''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

produced by

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

based on

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

line ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...

''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular animated shows of the 1980s. It made its

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

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''. Reruns continued to air in syndication until 1988, at which point

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

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. The franchise has been adapted many times in comic book and comic strip form, and a

live-action film Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...

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 Toonami ( ) is an American late night television programming block that primarily broadcasts Japanese animation and occasionally American action animation. It was created by Sean Akins and Jason DeMarco and produced by Williams Street, a divis ...

on August 16, 2002. Two continuation series were released in 2021 for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

: one is '' Masters of the Universe: Revelation'' for an adult audience and another is a family-oriented animated CGI revival, also titled ''

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is an American animated television series produced by Filmation based on Mattel's toy line ''Masters of the Universe''. The show, often referred to as simply ''He-Man'', was one of the most popular anim ...

''.

Synopsis

The series takes place on

Eternia ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ad ...

, a planet of magic, myth and fantasy. Its lead character is Prince Adam, the young son of Eternia's rulers,

King Randor King Randor is a fictional character, a warrior king who appears in the popular 1980s ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise. In early material, the character is called King Miro; this was later given in the Filmation cartoon series as King Rand ...

and

Queen Marlena The ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' franchise debuted in 1982 with the creation of American company Mattel and the toyline of the same name. This is a list of characters that appear in the toyline, television series ''He-Man and the Mast ...

. Whenever Prince Adam holds the Sword of Power aloft and proclaims "By the Power of Grayskull!" he is endowed with "fabulous secret powers" and transformed into He-Man, the most powerful man in the universe. Together with his close allies,

Battle Cat Cringer is a fictional large cat in the ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise. He has green and orange striped fur, similar to that of a tiger (although his species is not truly known), and is Prince Adam’s feline companion. Whenever Adam tr ...

(who undergoes a similar transformation from being Adam's cowardly pet tiger Cringer), The Sorceress,

Teela Teela is a fictional superheroine from the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise. She is the Captain of the Royal Guard at the palace of Eternos and thus responsible for training and protecting Prince Adam of Eternia. While Adam is He-Man, T ...

, Man-At-Arms and Orko, He-Man uses his powers to defend Eternia from the evil forces of

Skeletor Skeletor () is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise created by Mattel, serving as the archenemy of the protagonist He-Man. He is typically depicted as a blue-skinned humanoid who wears a purpl ...

. Skeletor's main goal is to conquer the mysterious fortress of

Castle Grayskull Castle Grayskull is a fortress located on the fictional planet Eternia. It forms a central location in the '' Masters of the Universe'' toy/comic/animation universe and also appears in the 1987 live action adaptation. The concept is credited to ...

, from which He-Man draws his powers. If successful, Skeletor would have enough power to rule all of Eternia and possibly the entire universe.

Characters

Episodes

Production history

The Mattel company released the original He-Man action figure in 1982; the franchise backstory was developed by the Filmation animation studio. On 1 December 1982, Michael Halperin wrote a "series bible". Some time after, both firms pitched the idea to the ABC network, who turned it down. The resulting series, ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'', debuted through

barter syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and radio programs to multiple television stations and radio stations, without going through a broadcast network. It is common in the United States where ...

in September 1983, and became the first syndicated show to be based on a toy. By 1984, it was seen on 120 U.S. stations and in more than 30 countries. By mid-1985, it was airing on 152 stations across the U.S., and was the most popular syndicated program with children 2-11 with a 10.9 rating in that demographic. Despite the

limited animation Limited animation is a process in the overall technique of traditional animation that reuses frames of character animation. Early history The use of budget-cutting and time-saving animation measures in animation dates back to the earliest commerci ...

techniques that were used to produce the series, ''He-Man'' was notable for breaking the boundaries of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time since

Ruby-Spears Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was a Burbank, California–based American entertainment production company that specialized in animation with another branch in Rome, Italy. This company was founded in 1977 by vete ...

's ''

Thundarr the Barbarian ''Thundarr the Barbarian'' is an American Saturday morning animated series, created by Steve Gerber and produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. The series ran for two seasons on ABC from October 4, 1980, to October 31, 1981, and was rerun on NBC ...

'', a cartoon series could feature a muscular

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

who was actually allowed to hit people (although he more typically used wrestling-style moves rather than actually punching enemies), though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys;

advertising to children Advertising to children refers to the act of advertising products or services to children as defined by national laws and advertising standards. Scope and form Advertising to children can take place on traditional media such as television, radio ...

was itself controversial during this period. In the United Kingdom, advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time, notably ''

G.I. Joe ''G.I. Joe'' is an American media franchise and a line of action figures owned and produced by the toy company Hasbro. The initial product offering represented four of the branches of the U.S. armed forces with the Action Soldier ( U.S. Army), Ac ...

