164) Masters of the Universe…

If you’ve been following my blog, you know that over thirty five years ago I was a storyboard artist on Filmation’s original He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and She-Ra series. This year Netflix, in association with Mattel, has premiered a sequel to the original series titled Masters of the Universe: Revelation, with noted writer and producer/director Kevin Smith heading the production. The first five episodes have been released and it is, indeed, a revelation. 

Gone are the innocence and moral lessons of the Filmation series. This new incarnation is filled with death, maiming, betrayal and destruction on a grand scale. I’m not sure what the target audience is, but I probably wouldn’t show it to any child under twelve, depending on that child’s level of sophistication.

I do not, however, mean to trash the project. It has a lot going for it with good voice talents and respectable layout and animation. I have to refrain from judging the storyline until It reaches its conclusion, though I’m not quite comfortable with it so far. I do enjoy that it is, so far, mainly Teela’s story. 

It is certainly more of a multiverse re-envisioning of the classic Filmation series than a continuation. I do like that Prince Adam looks distinctly different than He-Man, something that I think was done in the 2002 revival. Filmation’s Prince Adam looked identical to He-Man except for their costume, which made it hard to buy into the “secret identity.” 

Netflix’s She-Ra series, which was released a couple of years ago, is a total re-imagining. It is more of a Sailor Moon style show with little shared mythology to He-Man. There was yet other animated  series interpretation of He-Man in 1998 that thrust the character into the future. I sampled some of that show and took a pass.

If you have any questions or comments, please email me at themythfits@gmail.com