He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

I happen to have loved the 1980's.

The cartoons, movies, the music.

Prince and Michael Jackson with the music, the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, and then there was of course, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.

Those of us lucky enough to spend our childhood in the administration of Reagan, were blessed with this cartoon.

I picked this gem up on DVD a month ago and I love it. I watch it with the intensity that I did as a kid.

I wanted to show my children what real cartoons were all about. Now my children love He-Man, to the point where I had to make my 3 year old a power sword out of wood and I spray-painted it silver. Now he runs around the house, with it in the back of his shirt screaming, 'by the power of gray skull!' In fact, I'm going to also pick up the whole season 1 when it comes out later this week.

Just watching these things takes me back to 1983. The only thing that ever bothered me was that the Eternians were idiots. How could you not know that Prince Adam and He-Man were one and the same.

1. They look exactly alike

2. One is never around when the other one is

3. As soon as one disappears the other shows back up.

Pick it up and you'll learn what real cartoons were all about!!

When it comes to a cartoon that had brut 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.

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.

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 include

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.

HE-MAN is a vintage '80s after school cartoon. Full of fun adventures and unique characters. When trouble arises, Prince Adam wields his mighty sword and is transformed into He-Man: the most powerful man in the universe.

The world of HE-MAN is like a mix of medieval mythology, fantasy, and futuristic technology. There are kings and queens, castles and dragons, laser beams and hovercraft, and magic and sorcery. The nefarious Skeletor is He-Man's sworn enemy, and in every episode he and his minions come up with new plots to take over the world.

The animation is nothing fancy, but it hearkens back to a simpler time. You can tell the studio was trying to save money by reusing animation where convenient. Young viewers won't complain, though, about the "dated" feel.

I think HE-MAN is still a good show for children, even today. Decried at the time for being too violent, the show is very tame by today's standards. (Occasionally the hero tosses a villain into a river.) The episodes are fun adventures and each episode ends with a valuable life lesson aimed at kids.

Fondly remembered by the children of the '80s, I wouldn't hesitate to show HE-MAN to my own children someday.

If you haven't seen He-Man and the Masters of the Universe either because you weren't born or because you haven't got round to it then may I suggest you get your hands on a copy.

I've always liked fantasy shows and you don't get more fantasy than He-Man. He-Man was the allegedly mightiest man in the universe and he led the forces of good against the truly wicked Skeletor who was evil personified.

The characters, the vehicles, the weapons and the stories were fantastic. Joining He-Man were the likes of Buzz-Off (a bumblebee man), Battle Cat (a ferocious tiger like cat) and Stratos (a birdman). They battled the likes of Skeletor and his crew which included Spikor (covered in Spikes), Stinkor (smelt worse than anything) and Beast Man (a big hairy creature). They battled all across Planet Eternia and He-Man always won. Also, it may be lost on young viewers but the show always tried to persuade it's audience to do the right thing in life which is a good thing. After all, wouldn't you rather have someone like He-Man giving moral guidance as opposed to some real life guy in a suit?

My favourite scenes was where wimpy Prince Adam held aloft his sword and became He-Man in a flash of light. He would then point his sword at his cowardly pet Cringer and turn him into the brave Battle Cat.

A great show-they don't make them like this anymore.

This is the greatest animated adventure series ever made in the history of the universe. Based on a Mattel toy line originally intended to be Conan the Barbarian toys this series has every element to make a successful hero story. The animation first of all is brilliant and the production studio Filmation was the only cartoon studio in history to do all their animation entirely within the USA. This has an interesting and varied cast of characters. The aloof King Randor from whom He-Man when he is in the form of Prince Adam is always searching for approval. The strong captian of the Royal Gaurd Teela. The wise inventor and military officer Man-at-Arms. The ultimate comic relief character Orko the Trollan court jester. Then Skeletor one of the best villians of all time. Histronic, operatic, and always blaming his lackeys for the defeats he suffers by He-Man. Those lackeys are pretty good too. Beast-Man controller of all animals, Trapjaw cyborgian wizard of weapons, Triclops master of vision, Mer-Man controller of all sea-creatures, and Evil-Lyn witch of night. Watch this series and be swept off into a romantic and fantastic world that no one seems to know how to take you to anymore.