'', an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode. The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series, '' She-Ra: Princess of Power'', following the adventures of He-Man's sister, Princess Adora. Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line also led to the short-lived sequel series ''

The New Adventures of He-Man ''The New Adventures of He-Man'' is an animated series which ran in syndication in the fall of 1990 while Mattel released the toy line He-Man, an update of their Masters of the Universe line. The cartoon series was intended to be a continuation of ...

'' in the early 1990s, and an update of the franchise for a contemporary audience in 2002. It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from

J. Michael Straczynski Joseph Michael Straczynski (; born July 17, 1954) is an American filmmaker and comic book writer. He is the founder of Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Studio JMS and is best known as the creator of the science fiction television series ''Babylon 5'' ( ...

, later the creator of ''

Babylon 5 ''Babylon 5'' is an American space opera television series created by writer and producer J. Michael Straczynski, under the Babylonian Productions label, in association with Straczynski's Synthetic Worlds Ltd. and Warner Bros. Domestic Tele ...

'';

Paul Dini Paul McClaran Dini (; born August 7, 1957) is an American screenwriter and comic creator. He has been a producer and writer for several Warner Bros. Animation/DC Comics animated series, most notably '' Batman: The Animated Series'' (1992–19 ...

and

Brynne Stephens Brynne Chandler (born 1958) is a writer and story editor best known for her work on animated television series such as '' Gargoyles, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Batman: The Animated Series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'', and ''He-Man an ...

, both of whom who would go on to write acclaimed episodes of '' Batman: The Animated Series''; ''

Beast Wars Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English name of historical Fren ...

'' story editor

Larry DiTillio Lawrence G. DiTillio (February 15, 1948 – March 16, 2019) was an American film, TV series, and tabletop role-playing game writer. His creations include ''He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword'' and the award-winning ''Masks of Nyarlathote ...

; and David Wise, later the head-writer of the TV version of ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'' and ''

The Real Ghostbusters ''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...

''. In 2016, a new episode of ''He-Man'' was released.

Cast

John Erwin John Lee Erwin (born December 5, 1936) is an American voice actor best known for voicing He-Man and Morris the Cat. Career Erwin was the voice of He-Man in the Filmation productions ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' and '' She-Ra: Prin ...

as Prince Adam / He-Man,

Ram-Man Krass/Ram-Man is a fictional character from the popular Masters of the Universe toy line by Mattel. He is a member of the Heroic Warriors, characterized by his bulky, spring-legged, stumpy appearance and flat-topped metal helmet. Originally tag ...

Beast Man Beast Man is a supervillain in the toy line and cartoon series Masters of the Universe; the savage right-hand man of Skeletor, he can control many wild creatures and has brute strength. Character history The 1980s The original design sketch of B ...

, Faker, Webstor, Whiplash, Granamyr and others *

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

, Cringer / Battle Cat, Man-At-Arms, Mer-Man, Buzz-Off,

Roboto Roboto () is a neo-grotesque sans-serif typeface family developed by Google as the system font for its mobile operating system Android, and released in 2011 for Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich". The entire font family has been licensed un ...

and others *

Lou Scheimer Louis Scheimer (October 19, 1928 – October 17, 2013) was an American producer and voice actor who was one of the original founders of Filmation. He was also credited as an executive producer of many of its cartoons. Early life and education ...

(credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko,

, Stratos,

Man-E-Faces Man-E-Faces is a fictional character from the ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise. He is a member of the Heroic Warriors, notable by his distinctive appearance, with his large, blue metal head on which his faces appear in its screen-like open ...

, Mekaneck,

Zodac Zodac () is a fictional character, a cosmic superheroic entity in the Masters of the Universe mythology. The spelling varies between Zodac and Zodak in different sources (until the two were later defined as separate characters). In a unique c ...

, Fisto, Sy-Klone, Moss-Man, Lizard Man, Trap Jaw, Tri-Klops,

Kobra Khan Kobra Khan is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise. He is a member of the Evil Warriors, and a cross between a man and a cobra, who has the power to spray a "sleep mist" from his hood which immediately renders his oppo ...

Clawful Clawful is a fictional supervillain in the Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''. He is a member of the Evil Warriors. He appears to be a hybrid between a man and a crab ...

