Memories #8 - Danavas is Fisto?

In an effort to make a note of all my He-Man and She-Ra childhood memories I've decided that every once in a while I will make reference to them here! There is no particular order to these; just amusing little anecdotes from years gone by.

I remember as a kid going around my friend Wayne Mullen's house after school one night. That evening He-Man was on television; specifically the season one episode "Valley of Power". I recall getting into a silly argument with his two brothers Danny and Lee, as they believed that Danavas, the villain of the episode, was actually the then-newly released action figure Fisto! My argument was, "Where's his giant hand?!" Of course, eventually Fisto would make an appearance in the series...


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A change in the transformation #1

I am always fascinated by the fact that the Adora to She-Ra transformation sequence was altered after the first five episodes. Surprisingly, it is something that not too many people have noticed over the years. In these two images below you can see that the first image from "She-Ra Unchained" features Adora stood at Castle Grayskull without the jaw-bridge. In the second image from "Duel at Devlan" you can see that the jaw-bridge is now firmly in place. What amazes me is that by deciding to insert the jaw-bridge into the transformation they would have had to re-animate this entire complicated sequence of special effects-laded animation!


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Memories #7 - I need that VHS tape!

In an effort to make a note of all my He-Man and She-Ra childhood memories I've decided that every once in a while I will make reference to them here! There is no particular order to these; just amusing little anecdotes from years gone by.

As I had only taped a few episodes of He-Man upon their initial airing there were many episodes that I had seen once. Also, bear in mind that in the UK the series only ever aired twice on terrestrial television! Our local video store Must-A-Vision had a video cassette of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. On the video were the episodes "Like Father, Like Daughter", "Creatures From The Tar Swamp", and "Dawn of Dragoon". This video cassette was one of the first released and as a result was incredibly rare. I rented out that tape from the store too many times to recall over the years. Of course eventually I would manage to record the episodes from the television from their second airing, so there was no longer a need to rent out the tape. That said, in the late nineties Must-A-Vision was selling a great deal of their stock. I ventured into the shop, saw that the He-Man video cassette was for sale and purchased it without a moment's hesitation!


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Outlandish costumes means importance!

This is the opening panel from issue sixty-nine of the UK Masters of the Universe comic. If these gentlemen were dressed any differently we would not give them a second look. The costumes these characters sport signify an importance of some level. I certainly sat up and took notice! Whatever the case, their costumes are clearly designed and made by the finest and most creative of Eternian tailors...


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Memories #6 - He-Mustache?!

In an effort to make a note of all my He-Man and She-Ra childhood memories I've decided that every once in a while I will make reference to them here! There is no particular order to these; just amusing little anecdotes from years gone by.

It is funny that out of all the He-Man-related dreams I had as a kid the one that firmly sticks in my mind is the one that featured He-Man as a general with a mustache! To this day I can still recall the image; it was the action figure of He-Man with a dainty black mustache, and the background behind him was the style of painting as seen on the Castle Grayskull box artwork. I live in the hope that one day we see He-Man with a mustache just so I can make some sense of that dream...


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Evil leaves Eternia...

In the first episode of The New Adventures of He-Man, "A New Beginning", we are treated to a vision of what Eternia looks like without the presence of Skeletor. While we are shown random shots of murky-looking Eternian locations transforming into bright and flowery locations, the most striking moment occurs when we see Snake Mountain and its surrounding land covered in lush greenery! I think the people working on this show neglected to remember all the remaining Evil Warriors on Eternia, because there were quite a few! However, I do appreciate that they attempted to tie up the Filmation series, primarily with this image.


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Memories #5 - He-Man's now a woman?!

In an effort to make a note of all my He-Man and She-Ra childhood memories I've decided that every once in a while I will make reference to them here! There is no particular order to these; just amusing little anecdotes from years gone by.

In the UK the debut of the She-Ra series was not the big deal it was made to be in the United States. "The Secret of The Sword" came out after the series had debuted, which was kind of confusing; especially as we never had the first five episodes that comprised the animated movie shown on our screens! The first time I distinctly remember seeing She-Ra was a trailer on ITV. I recall seeing the transformation sequence of Adora standing at Castle Grayskull being transformed into She-Ra. My first reaction was, "They've turned He-Man into a woman?!" For a number of days I was confused until the show finally aired! And just so you all know, the first episode to air in the UK was "Duel at Devlan".


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Everything is ready!

Rarely did the UK Masters of the Universe comic explicitly acknowledge the animated series, but in this panel from issue fifty-three, we can see that the artist has illustrated Skeletor's throne, as seen in the Filmation cartoon series. Not only is it nice to see the cartoon acknowledged, but this panel is pretty impressive-looking, too. I like the way in which Skeletor is leaning forward with one hand outstretched and his Havoc Staff in his other hand.


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Memories #4 - Queen Marlena figure?

In an effort to make a note of all my He-Man and She-Ra childhood memories I've decided that every once in a while I will make reference to them here! There is no particular order to these; just amusing little anecdotes from years gone by.

I remember being in school one day in 1984 and we were lining up to go into class. Back then the Masters of the Universe toy craze was ridiculous; it was all the kids talked about! One kid in the line was remarking to the others that he owned a Queen Marlena action figure. All the other kids called him a liar, but part of me wanted to believe him. They never made a Queen Marlena figure, but as we know, King Randor would appear, much to the surprise many of us...


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The Royal Palace once more...

In the first episode of The New Adventures of He-Man, "A New Beginning", we see the Eternian Royal Palace in all its glory. It is clear that the artists looked to the Filmation show for inspiration, at least with the initial entrance. However, here the Royal Palace does not look that inviting, and is somewhat grim in its appearance. Much like the homage to Filmation's Snake Mountain in the same episode, this could be any old background. That said, it is nice that they decided to pay homage to the original series.


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