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This looks amaze-balls. I. Can. Not. Wait.

Looks like it could be fun. To be honest, I never really cared for He-Man when I was a kid. I don't know. I think even back then I recognized the cheesiness.

"After 40 years..." Wasn't there a series in the early 2000s?

"...picks up where the 80’s series left off..." Continuing storylines weren't exactly an issue back then. Just have Skeletor try to conquer Eternia and you "pick up where the 80’s series left off." The aforementioned 2000s series could have been considered a prequel then.

*blink, blink, blink* Um ... what the hell did I just watch?

Is this fantasy (barbarian outfit, swords, magic, spirits, Skeletor etc.) or science-fiction (robots, cars etc.)?

I mean, I'd never seen the 80s "He-Man" (never got the chance), but I always thought it was a cheesy fantasy, wasn't it? But how can this be fantasy? This looks more like the bastard child of D&D and The Transformers.

Speaking of which ... I just found this ... which I haven't seen since the mid-80s. Well. That aged well.

Oh, and then there's this... where Megatron's giant robot is unable to overcome Starscream's. Until, naturally, a third giant robot joins in.

"It's no use! Our badly-aimed laser shots are doing no damage to them or the power plant they're standing in! We must retreat!"

Netflix's anime has been really on point lately, so this looks great. If it's anywhere close to the quality of Castlevania then it'll be a hit.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:18 pm Looks like it could be fun. To be honest, I never really cared for He-Man when I was a kid. I don't know. I think even back then I recognized the cheesiness.

Oh, it was cheesy - but so was Transformers or GI JOE - they all followed the same theme.
"A bad situation, morale of the story at the end."
Yeah, sure, how did no one recognize Prince Adam was He-Man? But then if that's anyone's argument, I have to ask, "How the EFF did no one realize Clark Kent was Superman?"

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:18 pm "After 40 years..." Wasn't there a series in the early 2000s?

"...picks up where the 80’s series left off..." Continuing storylines weren't exactly an issue back then. Just have Skeletor try to conquer Eternia and you "pick up where the 80’s series left off." The aforementioned 2000s series could have been considered a prequel then.

No.
He-Man started in 1983. There was a second version of He-Man in 2002.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:29 am *blink, blink, blink* Um ... what the hell did I just watch?
Is this fantasy (barbarian outfit, swords, magic, spirits, Skeletor etc.) or science-fiction (robots, cars etc.)?
I mean, I'd never seen the 80s "He-Man" (never got the chance), but I always thought it was a cheesy fantasy, wasn't it? But how can this be fantasy? This looks more like the bastard child of D&D and The Transformers.

Certainly not the first time they've done this.
Thundarr the Barbarian did this.
Several books I've read have done this (Darksword trilogy comes to mind).
As for cheesy - see my reply to notbobsmith.

JasefWisener wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 9:37 am Netflix's anime has been really on point lately, so this looks great. If it's anywhere close to the quality of Castlevania then it'll be a hit.

Agreed. I didn't care for the Netflix "She-Ra" reboot, however.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:38 pm

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:18 pm Looks like it could be fun. To be honest, I never really cared for He-Man when I was a kid. I don't know. I think even back then I recognized the cheesiness.

Oh, it was cheesy - but so was Transformers or GI JOE - they all followed the same theme.
"A bad situation, morale of the story at the end."
Yeah, sure, how did no one recognize Prince Adam was He-Man? But then if that's anyone's argument, I have to ask, "How the EFF did no one realize Clark Kent was Superman?"

Transformers and G.I. Joe really didn't have moral lessons too often. Yes, there were the G.I. Joe PSAs, but they really didn't have anything to do with the episode. He-Man was really ham handed with the lessons. Another thing that struck me even at the time was how cheap the animation looked in comparison to other shows. All Filmation shows looked like that.

As for no one recognizing Adam as He-Man: A better question is why did he need a secret identity? Superman did it to protect his family and so he could have a normal life as Clark Kent. Adam's parents are the King and Queen. They are always in danger. And as a prince, Adam won't have a normal life to begin with.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:38 pm

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:29 am *blink, blink, blink* Um ... what the hell did I just watch?
Is this fantasy (barbarian outfit, swords, magic, spirits, Skeletor etc.) or science-fiction (robots, cars etc.)?
I mean, I'd never seen the 80s "He-Man" (never got the chance), but I always thought it was a cheesy fantasy, wasn't it? But how can this be fantasy? This looks more like the bastard child of D&D and The Transformers.