, Jitsu, Spikor, Two Bad, Modulok and others *

Linda Gary Linda Gary (born Linda Gary Dewoskin, November 4, 1944 – October 5, 1995) was an American actress. Career Live-action appearances Gary worked as a voice-over artist in animation and also appeared in two live-action films, 1977's ''Joyride T ...

Evil-Lyn Evil-Lyn is a supervillainess in the Masters of the Universe toy line and the accompanying cartoon series ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''. An evil witch who aids Skeletor as his second-in-command with her powers of darkness. She is v ...

, Queen Marlena,

Sorceress of Castle Grayskull The Sorceress of Castle Grayskull, also known as Teela Na, is a fictional superhero from the '' Masters of the Universe'' franchise. Her first appearance was in "He-Man and the Power Sword" (1981). Appearances Original MOTU mini-comics The S ...

and others *

George DiCenzo George Ralph DiCenzo (April 21, 1940 – August 9, 2010) was an American actor, and one-time associate producer for ''Dark Shadows''. He was in the show business for over 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage, and commercial credits. DiCenzo ...

as various male guest voices (uncredited) *

Erika Scheimer Erika C. Scheimer (born March 28, 1960) is an American voice actress in cartoons of defunct animation studio Filmation. She is the daughter of Lou Scheimer, who was an integral member of Filmation and a voice actor in his own right. She is best ...

as various female guest voices

Music

The series' music was composed by

Shuki Levy Shuki Levy ( he, שוקי לוי; born June 3, 1947) is an Israeli-American music composer and television producer. Levy's best known work is soundtrack compositions for children's television programs of the 1980s, such as '' The Real Ghostbuster ...

and

Haim Saban Haim Saban (; he, חיים סבן; born October 15, 1944) is an Israeli-American media proprietor, investor, and producer of records, film, and television. A businessman with interests in financial services, entertainment, and media, and an e ...

. The opening theme, snippets of which are used whenever Prince Adam transforms into He-Man and during interludes, is in C

Mixolydian Mixolydian mode may refer to one of three things: the name applied to one of the ancient Greek ''harmoniai'' or ''tonoi'', based on a particular octave species or scale; one of the medieval church modes; or a modern musical mode or diatonic scal ...

. In 1984, a soundtrack album was released in France and Argentina by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

and reissued on compact disc by XIII Bis in 2012, featuring music from the series and an adaptation of "A Friend in Need" (French release)/"Diamond Ray of Disappearance" (Argentine release); La-La Land Records released a two-disc, limited-edition soundtrack album in 2015, containing the musical content of the 1983 LP and much previously unreleased material. The Latin American Spanish-language version of the show features an actual theme song complete with lyrics unique to this version, with vocals by Chilean singer Memo Aguirre (a.k.a. "Captain Memo") based on Levy and Saban's original musical score. In 1986, Brazilian children’s music group

Trem da Alegria Trem da Alegria (Train of Happiness) was a children's musical band based in Brazil. During their tenure from 1984 to 1992, they released eight albums whose total sales surpassed six million copies. The band started in 1984 with Luciano Nassyn and ...

recorded a song about He-Man.

Reception

''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' is considered the most successful animated series ever made by Filmation. The show, as it was it was created to promote hyper-consumerism in children, left itself vulnerable to criticism. Many parent groups were also critical of what they saw as the show's homoeroticism. In 2009,

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

ranked the series as the 58th greatest animated show of all time in their Top 100 list.

Name in other languages

* In

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

"He-Man eta Unibertsoko Jaunak" * In Bosnian "He-Man i Gospodari svemira" ("Хи-Мен и Господари свемира") * In

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

"He-Man i els Senyors de l'Univers" * In

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

"太空超人" * In Croatian "He-Man i Gospodari svemira" * In

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

"Heman Og Førerne Af Universet" * In

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

"He-Man, en de meesters van het Universum" * In

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

"He-Man ja Maailmankaikkeuden Valtiaat" * In French "Musclor et les Maîtres de l'Univers" * In Galician "He-Man e os Amos do Universo" * In

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

** "He-Man und Masters of the Universe" (TV Version 1992) ** "He-Man und die Meister des Universums" (VHS Version) ** "He-Man – Im Tal der Macht" (TV Version 2002) * In

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

"Χι-Μαν Οι Κυριάρχοι Του Σύμπαντος" * In Hungarian Lovag és az univerzum védelmezői. * In

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

"הי-מן ושליטי היקום" * In

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

** "He-Man e i dominatori dell'universo" (Season 1) ** "He-Man e i padroni dell'universo" (Season 2) * In Macedonian "Hi-Men i Gospodarite na vselenata" ("Хи-Мен и Господарите на вселената") * In Montenegrin "Hi-Men i Gospodari svemira" ("Хи-Мен и Господари свемира") * In

