"The New Adventures of He-Man" (1990) TV series 1990-1991

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Writers:

Terrence McDonnell (written by) (1990) and
Steven J. Fisher (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

By the power of Eternia, He-Man returns to save the future!

Plot:

The second series of He-Man, taking place 10,000 years into the future. To protect the Planet Primus from Floog and Skeletor.

Plot Keywords:

He Man | Future | Magic | Advanced Technology | Character Name In Title

Cast

Don Brown	...	Hydron / Gepple / Optikk / Quakke / Kayo / Vizar / Werban
Gary Chalk	...	He-Man / Artilla / President Pell / Alcon / Sgt. Krone / Andros / Gross
Ted Cole	...	Spinwit / Slushead / Karatti / Staghorn / Gleep
Michael Donovan	...	General Nifel
Tracy Eisner	...	Drissi
Mark Hildreth	...	Caz
Anthony Holland	...	Master Sebrian
Campbell Lane	...	Skeletor / Sagitar
Scott McNeil	...	Flipshot / Butthead / Krex / Captain Zang
Doug Parker	...	Prince Adam / Hoove / Wall Street / Meloc (1990) (voice)
Alvin Sanders	...	Flogg / Tuskador
Venus Terzo	...	Critta / Mara / The Sorceress

Also Known As:

"Le nuove avventure di He-Man" (Italy)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:G

Company:

DiC Enterprises

Quotes:

Skeletor: DON'T CALL ME BONEHEAD!

Movie Connections:

Follows He-Man and the Battle for Primus (1990) (TV)

He-Man to the Future

The funny thing about the He-Man verse like with most entertainment franchises is there throughout the years seemed to be these different camps formed. Most like myself prefer and forever love and party down with the original He-Man. Some even love the spin off She-Ra; there is now this small but currently growing camp around the He-Man revival. And then of course there are those little trolls out there that really like the New Adventures of He-Man.

The story goes like this a distant planet from the far future called Primus. And evil race called The Mutant's want to conquer and enslave their planet, so a couple of warriors travel back in time to find a powerful warrior to help them and of course that warrior is He-Man. Unfortunately just to make the problems of Primus worse Skelator tags along. So now He-Man must once again do battle against Skellator and his forces of darkness to save the future.

Like a lot of sequels, this show was unfairly overlooked and underrated over the years. I'll admit I actually like this sequel but like a lot of people at the same time I felt a little underwhelmed by it, it doesn't quite match up to my expectations, I'll get at that latter. This sequel this time was more sci-fi/fantasy focused than fantasy/sci-fi as the original. Has a lot of pluses though which have literally taken thing up a notch in the franchise. From the animation which is just beautiful and revolutionary for it's time, reminiscent of the Japanese Anime we have now. The characters flowed and moved a lot smoother which made those action sequences a lot more sophisticated, background details were just beautiful and believable. Like with Eternia, Primus looked like it could not just be a real place, an evolved version of Eternia. The technology was great there were a lot of cool vehicles that I would of loved to test drive.

But most of all the story structure itself changed a bit and for the better. The plot actually felt like there was some forward movement because episodes didn't feel so episodic anymore because there were some cliff hanging plot arcs. But also at times there were a few of those episodic episode so at times the show had a creative flexibility. The characters He-Man and Skelator feel just a bit more fleshed out yet the same. He-Man was still well He-Man, only at times Price Adam in some places had a more active role. Skelator was still Skelator but seems to be a little more sarcastic and a smart alec sort of has a persona similar toward actor Jack Nicholson. Sourceress was still around mainly in cameo appearances whenever both Adam and her telepathically talk. And even some of the new characters mainly the villains were pretty good as well and literally stole the show. Like Slush-Head who is well as his name describes him. Flogg who is literally a failed Commander. Both have the mannerism of overexagerated 1920's gangsters, they always want things to go their way but unfortunately the problem with them is their just not that good at their job or make one too many stupid mistakes which cost them. As well as a new female fatale counterpart (possible new significant other for Skelator) Creta who is a devious dish.

However the show though had a couple of weaknesses. In a way it sort of had that same problem that "Space 1999" had. The show felt a little uneven in direction like it couldn't quite decide what it wanted to be, there seemed to be a improper balance in comedy and action sometimes. The villains and their plots are really good but there isn't enough of a threatening quality attached to it, which makes a serious situation at times seem unnaturally comical sometimes.

But the biggest flaw were a few of the good guy characters The Galatic Guardian's and anyone else good with them, their all rather wooden and not as three dimensional as the originals. We just don't get to know them enough to appreciate them because they don't always have a lot to do dramatically (sometimes professionally). Part of that problem could be in putting too many good guy characters in one episode not enough of their share of the pie (those damn two robots we could do without), that's troubling because there just isn't nearly enough of a friendship and family dynamic always one of the best things about He-Man. Although a few characters that I really liked were those Three Stogies like scientists who were both smart and holy fools at the same time and Mara who became if not quite smoothly a lot more interesting as the show went further and due to the way both He-Man and her look at one another it's suspect whether there could be something more going on between them(well I think I'm just reading into it too much).

Sill the show does none the less have some really good episodes which do a lot for not just the plot but work on a dramatic level, like one where Skelator actually for once wins one, Prince Adam actually being challenged in character because of running away from a battle just to turn to He-Man which of course turns out to have a consequence, an episode where Telia come to the future to help (shame she couldn't of stayed), and finally the show actually had a real conclusion to the saga (though hint of a sequel that never came).

I still prefer the original over this sequel. The sequel has pizazz but lacks charm, it doesn't surpass the original but it's good in it's own way and is worth a try. He-Man still has the power second time around.

Rating: 3 stars