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Despite the [[limited animation]] techniques that were used to produce the series, ''He-Man'' was notable for breaking the boundaries of [[censorship]] that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time in years, a cartoon series could feature a muscular [[superhero]] who was actually allowed to hit people (although he more typically used wrestling-style moves rather than actually punching enemies), though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys; advertising to children was itself controversial during this period. In the [[United Kingdom]], advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time: notably ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode.
Despite the [[limited animation]] techniques that were used to produce the series, ''He-Man'' was notable for breaking the boundaries of [[censorship]] that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time in years, a cartoon series could feature a muscular [[superhero]] who was actually allowed to hit people (although he more typically used wrestling-style moves rather than actually punching enemies), though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys; advertising to children was itself controversial during this period. In the [[United Kingdom]], advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time: notably ''[[G.I. Joe]]'', an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode.[http://www.he-man.org/resources/archive.php?id=34]


The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, ''[[She-Ra|She-Ra: Princess of Power]]'' following the adventures of He-Man's sister.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.awn.com/articles/people/remembering-ishe-rai-and-ihe-mani-interview-lou-scheimer|title= Remembering She-Ra and He-Man: Interview with Lou Scheimer|accessdate=2009-10-02 |work= [[Animation World Network]] |publisher= |date= }}</ref>Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line have also led to the short-lived sequel series ''[[The New Adventures of He-Man]]'' in the early 1990s, and an [[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)|update]] of the series for a contemporary audience in 2002.
The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, ''[[She-Ra|She-Ra: Princess of Power]]'' following the adventures of He-Man's sister.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.awn.com/articles/people/remembering-ishe-rai-and-ihe-mani-interview-lou-scheimer|title= Remembering She-Ra and He-Man: Interview with Lou Scheimer|accessdate=2009-10-02 |work= [[Animation World Network]] |publisher= |date= }}</ref>Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line have also led to the short-lived sequel series ''[[The New Adventures of He-Man]]'' in the early 1990s, and an [[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)|update]] of the series for a contemporary audience in 2002.

Revision as of 00:03, 3 October 2009

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Series logo
Series logo.
GenreAnimated series, Action, Fantasy
Directed byHal Sutherland (production director)
StarringJohn Erwin
Linda Gary
Alan Oppenheimer
Lou Scheimer
Erika Scheimer
ComposersShuki Levy
Haim Saban
Erika Lane
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes130 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerLou Scheimer
Running time22 min.
Production companiesFilmation Associates
Mattel
Original release
NetworkSyndicated
ReleaseSeptember 26, 1983 –
December 8, 1985
Related
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's successful toy line Masters of the Universe. The show, often referred to as simply He-Man, was one of the most popular animated children's shows of the 1980s and has retained a heavy following to this day both in America and worldwide.[1][2]

It made its television debut in 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series. USA aired He-Man until September 1990. The website Hulu has some reruns of the original series available to view and Crackle has Minisodes of the first ten episodes.

Show profile

The show takes place on the fictional planet of Eternia, a planet of magic, myth and fantasy. The show's lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia's rulers, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Prince Adam is a seemingly cowardly, blond muscleman dressed in a pink-and-white chemise cote d'azur with perwinkle stockings and purple boots. However, Prince Adam possesses the Power Sword, and when he holds it aloft and says the magic words "By the Power of Grayskull! I have the Power!" he is transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. He-Man looks more or less like Prince Adam, except tanner, and wears a baldric and loincloth. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor, a tyrannical warlord with a skull for a face. Skeletor's main goal is to conquer the mysterious fortress of Castle Grayskull, from which He-Man draws his powers. If he succeeds, Skeletor would be able to conquer not only Eternia, but the whole universe.[3]

Despite the limited animation techniques that were used to produce the series, He-Man was notable for breaking the boundaries of censorship that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time in years, a cartoon series could feature a muscular superhero who was actually allowed to hit people (although he more typically used wrestling-style moves rather than actually punching enemies), though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys; advertising to children was itself controversial during this period. In the United Kingdom, advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time: notably G.I. Joe, an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode.[1]

The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, She-Ra: Princess of Power following the adventures of He-Man's sister.[4]Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line have also led to the short-lived sequel series The New Adventures of He-Man in the early 1990s, and an update of the series for a contemporary audience in 2002.

It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from later Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski, Paul Dini of the 1990s Batman-fame, and David Wise, head-writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[5]

In 2009, IGN ranked the series as the 58th greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.[6]

Cast list

Episodes

Main article: List of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Episodes

DVD releases

BCI Eclipse LLC (under license from Entertainment Rights) has released all 130 episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on DVD in Region 1, in 4 volumes. All 4 volumes have also been released in Region 4 by Madman Entertainment. Each volume contains an extensive array of special features including Documentaries, Character profiles, commentaries, DVD-ROM features, trivia, photo galleries and more.

A 10-episode Best-of collection was also released in Region 1 & 4.

DVD Name Ep# Region 1 Region 4
Season 1, Volume 1 33 October 18, 2005 November 28, 2005
Season 1, Volume 2 32 February 14, 2006 May 12, 2006
Season 2, Volume 1 33 June 6, 2006 August 16, 2006
Season 2, Volume 2 32 September 19, 2006 November 10, 2006

References

  1. ^ "Panda director 'for He-Man movie'". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  2. ^ "He-Man returns to big screen". Variety. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  3. ^ "The Complete Box Set He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Season 1, Volume 2 Review". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
  4. ^ "Remembering She-Ra and He-Man: Interview with Lou Scheimer". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
  5. ^ "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe — Season One, Volume One". IGN. 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  6. ^ "86, He-man". IGN. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
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