YMMV / He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983)

• And You Thought It Would Fail: Lou Scheimer recounted through interviews that the major networks passed on the show. When CBS, NBC, and ABC turned down the Masters of the Universe cartoon, he decided to have it air in first-run syndication through various independent TV networks across the United States - a move unheard of at the time. When the show turned out to be a smash hit, Scheimer recalled that the major networks became angry and wouldn't speak to him.
• Audience-Coloring Adaptation: The original minicomics' depictions of the MOTU universe and its characters have been largely overshadowed by this cartoon's interpretation. Most notably is Skeletor, who's a dead-serious villain in his original incarnation but the wisecracking, goofy and snarky with a nasally voice depiction given here is more or less the definitive interpretation of his character, with every single media after taking a lot from this one even in those where he's much more of a deadly and competent villain.
• Awesome Music:
  • The main theme song, composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban. Very catchy and iconic, it is probably the most well remembered element of the whole He-Man franchise. Here's the full version of it.
  • The Latin American Spanish dub does one better. Chilean singer Memo Aguirre actually wrote and performed his own original lyrics for the theme song. Even if you don't speak Spanish, it adds a whole new level of awesome.
• Base-Breaking Character: Orko. Some fans compare him to Jar Jar Binks and similar characters, but others adore him and find his antics comical and cute. And for what it's worth, Orko was somewhat useful when he actually got his powers to work right, unlike some other sidekicks of that time period. We're looking at YOU, Snarf.
• Broken Aesop: The original series was the real king of the Broken Aesop, sometimes making and breaking an Aesop over the span of one or two scenes, or having the And Knowing Is Half the Battle scene clash with the episode — or even the series premise.
  • A perfect example of this is in the first episode The And Knowing Is Half the Battle message is to work hard and not take shortcuts. In the episode Skeletor tries to take over the palace using The Lost Diamond Ray of Disappearance. In the message following the episode He-Man chews out Skeletor because he tried to take a shortcut instead of working hard. Take a shortcut?! Skeletor literally found an item the rest of Eternia called the LOST, meaning THEY COULDN'T FIND IT and yet he did.
• Can't Un-Hear It: The performance of Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor has become so iconic that it has actually bled into other comedic skeleton characters such as Skullmageddon (Sean Velasco uses a very Skeletor-like voice) and Papyrus (who is often voiced by players with in a similar vein to Skeletor).
• Common Knowledge: A commonly-shared bit of trivia is that the show and toyline were originally meant to be tie-ins for Conan the Barbarian (1982), but both were hastily changed into an original IP when someone noticed the folly of creating children's merchandise around a violent and sexually explicit film most children wouldn't be allowed to watch. While the franchise did take some inspiration from Conan (naturally, with him being the Ur-Example and Trope Codifier of the Barbarian Hero archetype) and the myth seems plausible enough to the layperson (the name "He-Man" does sound a bit like it was thought up in a hurry), the truth is that He-Man was always supposed to be He-Man, as the character's development predates the movie by a few years. Due to Production Lead Time, the cartoon was already in the works well before the film came out. While the story about Mattel considering the idea of a Conan toyline and then rejecting it is true, and the idea that it might have inspired He-Man actually caused a lawsuit, Mattel handily won said lawsuit, noting that not only had they been working on He-Man for some time, but He-Man and Conan have relatively little in common (if anything, one of the reasons they rejected a Conan toyline seems to have been precisely because it would compete with He-Man).
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Scare Glow didn't even appear in the animation but toys of him have consistently sold out, leading to ridiculous prices on the secondary market. Apparently fans just like a mysterious glowing skeleton, even if he's inconsequential to the mythos.
• Gateway Series: Set the pace for both Merchandise-Driven cartoons and the daily syndication market for animation in The '80s.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • While the show is often only remembered for its campiness in the United States, it was extremely popular in India to the point where it was the most popular cartoon on Doordarshan.
