News He-Man anime series from Kevin Smith coming to Netflix

The women characters have dialogue. That's the barrier for "too political" for these people.

 

And this is worthy of anyone's attention, how?

BTW, I've seen most of that "He-Man Beyond" podcast last night, Kevin Smith openly admits that the review-bombing had him worried for a minute, but the Netflix people just laughed it off, saying such publicity actually benefits the show, and that several thousand angry fanboys mean nothing compared to their several hundred million subscribers.

 

Oh it's not.

 

When women gained the right to vote it was the end of the good, old fashioned entertainment.

For example, do you know Samantha sometimes used magic to wash clothes thus disobeying her husband who forbade her to be a witch (despite her having been one for 300 years) and ordered her to do the housework with unnecessary labor?



MISANDRY!

 

They had a verbal contract to pursue a mortal life together.

The consequences for breaking that contract, for one of them at least, was immortality, infinite riches and ultimate power.

Samantha continued to honour that contract even after Endora killed Darren and replaced him with a brain washed hobo.

 

Hmm, checking Wikipedia (which I know can be a questionable source for information at times), I read the toy line was released in 1981. I guess that pretty much lays to rest the occasionally claimed urban myth that Mattel wanted to create an action figure line based upon "Conan the Barbarian" but was hesitant to base a toy line based upon a hard "R" rated property...and licensing the name. "Conan" was released in 1982.

I have no idea when and where I first heard that, but I never bothered to check the dates.

Still, I wonder what was Mattel's inspiration, if any?

 

If the sources are properly cited, it's easy to verify the info.

As for the Conan thing, it stopped being an "urban legend" the moment it was addressed in a documentary about the franchise that you can watch on Netflix.

 

If you're able to, you really need to watch the He-Man episode of "The Toys that Made Us" on Netflix. They go through it all and it's almost disheartening to see how thrown together it all really was.

 

Heh, heh...since I don't subscribe to NetFlix, I guess I can't watch it. But I do appreciate you and Mach5 letting me know where I can obtain that information.

 

I highly recommend this one.

 

I've always known: He-Man is a reactionary in the service of the aristocracy who uses his powers only to maintain the status quo and the class system.

¡VIVA SKELETOR!

 

Well you're not wrong. I mean when has he EVER done anything to actively curtail Skeletor's larger operation, as opposed to just reacting to each scheme in isolation? They know where he lives, they have the THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE UNIVERSE!, an army AND a sorceress. They could have rolled up on snake mountain in force YEARS ago. How often has he and/or his minions just been allowed to retreat with no more than a terrible pun as admonishment?

 

More on the subject from Brian Cronin:

https://www.cbr.com/he-man-conan-toy-tie-in/

Also from Cronin, here's a piece on the origins of the toy line:

https://www.cbr.com/he-man-almost-not-barbarian/

In short, Mattel started out developing a generic action-hero line and focus-tested a variety of themes to see what kids liked best, and they went with the most successful theme. The designers of the toys and early comics, in turn, were strongly influenced by Frank Frazetta's Conan cover paintings.

Also, BattleKat (or is it Battle Cat?) has a bizarre origin. It was a repaint of a leftover panther figure from a Tarzan toy line that was on a larger scale than the He-Man figures, so they decided to make it a giant alien cat that could be ridden like a horse.

https://www.cbr.com/he-man-battle-cat-origin-big-jim-panther/

 

Of course, Spector Creative has a video on the origin of MotU, as well:

 

Right! Did they ever give an in-universe explanation why they just didn't raid Snake Mountain? (of course the real reason is that the show would have ended)

 

They raided it frequently -- that's why Teela acts like it's so familiar here. It was just to achieve specific mission goals rather than shutting it down wholesale.

Perhaps it's the same reason you don't invade and conquer an enemy nation every time you have a conflict with them -- because then you'd have to occupy it and fight insurgents and so on and it just wouldn't be worth it. I'm not sure if Snake Mountain was ever portrayed as its own sovereign country, or if there were inhabitants other than Skeletor's various goons, but it certainly seems to be in a different territory of the planet.

 

For me, Adam saying "I have the power" before he actually becomes He-Man is a nice tie-back to little kids playing with the toys. The phrase becoming more of an affirmation for young Adam right before he becomes the Most Powerful Man in the Universe.

Adam's taking the power, not being given it.

 

Yeah, but that's more like "I will have the power." Or maybe "I claim the power." "I have the power" is a confirmation that it's already arrived. Grammatically, it refers to an achieved state, not an impending one. Like, you wouldn't say "I have the package" if the package is still in transit.

And, yes, I'd say he is literally being given it. It's the power of Greyskull, so presumably it originates from Greyskull, which endows Adam and Adora with it when they summon it.

(I was always a little bugged by the asymmetry that He-Man followed up "By the power of Greyskull" with "I have the power!" while She-Ra followed up "For the honor of Greyskull" with "I am She-Ra!" But "I have the honor!" would've just sounded weird.)

 

That's pedantic rather than poetic. I prefer the latter to the former.

The toys are about taking power when you have none. It's the whole concept of the playvalue for kids.

And in this iteration, it's also a key theme, such as when Teela confronts

Spoiler

Scareglow in Subternia.

 

Good, I'm glad to hear that neckbeard rantings haven't negatively impacted the future of the show.