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

"He-Man og mestere i universet" * In

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

"He-Man i Władcy Wszechświata" * In

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

** "He-Man e os Defensores do Universo" ** "He-Man e os Mestres do Universo" (Brazil) ** "He-Man e os Donos do Universo" (Portugal) * In

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

"He-Man și maeștrii universului" * In

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

"Hi-Men i Vlasteliny Vselennoy" ("Хи-Мен и Властелины Вселенной") * In Serbian "Hi-Men i Gospodari svemira" ("Хи-Мен и Господари свемира") * In Slovene "He-Man in Gospodarji vesolja" * In

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

** "He-Man y los Amos del Universo" (Latin America) ** "He-Man y los Masters del Universo" (Spain) * In

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

"He-Man och Universums Giganter" * In

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

"ฮีแมน จ้าวจักรวาล" * In Turkish "He-Man ve Evrenin Efendileri" * In

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

"Хі-Мен та Володарі Всесвіту"

Home media

In 1983-1986 RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video released the series in VHS and Beta. BCI Eclipse LLC (under its ''Ink & Paint'' classic animation entertainment label) (under license from

Entertainment Rights Entertainment Rights PLC (formally known as Sleepy Kids) was a British multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that specialized in TV-shows and cartoons, children’s media, films, and distribution. In May 2009, the company was ...

) released all 130 episodes of the original 1983 series of ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' on DVD in Region 1 in 2005/2006, in 4 volume sets. Each episode on BCI Ink & Paint's ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe'' DVD releases were uncut, unedited, fully restored and digitally remastered for optimum audio and video quality and presented in its original broadcast presentation and story continuity order. Each volume contains an extensive array of special features including documentaries, character profiles, commentaries, DVD-ROM features, trivia, photo galleries and more. As of 2009, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations. On December 10, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment announced that they had acquired the rights from

Classic Media Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Media ...

to re-release the series on DVD in America. They have subsequently re-released the complete first season in one eight-disc set as well as two smaller 20-episode volume releases. The complete second season was released on September 13, 2011. The 2002 series, composed of four discs; 960min, was also released in 2010 by Mill Creek Entertainment, and is titled ''Masters of the Universe: The Complete Series'' (ASIN B002DQL34G). Commemorating the 30th anniversary ''Masters of the Universe'' brand, Mill Creek Entertainment finally released the ''30th Anniversary Commemorative Collection of the Masters of the Universe'' DVD. The 22-disc set features all 130 episodes of the 1983 series, 20 fan-favorite episodes of the 1990 series, as well as all 39 episodes of the 2002 series. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment released all 130 episodes of the original 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series on DVD in Region 1 on October 1, 2019, as ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Complete Original Series''. This release includes "He-Man & She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword" and "He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special". In Region 4,

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...

released the entire series on DVD in Australia in 4 volume sets (similar to BCI Eclipse releases). These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print. A complete series box set was released by Madman on June 24, 2009; this is still available. The pilot episode, "Diamond Ray of Disappearance", has a minute or so of footage missing due to the master tapes being damaged. In the original version, after teleporting the King and Queen and Man-At-Arms away to another dimension, Skeletor turns the ray onto Orko, who gets stuck inside a vase which deflects the beam. Orko escapes to warn He-Man. This footage has not been lost; it is still existent on other media in circulation. However, complications over the rights to it prevented it from being inserted back into the DVD release.

Sequel

An adult

Original series '' Masters of the Universe: Revelation'', was released in 2021. It is a direct sequel to the 1983 TV series, though it also features characters from the original toyline and STAR/Marvel comics that never appeared in the series, such as Scare Glow, He-Ro, and Lt. Andra. ''Revelation'' was directed by

Kevin Smith Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...

and animated by

Powerhouse Animation Studios Powerhouse Animation Studios, Inc. is an American animation studio based in Austin, Texas. It was founded in April 2001 with a subsidiary called Powerhouse Animation LLC, established in summer of 2014. The company develops and produces tradition ...

. The series aired for 10 episodes, split between two "parts". A sequel series, ''Masters of the Universe: Revolution'', is in development.

Notes

References

External links

*
''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on January 27, 2016. {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s 1983 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1980s American science fiction television series American children's animated action television series American children's animated space adventure television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American children's animated superhero television series First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Masters of the Universe television series English-language television shows Action figures Television series about shapeshifting Television shows based on Mattel toys Television series set on fictional planets Television series by Filmation Television series by Universal Television Television series by Mattel Creations Westinghouse Broadcasting