow targets? HOW did this work?!
Well, to know Captain Jonathan Power I had to watch the show – all of it – so
I got the series on DVD. And that’s when things started to get weird.
Unlike the training tapes, the show isn’t a cartoon – it’s live action with a mix of 3D
animated enemies. And I kept watching and watching and… I didn’t really see the toys
anywhere? And the Power On Energizer in the show looks completely different from the toy I have.
I was 3 episodes into the show and I still hadn’t seen a Powerjet, a Phantom Striker,
or an Interlocker anywhere. And the interactive shooting parts seem to
be really short sections of a dark, serious, and adult-oriented show.
None of it made any sense… so I paused the show and started reading. And virtually all I found was
hit piece after hit piece demonizing Captain Power for glorifying violence for children.
WHAT is going on here?!
All of this started when Gary Goddard was hot off the heels of directing Mattel’s Masters
of the Universe live action film, the one where Dolph Lundgren is He-Man and Frank
Langella is Skeletor. Goddard had a new idea and a good relationship with Mattel,
so he pitched them a concept based around a name he loved for its simplicity:
Captain Power. He couldn’t believe no one had used it before, so he trademarked it immediately.
“I had the idea that we would maybe call him Captain Power and that he would wear these
suits. These suits that represented power. And actually I thought well there must have
been a Captain Power. Someone must have done a Captain Power but, in fact, no one had.”
Mattel had spent years developing interactive TV toy technology,
but they didn’t have any intellectual property to attach it to. Sales of
He-Man toys were slowing down and they desperately needed the next big thing.
So why not marry their revolutionary toy tech with Goddard’s vision for a live action sci-fi show?
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future was looking like Mattel’s future.
Goddard got to work on developing the show,
which was centered on Jonathan Power and a small team of specialized soldiers wearing
powersuits to battle the robot army of Lord Dread who became evil after merging with a
supercomputer called OverMind. 8-year-old Kevin and current Kevin agree this is cool.
Goddard wanted to partner with TriStar Pictures to handle distribution of the show’s syndication,
but Mattel didn’t want to give up any piece of the money pie. They were confident that they
could distribute the show themselves, and… this ended up being a problem.
Goddard and his writers wanted to make a show with serious themes, with deep,
nuanced characters and meaningful story arcs that would appeal to
adults while… also selling toys to kids. This ended up being a problem.
Mattel invested heavily in manufacturing toys that they hoped would storm the market by
creating the world’s first interactive show for kids. And yeah, this ended up being a problem.
But those weren’t even the worst parts. The entire concept of kids getting into
gun fights with their TV and effectively erasing the line between kids shows,
warfare, and toy commercials ended up being a REALLY, REALLY BIG PROBLEM.
In 1968, Peggy Charren was fed up with the state of children’s educational programming on
television, and she felt there were too many commercials targeting kids – so she founded
Action for Children’s Television to make TV better for kids and families. And her group
actually had influence – they successfully lobbied for the Children’s Television Act,
which set out rules for educational kids’ TV shows. And by the late 1980’s,
she filed a formal complaint with the FCC and had an army of over 15,000 moms waging
a media war against Captain Power, which she said, “...teaches children wrong values.”
And they weren’t alone. Peace Activist Jerry Rubin announced at Universal Studios that he
was doing a 43-day fast to protest Captain Power. And self-proclaimed TV Mom Ellen Klein rated the
show 1 star, Poor, with a headline declaring, “Violence is all there is to this show.”
The timing of the Goddard - Mattel - Captain Power project could not have been worse:
“We became the whipping boy for any group out
there that wanted to get publicity for itself by attacking a TV show.”
But some people thought it was awesome. Legendary film critic Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert fame
gave the show a positive review in their 1987 hour-long Holiday Gift Guide episode – it was
a segment that I knew existed, but it was gone. Nowhere. The video on the official Siskel & Ebert
website starts literally the line AFTER the Captain Power review… which is really suspicious.
It was lost media.
And then AN HOUR before recording this video, I heard from a website called PlatypusComix
whose dad had recorded the episode on an unmarked VHS tape more than 35 years ago.
So thanks to Peter Paltridge, we can finally hear Gene Siskel’s review:
“When I watched this show… First of all I expected this, something called ‘Captain Power’ to be a
junk show. This is well made. I think you can see somebody spent some money on the special effects,
on the dialogue. In fact, there’s some real drama in the one episode that I saw.”
So on one hand we had angry moms across the country aiming their moral Powerjets
at Captain Power, and on the other hand , one of the most famous movie critics on
planet Earth was saying it was actually a pretty good show. What was the disconnect?