Certainly not the first time they've done this.
Thundarr the Barbarian did this.
Several books I've read have done this (Darksword trilogy comes to mind).
As for cheesy - see my reply to notbobsmith.

The story behind it went through various changes over time and the original story for the toy differed from the show. It started as "Conan the Barbarian" (this is a pretty good summary), but they decided to throw some Star Wars in there for obvious reasons. Adam turning into He-Man wasn't there in the beginning either, so they through that in to be more like Superman or Shazam. The end result is a world where parts of it have flying cars and lasers, and other parts look like a 10th century serfdom. Maybe Skeletor wasn't evil. Maybe he was a revolutionary trying to overthrow the oppressive monarchy.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm Transformers and G.I. Joe really didn't have moral lessons too often. Yes, there were the G.I. Joe PSAs, but they really didn't have anything to do with the episode. He-Man was really ham handed with the lessons.

Wheel of Morality, Turn, Turn, Turn...

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm Transformers and G.I. Joe really didn't have moral lessons too often. Yes, there were the G.I. Joe PSAs, but they really didn't have anything to do with the episode. He-Man was really ham handed with the lessons. Another thing that struck me even at the time was how cheap the animation looked in comparison to other shows. All Filmation shows looked like that.

It's true - but I think every studio has a style (back then). Hannah Barbara had a similar thing - when characters ran it was just a blurry background to show movement, no actual stuff.
Animation studios did what they could to save a pretty penny. What business doesn't?
If you look closely a lot of animation studios did that - using the same footage (I've been rewatching the 90s X-Men: The Animated Series - as a kid - I never noticed - probably because episodes were spaced out over weekends - versus back to back - but I am seeing a lot of recycled footage in the episodes).

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm As for no one recognizing Adam as He-Man: A better question is why did he need a secret identity? Superman did it to protect his family and so he could have a normal life as Clark Kent. Adam's parents are the King and Queen. They are always in danger. And as a prince, Adam won't have a normal life to begin with.

Well, yes, Adam's parents were King and Queen - but rarely (in the cartoon) were they the targets. It was typically either Castle Greyskull (for it's hidden power) or some magical artifact/weapon/animal, etc.
So by Prince Adam keeping a secret identity - it protected them from being the target - and blackmailing He-Man into doing something.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm

Tawmis wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:38 pm

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 3:29 am *blink, blink, blink* Um ... what the hell did I just watch?
Is this fantasy (barbarian outfit, swords, magic, spirits, Skeletor etc.) or science-fiction (robots, cars etc.)?
I mean, I'd never seen the 80s "He-Man" (never got the chance), but I always thought it was a cheesy fantasy, wasn't it? But how can this be fantasy? This looks more like the bastard child of D&D and The Transformers.

Certainly not the first time they've done this.
Thundarr the Barbarian did this.
Several books I've read have done this (Darksword trilogy comes to mind).
As for cheesy - see my reply to notbobsmith.

The story behind it went through various changes over time and the original story for the toy differed from the show. It started as "Conan the Barbarian" (this is a pretty good summary), but they decided to throw some Star Wars in there for obvious reasons. Adam turning into He-Man wasn't there in the beginning either, so they through that in to be more like Superman or Shazam. The end result is a world where parts of it have flying cars and lasers, and other parts look like a 10th century serfdom. Maybe Skeletor wasn't evil. Maybe he was a revolutionary trying to overthrow the oppressive monarchy.

Oh for sure - if you read the He-Man comics that came with the figures, they were vastly different.
He-Man was just always He-Man. There was no Prince Adam. He was a wandering barbarian type.
But when they decided to make an animated series out of the figures - they made some obvious changes to try appeal to the young male market.

There's a really good documentary on Netflix that goes over a bunch of different toys for each episode - the one for He-Man is really good.

And for a brief moment - you may recognize someone in that episode.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:35 pm

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm As for no one recognizing Adam as He-Man: A better question is why did he need a secret identity? Superman did it to protect his family and so he could have a normal life as Clark Kent. Adam's parents are the King and Queen. They are always in danger. And as a prince, Adam won't have a normal life to begin with.

Well, yes, Adam's parents were King and Queen - but rarely (in the cartoon) were they the targets. It was typically either Castle Greyskull (for it's hidden power) or some magical artifact/weapon/animal, etc.
So by Prince Adam keeping a secret identity - it protected them from being the target - and blackmailing He-Man into doing something.

Not sure if I buy that. A royal family will always be a target for anyone trying to take over a country. And at least the castle will have its own security. Plus, knowing that He-Man actually lives there might actually be a deterrent. And if Skeletor did manage to kidnap the Royal family or something, he's going to assume He-Man will cooperate, Prince Adam or not.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:35 pm There's a really good documentary on Netflix that goes over a bunch of different toys for each episode - the one for He-Man is really good.

