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Why 2002 MYP Is Quietly the Best MOTU

essay

The 2002 Mike Young Productions MOTU reboot is the most narratively ambitious MOTU continuity ever produced. Larry DiTillio (Filmation alum, Babylon 5 alum) showran a serialized two-season run with a continuous Snake Men arc. The reboot established the King Grayskull / Keldor / Captain Randor backstory that retroactively turned the entire MOTU saga into a coherent family conflict. It gave Adam interior life that Filmation never managed. It gave Skeletor strategic credibility that Filmation never managed. It gave Tri-Klops a tech-priest characterization, Mer-Man an aquatic-king characterization, Evil-Lyn her own ambitions. It introduced King Hsss and the Snake Men. It was cancelled mid-arc by Cartoon Network in 2004 and the third season never happened. But the two seasons it did produce remain the highest narrative water-mark MOTU has ever reached, in animation. The Revolution continuation in 2024 explicitly callbacks to MYP material.

Catalogue source: heman.fandom.com (CC BY-SA 3.0).