Everything. Everything was the disconnect. Captain
Power may be the most monumental disconnect in television history.
But first, you need to know how the toys actually worked.
The interactive technology utilized photodetectors – sensors that measure the intensity of light. The
red targets on the enemy robots flashed with a 30hz signal, 1/60th of a second on and 1/60th of
a second off, with a 1/30th of a second cycle. The yellow signal for the enemy’s return fire
pulsed at 15hz – 1/30th of a second on and 1/30th of a second off with a 1/15th of a second cycle.
A microprocessor then determined whether you scored a point or lost a point based on the
rate that the voltage spiked over a period of time – the color of the light on the screen was just a
visual indicator for the viewer to differentiate between what to shoot and what to avoid.
So the photo sensor is constantly looking for either of the two flashing patterns,
and pulling the trigger either registered a hit or helped you dodge damage.
When the crew first got the finished toys from Mattel and tested them on the show…
they didn’t work at all. The targets were way too small, so they had to scramble to
completely remake them 4 times larger so their interactive show was actually… interactive.
But surely the interactive element was naturally woven
into the show seamlessly because that is the whole point of the project, right?!
No. The answer is no.
The entire gimmick ended up being shoehorned in after with an extra 3rd production unit
filming interactive action scenes that could be plunked in at the beginning of an episode.
And the writers and producers were totally blindsided. When they put the show together,
they didn’t think the interactive technology needed to have big ugly targets at all. They
were under the impression that it would all be invisible and not interrupt the show – that way
if you had the toys, you could use them, and if you didn’t, you could just watch a cool show.
The show’s developer, Marc Zicree, described the production nightmare that ensued:
“We weren’t sure what could be done, what could be pulled off. How it would all integrate. In fact,
when I would say ‘what can we do and what can’t we do?’ they could never give me that answer. So
it was extremely difficult to write episodes that were within production parameters when no one knew
what those parameters were. We knew there were going to be interactive toys and we would say,
as writers we would say well will be seeing the signal that emanates from the television to the
toy and initially we were being told ‘no’ it would be an invisible infrared signal. And then
when we saw the show and there was this flashing, ya know, chroma key thing we were going ‘oh no!’”
Exactly how much interactivity this show was supposed to have really depended on
who you asked. The instruction manual states: “There are 3 to 5 minutes of
action in each Captain Power television show THAT YOU CAN REALLY PLAY AGAINST.”
A January 1989 Starlog interview with writer Larry DiTillio said, “We were given parameters of having
to have a minimum of one minute and a maximum of three minutes of interactivity per episode.”
But a feature in the March 1988 Starlog – nearly a year earlier – said that creator
Gary Goddard, “breaks the show down to approximately 30 seconds of interactivity…”
So the toy integration constituted either 2.3% of the show or 23% of the show and its creators and
its actors – like Tim Dunnigan, who played Captain Power – just wanted to make a great sci-fi series.
Goddard said, “It did bother us that the interactive toys – specifically
the Powerjet XT-7 and the Phantom Striker – would be so closely tied to the show.”
Ya think?!
And that doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the complexity and contradictions of
Captain Power – because the writers insisted they weren’t writing a kids’ show at all.
A Series Bible is the reference document for screenwriters that
defines a show’s major elements like characters and setting – and
Marc Zicree explained exactly how he wrote the Bible for Captain Power:
“And I was committed to the idea that this would be an adult show. That we would create
it exactly as if it were an adult show. That we wouldn’t condescend at all.”
Does that sound like a kids’ show?!
Meanwhile, Larry DiTillio lamented that Captain Power “never quite got away from its kid’s show
label.” And he called Captain Power “the worst title for a TV show ever created.”
Captain Planet seemed to do alright a few years later. And Power RANGERS generated over $6 billion
dollars in toy sales in less than a decade. So… yeah, the name wasn’t really the problem here.
The point is: the writers set out to create a serious drama set in a dreary
hellscape that encompassed the enduring themes of love and loss and betrayal, the
delicate intricacies of surrogate families, and uniquely human values embodied by fully-fleshed
out characters whose realistic-but-tangled arcs wound maze-like throughout the series.
Mattel just wanted kids to shoot their TV.
The towering 6’5” Tim Dunnigan fully embraced his role as Captain Power. He
traveled to toy stores, sweating in his big bulky Powersuit so kids could meet
their hero. And 35-years later he’s still giving back to the fans through
podcasts and interviews. He’s proud of being Captain Power and he should be.
It wasn't his fault that it ended in disaster. So… whose fault was it?
The secret here is in analyzing the incredible risks that Captain Power’s creators took with the
show – because they’re seriously astonishing. Yes, it was the first interactive toy TV show – but it
was also a live action toy-powered show at a time when everything was still cartoons…
6 years before The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers proved that live action could sell action figures.
