New Adventures of He-Man: Season 1, Episode 1 Review

A New Beginning - written by Jack Olesker

The story begins in the Tri-Solar System on the planet Primus. Caz and Drissi tend to their animals. Drissi demonstrates her ability to telepathically communicate with animals - an ability also performed by He-Man's twin sister She-Ra.

Nordor - a moon of the Mutant homeworld of Denebria - strangely appears in orbit around Primus, and it seems that the Mutant Fleet, led by the Mutant Mothership, is within the caverns of Nordor. From the main bridge of the Mothership, Flogg commands the fleet to attack Primus. His bridge crew is composed of Slush Head, Crita, Optikk, Hoove, Lizor and Karatti. Flogg is bent on destroying the remnants of the Human race, which populates planet Primus.

Although fighting has been banned for 1000 tilk on Primus, the Primusians have no choice but to find a solution against the Mutant threat. Master Sebrian, leader of the Inner Council, seeks approval from the council members - who are encased in special crystals so they can power the planetary shield that protects Primus. Their mysterious abilities have an interesting parallel to MOTU's original Council of Elders.

NA Skeletor at Snake Mountain

The time vessel that the Scientists (Alcon, Crax, Gabel and Melnock) use to send Flipshot and Hydron through the time vortex arrives on Eternia to be greeted by goat-men. The goat-men, led by Andros, take Flipshot and Hydron to a duplicitously apologetic Skeletor - who masquerades as a "good guy" who is more than happy to help the Primusians in their plight.

He-Man is notified telepathically by the Sorceress to go to the future and save humanity. At Eternos palace, Adam announces to King Randor and Queen Marlena that he must go away on a special mission. He transforms into He-Man in front of them by calling "By the Power of Grayskull...I Have the Power", finally revealing to them that he was the Champion of Eternia all along. Proud mother and father embrace their son, and wish him well on his mission to Primus.

New Adventure's version of Eternos Palace

He-Man tries to stop Skeletor, and the two quarrel. Not sure which one to take with them into the time vortex, Hydron and Flipshot take both to the future. Not too long after coming to Primus, the Mutants attack, and Skeletor reveals his true nature. He-Man shows his prowess and fends off the gang of vicious Mutants. Flogg commands a retreat, but not before Skeletor beats a retreat with them.

He-Man reveals himself as Prince Adam to Master Sebrian, leader of Primus. In order to protect his identity, Sebrian claims Adam as his merchant "nephew" from Lebitat.

On the Mothership, Skeletor shows his true power - revealing how he could easily defeat any of them, including Flogg. In a play to ensure the vast Mutant force caters to his whim, the Lord of Destruction feigns loyalty to Flogg, claiming he's only interested in destroying He-Man. Flogg and Skeletor agree to help each other destroy the human race of Primus and He-Man respectively.

Review:
This episode acts as a "bridge" or "passing of the torch" from the original Filmation series to the "New Adventures" (NA). Not only is the animation style different due to a totally different animation studio (Jetlag), designs of original returning characters are a departure as well. Despite having veteran MOTU toy line developers like Mark Taylor involved, there is very little connection stylistically to the original series. This was intentional, as Mattel wanted to make a fresh start with NA. There is no explanation as to why He-Man's, Skeletor's or the Sorceress' attire are different - it can be assumed that they always appeared this way in this continuity. There's also no explanation for why Queen Marlena's hair is blue.

NA's version of Snake Mountain

One of the major crimes of this episode, and the series itself is that Castle Grayskull never appears, despite Adam calling its name (or at least its original ruler's name) during his transformation into He-Man. Also, Eternos Palace looks nothing like its Filmation counterpart - looking more like a military compound, rather than a majestic royal palace. Snake Mountain however does resemble itself.

Ultimately, NA fails in staying true to its roots, but that's more Mattel's fault than it is the creators of the show. It also fails in the way of "passing the torch". A better job should have been done to transition from MOTU to NA - the role of Andros the Goat-Man would have played better if the original Beast-Man was used instead, but Mattel didn't want the "old" characters to take away from the new ones. Also, having Teela and Man-At-Arms send off He-Man would have helped, but the issue of time and "stealing the show" played here as well.  Explaining the costume changes would have been interesting, but again time and animation limitations likely played a role. Mattel played a gamble. They wanted to appeal to a new audience, not expecting old fans to be that interested anymore. Ironically, in trying to cater to new fans, the show did very little to provide a backstory to the lead characters, leaving them dependent on the concepts established in the previous show.

