He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021) - Gorgeous animation, shows respect to the original without being slavish to it.Masters of the Universe/200X - Great animation, Four Horseman designs with anime flourish gives the series a strong identity.He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983) - The one that started it all. Still good, the rotoscope animation is fun and is still eye catching, even if leading to the occasional weird walk cycle or odd perspective. The main issue is that because of weird regulations around kid's cartoons at the time the heroes are kind of bland, and a lot of the episodes are copy paste. The move away from the more Robert E. Howard, sword and sorcery style of the mini-comics and introducing the concept of Prince Adam being the secret identity of He-Man was a bad choice and is something that changed the tone of the mini-comics and is something that the franchise is still struggling to get away from. It takes He-Man and makes him more like a Conan garbed Superman rip-off.---this is the minimum line of what can be considered good----Revelation - The animation looks good for the most part, there's no denying that. Despite claiming to be a continuation of the '83 series it immediately sidelines He-Man, making Teela the focus and completely butchers her character. It also completely fucks up other characters like Orko, to the point where you have to question if the writing staff had actually seen the original series. The voice casting is either brilliant like Tony Todd as Scare-Glow or Lena Headey as Evil-Lyn, or horribly miscast like Kevin Conroy as Mer-Man. The worst part is it seems like Revelation holds a lot of contempt for the original series, like the original should be ashamed for not matching the sensibilities of modern society.I haven't seen The New Adventures of He-Man so I can't accurately rank it. From the chatter I hear it seems mainly just a confused brand continuation that barely resembles the original series.
I highly recommend Revolution, which is the sequel to Revelation. Unlike Revelation, the main focus is He-Man and Skeletor.It's also the 3rd He-Man series that got canceled right before She-Ra gets introduced. She seems to be cursed.
>>150288113I'd heard it was bad and mainly just has a lot of fanservice right at the end.>It's also the 3rd He-Man series that got canceled right before She-Ra gets introduced. She seems to be cursed.She-Ra's cartoon rights are exclusively owned by Dreamworks, so no other studio can use her. Curious to see what happens after the new movie. Maybe Mattel will look into reworking the deal.
>>150288154Obviously whatever rights Dreamworks has to She-Ra isn't ironclad because she literally appears as Despara in the final scene of Revolution, and you can see her in the artbook of the 2021 series with the plot synopsis of her pursuing Adam to Earth in the next season if it had continued.
>>150287959Revolution > 2021 > 2002 > Revelation > FilmationI don't think any of these are terribly good, though. MOTU never had a lot of creative success in my book. The 2002 series in particular is almost impressively dull, but I appreciate some of its designs. The 2021 is better than anyone could have guessed going in, but it still sometimes looks like a disposable Dreamworks project with an abundance of shitty canned animations reused over and over.
>>150288264>she literally appears as Despara in the final scene of RevolutionDespara is treated as a different entity though. So they can have Despara, but they couldn't refer to her as Adora or She-Ra.
>>150288570>with an abundance of shitty canned animations reused over and over.That is true, but it's also been true of cartoons going back decades. Even the original Filmation cartoon recycled animation constantly. Hell a lot of the rotoscoped animation was designed specifically for that purpose. I think He-Man is just one of those properties that might be destined to only resonate with a few people. Much like Conan, everyone has heard of Conan, most people that have seen the Schwarzenegger movie are fans of the movie, but not many people would consider themselves Conan fans. I do think the 2021 series has managed to get the mix of sci-fi and sword and sorcery much better than any other version so far though.
>>150288113He-Man also never gets to fight Hordak. 2002, only Grayskull, CGI, cancelled, Revoulution, Skeletor got him
>>150289341Can't have a sister, can't fight Hordak. He's lived.a tough life since 1987.
>>150287959He-man should be basically inaccessible to the Normie by the current year by how shallow and how lack of depth it has in anythingSince the Normie needs things to be deep, introspective, social commentary, gore, no baby faces allowed. Which is how Netflix shows are.not that he-man is actually good but you do have to be some kind of retro coded imagination autist to enjoy it in current yearAnime has crowded out all the interest In anything that is sword and planet and he -man like coded out from existence since anime is just a better product for the Norman.
