| He-Man and the Masters of the Universe | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Title card | |
| Also known as | He-Man |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Masters of the Universe by Mattel |
| Developed by | Lou Scheimer |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Opening theme | "Masters of the Universe" |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 130 (along with the theatrical movie "He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword", and the Christmas special "He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special" (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Lou Scheimer |
| Producer | Gwen Wetzler |
| Running time | 23 minutes |
| Production companies | Filmation Associates Mattel |
| Original release | |
| Network | First-run syndication |
| Release | September 26, 1983 – November 21, 1985 |
| Related | |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (often referred to simply as He-Man) is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line Masters of the Universe.[1][2][3] The show was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s.
It made its television debut in September 1983 and ran until 1985, consisting of two seasons of 65 episodes each. Towards the end of the show's original run, it spawned one feature length theatrical movie He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, which served as the introduction for the show's spinoff literal sister series She-Ra: Princess of Power. There was also a primetime Christmas special, "He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special", which served as an extension of both the He-Man show and the She-ra show, and which featured cast and major locales from both shows. Both the He-Man/She-ra movie and the Christmas special were Filmation productions, set in the same continuity as the original He-Man cartoon, and with the same production cast and crew. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point USA Network bought the rights to the series. USA aired He-Man until September 1990. The success of the toy based show in syndication greatly influenced other animation houses to produce half hour "cartoon commercials", and considerably changed the syndicated cartoon market.[4]
The franchise has been adapted many times in comic book and comic strip form, and a live-action film was produced in 1987. A rebooted series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, renamed Masters of the Universe vs. The Snake Men during season 2, released on Toonami on August 16, 2002. Two series were released in 2021 for Netflix: one is Masters of the Universe: Revelation, a continuation for an adult audience and another is a family-oriented animated CGI reboot, also titled He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
- ^ "He-Man, a Princely Hero, Conquers the Toy Market". The New York Times. December 18, 1984.
- ^ Solomon, Charles (November 15, 1986). "Syndication Threat". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved August 23, 2010.
- ^ "How an Obscure Collection of Japanese Action Figures Changed the Way We Play". Wired Magazine. June 26, 2007. Archived from the original on March 8, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 404–405. ISBN 978-1476665993.