Storywise, this is a good start for the series - the episode sets up the protagonists, the antagonists and the main driving conflict. The story doesn't give satisfactory detail as to why and how the Primusians know of the legend that prompts them to seek out He-Man - it's left rather vague unfortunately. Skeletor's characterization has changed significantly - he is not as megalomanic. The NA Skeletor is more duplicitous and manipulative - he is constantly playing with strategy to achieve his goals, and never overtly takes control of the Mutants. He does however flex his authority, and over time, Flogg becomes more a figurehead than a true leader, leaving that true and silent role to the Lord of Destruction.

Characters to Appear:
Heroes:
Caz
Drissi
U-R
Gleep
The Scientists
Mara
Master Sebrian
Hydron
Flipshot
Prince Adam/He-Man
King Randor
Queen Marlena
Sorceress

Villains:
Andros
Skeletor
Flogg
Slush Head
Crita
Optikk
Hoove
Lizor
Karatti

Missing POP Characters!

MISSING: HAVE YOU SEEN THE GREAT REBELLION? 4 YEARS INTO MOTUC LINE AND THE GREAT REBELLION ARE NOWHERE TO BE SEEN.

Many of my fellow Princess of Power fans over in the SHADOW WEAVERS REALM (SWR) Facebook fan group have discussed with one another the matter of scarcity of Princess of Power, as well as New Adventures characters, in the Masters of the Universe Classics toy line. Matty made a smart move by "absorbing" POP and NA into the MOTUC line, but unfortunately, the line has been very MOTU heavy since its inception. The argument from Matty is that there's simply more MOTU characters than there are POP or NA. But that argument is starting to lose weight now that there are only around 33 MOTU characters and variants remaining to get a release. POP and 200X characters have averaged 1-2 releases a year, while NA characters average 1 release a year. The rest of the year is populated with mostly MOTU characters. Now that the rights have been obtained for Filmation and Jetlag characters, competition for a monthly slot might even become more fierce...

The folks over at SWR, including myself, have speculated that the reasoning for such a MOTU-heavy distribution ratio is that MATTEL is playing it safe with characters that it knows will secure subscriptions. The developing fear is that by the time MOTUC winds down for a close, many POP and NA characters will not get a release, whilst most if not all of the core MOTU characters will have been released. I myself suspect that getting ALL the core MOTU characters released in MOTUC is the primary goal, and that the rest of the characters are considered "extra gravy" to fill the holes. Although I and my fellow Weavers intend to support the line into the indefinite future - we do hope that Matty will make some efforts to even out the distribution of characters, so that more POP and NA characters get a release in a given year.

WE WANT TO BE JUST AS VOCAL IN SUPPORTING POP CHARACTERS AS THE ANTI-POP CROWD ARE SPEAKING AGAINST THEM.

Entertainment: Finished watching The NEW ADVENTURES OF HE-MAN

I finished watching THE NEW ADVENTURES OF HE-MAN (NA) this week. The series contained 65 episodes, most of which were written by series creator Jack Olesker. NA was quite a departure from the original HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE cartoon series in just about every way - new animation and design style, new characters, new voices, a more cohesive story line... Now, keep in mind, this is a show that was created for kids to promote toys, so to be a 30-something criticizing the quality of the show could be questionable.

HOWEVER, there have been cartoon series over the years that have not sacrificed story and character development for the sake of keeping it dumbed-down for the kids, and just selling toys. BEAST WARS and BEAST MACHINES, the Beast Era Transformers cartoon series, were successful in attracting adult collectors and new kids alike...

But we're talking about the late 80s here, and NA came at a time when something new was happening to all those great 80s toy franchises that sprung up and created a marketing phenomenon- the nececessity to recreate the toy lines for a new generation of kids.

