A fairly bold retelling of the 1980s classic "He-Man & The Masters of the Universe", the callow, carefree young prince Adam of Eternia, goof off son of the highly respected King Randor, is informed by the beautiful, mysterious Sorceress of Castle Grayskull that he is destined to become He-Man, defender of Eternia, champion of the oppressed, protector of all that is good and just. Initially skeptical of all this, Adam learns it is very true after his father is kidnapped & his home torn up by the evil Lord Skeletor, formerly Keldor, an old enemy of his father. After becoming He-Man (voiced in both forms by Cam Clarke, best remembered as Leonardo from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon), joining forces with his mentor Man-At-Arms, gal pal Teela, and the Heroic Masters (Stratos, Ram-Man, Man-E-Faces, Buzz-Off, Mek-A-Neck, Roboto, Sy-Clone and Fisto), our big brawny hero finds himself once again battling the evil forces of Skeletor, Count Marzo, King Hiss & the Snakemen, with occasional assistance from Zodak. And yes, Orko and Cringer/Battle Cat are also back and so is Queen Marlena.
For the most part, very well written, with stronger characterizations and personality contrasts to the previous versions. About the only thing they did wrong was that Skeletor's henchmen were too stupid (seriously, the 21st century, I thought we were beyond the dumb evil henchmen by now). Though head & shoulders above many lesser shows of today, sadly, Cartoon Network cut this wonderful remake off just when it was starting to get really good. The eventual idea was to bring in Hordak and the Horde, introduce a re-imagined She-Ra, have Teela learn the truth of her heritage (the Sorceress of Grayskull is her mom), but alas, these ambitions were never realized.
DAMN YOU CARTOON NETWORK!
Well, it's all on DVD now, so they can't take it away from us.
Little bit of Trivia: before this series, Cam Clarke had voiced the Marvel comics hero Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic for a Fantastic Four guest spot on Spider-Man's animated series circa 1994. In 2006, Brian Dobson, who voiced Skeletor/King Hiss/Buzz-Off/etc. in this series, would take on the role of Ben Grimm/the Thing for "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes".
For the most part, very well written, with stronger characterizations and personality contrasts to the previous versions. About the only thing they did wrong was that Skeletor's henchmen were too stupid (seriously, the 21st century, I thought we were beyond the dumb evil henchmen by now). Though head & shoulders above many lesser shows of today, sadly, Cartoon Network cut this wonderful remake off just when it was starting to get really good. The eventual idea was to bring in Hordak and the Horde, introduce a re-imagined She-Ra, have Teela learn the truth of her heritage (the Sorceress of Grayskull is her mom), but alas, these ambitions were never realized.
DAMN YOU CARTOON NETWORK!
Well, it's all on DVD now, so they can't take it away from us.
Little bit of Trivia: before this series, Cam Clarke had voiced the Marvel comics hero Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic for a Fantastic Four guest spot on Spider-Man's animated series circa 1994. In 2006, Brian Dobson, who voiced Skeletor/King Hiss/Buzz-Off/etc. in this series, would take on the role of Ben Grimm/the Thing for "Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes".