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Evil strikes and a young prince by the name of Adam, lifts his sword in the air and proclaims, "By the
Power of Greyskull, I am He-Man." Suddenly, this ordinary prince develops bigger muscles than Bill Goldberg on steroids, and defeats the evil menace, Skeletor, who is trying to take over his home world of Eternia.
Yeah, you remember He-Man, the kick ass cartoon that makes you long for the days when cartoons were cool and included classics like GI-Joe and the Transformers. This was a carton that made you want to rush home from school. Those days are gone now. There are no more good after school cartoons on regular television anymore, but I will never forget those days when going out and hanging out with friends took second place to a good two hours in front of the tube.
He-Man was created in the 80's as a toy line in the way of Conan the Barbarian. Suddenly, this unexpected hit from Mattel became an animated sensation for Filmation in 1983. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe was born, and although it was really just a 30-minute commercial for the action figures, it was one of the best cartoons of its' time and still invokes memories of the good old days.
Everything about this show could never be duplicated again. The animation was ahead of its time, using live action footage to create a library of stock character movements. The backgrounds were stunning and realistic adding to the action that was taking place in front of it. It definitely set the pace for the shows we watch today.
Still, many shows today still use the premises seen in He-Man. Dragon Ball Z reminds me of the Japanese version of He-Man with their vast array of bad guys and good guys doing battle with one another for control of the world. I will admit that Dragon Ball Z is better than He-Man was, but it was the American cartoon that I believe really made this genre of cartoons worth watching.
The basic idea behind the show was good versus evil. He-Man represented the good guys who along with Man-At-Arms, the scientific genius, Man-At-Arms' adopted daughter, Teela and Orko, a magical creature that provided comic relief, battle the evil Skeletor and his henchman gathered from across the universe.
The show was typical at first. Good always triumphed over evil and Skeletor would go back to the drawing board. Later on, the show took a different turn and began to introduce serious topics. Adam began to feel that his father liked He-Man more, and becomes upset that he can't get his father's acceptance unless he turns into the hulking hero. Another episode features Teela's search for her biological mother, who turned out to b the Sorceress that gave Adam the sword he uses to become He-Man. The show was no longer just for kids. Adults could enjoy it as well.