He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is a cartoon series from the eighties that follows the adventures of Prince Adam from Eternia.  The Prince enjoys fabulous powers when he holds aloft his magical sword and says “by the power of Grayskull…I have the power!!”  As He-Man, Adam is more powerful than any other mortal and is able to defend Eternia from Skeletor’s latest vile plan.  The show was a huge hit in the eighties spawning a movie starring Dolph Lundgren and Courtney Cox before it was remade as a short-lived animé inspired cartoon adventure series in 2002.

CRITIQUE

I loved this series as a kid in the eighties and vividly remember collecting the He-Man action figures.  Watching this DVD set was my first visit back to that world since I was a child and I must say that I was surprised at how much I still enjoy the series.  Of course it is hokey at times, and the animation is not the quality that we have come to expect today; but, the show was based on a strong set of moral values that appeals to me.  Two things offered this moral foundation throughout the series: first, He-Man was never shown impaling a character with his sword; instead he either knocks them unconscious, or ties them up.  Secondly, and I had completely forgotten about this, but each episode is wrapped up with a moral lesson for the kiddies.  At the conclusion of an episode, a character comes out and addresses the children and explains what happened in the episode and what lesson can be taken from the events depicted.  One episode involving Ram-Man, a man who attacks buildings and people by ramming them with his head, is followed by the disclaimer that children in real life should not ram things with their heads.  It seems obvious of course, but the fact that the series took the time to be both entertaining and to instill values in children impresses me.  I don’t remember watching those lessons as a child, but today I wonder if and how they might have affected me without my knowledge.

The nice thing about this set is that it is huge.  Thirty two episodes are included on the DVDs.  My favorites included Castle of Heroes and Quest for the Sword.  In Quest for the Sword, He-Man loses his sword when a rock creature takes it.  Afraid that Prince Adam will cease to exist; He-Man tracks the creatures into a mountain and discovers that the creature believes that he is the king of his people now because he has a weapon.  The lesson of the episode is that a weapon does not make you a leader; it makes you a bully while courage and intelligence are traits that are looked upon as favorable in a leader.  It is this sort of charm paired with an entertaining, action packed series that make it a stand-out among other animated series.

THE VIDEO

The DVD retains the frame aspect of the original series.  The quality is not much better than what was originally broadcast.

THE AUDIO

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is presented in Dolby Digital.  Again, the sound quality is not much better than the original broadcast version.

THE EXTRAS

The Stories of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: This documentary interviews many of the writers of episodes of the original series.  It is interesting to hear how much thought goes into the writing of a children’s episode.  One writer focused on creating a dragon character that he knew He-Man could not defeat, and seems to still take great pride in accomplishing this.  Another writer describes how important it was to him to depict a character with a physical disability in a positive, even heroic light.

He-Man Invades San Diego Comic-Con: This is a lame documentary which follows some of the creators of the series at Comic Con where they are pushing the release of the DVDs and signing autographs.  Much more interesting would have been in depth interviews with the creators and voice actors who brought the series to life, rather than watching them sign copies of strangers’ DVDs.

Full Length Animated Storyboard with Interactive Episode Comparison for Episode #40 “The House of Shokoti, Part 1”: This is an enjoyable feature that once again shows the art and creativity that goes into creating an animated series.

50 Detailed Profiles of Various Characters, Creatures and Artifacts: The profiles will not be of much interest to anyone who watched the show while it was on the air as they will already be familiar with the characters.  However, the profiles do get fairly detailed as to the background of the characters, and I never realized that the Sorceress was Teela’s true mother.

DVD Commercial Spots: In my opinion this should not be included as a feature.  Who cares?  What would have been interesting is the inclusion of commercials that ran during the original broadcast of the series.  I don’t want to see commercials for a DVD that I just bought.

DVD also includes Fun Trivia Facts, five complete episode scripts for DVD-ROM, English & Spanish language audio tracks for all 32 episodes, and 2 collectible 4”x6” He-Man Art Cards by artists Earl Norem and Gilbert Hernandez.

FINAL THOUGHTS