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

[Reverend]

For those interested, here's the full announcement panel.

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What grabbed my attention was the line about trying to make the boxart come to life. I'm glad they're going with that as their stylistic touchstone since it was some of the most gorgeous artwork I've ever seen on any toy packaging, ever.

 

[Kirk Prime]

We'll see. I would hope this isn't a show that doesn't feature He-Man at all. Or just a little bit.

The 2002 series was something that I thought was terrific. I thought it had the stories the 1980s version didn't have, did go into the secrets of Greyskull, and did go into details that we never saw before, including origins of Skeletor and He-Man.

Unlike that stupid She-Ra cartoon that Netflix did, this is something I look forward to checking out. Unfortunately, I doubt they cover the biggest thing, which is that the war on Etheria never ended, and She-Ra/Adora never returned home. I don't think they will deal with this because of the other cartoon, which is a shame.

It would make an incredible story if say, they defeat Skeletor on Eternia, and he falls back to Etheria, and Randor sends his military to Etheria to drive away Skeletor and Hordak once and for all. Led by He-Man and She-Ra, there is an epic ending to this story.

 

[Saul]

just a few months ago rewatched thanks to the He-Man Official youtube channel.

Official youtube channel? That's exactly what I need to get myself au fait with He-Man again.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Official youtube channel? That's exactly what I need to get myself au fait with He-Man again.

https://www.youtube.com/user/HeMan/videos

Some episodes are on the videos page 2 or 3 times, sometimes in different quality. But some 720p versions were posted after the 1080p versions. Strange, but I think I watched all but one or two there.

 

[Saul]

Yikes, there are 131 He-Man episodes in the original series. I had no idea there were that many.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Yikes, there are 131 He-Man episodes in the original series. I had no idea there were that many.

There's only five episodes worth of animation, however.


Hey-oh!!!!!

 

[Admiral2]

Now we have something called a budget and quality.

So, does Dreamworks pay you in cash or stock to run down Filmation to make their crap version of She-Ra look good?

 

[Qonundrum]

Genuinely mystified that stuff like this and Thundercats is well regarded.

Guess I'm not the target demographic...

It's okay if you're not, but it helps to be in it. The cartoons did have a sense of style to them, and had that Mork and Mindy style presentation with coda in the form of a sledgehammer at the end...

As much as I like some of these 'toons when I was a kid, I also recall wondering why they had such incredibly generic names. "He-Man", "She-Ra", 'Thundercats", and so on... a lot of their names are so incredibly generic. At least "Lion-O" (really??) doesn't use pronouns describing gender as a crutch for actual character names. The target demographic of the time must be really young, though to see JMS and DC Fontana writing scripts was a nice surprise I didn't pick up on way back then.

But why always these reboots. Either made to cash in on nostalgia, pretending it's 1600AD where no copy of the original in saved format exists so there's no other option but to remake it, or those people doing the reboots/reimaginings felt there was something of potential and felt they had the spark needed to make it better than its progenitor. Whether their new version has the spark, is better in all or some areas, or goof up elsewhere (even to the point the whole namesake gets ruined as perceived) becomes debate for those shows as individual entities... There are a few other nitpicks but every incarnation has them. If what counts the most works, the nitpicky fluff isn't worth it or easier to forgive.

Which reminds me of yet another fun tangent, He-Man and She-Ra both got what looked like better production value from the same animation company that did "Star Trek The Animated Series", but being a decade apart, ten years goes by so fast but I can see in part where they cut corners reusing object (cel) assets, but the overall job is quite good, especially considering the time and budget allotted for so many episodes... which also reminds, I'd read TAS got $75k per episode to produce, but He-Man also had 10x the number of scripts for the same 2 year period it was made... would $10 million in 1983 money really be devoted to a show? Only if the toys sold, something TAS really did not have...

 

[Christopher]

But why always these reboots.

Most human creativity throughout history has consisted of retelling old stories; that's the only way stories survived before widespread literacy. There's nothing wrong with it, because originality isn't a matter of where an idea came from, but where you take it next. Almost all of Shakespeare's plays were adaptations of earlier plays, myths, and historical writings, but his "remakes" brought so much innovation to the stories that the earlier versions were largely forgotten. (Just as the current She-Ra remake stands an excellent chance of eclipsing the original.)

And it's not like He-Man was a hugely original concept to begin with -- it was the result of a planned Conan toy line falling through and being reworked into something superficially different. Much like Star Wars was George Lucas's Plan B after not getting to make a Flash Gordon movie. Even "original" things are usually derivative of something older. Adaptations and remakes are just more direct about it.