>>150289248I like MOTU as a premise. I like some of the newer comics quite a bit. I'm not big on the toys because Mattel sucks ass but I like the concepts and designs. I just don't think the shows are great.
>>150289488This post makes feel like you have something against He-Man specifically.
>>150287959He-Man could have been as big with kids born around 1995 as TMNT 2003 of the people behind it had been creative and kid-focused as CGI, instead of acting like their core audience was men who remembered the original and wanted the same thing but less kiddy.
>>150287959New Adventures is better than Rev, but it's barely even a MOTU series. Beyond He-man and Skeletor it has the most nebulous ties to the franchise.
>>150289492>I like MOTU as a premise.Honestly, the original mini-comics had a level of grandeur to them that the Filmation cartoon immediately pissed up against the wall. Like see a naturally gifted runner get ready to start his Olympic journey, only to have the coach take a baseball bat to his knee after his first race.>I'm not big on the toys because Mattel sucks assMattel have made great strides in recent years and the MOTU toyline is the best it has ever been.
>>150289492>he doesnt like origins, mcx, new eternia masterverse, MOTUC, or the minisfucking plebian
>>150289526No I really like it but I understand why these types of universes are invisible to the Normie zoomer. I love how he-man the Filmation and toy line are.
>>150289684>these types of universes are invisible to the Normie zoomer.I think a large part of it is that people don't believe in magic anymore, and I don't mean like literally believe, but that thing where your heart still feels it. Like everyone knows Santa isn't really, but you still feel like if you went to the North Pole there's not a 0% chance you'd find Santa. But fantasy, swords, sorcery, the days of high adventure, nobody feels it in their heart anymore. That's why all modern fantasy is cynical bullshit like Game of Thrones or The Witcher.
>>150289533I'm convinced the He-Ro series getting shitcanned when it did permanently doomed the franchise. MOTU needed a Beast Wars of it's own and New Adventures was not it, not by a long shot.
>>150288570>Revolution over CGI, 200X, and Filmation
>>150289794>MOTU needed a Beast Wars of it's own200X feels like it could almost be that, but it came to late and didn't commit enough to having its own identity. That's partially why I like 2021 so much, because if Filmation is G1, 2021 is Prime.
>>150289543Origins is alright, or was. Masterverse isn't entirely bad but mostly blows relative to the competition. The 2002 Origins figures look like they might be winners, though. We'll see.>>150289539>the MOTU toyline is the best it has ever been.I agree. That's just not saying much because it's Mattel.
>>150289821That's an overarching issue with MOTU at large sadly. Anytime the series is in dire need of revitalization, Mattel will eventually budge, but it will always come far too late. It happened with the 1987 movie first and it's continued to happen ever since. CGI was a great victim of that. Had it released a decade earlier alongside TMNT2012 it would have been a huge hit. Dumping it quietly onto shitflix mid pandemic was a death sentence.200X really should have been a blueprint for future efforts to revive the series. It is in essence He-man's equivalent to Brave and the Bold, but the slavish devotion to toyline lore kind of prevents the other masters from truly shining. Regardless it's easily one of the best shows they ever did. Definitely my favorite.
>>150289801Yes. The Filmation show is borderline trash. 2002 manages to make Jackie Chan Adventures look like Samurai Jack. 2021 is Trollhunters with JRPG battle animations (though I still enjoyed it overall, despite the braindead Krass plot). Revolution isn't great but it was leaps and bounds better than Revelation.
>>150289829>not saying much because it's Mattel.Honestly I think in terms of quality and pricing, Mattel is stronger than Hasbro right now. They maybe not have the same license clout (though they have the DC license again next year), or the faceprinting on all their lines, but they don't fuck you on price like Hasbro and their quality control is definitely better. People are actively trying to buy less from Hasbro because of their bullshit, but MOTU goes strong.
