Saturday Supercast 21 - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Pt 1
August 14th, 2009Hello guys and gals, we’re back this week with episode 21 of the Saturday Supercast! In this episode, the first of a 2-part series, Jerzy, Kevin and Shawn begin exploring another touchstone of 80s animation, season 1 of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
In the series, He-Man and his friends, the Sorceress, Man-At-Arms, Teela, Ram Man, Orko, and Stratos wage an endless battle defending Castle Greyskull and the planet Eternia against Skeletor and his evil warriors, Beastman, Evil-Lyn, Trap Jaw, Merman, and Triklops, who want to conquer and rule the world. The series, produced by Filmation Studios in 1983, was a landmark cartoon mixing fantasy and science-fiction, reinvigorating children’s television with a sense of action and adventure, as well as helping to instill a solid sense of morality for an entire generation of kids. Masters of the Universe was also one of the first series to break through the governmental ban on interweaving existing toy lines and cartoons, not to mention paving the way for first-run syndicated animation, defining the distribution format for shows through the 80s and 90s.Join us as we deconstruct the overall series, and dive into three of our favorite episodes:
The Diamond Ray of Disappearance…
Teela’s Quest…
and The Wizard of Stone Mountain…
In this episode we touch on a lot of the talent that made He-Man possible including series producers Lou Scheimer (who also voiced half of the cast of characters including Orko and Stratos) and Hal Sutherland, voice actors John Erwin (He-Man and Beastman), Alan Openheimer (Skeletor and Man-At-Arms), and Linda Gary (Teela, the Sorceress and Evil-Lyn), and some of the writers, directors and artists such as Paul Dini, Larry DiTillio, Tom Sito, Bruce Timm, Robby London, and Michael Reaves.
We also discuss the Masters of the Universe toy line, its inventor Roger Sweet, and its packaging, as well as Star Wars, Clash of the Titans, and Space 1999 toys, getting toys when you’re home sick as a kid, Jack Kirby’s 4th World, the MOTU mini-comics, rotoscoped animation, Barbarian fantasies in the early 80s (including Thundarr and Conan), the 2002 Mike Young Productions He-Man cartoon, how easy and boring it is to make fun of the He-Man cartoon, alter egos and how Prince Adam is an important aspect to the ideal of the He-Man mythos, the myth of Robert Johnson and his fight against the devil, Andy Mangel’s excellent special features on the BCI Eclipse editions of the original He-Man cartoon on DVD, and our friends at the Horror Etc. podcast.
If you’re curious about watching this great series you can purchase a copy of season 1-part 1, or season 1-part 2 at Amazon, or head on over to Hulu where you can watch 13 of the 1st season episodes for free.
As for us, well you can find more of Jerzy’s work at:
Make Like a Tree Comics
jdrozd.blogspot.com
Art & Story podcast
Kevin is a freelance illustrator, comic creator, and podcaster whose work can be found at:
Kevin Cross.net
Big Illustration Party Time Podcast
…and Shawn is a blogger and irregular podcaster whose stuff you can find at:
Branded in the 80s.com
If you have any questions, comments, or heck, even complaints, you can drop us a line at Saturday Supercast!
The Sugary Serials theme song was preformed by Umberto.
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August 14th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
You guys just made my day!
August 14th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I don’t think the brother aspect ever showed up in the remake cartoon. It was planned for the toy mini-comics but never got that far before the line was canceled, as far as I know. We do get the further origin of Keldor’s skull head later on, and Hordak’s involvement.
As far as favorite characters, mine was Orko and I don’t care who disagrees with me. Orko was fun and I wonder what life was like for him back on Trolla. So much mystery, and a fun character.
August 14th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Mighty Lark - Can’t ask for much more than that. Thanks1
August 19th, 2009 at 2:25 am
ShadowWing - Hm, I could’ve sworn we got the brothers reveal in the cartoon…
Anyway, though I’m partial to the more mysterious characters like Stratos and Zodak, I have to agree that Orko is a lot of fun. My only complaint is that the bungling is a bit over-done, but then I guess that’s what he there for…
August 19th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Man, Guys! Great podcast! Great insight and seriously, your commentary (W/supporting clips from ep) is in alot of ways more satisfying than the actual episodes. Thank you guys for making such great content! Hope you guys keep doing more:^)
August 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 pm
This makes me want you guys to record official show-by-show commentaries that I can watch with each episode. This is one of my favorite podcasts, and I listen to a lot.
Thanks!
September 7th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
Wow guys this was an excellent review of the whole He Man cartoon world. I was so impressed with how thourough you all were and it was really funny as well. I do wish you could do more in depth reviews like this of more He Man episodes and transformers, you guys rock, keep it up.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:07 am
Hey Mike, thanks! We do have a second episode featuring He-Man where we dig into 4 more episodes. We’ve also got a fun list of shows lined up that we’re working on, so keep an ear open for the next episode in the near future.
September 14th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Hi guys, excellent episode. Thank you! I completely agree with you that He-Man’s voice is a perfect blend of strength, kindness, and sincerity.
October 21st, 2009 at 4:59 am
Rob - Thanks for the kind words man. And don’t consider this lip service, I listen to the Paunch Stevenson show, so it’s cool knowing you’re enjoying the Supercast as well.