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In the Kingdom of Eternia, ruled by King Randor and Queen Marlena,
Prince Adam becomes He-Man [John Erwin] when he calls an oath to
his magic sword. His cowardly green and orange tiger Cringer [voiced
by Alan Oppenheimer], becomes the ferocious Battle Cat. Along with
Duncan ("Man At Arms") [Alan Oppenheimer], the Sorceress, Teela
[Linda Gary], and the floating faceless/legless magician Orko [Lou
Scheimer], He-Man fights against the evil Skeletor [Alan Oppenheimer]
for the honor of Castle Grayskull - of which he seeks to gain control
over.
Two
seasons of episodes existed, including a multitude of colorful characters
(mostly Skeletor's monstrous minions), such as his main henchmen:
Beast Man [John Erwin] and Mer-man [Alan Oppenheimer], Evil Lyn
[Linda Gary], Trapjaw [Lou Scheimer], Kobra Khan [Lou Scheimer],
Buzz-Off [Alan Oppenheimer], Whiplash [John Erwin], Two-Bad [Lou
Scheimer], Clawful [Lou Scheimer], Sy-Klone [Lou Scheimer], Spikor
[Lou Scheimer], Webstor [John Erwin], Moss Man [Lou Scheimer], Jitsu
[Lou Scheimer], and He-Man's blue and red alter-ego, Fakor.
Typical
of Filmation series, episodes of He-Man ended with a quick lesson
narrated by one of the main characters, which took the viewer through
a sequence of the episode's events to present a particular lesson.
The bulk of these lessons were spoken by He-Man, Teela or Orko.
The episodes themselves would frequently display acts of kindness
or generosity, especially toward the last half of the episode, as
seen in He-Man's quote "I only fight when I must."
A
few movies resulted from the popularity of the series, including
"He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special" in 1985, "He-Man
and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword" in 1985, and "He-Man
and the Battle for Primus" in 1990. Due to the overwhelming
success of the cartoon series, Mattel created the "She-Ra"
character in 1985, in an attempt to bring the same exact level of
fantasy and heroism to the young female audience. Eventually in
1986, both "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" and
"She-Ra: Princess of Power" episdoes were released back-to-back,
and dubbed "The He-Man and She-Ra Power Hour," which ran
for approximately one year. The show ran successful long after the
final episode aired, in year after year of syndicated re-runs, and
also gained synonymity with 80s pop culture. A live-action version
of the cartoon was released in 1987, starring Dolph Lundgren and
He-Man and Frank Langella as Skeletor.
During
the show's drop in demand, the less successful series "The New Adventures
of He-Man" was released from 1989-1991, deviating greatly from the
original plot and animation style. Within this series, He-Man and
Skeletor were teleported to a world called "Primus," and follows
Skeletor's new band of mutant colleagues, as well as He-Man's leading
of the Galactic Guardians.
Brentwood
Home Video released seasonal DVD sets of "He-Man and the Masters
of the Universe" in 2005.
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