The New Adventures of He-Man
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The New Adventures of He-Man was an animated series which ran from 1990-91 to promote Mattel's toy line He-Man, an update of their successful Masters of the Universe line. The cartoon series, likewise, was a continuation of Filmation's series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
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[edit] Synopsis
He-Man, legendary defender of the planet Eternia, has been summoned to the future world of Primus to defend the planet from the evil Mutants of the neighbouring world of Denebria. But his old adversary, Skeletor, has followed him, and allied himself with the Mutants in his fight to conquer the whole universe. Together with a team of Galactic Guardians, He-Man fights to defend Primus and all its power resources from the continuous attacks by Skeletor and the Mutants.
[edit] Continuity and Story Arcs
The original Masters of the Universe cartoon series had very little continuity, with no 'origin' episode or even a series finale. The New Adventures series had two five part stories, with a six parter at the end of the series leading to the final episode. The final thirteen episodes also introduced a sub plot in which the series two key female characters, Mara and Crita, travelled to the planet Nekron to assist the kind Mites and the evil Gleanons. The continuity between episodes was strong, events of previous episodes were not forgotten and were often referenced in later stories, for example, the sixth episode 'Sword and Staff' picked up shortly after the first five part story, with Skeletor depressed over his defeat at the end of that story.
[edit] Critical Reaction
Although the show featured strong writing and solid continuity, it was not a huge success, mainly given that fans of the Masters of the Universe franchise were somewhat disappointed at the series' departure from the pre-established format. He-Man, Skeletor and The Sorceress were the only regular characters from the original cartoons featured regularly, and they only loosely resembled their counterparts from the original series in both appearances and personalities. King Randor, Queen Marlena and Teela all appeared in single episodes but apart from them no other characters from the original series appeared as the action was moved away from Eternia and into the future (giving the whole show a more space-age feel). Likewise, the show contained much more emphasis on science fiction as opposed to the old show's use of magic and fantasy, a change which some fans had difficulty adapting to.
Also, given that the show and toy line were launched almost immediately after the demise of the Masters of the Universe toy line, amidst waning interest in He-Man, it could be said that this relaunch was attempted too early, given that general enthusiasm for He-Man-related products had weakened in recent years.
Although generally disregarded from continuity by fans, the show nevertheless has a strong following among He-Man's fan community, and many agree that the over-all quality of the show's animation surpassed that of the original. It also included some unique concepts such as displaying Skeletor having something of a love interest (the character of Crita) and portraying him as something of an underdog, although some fans feel that Skeletor's portrayal had become increasingly (over-)humorous near the end of the original cartoon. Skeletor and the Mutants were also portrayed as more competent and threatening than the villains from the classic series, on one occasion actually succeeding in conquering Primus and bringing the population under their control for several episodes.
[edit] Minicomics
In the "New Adventures" minicomics packaged with the toys, the story was slightly different: when Prince Adam and Skeletor traveled to Primus, Adam became He-Man in front of Skeletor, revealing his secret identity and giving up the identity of Prince Adam to remain permanently as He-Man. The "explosion" from the He-Man transformation damaged Skeletor, and he had to become a cyborg in order to survive. Also, in the comics Skeletor didn't fake allegiange to Flogg, but took command of the mutants.
The element of the transformation from Adam to He-Man was retained by the cartoon, as the makers felt it would be unwise to abandon it given that the transformation sequence had been one of the most popular elements of the original series.
[edit] DVD Releases
The New Adventures of He-Man has been released on DVD by BCI Eclipse LLC.
| Cover Art | DVD Name | Ep # | Region 1 Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
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The New Adventures of He-Man: Volume 1 | 33 | December 26, 2006 |
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The New Adventures of He-Man: Volume 2 | 32 | March 27, 2007 |
[edit] Trivia
- The majority of episodes were written by Jack Olesker, who was story editor for the entire series and wrote the show's series bible.
- A second season was planned in which He-Man and Skeletor were to return to Eternia and reunite with many characters from the original series, of whom one character, Man-At-Arms, was to have turned to the dark side and ruled Eternia as a dictator. But given the lack of sufficient viewer ratings, the show was cancelled after the first season. Series writer Jack Olesker revealed this intended plan on the he-man.org message boards in a post made in July 2006.
- Larry DiTillio, one of the prime writers of Filmation's series, was approached to work on the show but turned down the offer as he disliked the series bible, feeling it was too far removed from the original show's premise.
- Despite the change in appearance of many characters, the animators and artists did try and recreate the look of many locations in the first episode. The Royal Palace throne room is identical to the one featured in the original series, while Snake Mountain appeared with a very similar look, and Skeletor still possessed his throne made of bones.
- Gary Chalk, who voiced He-Man in this series, would later voice Man-At-Arms in the 2002 Mike Young series. However, Chalk did not provide the voice of He-Man's alter ego Prince Adam, unlike John Erwin of the 1983 series and Cam Clarke of the 2002 series, who did the voices of both He-Man and Adam. Adam was instead voiced by Doug Parker.
- Unlike other versions of the Masters of the Universe where He-Man's power sword displays no magical powers beyond transforming He-Man into Adam and back again, this version imbued the sword with more magical powers, such as shooting out energy bolts that could also function as energy whips and force fields, or using the magic within the sword to accomplish feats his strength could not, such as sealing up cracks in the dome of an underwater city.