And for a brief moment - you may recognize someone in that episode.

Cool! I did see you in some of the stills on IMDB.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:32 pm

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sat Jun 12, 2021 6:35 pm

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Fri Jun 11, 2021 10:03 pm As for no one recognizing Adam as He-Man: A better question is why did he need a secret identity? Superman did it to protect his family and so he could have a normal life as Clark Kent. Adam's parents are the King and Queen. They are always in danger. And as a prince, Adam won't have a normal life to begin with.

Well, yes, Adam's parents were King and Queen - but rarely (in the cartoon) were they the targets. It was typically either Castle Greyskull (for it's hidden power) or some magical artifact/weapon/animal, etc.
So by Prince Adam keeping a secret identity - it protected them from being the target - and blackmailing He-Man into doing something.

Not sure if I buy that. A royal family will always be a target for anyone trying to take over a country. And at least the castle will have its own security. Plus, knowing that He-Man actually lives there might actually be a deterrent. And if Skeletor did manage to kidnap the Royal family or something, he's going to assume He-Man will cooperate, Prince Adam or not.

I am sure, as Royal Family, they were "at risk" - but in the cartoons they were never the targets of Skeletor or anyone, because they were unaware Prince Adam was He-Man (just like Superman's adoptive family) was never targeted because they didn't know the Kents were the ones who raised him. (And yes, the Royal family has Man-At-Arms and his soldiers as protection)

As for He-Man living there being a deterrent - it's like saying, if Superman never made the Clark Kent identity and just lived with the Clarks... It'd make for boring Superman stuff if he never left, for fear someone might do something to them while he was out doing whatever he needed to do.

But it's the standard "super hero cliche'" to have the secret identity - whether Superman or He-Man (how people didn't piece either of those, we simply accept) - but there's others out there, such as Spider-Man, Batman, etc. etc.

So ... I'm curious, and have some questions. I'd never seen a full episode of He-Man, but I've seen enough out-takes of He-Man and Transformers now. (I'm thinking of the 80s cartoons, here - nothing more recent). So ... here are my questions:

1. Am I right in thinking that He-Man is either "Conan for Kids" or "parody Conan for kids"?

2. Why does the "He-Man" series (and many others) have no roles for women, other than:
a. Queen. Will either offer wise advice that no-one listens to, or will be kidnapped and need to be rescued.
b. Princess. Will be pretty and be kidnapped and need to be rescued.
c. Damsel in Distress. See "Princess".
d. Priestess, Sorceress, Female Guard Captain etc. Extremely powerful. Helps He-Man. If she is present at final battle with Skeletor, she lets He-Man beat Skeletor.
e. Peasant Woman. Rare, even though the Kingdom depends on peasants to grow food. Will be killed to show how evil Skeletor is.
f. A role where a woman actually does "normal things". Normal Things(TM) are defined as merchant, fishwife, etc. Even more rare, to the point that it (almost) never happens.

3. What kind of "moral lessons" does "He-Man" teach? I imagine it would be something about friendship, strength, loyalty - stuff like that?

Just curious. Am I right in my conclusions to #2, at least?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:40 am 1. Am I right in thinking that He-Man is either "Conan for Kids" or "parody Conan for kids"?

He is closer to "Conan for Kids" without the blood. Definitely not a parody.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:40 am 2. Why does the "He-Man" series (and many others) have no roles for women, other than:
a. Queen. Will either offer wise advice that no-one listens to, or will be kidnapped and need to be rescued.
b. Princess. Will be pretty and be kidnapped and need to be rescued.
c. Damsel in Distress. See "Princess".
d. Priestess, Sorceress, or Guard Captain. Extremely powerful. Helps He-Man.
e. Peasant Woman. Rare, even though the Kingdom depends on peasants to grow food. Will be killed to show how evil Skeletor is.
f. A role where a woman actually does "normal things". Normal Things(TM) are defined as merchant, fishwife, etc. Even more rare, to the point that it (almost) never happens.

You need to watch He-Man. And you will learn about Teela - who is a bad ass woman who fights right along with He-Man.
You need to watch He-Man and learn about the Sorceress who is the most powerful magic user in Eternia (the world of He-Man) and prominent in most episodes.
You need to watch He-Man and see Evil-Lyn, the evil sorceress who is probably the only villain who never gets punked (like Beastman, Mer-Man, Tri-Klops, etc).

