Classic Cartoons: He-Man
Aw yeah. This is the good shit.
This cartoon was HUGE when I was a kid. I had (and still have) dozens of He-Man toys, read the books, and rushed home after school to watch the cartoon. It blew my eight-year-old mind.
When Prince Adam raises the Power Sword to the sky and speaks the magic words, “By the power of Grayskull!” he turns into He-Man…the most powerful man in the universe! Christ, just typing that makes me want to churn out some embarrassingly awesome fan-fiction.
The cast of He-Man includes some of the greatest characters ever invented: Ram-Man, Skeletor, Trap-Jaw, Man-At Arms, Beast Man, Orko, Hordac, Teela… The list goes on and on and on.
So how does it hold up? How about fucking awesome?! The He-Man series has been reinvented a few times since the mid-80s, and the series from 2002 was actually pretty decent. But the original is still the best. From the cheesy acting to the stilted animation to the “what did we learn today?” segment at the end, there are fewer cartoons that better represent childhood in the 80s.
The classic He-Man series is available by season, but there’s also a “Best of” collection containing ten episodes, some cool artwork, and interviews with the creators. You can find it here: The Best of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (10 Episode Collector’s Edition)
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 am
For me, the best part of He Man was that my main man Dolph Lundgren played him in the movie! OH YEAH Bitches! (ok so the movie sucked but ya gotta love Dolph and his latest comback has been fun to watch)
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I really liked the presentation this show got on DVD. Cool box art, menus, everything was done nicely.
I was way into this show when I was a kid. Toys and all.
This show is actually one of the few 80′s cartoons that I can still consider “watchable” nowadays.
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:32 pm
One of my favorates growing up. Caught the He-Man, She-Rah Christmas special on TV this past holiday which I don’t remember ever watching before. Brought back some warm fuzzy memories.
I still have a bunch of the toys back home, including Castle Grayskull, Battle Cat and possibly my fave, Man-E-Faces. I remember entertaining myself for hours with that stuff. Good times.
March 2nd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
Anything with an “Evil Master of Suction” is good by me.
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:47 pm
He-Man is my favorite cartoon from the 1980′s. I had a ton of the toys and even have the very nice He-Man box set. But with that said, the 2002 version was better.
March 11th, 2010 at 11:57 am
The 2002 complete series is $9.99 today on Amazon. Here’s the link:
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series