It was the first show to ever use CG-modeled characters as
part of the main cast in every episode in an era with no digital storage – so
all of the visual effects had to be painstakingly layered on video tape.
And it was a serialized drama, meaning it featured a story arc that really had to
be followed throughout the season to fully appreciate the changes the characters went
through – it wasn’t a self-contained procedural show like Batman or He-Man where everything just
goes back to normal by the end and you can watch and enjoy each episode standalone.
The most obvious risk was that decision not to partner with a Hollywood distributor – instead,
it was up to each TV station to determine when the show aired. That could be 6am on
Saturday in St. Louis and 6pm on Sunday in Sacramento. Who knows?!
Kids needed to know. Kids in the 1980s whose lives revolved around awesome TV shows needed to know.
But even those elements aren’t what matter most. The real story is that
the hidden influence of Captain Power, this forgotten show, was incredible.
You may have noticed something about Lord Dread at the beginning of this video:
he… is kind of reminiscent of one of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s most infamous villains,
the cybernetic organisms called “The Borg”. And not just their design – but
the phrase “resistance is futile” matching “resistance was futile” from a Captain Power
comic book. It launched one of the biggest debates in the sci-fi fandom,
and the liner notes of the Captain Power DVD address it directly.
And I also noticed some things. What about Captain Power’s mentor, an AI-recreation of
his father who appears in a tube at the Power Base? He’s pretty close to the Power Rangers’
mentor Zordon at their Power Chamber. Oh, and one of the main villains was named Lord Zedd.
But it’s so much more than those tangible influences – the talent
behind Captain Power helped define entertainment for a generation.
Head Writer J. Michael Stracyznski created the massively successful space opera Babylon 5,
which ran for 5 seasons and spawned 6 TV films. And in an episode of Captain Power,
the character Tank reveals where he was genetically engineered:
Captain Power: “How ya doing?”
Tank: “When I escaped Babylon 5…”
Captain Power assistant animator Rob Coleman became Creative Director at
George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic, where he worked on Men in Black and all
of the Star Wars prequels – and he was head of animation on The Lego Movie.
Captain Power had everything… so how did it become nothing?
Between the live action and all the visual effects, the show cost
around $1 million dollars per episode – which is nearly $3 million dollars today.
And the action figures also just… weren’t great. They articulated
less than GI Joes and they were tiny compared to He-Man and Thundercats.
The whole thing was a star-crossed Shakespearean tragedy before the ink was dry on the contract.
Mattel needed a show to sell interactive toys that no one had ever played with, and that no one
even knew they wanted, and the show needed their money to exist – but the two visions never meshed.
I’m convinced that a cartoon like we see in the VHS game built around the toys would’ve
been hugely successful, and a live action show marketed and distributed properly to adults,
one that was completely divorced from the toys and interactivity, would’ve also been
really successful. But combining them just… did not work out, and both sides share the blame.
Even still… a lot of people loved this show,
and they still do. As late as 2017 there were plans to reboot it under the name Phoenix Rising,
and a 40-minute animated Captain Power fan film came out in 2021.
But the Phoenix is still languishing in the ashes.
People also loved the toys. You can find message boards flooded with fond memories of dads playing
together with their kids. But the toy sales never reached the critical mass that Mattel needed,
and when they failed to sell through their Captain Power stock at Christmas
they pulled funding on a Season 2 that was already planned out and ready to go.
The show’s creators had hoped to phase out the toys completely, and they even blew up
the power base in the final episode of Season 1. That was a power base with a toy Mattel
wanted to sell – it really was a poetic nail in the coffin of the conflict between the two.
Gary Goddard spent years trying to obtain the show’s rights from Mattel,
and he eventually did – but it was too late. The talent had all moved on to other projects,
the funding to revive it didn’t exist, and Captain Power was officially powered off.
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future really did have everything going
for it. It had the kind of budget creatives dream of. It had beautiful, unique designs,
cutting edge technology, an elite team of talent,
and the weight of the Mattel juggernaut to flood the shelves of every toy store in the world.
And it all failed.
But Captain Power’s tiny fingerprints are in so many of the TV shows, movies,
and toys that you love. And they’re all over the science fiction franchises in
which millions of hardcore convention-goers worldwide see both themselves and the future.
And those fingerprints were left by a show you’ve never even heard of,
one that you can’t even legally stream anywhere, and one that’s locked away on out-of-print DVDs.
It reveals one of the strangest phenomena in science, technology,
and entertainment – that sometimes the greatest impact you can have on the world… is to fail.
See you in the future.
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