10 more 1980s cartoons that should get a live action movie following Masters of the Universe
He-Man got his bigscreen comeback, so why not give the Thundercats a go?
By the power of Greyskull, they’ve gone and done it. A brand new live-action version of Masters of the Universe has hit cinemas, and a generation brought up on the chunky muscleman toys and Saturday morning cartoon will have their childhood dreams fulfilled.
We’ve been here before, of course, around the time of the original Mattel cartoon’s airing. Even a buff Dolph Lundgren couldn’t rescue that particular mess.
But with a little more distance, some GGI wizardry, and a smattering of self-aware humour, the second attempt has proved far more successful with critics and audiences.
Masters of the Universe isn’t the first ‘80s cartoon to receive the live action treatment, of course. Transformers, Inspector Gadget, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (technically a comic book adaptation... but still) have all made their way to the silver screen.
Meanwhile, a live-action She-Ra television series is said to be in development.
But there’s a whole host of ‘80s animated favourites that have yet to make the same journey. Here are some of our favourites — and most deserving of a comeback.
1. Pole Position
As someone who was both watching a lot of TV and playing a lot of video games in the 1980s (plus ça change), I count it a major oversight that I was unaware of the link between Pole Position (the 1984 cartoon) and Pole Position (the Namco arcade game).
Perhaps I should cut myself some slack. Beyond a title and a loose automotive theme, the two really share very little in common. The cartoon features a pair of crime fighting siblings and their gadget-laden cars, which could skim over water and fly through the sky at the press of a button.
2. Defenders of the Earth
Perhaps we’ve all had our fill of heroic superteams Marvel's Avengers, but I suspect that a large cohort of 40-and-50-somethings (and their offspring) would place their genre weariness to one side for a live adaptation of Defenders of the Earth.
This was the 1986 cartoon that assembled a series of pre-existing comic book characters, including Flash Gordon, The Phantom, and, er, Mandrake the Magician. Just Google him. The combination of all these disparate talents into one crime-fighting crew felt like a huge deal at the time, even to kids who probably didn’t know any of their previous work.
3. Bananaman
American readers will likely find this inclusion baffling – as well as many British readers, to be fair. Bananaman did not have the cool swagger of the other cartoons on this list. Indeed, he didn’t take himself very seriously at all.
This send-up of Superman (though he’s technically more like Shazam/Captain Marvel) was a very British brand of superhero, as schoolboy Eric Twinge turned into a superpowered crime fighter at the chomp of a banana. For a live action treatment, we’re imagining something akin to a low-budget UK-set version of The Tick, sending up the superhero genre with affection.
4. The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
One of two space westerns on this list, The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers felt way ahead of its time when it aired in the late ‘80s. As one of the first American cartoons to employ a Japanese anime studio in its production, it simply looked way better than the other shows of its time, and used early instances of CGI to good effect.
The series concerned a gang of wild west-inspired law enforcement agents policing humanity’s galactic frontier, and notably made the effort of maintaining narrative continuity between episodes.
5. Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors
Developed by Joseph Michael Straczynski (who would go on to create cult sci-fi show Babylon 5 and co-write the first Thor movie), Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors had a slightly different vibe to the other cartoons of the mid-‘80s.
Yes, it was essentially developed to sell action figures to kids, just like the rest of them. But it had an actual overarching plot (left sadly unresolved) and a distinct aesthetic, with its young hero engaging the show’s unique organic villains in vehicular combat.
6. BraveStarr
BraveStarr was the last ever animation from Filmation, the storied American animation studio behind He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. While nowhere near as successful, BraveStarr was notable for its combination of Western and sci-fi elements, as well for its deployment of a Native American protagonist.
Marshal BraveStarr could call upon a variety of “spirit animals", employing the Speed of the Puma or the Strength of the Bear in his efforts to preserve the peace. More importantly, he had a talking bipedal horse for a deputy – and who doesn’t want to see that given the live action treatment?
7. The Mysterious Cities of Gold
The Mysterious Cities of Gold (aka Esteban: Child of the Sun) was a wondrous French-Japanese collaboration that first aired in the early 1980s. It concerned a Spanish orphan (that’s Esteban) who became caught up in the rush to explore the Americas during the 16th century, and more specifically in a quest to find seven legendary cities.
Needless to say, this wasn’t your typical ‘80s Saturday morning effort, with a cohesive story arc and no muscular heroes or transforming robots to speak of – though it did manage to sprinkle in some anachronistic solar-powered mechanical wonders and a killer theme tune.
8. M.A.S.K.
In the cold light of 2026, it’s easy to look back on M.A.S.K. as a cynically calculated mash-up two hugely successful toy-driven cartoons of the time, splicing together G.I. Joe’s militarism with the transforming vehicles of Transformers.
For a year or two in the late ‘80s, however, Mobile Armored Strike Kommand was all the rage in the playgrounds of the UK. It had a cool title sequence of course – show me a hit ‘80s cartoon that didn’t – but it was the individual characters with their uniquely powered helmets and dual-purpose vehicles that really captured the imagination.
9. ThunderCats
Developed as a direct response to the success of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, ThunderCats adopted a similarly heady blend of high fantasy and sci-fi tropes, but stirred in a distinctive animalistic theme. The heroes here weren’t muscle-bound humans, but rather a gang of anthropomorphised feline warriors.
Every kid had their favourite, whether that was heroic Lion-O, speedy Cheetara, or brawny engineer Panthro. If nothing else, the cartoon gave us the most thrillingly urgent title sequence of any show ever – and I’ll set my claws to anyone who says any different.
10. Ulysses 31
Ulysses 31 was a striking space-age retelling of Homer's Odyssey. The story follows Ulysses as he angers the Gods of Olympus by destroying the Great Cyclops, a divine construct. This act leads to a perilous journey through the galaxy as he and his crew seek the Kingdom of Hades to find a way back to Earth.
The French-Japanese-Luxembourgian production stood out for its distinctive blend of Greek mythology and science fiction, as well as its incredibly memorable opening theme tune — and no doubt had a profound influence on the aesthetic of the Discovery-era Daft Punk.
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