He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

Legendary cartoon.

When it comes to a cartoon that had brute force and action, nothing can go past the 1983 series of ‘He-man and the masters of the universe'. In an era that had so many great cartoons, ‘He-man' stood tall and was a great success. He-man would have to go up as one of the great cartoons of all time. Once Prince Adam held up his magical sword and turned into ‘the most powerful man in the universe', every kid in the 80's was in for the ride of their life.

In the mystical planet of ‘Eternia', lives Prince Adam, a prince who leads the lazy life of royalty. Known by only a few close friends/allies, when Prince Adam holds up his magic sword, and says ‘by the power of Grayskull', he turns into the mighty hero, ‘He-Man'. Together with his friends (such as Teela, her father, Man-at-arms, mysterious Orko and Adam's wimpy cat, Cringer, who turns into Battle Cat), He-Man must battle ‘the masters of the universe', who strive to gain control of Eternia and the secrets of Castle Grayskull. Grayskull is the magical centre of Eternia, from where He-Man derives his powers, and is the one place he must defend from the evil Skeletor. 

He-Man & the mighty Battle Cat.

Secret identity.

I believe He-man was successful for many reasons. There was some real inventive character in He-man. Our hero himself was an impressive and imposing character and drawn up to perfection. Other good people include Orko, Man-At-Arms (Duncan), The Sorceress, Ram-Man, Stratos, Teela, King Randor and Queen Marlena. The Bad guys include their leader, Skeletor, who is as evil a character I have seen on a cartoon. Behind Skeletor are Evil-Lyn, Beast Man, Tri-Klops, Merman and TrapJaw. They are all different types of people, with strange powers and abilities.

The voice-overs for He-man come from a limited amount of people, showing how good these people's voiceover talents really are. Talents such as John Erwin, Alan Oppenheimer, Linda Gray, Lou and Erika Schreimer, have a great variety of characters to voice, with some of the voices such as Skeletor's and Orko's, quite remarkable. 

Orko & Teela.

I love the world that was designed for this cartoon. Having it be as magical-a -place as ‘Eternia', where it has great magical powers was really interesting. To then add fascinating little facets such as Castle Grayskull (the magical home of Eternia), Skeletor's hideout Snake Mountain, the palace in the centre of Eternia and the crystal sea were good for the story. The talents behind the ideas for the He-man's characters, home planet and storylines included all sum up for a masterpiece like only the 80's could have delivered.

Can there be any hero that can top ‘He-man'? I believe there is not, because he was good to watch as a kid, giving us all the belief to do what is right and to not follow the path of evil. My favourite characters in the series have to be Orko and Skeletor, who had interesting stories behind them. He-man also had a twin sister named ‘She-Ra' who had all the same magical powers as He-man, (with a great TV cartoon movie, titled ‘The Secret of the Sword'). It was interesting to learn how She-Ra comes to be and how she was taken away from her parents as a baby. I was surprised to learn that there was a new version of ‘He-man', released last year. Although it is a little different, in my opinion the new He-man looks great. While I might be a bit old to get into it, the ‘kid' in me will be on lookout to see a few episodes. 

Skeletor, agent of evil.

The Masters of the Universe Trivia

Prince Adam is supposed to be a teenager; however, to save on animation costs, he was animated with the exact same design as He-Man.

The Brains of Lou Scheimer & Satan!

Executive producer Lou Scheimer was instrumental in developing the concept of He-Man Mattel Toys and D.C Comics. The character had originally appeared in D.C. comics as a Conan the Barbarian-type character living in a post-apocalyptic world. Scheimer called the story "the most vile thing I'd ever read". Taking inspiration from the character Captain Marvel from an earlier Filmation series, Scheimer developed the concept of Prince Adam as He-Man's alter ego, the character of the Sorceress as his benevolent mentor, and Orko as the jester-style comic relief, to make the show more kid-friendly. Despite these changes, the show still came under fire from some groups as too violent, with some even accusing it of having hidden Satanic messages.

French were afraid of Skeletor!

Episodes in which the character Skeletor appeared were never broadcast in France. The image of his skull-face was considered too terrifying for television.

Who the hell was Gorpo?

Orko's name was originally Gorpo in early concepts for the shows. The character's name was changed to save on animation costs: Animators were able to flip animation cells, thus using them twice, because of the symmetrical "O".

Man of a thousand voices.

The writers would deliberately give Alan Oppenheimer's characters lines in quick succession, so they could watch him, quite amusingly, switch between characters during recording sessions. 

Saturday mornings would never be the same.

First cartoon to air in the USA on weekday afternoons instead of Saturday Mornings.

Credits Typo.

Linda Gary's name was sometimes misspelled as "Linda Gray" in the closing titles. 

Kissing cousins.

Mekaneck's secret identity.

Lou Scheimer provided the voice for Mekaneck in all of his appearances, but used different two different vocal characterizations. 

Toys your kid will love.
 

While the show was conceived to help advertise the action figure line, several characters were created for the show and then later made into toys. These include Prince Adam, Orko, King Randor and The Sorceress.

Action Figures Leftovers.

Several action figures which were made in 1986 were added to the cast of She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985) because production on Masters of the Universe had ceased: Rokkon, Stonedar, Snout Spout, Multi-Bot, The Horde Trooper, Rattlor, Tung Lashor, and a character named "Colonel Blast" who appears to have been based on the figure Rio Blast. 

One of the largest toy collections ever.

Life advice from your Cartoon Heroes. 

At the end of each episode He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Teela and Orko give the younger viewers tips and advice about life.

Conan the Barbarian rated PG.

Legend has it that Mattell had originally planned to make a line of toys based on the 1982 movie Conan the Barbarian (1982), but balked when the finished movie was rated R. (This was before the advent of MacFarlane toys and other action figures aimed at adults.) Instead of scrapping the line, they created He-Man. Most sources agree that, while He-Man was influenced by Conan, there was no direct connection.

Do you remember Jitsu?

Skeletor also had a lesser-known henchman by the name of Jitsu. He only appeared one time during the series. The character design made him look like he was Asian. He had a large golden hand that was used to give karate chops to his enemies. 

Did the Castle of Greyskull actually have a secret worth fighting for?

The secret of Castle Greyskull was supposed to have been that it contained a collective entity that was the combined consciousness of Eternia's ancient scholars contained in a sphere. This had to be dropped, although references to the secret remain in various episodes of the series. However, the idea was used in the new series from 2002. 

I don't like my soup cold.

He-Man & Friends cameos.

Even though this series ended in 1985, several "Masters of the Universe" characters (including He-Man, Orko, Skeletor, and Battle Cat) would make occasional guest appearances on the spin-off show "She-Ra: Princess Of Power", which ran from 1985 to 1987. The character of She-Ra was He-Man's sister. 

He-Man's  secret almost revealed!
 

The character of Ram-Man was the only person who came close to realizing that Prince Adam and He-Man were the same person. 

She-Ra &  He-Man crossover.

The Evil Horde, the antagonists from She-Ra: Princess of Power (1985), make an appearance in one episode, "The Origin of the Sorceress". In that episode during a flashback, we see several reptilian soldiers wearing Horde logos functioning as scouting party before they're chased off. 

Here's the original opening:



Hope you enjoyed this little review that allows us to travel back in time to a time where everyone knew those were the days. He-Man was so popular it even had a live action film which, will be the next review. Until then live long and prosper and may the force be with you.