Masters of the Universe
![He-man [screencap]](http://www.kartooner.com/archives/images/heman.jpg)
Any child of the 80s could tell you that Filmations’ He-man and the Masters of the Universe was one of the coolest cartoons to grace the television screen. Next to Batman, He-man was my favorite character and this passion led to collecting several of the figures including the “rad” Castle Greyskull.
The basic storyline of He-man involved the character of Prince Adam (of Eternia). His task was to stop any evil plans constructed by the overlord Skeletor. The only way to overthrow the powers of evil was to transform into the muscle bound hero by waving his sword in the air and shouting, “By the power of Greyskull!”.
Characters of the series included:
- Man-at-Arms - friend of He-man and master tactician.
- King Randor and Queen Marlena - Prince Adam’s parents.
- Cringer - the timid feline friend of Prince Adam who “By the power of Greyskull” would
transform into the dauntless Battle Cat. - Teela - a reliable female allie of He-man.
- Orko - the floating butterfingered character who served as the moral of the cartoon.
- Skeletor - the evil mastermind intent on dominating Castle Greyskull.
From He-Man.org:
“Mattel’s action figure line Masters of the Universe was selling extremely well, and Filmation had animated a few early adverts to promote the figures. Looking for a way to further increase the success of Masters of the Universe they asked Filmation to go beyond animating mere toy adverts, and create sixty-five episodes of what was to become known as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
Mattel wanted a simple cartoon that advertised its action figures and nothing more. What they had not counted on was that these episodes would have writers trying to prove themselves, trying to breakthrough into the animation industry. Filmation was known as being a great place for opportunities, thus a lot of great animation writers started out here, Paul Dini, Larry DiTillio, Bob Forward and J. Michael Straczynski to name a few.
The series had limited animation, thus it relied on its storytelling and animation direction more than anything. The talent at Filmation turned He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from a simple action figure advert into one of the most memorable animated shows ever produced! He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had a total of one hundred and thirty animated episodes, two made-for-TV specials and a spin-off series. But that’s another story…”
3 Comments, Comment or Ping
Robot Johnny
I remember reading that the He-Man line of toys was originally planned as a series of Conan the Barbarian action figures, but when the toymakers finally saw the movie that depicted Schwarzenegger doing the nasty with 3 different women they didn’t think he’d make the best role model and so the line of toys was retooled into what we now know as He-Man.
Have you seen the new Masters of the Universe series? Surprisingly, it’s not half-bad for what it is.
Oct 20th, 2003
kartooner
Wow, never knew that! You learn something new (and different) everyday.
In fact, a couple years back I worked at a bowling alley in California. The assistant manager of the ‘alley’ used to work for Filmation in the 80’s and shared a few experiences that she had while working for the company. Namely the eventual closing of the company and the good times the employees had.
Her position if I remember was that of one of the managers of the company and according to her she was quite fond of He-Man especially.
Oct 20th, 2003
Mike
I loved He-Man and the Masters of the Universe as a child and kinda dug the movie version with Dolph Lundgren. The updated version that came out in 03 was descent but can anyone find information pertaining to either the unfinised SON OF HE-MAN and the Masters of the Universe of the New Adventurtes of He-man. And does anyone know if the claims that new line are in the works to make a new Masters of The Universe movie with the production team that made the Lord of The Rings and Highlander?
Thanks
Mike
Apr 3rd, 2006
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