  • It's fondly recalled in some Spanish-speaking Latin-American countries as well.
  • And in the United Kingdom. Though the cheesiness does certainly play a part in that too.
  • Ex-Yugoslavia also has very fond memories of the cartoon, thanks to a really neat dub. Sadly it only lasted 13 (out of 65) episodes, as it aired just before the turbulent 90s.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: While it was already plenty heartwarming, Adam reuniting Adora with King Randor and Queen Marlena is even more so in light of Masters of the Universe: Revelation. In that continuity (especially since Adora was scrubbed out of it), King Randor (while he would later regret it) never told Adam he was proud of him and almost never told him how much he loved him. Here, once Adora gives Adam (not He-Man, Adam) all the credit for bringing her back, Randor tells Adam how happy he has made him and gives Adam a big hug.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • "Trouble in Trolla" had Cringer saying "Oh, joy", before a certain other cat (although Cringer was being sarcastic when he said it^note That, and he isn't as stupid as Stimpy is...).
  • Just realizing how much a character called He-Man resembles a Magical Girl^note Transformation Trinket, stock Transformation Sequence in which his clothes come off, talking animal companion, etc. is enough to invoke this reaction.
  • The fact that the show developed an LGBT Fanbase, as mentioned below, comes off as this when one considers that its spinoff She-Ra: Princess of Power eventually got a reboot that featured multiple openly LGBT characters.
  • There was a rumor that the Masters of the Universe franchise was originally intended to be based on the film Conan the Barbarian (1982), which was later shown to be untrue. In Brazilian dub of the cartoon, Adam/He-Man is voiced by Garcia Junior, who also provided the voice for Conan in the movie.
• LGBT Fanbase: By the Ancients, where to begin?
  • It's a World of Muscle Men where standard attire includes Underwear of Power (often made of fur) for men or a Leotard of Power for women. Among the regularly appearing characters, only Happily Married King Randor and Queen Marlena wear clothes providing at least a reasonable amount of coverage. Orko is also an exception, being a small unseen alien.
  • Prince Adam is at best a Camp Straight, having a pageboy haircut and wearing a pink vest and lilac colored pantyhose, all of which was pushing it even for the early-80's. He has a secret life that he conceals from his family, particularly his father, which is a source of tension in their relationship. But his mother is implied to know the truth about him. Upon transforming into He-Man he basically butches-up, but strips down — to just the fur underwear and a harness. He also gains fabulous secret powers.
  • Male characters greatly outnumber female characters. Yet despite their rarity, and the fact that they are often smoking hot Action Girl types, they do not seem to attract much attention. In real life try putting a woman who looks and dresses like Teela in charge of a platoon of heterosexual male soldiers. The Royal Guard are either very well-disciplined or else very gay!
  • Most male characters are single. Man-At-Arms in particular is a long-time bachelor who raised an adopted daughter. He also knows about and encourages Prince Adam's secret life as He-Man.
  • "Fisto"? Seriously?
  • Queen Marlena, an astronaut from Earth, comes to Eternia in a spacecraft named the Rainbow Explorer!
  • Basically the Homoerotic Subtext is so strong that it remains a source of jokes to this day.^note Note: while the clips have been edited for lip-sync, all the art and frames of animation are straight from the show. Yes, even the glitter rainbow background.
• Memetic Molester:
  • There's a disturbing scene in the episode "Prince Adam No More" with a tentacle monster implied to be this. Mer-man gets shoved into a cell with it at one point, and can be clearly seen adjusting his, uh, loincloth after emerging a few minutes later. What the hell happened in that cell?!!
  • Whiplash might qualify as well. Between him trying to keep a Bird-Woman as a 'pet' in "Betrayal of Stratos" and making outright lewd comments to Trap-Jaw in "Hunt For He-Man", if he's not this he's certainly a Depraved Bisexual (or a repressed homosexual in denial — whichever works).