Which reminds me of yet another fun tangent, He-Man and She-Ra both got what looked like better production value from the same animation company that did "Star Trek The Animated Series", but being a decade apart, ten years goes by so fast but I can see in part where they cut corners reusing object (cel) assets, but the overall job is quite good, especially considering the time and budget allotted for so many episodes... which also reminds, I'd read TAS got $75k per episode to produce, but He-Man also had 10x the number of scripts for the same 2 year period it was made... would $10 million in 1983 money really be devoted to a show? Only if the toys sold, something TAS really did not have...

A lot of ST:TAS's budget went to paying the actors. Also, with toy-based shows, presumably the toy company provides much of the funding up front, because the show helps promote the product.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

There's only five episodes worth of animation, however.
Hey-oh!!!!!

"Stock Footage Alert! Stock Footage Alert!"

The best part is when He-Man has no back scabbard but then pulls "the sword" out of his back scabbard (leather) with a nice metallic chck-chck.

 

[JD]

A bunch of (maybe all?) episodes of the original series are available on youtube, if anyone wishes to check those out.

It looks like all of the 2002 (has it been that long? sigh) series is available there as well.

Legally?

 

[dahj]

Legally?

Yes.
@Ar-Pharazon linked the official account above:

https://www.youtube.com/user/HeMan/videos

 

[Christopher]

The best part is when He-Man has no back scabbard but then pulls "the sword" out of his back scabbard (leather) with a nice metallic chck-chck.

The new She-Ra does that a lot too -- Adora isn't always drawn with her scabbard, but can pull her sword from it at a moment's notice. I figure it's a magical (or First Ones tech) thing and it's hidden in hammerspace. (Didn't notice the sound, though.)

 

[EnderAKH]

"Stock Footage Alert! Stock Footage Alert!"

The best part is when He-Man has no back scabbard but then pulls "the sword" out of his back scabbard (leather) with a nice metallic chck-chck.

I have been noticing this a LOT lately, and not just in animation (I don't remember which episode, but I remember seeing it in the last season of Game of Thrones, for example). It doesn't matter WHAT the sword has been stored in, it ALWAYS comes out with that metal on metal "shink."

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

To be fair, maybe we can assume there's a metal ring inside the scabbard to help it keep it's shape or something

As far as the number of episodes, there were 130 in the original run, plus a "new" episode screened at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con by Super7. There's at least one trailer on youtube.

The animation was dead on compared to the 1983-195 series, but the voices.....pretty bad. Skeletor, Beast-Man and Mer-Man are in the clip I saw and didn't sound anything like they should.

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[Mudd]

So, does Dreamworks pay you in cash or stock to run down Filmation to make their crap version of She-Ra look good?

This is not even a sentence that makes logical sense from beginning to end.

I just hope that they get the intense sexual chemistry between He-Fool and my man Skeletor right.

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[Ar-Pharazon]

Lots of Robot Chicken related He Man stuff around, but this one is just awesome.

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[JD]

I have been noticing this a LOT lately, and not just in animation (I don't remember which episode, but I remember seeing it in the last season of Game of Thrones, for example). It doesn't matter WHAT the sword has been stored in, it ALWAYS comes out with that metal on metal "shink."

I was watching a show somewhere where they were talking about real sword fighting vs TV/movie sword fighting, and one thing they said that I thought was kinda funny, was that if it really made that sound every time you pulled your sword out of it's scabbard, then you'd actually be dulling every time.
Are the She-Ra and Bravestar youtube channels the He-Man one links to official too?

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Might be of interest to some, DC will launch a new six-part mini-series "He-Man & the Masters of the Multiverse" in November.

 

[Unicron]

Teela is a great character with the most intriguing background story that was never sufficiently explored, so I'm certainly looking forward to this.

I sometimes think it would have been interesting if they'd kept the early Sorceress/Teela concept from the mini-comics going, as I found it interesting. Rather than showing them as mother and daughter, Teela was a biological clone of the Sorceress that Skeletor intended to mature and thereby have access to her powers. In a sense, she's like a missing part of the Sorceress. Man-At-Arms stopped Skeletor before the plan could get very far, and was asked to care for the infant clone by the Sorceress since her duties prevented her from doing so.

Years later in the present day, Skeletor was able to access Greyskull (at this point more of a powerful neutral ground that Skeletor wanted to control, rather than being a home any of the heroes) by magically controlling Teela, and the Sorceress was forced to merge with her physically to both protect herself from attack and break the spell on her. With her "missing" part restored she was able to defeat Skeletor easily, but chose to willingly separate again and let Teela continue her life as a hero. He-Man secretly wondered if the day would come when the two might merge again permanently.