| He-Man and the Masters of the Universe | |
|---|---|
He-Man title screen |
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| Genre | Action/Adventure Science fantasy |
| Format | Animated series |
| Directed by | Hal Sutherland (production director) |
| Voices of | John Erwin Linda Gary Alan Oppenheimer Lou Scheimer Erika Scheimer |
| Composer(s) | Shuki Levy Haim Saban Erika Lane |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 130 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Lou Scheimer |
| Running time | 22 min. |
| Production company(s) | Filmation Associates Mattel |
| Distributor | Group W Productions CBS Television Distribution |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | first-run syndication (1983-1985) USA Network (1988-1990) qubo Channel (2010-present) Nickelodeon |
| Original run | September 5, 1983 – December 8, 1985 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | |
| Related shows | 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.[1] [2] 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 cult following to this day.[3][4]
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. Repeats of the show are currently being broadcast in the USA on the Qubo Night Owl,[5][6][7] on the Retro Television Network,[8][9] and in Canada on Teletoon Retro.
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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, I HAVE THE POWER" 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), The Sorceress, 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 conquer the whole of Eternia, and possibly the whole universe.[10]
The Mattel company developed the original He-Man action figure in 1981; the franchise backstory was conceived by the Filmation animation studio. Some time after, both firms pitched the idea to the ABC network, who turned it down. The resulting series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, debuted through barter syndication in September 1983,[nb 1] and became the first syndicated show to be based on a toy. By 1984, it was seen on 120 U.S. stations and in more than 30 countries.[11]
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.[12][13][14]
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.[15] 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..[16]
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.[17]
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is considered the most successful Animated series ever made by Filmation. The show was often criticised by parent groups as a cartoon designed to advertise action figures.[12][13][18][19][20] In 2009, IGN ranked the series as the 58th greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.[21]
In 1986, it has been nominated for Young Artist Award and as the Exceptional Family Animation Series or Specials. In 1987, it has been nominated again for Young Artist Award and as the Best Family Animation Series or Special.
BCI Eclipse LLC (under license from Entertainment Rights) released all 130 episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on DVD in Region 1 in 2005/2006, in 4 volume sets.[22][23][24][25] Each volume contains an extensive array of special features including Documentaries, Character profiles, commentaries, DVD-ROM features, trivia, photo galleries and more. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.[26]
On December 10, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that they had acquired the rights from Classic Media to re-release the series on DVD in North America. They have subsequently re-released the complete first season in one 8-disc set as well as two smaller 20-episode volume releases.[27] The complete second season will be released on September 13, 2011.[28]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete First Season | 65 | February 15, 2011 |
| The Complete Second Season | 65 | September 13, 2011 |
In Region 4, Madman Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Australia in 4 volume sets (similar to BCI Eclipse releases). These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print. A complete series box set was released by Madman on June 24, 2009, this is still available.[29]
The pilot episode, "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", has a minute or so of footage missing due to the master tapes being damaged. In the original version, after teleporting the King and Queen and Man-At-Arms away to another dimension, Skeletor turns the ray onto Orko, who gets stuck inside a vase which deflects the beam. Orko escapes to warn He-Man. This footage has not been lost; it is still existent on other media in circulation. However, complications over the rights to it prevented it from being inserted back into the DVD release.
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