>>150289829That's why I specified New Eternia. It's been the one true success of Masterverse thus far. Many options rival or outright mog the best Classics had to offer. Ditto on the upcoming 200X figures though. As much as I was hoping for poseable renditions of the 4HM sculpts Im really happy with the toon accurate sculpts.
>>150289850Actual crayon eater logic. Go back to your special ed class anon.
>>150289847I think Mattel's timing has always been garbage, but also they're kinda cursed by outside interference. The '87 movie was derailed because of Cannon's financial bullshit, the CGI series coming out during the pandemic was less a detriment to the cartoon itself, though Netflix's bullshit probably didn't help either, but it definitely fucked over toy sales. Still there's a new game coming soon, the movie next year, and according to a cashier I spoke to today (anecdotal as this is) apparently interest in the toys has picked up recently. So maybe we're on the cusp of a new golden era. I know people are excited as fuck for the new 200X toyline, so that's gonna sell well at least.
>>150289794>MOTU needed a Beast Wars of it's own and New Adventures was not it, not by a long shot.Lou Scheimer took this pitch to Mattel and DIC 7-8 years after Filmation was shut down, as Beast Wars and Extreme Ghostbusters came out, and Mattel was too oblivious to do anything with MOTU even when someone else did all the thinking for them. In later years at fan conventions before his death, Scheimer would pepper his reminiscences with "*sigh* Fuck Mattel."
>>150289854>Honestly I think in terms of quality and pricing, Mattel is stronger than Hasbro right now.I don't. G.I. Joe Classified is a much stronger line, and I don't even like G.I. Joe. The Black Series has gotten worse in terms of overall management and paint application in some places but they're still more fun to handle. I haven't touched a Masterverse figure since the line first started, though. It's possible they've buttoned things up over the last few years.>they have the DC license again next yearI fully expect Mattel to make everyone quickly long for McFarlane's stupidity.
>>150289847>200X really should have been a blueprint for future efforts to revive the series. It is in essence He-man's equivalent to Brave and the Bold, but the slavish devotion to toyline lore kind of prevents the other masters from truly shining.The 2002 writers whizzed any chance to excite kids down their legs with that slavish devotion to toyline lore.Post-TMNT and Power Rangers, child viewers expected a teenage leader of the heroes to have peers. The 2002 writers made everyone who had a 1982 or 83 toy old enough to be Adam's father, having fought Keldor and the 82-3 Evil Warriors alongside his father. The only exception was Teela, because she'd been established right after the 82 picture book-style minicomics as another toy's daughter.Would kids find such a cast compelling? Who cares! We're writing this for ourselves, not them.
>>150289903The late 90s early 00s were a dark time for Mattel, and the late 00s through the 2010s was marred by stupid decisions, blinded by their DC licence, and Scott Neitlich's retarded belief the MOTU wasn't viable as anything other than a Matty Collector line did a lot of damage to Mattel but MOTU especially.
>>150289863>Go back to your special ed class anon.I'm not going to pretend the 2002 show wasn't a confused low-effort sword-twirling soporific or that Filmation's sterile commercial didn't suck out almost all of the brand's appeal.
>>150289901I cant get over the fact they've waited exactly 40 years to make the new movie. Frankly I dont have high hopes for it, but I pray it rejuvenates interest in MOTU enough that the toylines can keep trotting along. Plenty of anons on /toy/'s Masters general have noted as much, but CGI really could have benefitted from getting released before Revelations. Rev really just left a turd in the punch bowl.
>>150289903I'm sadly all too aware of that. I similarly lamemt his failed efforts to produce a He-man pastiche in "He-Ro". You could easily argue that MOTU is such a cursed property it's bad luck even afflicts spiritual successors.
>>150289983I don't think character ages was really the problem. The problem is that the 2002 show looked dopey (kids in the early 00s were not as interested in naked men) and was almost shockingly boring. I don't think there's much more to it than that. The face of it turned kids off and the content frankly didn't warrant their attention even if they did tune in. I don't think it's the worst show ever made or anything, but compared to a lot of other things kicking around in 2002-2003 it's not very good.
