He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

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He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Series logo
Series logo.
Format Action, Adventure, Animation
Created by Mattel
Developed by Filmation
Directed by Hal Sutherland (production director)
Starring John Erwin
Linda Gary
Alan Oppenheimer
Lou Scheimer
Erika Scheimer
Composer(s) Shuki Levy
Haim Saban
Erika Lane
Country of origin Flag of the United States United States
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 130 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive
producer(s)		 Lou Scheimer
Running time 22 min.
Broadcast
Original channel USA Network
Original run September 30, 1983 – December 8, 1984
Chronology
Followed by
Related shows He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002)
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

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. It made its television debut in 1983 and ran until 1984, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, then moved to USA Network, where it aired from September 1989 to September 1990. 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.

Contents

[edit] Show profile

The show takes place on the fictional planet of Eternia, a land 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 is a brave, blond muscleman in 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.

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, 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 Britain, 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.

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. 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 90s Batman-fame, and David Wise, head-writer of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[edit] Cast list

[edit] Opening Introduction

I am Adam, prince of Eternia and defender of the secrets of Castle Grayskull. This is Cringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said, "By the power of Grayskull... I have the power!" Cringer became the mighty Battlecat and I became He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Only three others share this secret: our friends the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms and Orko. Together we defend Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor.

[edit] Episodes

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

[edit] DVD releases

BCI Eclipse LLC has released all 130 episodes of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time in 4 volumes. Each volume contains an extensive array of special features including Documentaries, Character profiles, commentaries, DVD-ROM features, trivia, photo galleries and more.

DVD Name Ep # Region 1 Release Date
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season One Vol 1 33 October 18, 2005
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season One Vol 2 32 February 14, 2006
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season Two Vol 1 33 June 6, 2006
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Season Two Vol 2 32 September 19, 2006
He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special 1 December 6, 2005

The following Best-of collections were also released prior to the release of the season sets:

  • The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: 10 Episode Collector's Edition - released July 12, 2005
  • The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Top 5 Episodes Season 1 - released August 23, 2005 (UMD)
  • The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Top 5 Episodes Season 2 - released August 23, 2005 (UMD)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Masters of the Universe
Television series:
Films:
Characters:
Locations:
Miscellanea:
Video games: