He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

***Masters of the Universe*** is a media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between the heroic He-Man, real name Prince Adam, and the evil Skeletor on the planet Eternia, with a vast line-up of supporting characters in a hybrid setting of medieval sword and sorcery and sci-fi technology. Later spin-offs, especially She-Ra, Princess Of Power, also featured He-Man's sister She-Ra and her struggle against the Evil Horde, along with other planets/settings; however the main premise usually remained the same. Since its initial launch, the franchise has spawned a variety of products, including six lines of action figures, four animated television series, several comic series, a daily newspaper comic strip, and a feature film.

### Origins

In 1976, Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner declined a request to produce a toyline of action figures based on the characters from the George Lucas film Star Wars. Upon the commercial success of the film trilogy during the next few years and all related merchandise, Mattel joined the race to design the next hit action figure. In 1980, the rights-holders of Conan the Barbarian began negotiating the character's toy rights with Mattel. They entered in an agreement the following year regarding characters from the Conan movie. Upon Mattel introducing a toy line starring He-Man, the rights-holders sued the toy company claiming the character was a copy of Conan. Mattel eventually won the lawsuit.

From the early concepts, Mattel would finally produce the original 'Masters of the Universe' action figure toyline in 1981. Released as 5 1/2 inch action figures, the lore of Masters of the Universe would first be explored through minicomics that accompanied the toys through the duration line. The two primary characters, "the most powerful man in the Universe," He-Man, and his nemesis, the evil skull-faced sorcerer Skeletor, were the first released in action figure form, along with other core characters of the entire series; He-Man's allies, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Battle Cat, and Stratos, and Skeletor's henchmen Beast Man and Mer-Man. He-Man was given his power by the Goddess/Sorceress of Castle Grayskull and would defend his planet Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor (originally described as an evil warlord/demon from another dimension). Set in a hybrid world of sword and sorcery and technological sci-fi, they would battle over the possession of the "Power Sword," as He-Man tried to stop Skeletor from his ambition to rule Eternia and discover the Secrets of Castle Grayskull.

### Development

After the original toy releases, DC Comics adapted the franchise into special insert appearances in their regular comic series and a three issue mini-series December 1982 - February 1983 These issues introduced elements to the series, such as He-Man being the secret alter ego of Prince Adam, son of the royal family of Eternia; as in Adam's father King Randor and mother Queen Marlena. However, the Masters of the Universe franchise would become much better known through Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series; debuting in the fall of 1983, running 130 episodes through two seasons until the end of 1984 (primarily featuring various moral-themed encounters between He-Man, Skeletor and a wide and expanding cast of heroic and villainous characters; with the notable addition of the childlike Orko. With the release of the animated-cartoon movie He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword in the spring of 1985, which introduced He-Man's twin sister She-Ra and the arch-villain Hordak on the planet Etheria, Filmation produced 93 episodes of the series She-Ra: Princess of Power, which ran until the end of 1986, along with the He-Man & She-Ra: Christmas Special.

Various children's books, magazines, comics, read-along records/cassette tapes and other merchandise were also released worldwide around this time, with much of the content based primarily on the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra series. The live-action film Masters of the Universe was released in 1987 by Cannon Films, starring Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella. The later action figure minicomics continued the adventures of He-Man and She-Ra past the end of the two Filmation series; but popularity had waned by the end of 1987 and a planned continuation of the original toyline under the heading of 'The Powers of Grayskull' (set in ancient Eternia, featuring the villain King Hiss, and He-Man's ancestor He-Ro) was started, but eventually scrapped.

He-Man would be brought back in 1989, in an entirely new, and space-based cartoon series and toy line known as the 'New Adventures of He-Man'. Under the name 'He-Man', Mattel released an entirely new line of action figures, featuring only He-Man and Skeletor as the main returning characters to join the battle between Galactic Guardians and Space Mutants on the planet Primus. Jetlag Productions would go to produce 65 episodes of the New Adventures cartoon, while minicomics and a few adventure magazines were also created for this new series. Ultimately though, the series would not be as successful and the entire franchise would go on a hiatus for more than a decade (although a series about the son of He-Man was pitched in 1996 by Lou Scheimer, but rejected.

### He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

**He-Man and the Masters of the Universe** is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe. The show, often referred to as simply He-Man, was one of the most popular animated children's shows of the 1980s, and has retained a heavy cult following to this day.

It made its television debut on October 21, 1983 (October 15, 1984 in the UK) and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series.

#### Synopsis

The show takes place on the fictional planet of Eternia, a planet of magic, myth and fantasy. Its lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia's rulers, King Randor and Queen Marlena. Whenever Prince Adam holds the Sword of Power aloft and proclaims "By the Power of Grayskull!" he is endowed with "fabulous secret powers" and transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Together with his close allies, Battle Cat (who undergoes a similar transformation from being Adam's cowardly pet tiger Cringer), The Sorceress, Teela, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of Skeletor. Skeletor's main goal is to conquer the mysterious fortress of Castle Grayskull, from which He-Man draws his powers. If successful, Skeletor would have enough power to rule Eternia and possibly the entire universe.

### He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword

> *"An all new animated movie adventure starring He-Man and your favorite Masters of the Universe characters."*
>
>

On March 22, 1985, Filmation released an animated movie based on the series titled ***He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword***. The film is composed of five episodes from the She-Ra television series: "Into Etheria", "Beast Island", "She-Ra Unchained", "Reunions" and "Battle For Bright Moon". Although released before the series She-Ra: Princess of Power began, the film was a compilation of the first five episodes with minor edits made. The film was part of a trend of theatrically released animations created by producers of TV shows and toys during the 1980s.

#### Plot Summary

After experiencing traumatic nightmares of a time now past, the Sorceress summons Prince Adam and Cringer to Castle Grayskull to give Adam a precious, jeweled sword and send the pair to the planet Etheria to investigate its secrets. Unsure of what they are expected to find, the Prince and his companion befriend the Great Rebellion, a small group of citizens fighting a huge intergalactic army, known as the Evil Horde, ruled by the vicious tyrant Hordak. During a titanic battle, Adam transforms into He-Man to help the rebels, but is soon captured by the Horde's Force Captain, Adora, and placed under Horde surveillance. Adora is disturbed from her sleep by a strange voice, which leads her to the site of the imprisoned He-Man, where she is greeted by the Sorceress of Grayskull, speaking to her through the jewel in the mysterious sword The Sorceress reveals the terrible truth behind Adora's past - she is a Princess. not only that, she is He-Man's twin sister - kidnapped by the Horde when she was just an infant! Adora seizes the magic sword, holds it high above her head and summons the power of Grayskull! With this, she is transformed into the magnificent She-Ra, Princess of Power, and frees her brother. Reunited at last, the Prince and Princess vow to return home to bring the Eternian Royal Family together again and attempt to free the Kingdom of Bright Moon from Hordak's reign of terror!

### She-Ra: Princess of Power

***She-Ra: Princess of Power*** is an American animated television series produced in 1985 by Filmation. A spin-off of Filmation's He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, She-Ra was aimed primarily at a young female audience to counterbalance He-Man's popularity with young males. Unlike the He-Man cartoon, which was based on the Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel, the creation of She-Ra was a collaboration between Filmation and Mattel. The initial group of characters and premise were created by Filmation, while the characters introduced later were designed by Mattel. Mattel provided financial backing for the show, as well as an accompanying toyline. The series premiered on September 9, 1985 and was cancelled in 1986, after 2 seasons and 93 episodes.

#### Plot

The show follows the adventures of Princess Adora, Prince Adam/He-Man's twin sister, who leads a group of freedom fighters known as the Great Rebellion in the fight to free Etheria from the tyrannical rule of Hordak and the Evil Horde. With her Sword of Protection Adora can become She-Ra, just as Prince Adam can become He-Man.

Born on planet Eternia to Queen Marlena and King Randor, Princess Adora is kidnapped at birth by Hordak and taken to Etheria. There she serves as a mind-controlled Horde Force Captain before He-Man rescues her. After reuniting with her parents on Eternia, She-Ra decides to return to Etheria and lead the Great Rebellion. IMDb.com

### Masters of the Universe (1987)

> *"A battle fought in the stars... now comes to Earth."*
>
>

***Masters of the Universe*** is an American science fantasy action film starring Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Jon Cypher, Chelsea Field, Billy Barty, Courteney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill. It is based on the Mattel toyline of the same name and brings the story of two teenagers who meet the mighty warrior He-Man, who arrived on Earth from planet Eternia and now goes on a mission to save the universe from the villainous Skeletor, his nemesis.

Masters of the Universe was released theatrically on August 7, 1987 (US); December 26, 1987 (UK). It was a critical and commercial failure, but is now regarded as a cult film.

#### Plot Summary

On the planet Eternia, the dark lord Skeletor (Langella) has taken over Castle Greyskull, and imprisoned the Sorceress (Christina Pickles), and Skeletor has begun draining the Sorceress' powers as he attempts to claim the powers of Greyskull and become master of the universe. Mighty warrior He-Man (Lundgren), the most powerful man in the universe and his companions: loyal soldier Man-at-Arms (Cypher), his daughter Teela (Field) and a dwarf inventor named Gwildor (Barty) finds themselves on Earth, by Gwildor's creation, the Cosmic Key, a device that can open portals that lead to anywhere in the galaxy, which Skeletor requires in his goal for universal conquest. But when the Cosmic Key is discovered by Julie Winston (Cox) and her boyfriend Kevin Corrigan (McNeill), both unaware that Earth is about to become a battleground, as Skeletor and his vile minions arrives on Earth, as they go in pursuit of He-Man and his companions who are searching for the Cosmic Key so they can return to Eternia and defeat Skeletor. IMDb.com

#### Other Notable Cast Members

James Tolkan plays Detective Lubic who investigates a disturbance caused by Karg and his men, henchmen of Evil-Lyn, played by Meg Foster. Lubic confiscates the Cosmic Key.