>>150289983pretty much yeah. it sucks too because all the 200X redesigns were perfect updates for the entire cast. everything was in place for the series to succeed, and in the end it was sidelined for thr sake of older fans. it's a shame.
A timing problem for Mattel:Lego Ninjago is as worthy a reimagining of MotU as the CGI cartoon, so that needed to come out by Fall 2010.4-part pilot: early MotU. Garmadon = Skeletor. Since Ninjago also copies Power Rangers, He-Man's role starts with Kai (red), but some elements end up assigned to Garmadon's son (green).This was followed by a 13-episode season called Rise of the Snakes, copying MotU's toy-based story beats established by 200X.The Overlord established in Season 2 = Hordak.And it just kind of grew from there because Season 2's ratings and toy sales were too good to end it.
Zoomers love Filmation Skeletor whenever they rediscover him via the internet. I don't buy that they crippled MotU's appeal by being different from the earliest minicomics.
>>150290494Not enough people acknowledge just how much of a success Ninjago's been. It's really gone onto become the world eater of toylines. It's as if lego identified every cool thing boys like and threw it all in a blender only for properties like MOTU, Thundercats, and Bionicle to recoil in horror as their breakfast, lunch, and dinner get eaten forever more. Ninjago didnt just win, they teabagged and defiled their opponents for all time.
>>150291551I love the minicomics and I think there should have been a happy compromise between them and the filmation continuity, but I cannot deny the infectious charm of the filmation series. It radiates the exact sort of lovable goofiness that many of its peers still do. It's hard to hate.
>>150289850>The Filmation show is borderline trashSo you're saying it's better than the kwvin smith ones, ok, glad you cleared that up
>>150287959Filmation, then the movie despite being not like anything else, then 200x I guess.>>150289912Haven't been keeping up, but the Turtles of Grayskull line had some legit cool figures.
>>150292138based
>>150292204For me it's 200X, then Filmation, CGI, then the 87' movie, and finally NA. The Smith shit doesnt even register in my rankings. It's a fart in the wind as far as I'm concerned.
Were the Turtles of Grayskull comics good?
Fun fact: Skeletor never made a bone pun in the 80s. 130 episodes to make up dialogue for him and it never happened.It started with parodies like Skullmaggedon in Double Dragon Neon and found its way back to the original in 2021 cartoons.
>>150289983>Would kids find such a cast compelling?Speaking as someone who actually was a kid back then, yes I did. Kids don't actually sperg out about adult protagonists as much as you seem to think. Hell you seem out of touch considering by 2002, the last few Power Rangers series at the time had adult protagonists who worked jobs and everything.
Alfredo Alcala and later Earl Norem were hired to do comic art and oil paintings for Masters of the Universe because of their work on Savage Sword of Conan.
>>150294030Earl Norem also got to work on Transformers storybooks back in the 80s too, his work was awesome.
>>150293193It's other who like to call him bonehead.Most people just talked in situational quips and not "Im plant guy so I have to make plant puns" way.
>>150291551It's amusing sometimes. But as disposable and goofy as the minicomics and figures themselves often are there's an undeniable pulp aspect of the minicomics/concept that the Filmation show just doesn't capture, nevermind the quality of the show itself.The 2002 series also kind of has this problem despite having 20 years and a more diverse TV ecosystem to embolden itself. It's alarming in how bland and boring it is to watch.
>>150294544>But as disposable and goofy as the minicomics and figures themselves often are there's an undeniable pulp aspect of the minicomics/concept that the Filmation show just doesn't capture,Yeah, that was what they were going for at the beginning when they hired Alfredo Alcala. Pulp barbarians running around in loincloths with apes and inhuman sorcerers in unpopulated landscapes.>The 2002 series also kind of has this problem despite having 20 years and a more diverse TV ecosystem to embolden itself. It's alarming in how bland and boring it is to watch.There were a few episodes I didn't find boring.. and looking them up, they were all written by Larry DiTillio.
