M.A.S.C. - The Correct and Perfect Cartoon

M.A.S.C. - The Correct and Perfect Cartoon

WB and I have read (and received) some pretty good criticism since we started this blog in the beginning of 2011. We'll be the first guys to tell you that M.A.S.K. was not the most perfect of cartoons. It had its flaws like most every show does. But with the success it did have in the toy market and on television, we feel it warrants a comeback as a movie.

The critical comments are mainly about the M.A.S.K. cartoon in general, but also some about our efforts. We don't mind the criticism at all and are thankful for those people that wear their opinions on their sleeves. We would just like to take a moment to respond to some things we have heard and give you our point of view, as die-hard fans of M.A.S.K. for the past 25 years.

Comment #1 - "Kommand doesn't start with a K!"

Okay, anyone in this world that truly believes that the creators of M.A.S.K. mistakenly misspelled "command" needs to get over it and take their OCD medication. Just stop for a second and try to come up with a "K" word for team or group....see! Maybe one of the creators was part German or maybe the "mask" word association was so important to the concept of the show that they decided to use a little poetic license for the title. I think the vast majority of the people that ever watched the show "gets it."

Comment #2 - "The cartoon series wasn't that popular. It only really lasted for "1" season, so why does it deserve a movie?"

Here are the facts. It's true that M.A.S.K. only technically had two seasons. The first season ran for 65 episodes from Sept-Dec 1985. The second season only lasted 10 episodes in the fall of 1986. So how does 75 total episodes compare to the other two cartoons that we often compare M.A.S.K. to, G1 Transformers and G.I. Joe? G.I. Joe also endured only two seasons, of which the first was broken up into many smaller mini-series. The original G.I. Joe cartoon aired a total of 95 episodes in 1985-86 and one feature film in 1987. The G1 Transformers cartoon lasted four seasons from 1984-87, also with a feature film in 1986. G1 Transformers aired 98 total episodes. With those facts being on the table that M.A.S.K. aired just 20 & 23 total episodes less than G.I. Joe and Transformers respectively, I don't think you can say "M.A.S.K. wasn't that popular." A couple things to consider is G.I. Joe had a history of the brand behind it with its toy line beginning in the mid 1960s. Also, M.A.S.K. originally aired on the USA cable network which was much less viewed in that era than the first run syndication of GI Joe and Transformers on regular network channels. You can't deny the popularity of both G1 Transformers and GI Joe: R.A.H., but we think it's unfair to just compare M.A.S.K.'s worthiness for a movie without looking at all the facts.

Comment #3 - "The M.A.S.K. cartoon series was one big toy commercial"

Weren't they all in the 80s? C'mon people! M.A.S.K. released four series of toys from 1985-87, about 50 total vehicles and figure packs. G1 Transformers and G.I. Joe: R.A.H. both easily triple that total number of toys during the same time period. This criticism of the "toy commercial cartoon" should be used on a broader scope and not just on M.A.S.K. If you think the toy retailers and merchandise companies are evil than that's fine. Myself, as a parent, I can see why some people think these types of companies are only out to influence kids to make a long list for Santa. But on the other hand, those childhood fantasies that we played out with our toys are worth something, aren't they? Shouldn't we give our kids some lasting memories of their childhood? For those that followed the show, M.A.S.K. gave us those impacting memories during play time.

Comment #4 - "The M.A.S.K. Movie site sucks and is unprofessional."

Well, what can we say but that the site is supposed to be unprofessional! Yes, it might also suck to some of you tech savvy people. WB and Jason G are about the two most ordinary average guys on the planet. We won't ever apologize for our blog site because it is just that, a blog about our journey from script to (hopefully one day) a major motion picture. Someday there will also (hopefully) be a professional site dedicated just to M.A.S.K. the movie with trailers, wallpaper, links to buy movie tickets, and all the good stuff that movie goers love. But for now, you are stuck with us and our blogging capabilities and social media skills!

So, what if M.A.S.K. had been correctly named? What if it had lasted 5 years and had aired 150 episodes? What if it had been more popular than Transformers and GI Joe? Well, it probably would have been perfect...perfect for a animated feature film, spinoffs and more toy-lines and probably a live action feature film that would have been produced 10 years ago. So had M.A.S.K. been perfect, there wouldn't have been a need for WB and Jason G to write a script and we'd probably be talking about our Voltron script right now!

Hopefully, for those of you who are behind us, this post gives you a little more in depth into our perspective and drive to make this happen! For those of you who have been critical, we hope you are a little more persuaded to give M.A.S.K. another chance. If not, keep the criticisms coming and we will keep on trying to show you why we are right!