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Many agree that anyone that visits YouTube frequently will stumble across this. In other words, "HEYYEYAAEYAAAEYAEYAA"
  • "I AM NOT NICE!"
  • "By the Power of Grayskull!!"
  • Skeletor Facts are a meme where Skeletor states some odd or disturbing piece of information, then leaves. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.
  • If there's a skeleton character in a comedic work, especially if they're evil, chances are they're going to mimic Skeletor's voice from this cartoon.
  • "He-Man is a Magical Girl!" He has a transformation trinket (The Sword of Power), a transformation catchphrase ("By the Power of Greyskull!"), a sexier costume change, a talking animal companion (Cringer), and never uses the sword to attack people, making it more of a wand. So he fits right in as a Magical Girl Warrior.
• Misaimed Fandom: To this day, some people online still mantain the perception of the original He-Man animated series being some sort of Conan-esque "hypermasculine" series, with an aggressive, totally sexist protagonist. The thing is, He-Man was never like that in original cartoons. He never displayed any sort of Blood Knight tendencies, or behaved in a sexist manner towards women—he was a deeply polite and respectful Ideal Hero who would directly speak to the audience about the episode's moral. Said perception seems to come from memes and online rants about 80s cartoons being "manlier" rather than modern "politically correct" cartoons.
• Narm Charm: Skeletor's Took a Level in Kindness in the Christmas Special. Cheesy as it is, there's nevertheless something awesome about a Grim Reaper-like supervillain becoming a champion of Christmas (and it doesn't hurt that he Took a Level in Badass during said special).
  "I must...save...the children!"
  • The whole series, really. Many fans are fully aware of its very dated animation and extremely simplistic storytelling, but love it precisely for these reasons.
• Rooting for the Empire: Many fans of the show wanted Skeletor to win due to being Laughably Evil, Surrounded by Idiots, and losing constantly.
• Signature Scene: Every time Prince Adam transforms into He-Man. BY THE POWER OF GRAYSKULL! I HAVE THE POWER!
• So Bad, It's Good: Like many other syndicated cartoons from the same era, both the writing and animation are less than stellar, but there are plenty of viewers who find the series to be charming precisely for that.
• Tear Jerker:
  • In "Teela's Quest", Teela finds out her birth mother is the Sorceress of Grayskull, however, in order to protect this secret from those who'd want to take advantage of it and to make sure Teela was ready to take her place, the Sorceress erases Teela's memory. With a single tear falling down her cheek, she says, "She will only remember that her mother was a woman who loved her very much."
  • In "The Problem With Power" Skeletor tricks He-Man into believing he killed an innocent bystander. Adam is destroyed by guilt over this, feeling he betrayed his promise to be the hero of Eternia and tossing away his sword in a very somber (and surprisingly well-animated, for the show) scene, vowing to never become He-Man again.
    • From the same episode, the goodbye hug between Teela and Man-at-Arms, when she chooses to go on a suicide mission to destroy Skeletor's portal.
  • Seeing Queen Marlena cry in "The Secret of the Sword", when Hordak and Skeletor kidnapped Adora, losing her daughter again not long after she's returned home.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Sy-Klone only appeared in two episodes and he wasn't even part of the main plots.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Skeletor. The poor guy lost so much and had such terrible employees that the fans and the writers both felt bad for him, even though he was the villain. In fact, fans felt so bad that they would actually send in letters asking if the writers could let Skeletor win just once in a while, and after a while the show's writers did a few Enemy Mine episodes because censorship at the time meant that the only way Skeletor was allowed to have any victories was if he helped He-Man defeat a mutual threat. Thankfully later versions of Skeletor do not have this problem. (Unfortunately at the cost of his sympathetic traits)
• Values Resonance: Quite a few of the morals in the series have aged very well. Wizard of Stone Mountain is a pretty damning piece about the Entitled to Have You mentality and emphasizing the importance of the ability of women to decline the advances of an unwanted suitor is arguably even more widely circulated in the post 2010s than it was in the original decade the show aired.

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