I Don't Get It

 

When I sadly learned of Ray Harryhausen's death earlier this month, I sat down to watch Clash of the Titans. I'd forgotten what a fun film that is, and just how awesome his artistry was, and is, even in this day of CGI. Clash of the Titans was his last movie, made in 1981. (The remake, made in 2010, was awful.)

Mattel made the tie-in toys for the movie. They did 3 3/4" action figures for Perseus, Calibos, Thallo, and Charon..?! (Charon, really? He was on screen for like 2 minutes, max.) There were also figures for Pegasus and the Kraken. No Andromeda... the reason for Perseus to go and kill Calibos and later the Kraken. No Medusa... his only means of killing the Kraken. In what universe does that make sense? Another blogger postulates that Mattel didn't have strong enough sales to put much effort into a big toy line, cancelling a second wave of toys before they hit the shelves. I'm not the only one who noticed the lack of these important figures, either. CantinaDan at Action Figure Insiders has several suggestions for things that should have been in Mattel's lineup. 

Because I'm me, it irritates and puzzles me why (for either movie) there were no figures for Andromeda or Medusa. Yes yes, fine, "boys don't play with female figures" (coughbullshitcough), that might explain Andromeda, but it doesn't explain Medusa, who (it could be argued by some -- not me) is more monster than female, or at least monster enough for boys to overlook the fact that she's female. Look, I know the film is 22 years old, but really, how could you not make Medusa, Mattel?? I don't get it. She was absolutely essential to the story! *sigh*

I would like to sit down with people at Mattel -- generations of them! -- and have a wee chat about some of the dumb things they've done, and continue to do. (The gender segregation on your website, Monster High -- age 6, really?!, the really vomitous redo of Merida...)