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:40 am 3. What kind of "moral lessons" does "He-Man" teach? I imagine it would be something about friendship, strength, loyalty - stuff like that?

Most of the episodes are because someone has done something.
For example, Skeletor disguises himself - approaches a kid and says, "Drink this and you will be as powerful as He-Man."
And the kid does - and he gets powerful - but can't control his rage - and always needs more.

In the end, He-Man helps the kid - and tells the kid that the formula to make him strong was a short cut and that he shoudn't take short cuts or trust weird substances from strangers.

(This is one I just made up as an example)

But here's an hour worth of actual "moral lessons."

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:58 am You need to watch He-Man. And you will learn about Teela ... [and] the Sorceress ... [and] Evil-Lyn...

Um, yes. I touched on those in "d", didn't I? i.e.: d. Priestess, Sorceress, or Guard Captain. Extremely powerful. Helps He-Man.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:58 am But here's an hour worth of actual "moral lessons."

Um ... I just finished watching the introduction, and I have two more questions:

1. First, why does He-Man have so much reverb on his voice? Is that normal for 80s comics?

2. Also, ... OK, "We defend Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor" ... but ... Skeletor's evil mwa-ha-ha is like an very old "evil witch" cackling. It's not scary at all!

As for the moral lessons ... OK. I watched about 4 of the "In today's story, we learned that..." etc. I can see what Notbobsmith means when he says that He-Man is ham-fisted about moral lessons.

Some authors fall into the same trap, too. If the author becomes a character and addresses the audience, however briefly, it's called "Hello, Author" or Author Avatar. It almost never ends well.

I wonder what kids thought about this. But I loved how "Animaniacs" made fun of it with their "Wheel of Morality".

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:53 am

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:58 am You need to watch He-Man. And you will learn about Teela ... [and] the Sorceress ... [and] Evil-Lyn...

Um, yes. I touched on those in "d", didn't I? i.e.: d. Priestess, Sorceress, or Guard Captain. Extremely powerful. Helps He-Man.

Yes - but the way you said it - "Why does the "He-Man" series (and many others) have no roles for women, other than:"

What roles do you want in addition to those you listed?

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:53 am 1. First, why does He-Man have so much reverb on his voice? Is that normal for 80s comics?

It's so that his voice is different than Prince Adam's.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:53 am 2. Also, ... OK, "We defend Castle Grayskull from the evil forces of Skeletor" ... but ... Skeletor's evil mwa-ha-ha is like an very old "evil witch" cackling. It's not scary at all!

You do realize, it was geared for kids right?
Is Gargamell scary?

And on the flip side - I think Skeletor's laugh is pretty haunting - because it reminds me very much of the Joker's laugh (in the Batman animated series) - which was insane.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:53 am As for the moral lessons ... OK. I watched about 4 of the "In today's story, we learned that..." etc. I can see what Notbobsmith means when he says that He-Man is ham-fisted about moral lessons.

Sure, it was! But you have a cartoon of a big guy punching things - and you want to sell it to parents that it's OK to watch - because there's a moral at the end.
Pretty sure that's why GI JOE did PSAs too - "Yes, we shoot bad guys - but we also tell you moral lessons - because knowing is half the battle." (The other half is violence)

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 3:40 am

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 2:53 am

Tawmis wrote: ↑Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:58 am You need to watch He-Man. And you will learn about Teela ... [and] the Sorceress ... [and] Evil-Lyn...

Um, yes. I touched on those in "d", didn't I? i.e.: d. Priestess, Sorceress, or Guard Captain. Extremely powerful. Helps He-Man.

Yes - but the way you said it - "Why does the "He-Man" series (and many others) have no roles for women, other than:"

What roles do you want in addition to those you listed?

Er, sorry; I wasn't trying to be a SJW or anything like that! I only pointed out that, in cartoons and comics (and also in live-action films), women (and men) are often kings or nobility, or heroes/heroines of various types (which I labelled a, b, c, d). But you rarely see women (or men) doing normal everyday things, like peasants or merchants, unless they're there to be kidnapped, killed or robbed.

Of course I understand comics and cartoons are geared for kids. If the Main Character was a peasant ("hey-ho, I'm off to chop wood") or a merchant ("hi-de-hi! I'm off to the market!"), it would bore the pants off the kids. But how about a peasant (or a merchant etc.) who becomes a hero in spite of not being very brave or strong etc.?

Of the top of my head, I can't think of any books like that -- other than Tolkien, of course. (And some Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, J. K. Rowling ... the Reluctant Hero). But I guess that's not for kids - at least, not the same age bracket as He-Man?