This was the challenge presented to the creators of the NA toyline - bring in a new generation of kids. What they DIDN'T consider was that: just because there was a need to draw in a new target audience didn't mean that the original target audience had to be sacrificed. NA was launched only 2-3 years after the original He-Man line was ended...not necessarily long enough for the fans/collectors to grieve and completely move on. Action figures are made for Ages 4+ Boys, so if you're 12-15 you don't necessarily fit in this bracket. What was later discovered was there were kids going well into their 20s and 30s that were still ravenous about this stuff.

The decision was made to make NA more or less a totally different show from the original - there are the basic connections - He-Man is Prince Adam from the planet Eternia, son of King Randor and Queen Marlena, and sworn enemy to Skeletor of Snake Mountain. That's about it. Everything else is pretty much left in the past. He-Man, Skeletor and even The Sorceress's costumes change without any explanation. Even He-Man's iconic sword is changed. In retrospect, not a good move. But the age of the original He-Man had passed - his sales had declined significantly. Mattel figured by casting the futuristic barbarian in a more futuristic design and esthetic would appeal to new audiences. It may have worked had they not purged the entire franchise of all those iconic characteres that made the He-Man brand so great.

To old fans, it was a slap in the face. To new fans, well they were lost. Mattel didn't reboot the franchise for the new fans to pick up and delve into. The NA franchise was more or less codependent on it's predecessor, although it did everything to be nothing like it.

In Mr. Olesker's defense, he made due with the commands he was given. The show is more cohesive than the original ever was. We were never treated to an origin episode or mini series for He-Man in the original - we were just dropped in. The NA series had a definitive beginning and ending, showing He-Man's journey into the distant future as he joins forces with the Galactic Guardians to defend them against the relentless attacks of Skeletor, Flog and the Evil Mutants. He-Man learns more about his powers under the guidance of Master Sebrian and the Sorceress. The hero experiences homesickness, but stays true to his mission. The villain Flogg even comes to see the error of his ways in attacking the Galactic Guardians and the planet Primus, realizing that over the course of the series it was Skeletor that was manipulating and dragging out the conflict to advance his own devious goals.

What makes this show work in my mind is that it is one adventure - though a rather long one - that He-Man experiences in his career. It's a time travel adventure that many fans loose sight of. The main fan criticism is: How could He-Man just leave Eternia behind to go help Primus? And I've always held that with this being a time travel adventure, He-Man could easily return to his own time only seconds after he had left. Time travel stuff always gets tricky doesn't it?

New Adventures of He-Man has a hero's journey, and the characters do have development over the course of the show. However, there are the weak points - the annoying scientists, and a few other characters like the Mites and the Gleenons, meant to cater to the kiddys, and the departure of the show from the original. The show is watchable compared to the painfully plotless Voltron series for example, and deserves recognition in the history and story continuity of the He-Man franchise.

Those are my thoughts on the matter. I'd like to hear from you what your thoughts are about the New Adventures of He-Man and it's place in the Masters of the Universe franchise?

He-Man Transformation sequences

Something about He-Man's original transformation still gives me warm fuzzies. Perhaps it's nostalgia, but the lighting and sound effects, and even John Erwin's voice always appealed to me.

Original Transformation
John Erwin voiced He-Man in the original cartoon. Filmation's simple animation style and use of lighting and sound effects makes this transformation sequence iconic, and one people refer to to this day.


MOTU: The Motion Picture
Dolph Lundren portrayed He-Man in the 1987 film. There was no transformation sequence due to budget restraints, thus the Prince Adam character did not appear. However, on two occasions in the film, He-Man "claims" the power. It harks back to the original, but falls a little short.


New Adventures of He-Man
New Adventures is a sequel series to the original. It sends He-Man and his nemesis Skeletor to the far future, thus the costume changes. Gary Chalk (known for playing Optimus Primal in Beast Wars, and Man-At-Arms in the 2002 He-Man) portrayed He-Man in this show. The transformation sequence seems rushed, and just doesn't carry the same weight of the original.


2002 Cartoon Snake Armor
Cam Clarke portrayed He-Man in this remake. Scaling Adam to a more logical 16 years of age, the transformation here is a major one. And though it is more dynamic and epic, the lighting seems to be more static, and the sequence just doesn't seem as captivating. Perhaps less is more...


This of course is my honest opinion. What do you think?