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He-Man is the principal character of a series of comic books and several animated television series, characterized by his superhuman strength. In most variations, he is the alter ego of Prince Adam. He-Man and his friends attempt to defend the realm of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull from the forces of Skeletor. ==Origin== In 1976, Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner declined a deal to produce a toyline of action figures based on the characters from the George Lucas film ''Star Wars,'' due to the $750,000 license required upfront.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea by Roger Sweet and David Wecker )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Birth of He-Man )〕 Following the commercial success of the film trilogy and its related merchandise during the next few years, Mattel launched several successful toylines which captured the public's imagination, or significantly influenced the toy market.〔 Toy designer Mark Taylor explained that his original design of He-man in a series of sketches while working for Mattel, was inspired by Cromagnon men and Vikings. Furthermore, his original design of Beast Man was rejected by Mattel for looking too much like Chewbacca In the race to design the next hit action figure, Roger Sweet (a lead designer working for Mattel's Preliminary Design Department during much of the 1970s and 1980s) realized that simplicity was the key to success.〔〔 According to his 2005 book ''Mastering the Universe: He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea'', Sweet knew that if he gave marketing something it could sell, he had won 90 percent of the battle.〔〔Sweet, Roger; David, Wecker ''Mastering the Universe : He-Man and the Rise and Fall of a Billion-Dollar Idea'', Emmis Books July 11, 2005, ISBN 1-57860-223-8〕 During the 1980s, rumors claimed that Conan the Barbarian was a source of inspiration for the He-Man character.〔Interview with Roger Sweet (September 2005), ''ToyFare'', via ("Conan" ) at An International Catalogue of Superheroes〕 According to this rumor, Mattel had a licensing agreement to make the ''Conan'' action figures associated with the 1982 film of the same name starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apparently, such an idea had to be modified in order to avoid objections from parents concerned that a toyline for children was promoting a film containing nudity and violence. Sweet refuted the rumor, saying that he conceptualized and developed the He-Man/Masters of the Universe franchise in late 1980 (two years before the release of the Universal Pictures film). The toyline existed prior to the movie, beginning production in 1981 and marketing in 1982. At that time, Mattel did not have a license with Universal to make toys for the film, which resulted in Conan Properties International suing Mattel over copyright infringement, due to He-Man's similarities to Conan.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Conan The He-Man - The REH Forum )〕 From the lawsuit of CPI vs. Mattel: Mattel won the lawsuit against Conan Properties, retaining the rights over He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.〔 Originally, He-Man was presented to Mattel executives not as drawings and wax models, but in the form of the He-Man Trio: three three-dimensional prototype models depicting He-Man as a barbarian, a soldier and a spaceman. Out of the three concepts, the barbarian version was chosen to be the basis of the toyline. Considering that the Conan character was created almost 50 years before the development of the He-Man franchise, it is possible that the Masters of the Universe borrowed many aspects from Conan; however, it was not intended to be a toyline for the film after legal agreements were dissolved.〔 Additionally, Roger Sweet has claimed also to have been "real impressed" by the paintings of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta when creating He-Man.〔 Expanding further on the barbarian theme, Mattel hired comic-book writers and artists such as Donald F. Glut and even Earl Norem and Alfredo Alcala (who both were still working on ''Savage Sword of Conan'' comics since the mid-1970s) to create additional characters (and their back stories), posters, package inlays, box art and mini-comics for distribution with the action figures. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「He-Man」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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