I’m a little late with my final advent entry. A combination of not being able to get off work early, Christmas parties, and present wrapping meant that blogging had to be shifted down the priorities list yesterday.
Still, I couldn’t leave the series without doing:
[Open the door / Close the door]
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
“By the power of Greyskull”
Not to be confused with He Man (何曼), a chinese military commander in the peasant rebellion against the Han dynasty in 220AD (it’s true, look it up). No, this is something far more significant than a legendary chinese rebel who’s name has managed to live on throughout nearly two thousand years of history. We’re talking Saturday morning TV here. We’re talking shoddy poor quality animation. We’re talking a cultural phenomenon that still resounds today in the very soul of the entire globe (providing the globe consists purely of Western males between the ages of 25 and 35 that is). We’re talking He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
I am Adam, Prince of Eternia, Defender of the Secrets of Castle Greyskull. This is Kringer, my fearless friend. Fabulous, secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said: “By the Power of Greyskull!”
He-Man, He-Man . . . I have the power!
Kringer became the mighty BattleCat and I became He-Man, the most powerful man in the Universe! Only three others share this secret . . . Our friends the Sorceress, Man-at-Arms, and Orko. Together we defend Castle Greyskull from the evil forces of Skeletor. . . . He-Man!
If that quote didn’t provoke a well of nostalgia bubbling up in your heart then you are clinically dead. Well, either dead or you’re not in that western male 25-35 year old demographic (you freak). He-Man was the king of the toy marketing cartoons, rivaled perhaps only by Transformers.
The toys were originally designed as a line for Conan the Barbarian in order to tie in with the 1982 Schwarzenegger film, but Mattel got cold feet about the sex and violence associated with Conan and decided to use the toys for something else. And boy were we glad they did. I even have it on relatively good authority that they stand up to repeated viewing even twenty years later, although I have my doubts about that. However I did sneak a couple of episodes from the Thundercats DVD I got my brother for Christmas and found them surprisingly enjoyable, so you never know.
A live action He-Man movie is rumored to be in pre-production for a release in 2009.
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So that’s it, the end of the All That Comes With It advent colander. You can all start reading the blog again now.
I truly enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Merry Christmas!
Avitable’s last blog post..Someone’s birthday
Thats ok, I already ate the chocolate that I bought as your christmas present.
Sam’s last blog post..Ah the Nook
And here I thought that was ThundaRR the Barbarian. Which came first, Thundar or He-Man?
Dan, I hope you enjoy Dr. Who! Seriously, it’s all I can do to force myself to go to bed instead of trawling the video posting world for the first sign of part one. I have watched every trailer I can find and I am perhaps a little more than healthily obsessed.
Organic Mama’s last blog post..Ten Things Tuesday: a Jew at Christmas
ha! I’m 23 (almost 24..2 months to go) but I also fall into the category of nostalgic western males ;) As said before..we lag behind a bit when it comes to buying tv-series.
Arjan’s last blog post..Merry christmas & a happy new year!!!
I had way too much of this He-Man crap for my own good, all of which was sold in a garage sale many years ago. Not just tons of figures, but the Castle of Grayskull and Snake Mountain as well.
Holmes’s last blog post..A Missed Opportunity
Wow - a He-Man movie? I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised.
Maybe they’ll make a Knight Rider movie too…
The movie was originally going to be directed by john woo, but i don’t think it is any more.
they already have a new knightrider car for the film…so it’s probably coming *too* soon.
I hope the He-man film won’t be anything like the modern he-man cartoon…cause that sucked.
Arjan’s last blog post..Merry christmas & a happy new year!!!
Once again, I am too old to catch all your trips down memory lane, Dan. I missed the Grayskull era and even vaguely remember hating it. I know that this is sacrilege…sorry!
Dan Leone’s last blog post..Seek and ye shall find?
I’m a bit older than this show too, but I do remember hearing “By the power of Greyskull!” blasting from our TV set while my little brother watched it.
Jeff’s last blog post..Winter
C’mon, are you lot telling me none of you remember the original live action version - Masters of the Universe with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and Courtney Cox was in it too? I think I even saw it twice… on tv of course.
I remember that. It was a bit scary, if memory serves.