Description: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.[1] 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.[2][3]
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.[1] 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.[2][3]
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. Reruns of the show are scheduled to air on the qubo channel in Fall 2010,[4][5] and on the Retro Television Network in October 2010.[6]
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. Whenever Prince Adam uses the Power Sword, and when he holds it aloft and says the magic words "By the Power of Grayskull"!" he is transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat (who undergoes a similar transformation from being Adam's cowardly pet tiger Cringer), Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor. 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 to conquer the whole of Eternia - possibly the whole universe.[7]
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.[8][9][10]
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.[11] 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..[12]
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, Beast Wars story editor Larry DiTillio, and David Wise, head-writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.[13] ... (more)(less)
"Lion-O vs He-Man
A death match between these characters, Lion-O and He-Man would be one to see. Both of them are strong warriors and have great fighting ability. In a sword fight it would also be one to see has He-Man sword would have no chance against The Sword of Omens and Lion-O's Claw Shield could block off He-Man's sword. It would still be one to see."
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