She-Ra: Princess Of Power

The woman that's as strong as He-Man is.

Now that we've seen the Masters of the Universe revival in the form of not one, but two Netflix animated series (a live action film is in development as we speak), a She-Ra remake, plus the introduction of the Origins toy line in 2020, things couldn't look better for THE ultimate 1980s franchise. For those around when the original show premiered, it's no surprise most of the animation produced during the decade was because the toy industry wanted to get a slice of the most wanted toy for Christmas cake. Producers discovered how easy it was for kids to fall in love with characters they would see on the TV, hence the aggressive marketing model that built the decade, and had every boy and girl playing with at least one MOTU action figure, vehicle or playset.

Today's review is not about the deep psychological and philosophical morale of the story but about She-Ra, the Princess of Power! 

As above mentioned, MOTU was a huge success amongst boys. The show had it all: Heroes, robots, futuristic vehicles, monsters,characters with a varied ethnicit,y morale lessons and all the human values parents would root for. These heroes wouldn't kill. These heroes would win the battle of good VS evil through friendship, team work, and a deep sense of truth, justice and...

...Toys! 

Perhaps the one thing missing was a strong leading female. Although, Teela & The Sorceress were there most of the time, it was up to men to save the day. Girls also wanted a slice of the cake. They had seen Batgirl in the 60s Batman TV show, Wonder Woman & The Bionic Woman in the late 70s,so it was only a matter of time until they got a woman to be the animated hero to save the day.

 

The movie that introduced She-Ra to the world.

 

How to draw She-Ra.

I can't deny the influence these empowered women characters had not only in my childhood but also, throughout my entire life. One day I would fall in love with a woman with all these alpha features. I wasn't interested in the weak type, you know, the "princess in distress" stereotype that served the Film & TV industry for decades, I wanted a woman that could wield a sword, lift some rocks, go on an adventure with me, and probably save my life many times. I'm lucky to say I did marry one of those wonder women. Anyway, when Mattel & Filmation decided it was time to think of the female audience, they coined a lot of ideas, some saw the light, some remained unused. The first thing you need to know, is that the original title was "She-Ro" which was an odd version of the word "He-Ro"(one of the MOTU legendary characters), so they decided to call it "She-Ra" mistakenly assuming "Ra" meant God in Egyptian. The word actually means "Sun" so, it's safe to say Adora is "The sun of Etheria". Adora would also transform with the power of a magic sword. However, producers thought a girl couldn't fight or wield a sword, hence the abundant use of magic during the show. She-Ra wouldn't cut you in two with her sword. Instead, she would use the magical power of the sword to cleverly get rid of the bad guys. To make boys develop an interest in  the new show, they made Adora the long lost twin sister of Prince Adam, and they made a movie about it:  He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret Of The Sword. The movie was a smart marketing move to see if it made sense to make more toys and a brand new animated series. Of course, boys and girls alike, loved the movie, and were craving the toys before the film was split into the first 5 episodes of She-Ra: Princess Of Power.

While She-Ra took part in a number of adventures, the primary focus of the show was the conflict between the Great Rebellion and the Evil Horde, as the people of Etheria attempted to drive the Horde off their world. Unlike Skeletor's forces on Eternia, the evil Horde was in a much greater position of power in Etheria, and commonly took over entire regions and enslaved Etherians.  

Most episodes consist of sci-fantasy adventures in the same mold as the Masters of the Universe. Much like the He-Man series, some of the initial details, backstories, and designs seen in the toy line differed from the animated material.

She-Ra artwork from the 2019 DVD  box.

 

Catra, the bad girl.

 

Like his twin brother, She-Ra also enjoyed of a toy line. Action figures, vehicles, comic books,a clothing line, and all kinds of accessories from lunch boxes to combs. The series ran for two seasons with 93 episodes and two animated movies.

The first three episodes begins with a basic introduction narrated by a deep-voiced male, designed to conceal the twist of She-Ra being Princess Adora as well as He-Man's lost long twin sister:

Where darkness rules fights the champion of light. Where hope seems lost, there rides the Rebellion. Together, they stand ready against the dark evil warriors of the Horde and their leader, the terrible Hordak. The Rebellion, armed with hope and ancient powers against the force and intergalactic army. This is the story of one who will become leader of the great rebellion: She-Ra: Princess of Power! (echoes)

Once She-Ra is introduced in episode three (She-Ra Unchained), episode four and all further episodes begin with a basic introduction to the premise and lead character narrated by Adora (which deliberately parallels the intro of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in both visuals and dialogue):

I am Adora, He-Man's twin sister, and defender of the Crystal Castle. This is Spirit, my beloved steed. Fabulous secrets were revealed to me the day I held aloft my sword and said, "For the honor of Grayskull! I am She-Ra!" Only a few others share this secret. Among them are Light Hope, Madame Razz and Kowl. Together, we and my friends of the Great Rebellion strive to free Etheria from the evil forces of Hordak!

 

Hordak, a real bad guy.

She-Ra won her battles by outsmarting their enemies.

Although She-Ra was cancelled before the originally planed finale for season 2, I can say her show was vastly superior than the original He-Man series. The animation had improved a lot since the early 80s, and the foreign inspiration brought by Animé, helped build more detailed characters with natural motion patterns, and detailed backgrounds and vehicles. Even the background music was more varied and complex. To make things more interesting, the show reveals that Hordak mentored He-Man's nemesis Skeletor, whom eventually betrayed Hordak. According to Skeletor's origin story in the 2002 reboot of "He-Man of the Masters of the Universe", Skeletor was an evil sorcerer warlord named Keldor. When he tried to assassinate the Eternian Elders, his face was burnt with acid. Future Eternian King Randor deflected the acid with his shield. Hordak saved Keldor, replaced Keldor's head with a skull, and renamed him Skeletor.

