Skip to main content

30th Anniversary Tribute to the New Adventures of He-Man


This year marks the 30th Anniversary to the New Adventures of He-Man. I never cared for the show as a child. It was just too different: different themes, different characterizations, different characters, different voices, different settings, etc. It was just too much change to accept. I did like the action figures. I still remember when my brother and I found He-man and Skeletor at a Kay Bees. We loved them and even bought a Flipshot because we thought it was Man at Arms.

As the years went on, it really bugged me that I didn't care for the show. I mean, what is not to like? You've got He-man... fighting Skeletor... in space... with a lightsaber. I was a big Silverhawks fan so this screamed awesome to me. The DVD sets were released in the early 2000s so I decided to give it another try. Unfortunately, I still didn't care for it.

With this being the 30th Anniversary of the line, I made the firm decision to actually sit down, watch the show, and withhold my biases. The series actually had a lot of good qualities. There was some really nice animation, especially with fluid movements, that reminded me of DIC shows like G.I. Joe and M.A.S.K. I liked that the stories were built upon each other, something that Netflix has cashed in on these days, and even had recaps. There were also some really cool original ideas thrown in here like a group people crystalizing themselves so that they could use their mental energy to protect an entire planet! Doesn't get much more gnarly and sci-fi than that. One last really cool thing was the world building. The entire Tri Solar System seems really thought out and almost gives the show a Flash Gordon vibe, which is a huge plus for me.

So how can I take all of these really cool things and make them enjoyable? The easiest and best solution for me was to remove the audio. I just cannot handle the very uninspiring soundtrack. None of the voices ever worked for me either, so it was the smartest of solutions. I then decided to dub in themes from the Filmation series, which made a tremendous difference. Now I couldn't dub in new voice acting and there haven't been any subtitles released for the show, so I decided to make my own subtitles. Doing this worked out better than I thought because I was able to remove a lot of the sillier dialogue and focus the show on its own strengths.

I'm pretty happy with my finished product. If I did my job correctly, you should walk away thinking that this show really did have something to offer. I want to close by thank Jack Olesker. He was the main writer for the series and he really did do a nice job creating this expansion to an already great universe.

Happy 30th Anniversary, New Adventures of He-Man and Good Journey!



Want to buy the series?
Via Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/New-Adventures-He-Man-Vol/dp/B000JLTS76
Via Ebay - https://www.ebay.com/p/The-New-Adventures-of-He-Man-Vol-1-DVD-2006-6-Disc-Set/55986931?iid=123687901800&chn=ps

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toy Hax Toy Stage - Castle Dungeon - Masters of the Universe Background

If you have never heard of Toy Hax, then you have been missing out on something wonderful. This site provides repro labels, mainly Transformers, but also some of the best backgrounds for action figures produced. They have many sub sections, including Masters of the Universe. Each of their designs also come in various sizes to meet your choice of figure scale or type of shelving you utilize for displays. This post will look at the large size Castle Dungeon. The Castle Dungeon is obviously intended be a section of Castle Grayskull. From left to right, there is a descending stairwell, computer console, weapons rack, and prison cell. The cell features dark red eyes in a pitch black room. The floor pieces have to be purchased separately but they are a lovely representation of the stone of Grayskull's floors. I bought these to go with my MOTUC collection that I had in my classroom but I am pleasantly surprised that the large size works alright with the vintage figure...

King Arthur and the Knights of Justice - Lord Viper

I recently saw a tweet that stated that the best things of the 90's were really just backwash from the 80's. I'm still not sure if that is true but it does come up here with King Arthur and the Knights of Justice. It didn't last long but I loved it, especially that theme song! Definitely brought back feelings of Boorman's Excalibur. Also, the Round Table and Suit Up moments felt a lot like M.A.S.K. The biggest connection might be Masters of the Universe. A lot of the same voice actors from the New Adventures of He-Man show up in this series. Garry Chalk, who played He-Man in the New Adventures and Man at Arms in the 200X MYP series plays our main henchman and leader of the Warlords, Lord Viper. Also, let's not forget the Black Wing/Stratos similarities: One further connection, is that Mattel also created the toys for the short lived series. The figures were close in scale to both the vintage line and the New Adventures. The Horde Slime Pit was ev...

GoBots Leader 1, Fitor, Cy-Kill, Transformers Generations Optimus Prime, and Power Warrior Courageous

It was a busy mail day as I add on to my GoBots collection. Today I was able to add Leader 1, Cy-Kill, and Fitor. Pretty neat to get three heavy hitters in one day. They are all in pretty good condition too. Cy-Kill's wheels are a little loose but beyond that they seem great! Leader 1 He came with a hologram sticker of Turbo from the Animated Series   Jet mode comparison with one of the Aerialbots. Taking charge in the Command Center Fitor This picture doesn't do his vehicle mode justice. He's a cool ship. Cy-Kill Cy-Kill is a ridiculously expensive figure but I was lucky to find him at a reasonable price. I hope others are able to do the same because he's pretty cool. A much more harmonious relationship than Megatron and Starscream. The big three. Just need Coptur to complete the top level of the Renegades. Comparison with G2 Decepticons. Forever foes. -------...

Toy Biz DC Superheroes - Flash, Wonder Woman, Robin, Riddler, and the Penguin

Toy Biz's DC and Marvel Superheroes lines were my first comic book toys growing up and I loved them! For DC, I had Superman, Luthor, Batman, Robin, Joker, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and the Riddler. For Marvel, I had Spider-man, the Punisher, Captain America, the Hulk, Deathlok, Human Torch, Doctor Octopus, Venom, and Silver Surfer. Now, these were not the best toys by any stretch of the imagination. They were very gimmicky and cheap, especially the DC line. A lot of the issues were straightened out for Marvel. With all of that in mind, these toys still hold a special place in my nostalgic heart. Unfortunately, most of my figures broke, were lost or their paint wore away, so I decided to get back in on the line. Ebay, my ever present nemesis and vice, had a lot of carded figures that I was able to snag for $37. Not a bad start by any means of the imagination. All of the cards had some water damage and Wonder Woman's bubble had some yellowing but the figures themselves were in g...

Kenner Silverhawks

Around 1990, my family moved to Indiana, near my mom's hometown. Every so often, we would go shopping at the local mall with my Grandparents. During that first year, we visited Kay Bee Toys and they had a giant lot of Silverhawks that they were liquidating. At this time, neither my brother or I really knew what they were but we were immediately captivated by what we saw. We walked out of the store that day with Quicksilver, Flashback, Mon*Star, Mumbo Jumbo, Buzz Saw, Mo-Lec-U-Lar, and the giant Tallyhawk. Not a bad haul at all!  Even without knowing the backstory, we really enjoyed these figures. My mom was really great at keeping her finger on the pulse of what interested us and always kept an eye out for things that would fit the bill. Not much later, she found a Silverhawks coloring book that covered the story of Darkbird. This book was my first real introduction to the world of Silverhawks. I broke my childhood Quicksilver but kept the other figures in pretty...