Now, let's bring back to life our long gone Trivia section:

-She-Ra's skirt never flies up despite her acrobatic tendencies. Lou Scheimer specifically asked animation coordinator Dori Littell-Herrick to make sure the lead characters private parts remained unseen. 

-The series' writers found that creating action scenes for She-Ra even more frustrating than with He-Man because not only did they have to minimize the violence, but they also had to contend with what they considered sexist pressure against the idea of a female hero being so forceful against challenges. 

-The "Star Wars" films, most notably "Star Wars: Episode VI- Return of the Jedi" were strong influences behind the cartoon. The cartoon is about the Great Rebellion fighting to free Etheria from Hordak. Princess Adora/She-Ra is He-Man/Prince Adam's long-lost twin sister, separated from Adam when she was kidnapped by Hordak as a baby and Adora/She-Ra who serves Hordak as the Captain of the Evil Horde sides with the Great Rebellion when she learns the truth of her past. 

The Masterverse is real.

 

Colorful friends & foes.

-She-Ra was originally scripted to appear in Masters of the Universe (1987) but was dropped from the movie. If She-Ra had appeared in the movie she would had been played by either Brigitte Nielsen or Sybil Danning. Both actresses are natural blondes and have played warriors in other movies.

-The science fiction film Galaxis (1995) starring Brigitte Nielsen was originally considered to be a live-action film of "She-Ra", which would be a spin-off of "Masters of the Universe" and the plot of the film would had been similar to "Masters of the Universe". The film would had been about She-Ra, as leaves Etheria and goes to Earth, as she sets out to Hordak, whom has also gone to Earth find a mystical crystal, which is believed to destroy all life on Eteria, Earth and the known universe. 

-The character models for Adora and She-Ra were designed by artist Diane Keener, based on various different concepts provided by the design departments of both Filmation and Mattel. The design was approved by Lou Scheimer on September 19, 1984. 

-Adora was originally named "Eve" in order to go with the "Adam & Eve" concept. However, since they were twins, they skipped the idea to avoid any incestuous misconceptions.

Horde Trooper & Grizzlor.

Hordak,  dictator of Etheria.

Now, returning to our review, what 80s parents liked the most about She-Ra is that it was one of the few animated kids' action series with a female at the center of the story. As such, it can be seen today as an early example in media of the girls can do anything concept. Moreover,  many of the female characters on She-Ra are the wisest and most powerful, while males are often minor characters or villains. Something that is definitely in line with today's social affairs. Each episode centered on a positive social lesson such as the benefits of generosity. 

The ACT & 22 Minute Commercials.

Ronald Reagan instituted the deregulation of advertising at the start of the 1980s. This allowed companies to market as much as they wanted to children, leading to an explosion of new toys, cartoons, junk food, fast food, and breakfast cereals. Meals, movies, entertainment — they’re usually all determined by what the kids want. Children can influence 95% of selecting a restaurant, 89% in what beverages a family buys, and 80% of where a family vacation will be. This is all fine and good for daytime television, but targeting children was seen as harmful. Action For Children’s Television (ACT) was formed in 1968 in Massachusetts as a grassroots foundation to improve the quality of children’s programming. However, as above mentioned, this ACT only had power until 1979, which is when Reagan opened the gates to every form of marketing possible. manufacturers could now do whatever the hell they wanted. This is why you see an explosion of toys, cartoons, candy, fast food items, and junk food in the 1980s.

There was a 300% increase in cartoons that had licensed characters. As much as we loved these shows, let’s be realistic: They were nothing more than 22-minute commercials to sell toys and products. Shows based on any toy you could think of were put into production (example: “Rubik, The Amazing Cube”). Not only that, but it also enticed the broadcasters to schedule these shows in exchange for part of the profit from the toy sales.

The 1980s were not just a time of crimped hair, spandex, and leg warmers, but a time when some huge pop-cultural shifts happened. We look back on a lot of the entertainment from the decade with nostalgia, but all of it was completely commerce-driven.

We can thank Ronald Reagan for pretty much creating the 80s as we know it. If you were a kid growing up then, you loved it without knowing you were a pawn of huge corporations.

Crystal Castle playset.

Collect 'em all!

 

Now, why would I bring up the  ACT and Reagan's deregulation of advertisement?  Because that's what ultimately killed most of these wonderful shows. Especially, Masters Of The Universe & She-Ra, which I can unmistakably defend for they had heart, stories and values that went beyond other shows like, G.I. Joe where in each of its 95 episode run, you'll see at least 4 new characters and vehicles per episode. With She-Ra & He-Man there were also the mini comics which expanded on the origin of each character. Obviously, this was also a clever way to market their toys, nevertheless, you can still re-watch these shows because there are stories taking place,  unlike Transformers which seeing them now as an adult, are as boring as a televised golf game.

MOTU fever has recently been revitalized, but now I'm sure the strategy will work for longer period of time, since most of its consumers are fully functioning adults with money to buy that toy they never had as a  kid. They say life it's cyclical and this 80s toy revival more than proves it.

Until then, stay fresh cheese bags!

Here's She'Ra's opening:

 

And here's She-Ra's ending: