This kitten has claws...

Here is a lovely illustration of Catra by Robin Davies, taken from the She-Ra Ladybird book "Spirit is kidnapped." You'll notice that the color of her attire, mainly her mask, differs from the cartoon. But that evil glare combined with the fact that she's brandishing a whip makes Catra a winner in my book!


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Yeeowww!

If you go back to my Blog entry The cowardly cat's point of view, you will see the moment Cringer witnessed Prince Adam transform into He-Man in the cartoon. In issue thirty-eight of the UK Masters of the Universe comic The Secret Files of Scrollos dealt with how the Heroic Warriors were formed, and part of the story showed how Cringer became Battle Cat for the first time. Even though the origin differed to the cartoon this shot of Cringer watching Adam become He-Man is very much like the "Battlecat" episode!


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Spikor poses!

In He-Man's average season two episode "The Games" director Richard Trueblood decided to animate Spikor quite wildly, and the character struck pose after pose!

Skeletor introduces the Evilgizer to increase the evil in his not-so-infamous allies. The whole point of the machine is to make Spikor satisfactorily villainous for the Bendarians. The problem is that when Spikor falls out of the magic chamber, he seems to be no more evil than when he went in. As the Evilgizer activates we see Spikor going through all sorts of pain as he is bombarded with some sort of energy. The poses he strikes in this one scene alone look fantastic!




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It should also be noted that the ease with which Filmation animators move Spikor is astounding. His spikes represent a special challenge in that they change with the viewpoint. Some can be pointing far way, while others are pointed squarely at the camera.

The other side of the mountain...

Aside from "The Rainbow Warrior" being one of the best He-Man episodes, it also had some of the most interesting visuals of the series. Possibly the most noticeable shot in the episode that really catches the eye is the view of Snake Mountain from the other side! But Gwen Wetzler and the Filmation artists didn't just go for a flat static image, they decided to view Snake Mountain from a low angle, having the mountain partially silhouetted by the moon, and creating a wonderfully deep parallax panning shot. The end result is one of the best-looking images in the entire series!


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The Sword of Power?

In the season two episode "Just a Little Lie" Prince Adam and Teela are taking care of some children. On close inspection of this image you can see that the young boy has a miniature version of the Sword of Power! This shot is the only time we see the young boy with the sword that it was obviously a visual joke by one of the Filmation artists.


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Icer's "roar."

In season two's "The Ice Age Cometh" one-shot He-Man villain Icer features heavily in the snow-based episode. Towards the conclusion of the story Icer pursues the heroes, and from the image below you can see that this guy is no pushover; he's full of rage! However the image below shows him to be roaring, when in fact the sound that comes out is anything but!

For your listening pleasure, Icer's "roar."


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21 years ago to this very day...

21 years ago to this very day Pam Vincent sent this memo to Robert Lamb regarding his work on She-Ra's season one. This memo was probably commonplace at Filmation, and whilst mildly exciting for the employees that received them, it is more exciting for us, as we see a writer being informed what screen credits he was going to receive.


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Jukka and Mike Bock take on Faker!

Visitors to this Blog took up the challenge and colored the Faker coloring book image...I think you'll agree that these are both awesome! :)

Jukka Issakainen

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Mike Bock

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Evil Robotic He-Man Imposter (again)!

I looked back at the Evil Robotic He-Man Imposter! post and couldn't resist coloring it myself - Enjoy Faker in all his glory - And tomorrow I'll be posting the image as colored by some of the visitors to this Blog...

Is it me, or is this Blog becoming very Faker-orientated? :)


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Panthor's armor?

As I said in a previous post the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series Guide was given to stations wishing to pick up the show for broadcast. Like the Series Bible it contains lots of character histories, early conceptual drawings, and episodes that were never made. Here I present the earliest design of Skeletor's pet Panthor! You will notice immediately that the original design was intending for Panthor to be a direct clone of Battle Cat minus the stripes. You will also notice the odd color scheme; an actual black panther, with purple armor. Fortunately the Filmation character designers saw sense, ditched the helmet, and made him the evil, vicious, purple panther we all know and love...or should that be fear?!


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Evil Robotic He-Man Imposter!

I always thought that this illustration of Faker from one of the Masters of the Universe coloring books was quite dynamic looking - And if anyone feels like coloring this image I'll send you a big nice scan! :)


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Happy Valentine's Day! :)

Here's a little something I whipped up in Adobe Photostop last night...Enjoy! :)


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The Sorceress?!

The He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Series Guide was given to stations wishing to pick up the show for broadcast. Like the Series Bible it contains lots of character histories, early conceptual drawings, and episodes that were never made. Here I present the earliest design of the Sorceress. Finding a trace of the final Filmation Sorceress in this drawing is like looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack! The slightly Egyptian design of the character does remind me somewhat of the Sorceress that appeared in the most recent He-Man and the Masters of the Universe animated series...


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Man-E-Faces: Unmasked!

In the 1985 UK Masters of the Universe Annual in a story titled "The Tale of Man-E-Faces" we actually get to see what Eternia's greatest actor looks like without his costume. The accompanying picture to the story shows Man-E-Faces bowing before King Randor and Queen Marlena, shortly before being cursed by Skeletor.


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Faker "corrected" model sheet!

In "The Shaping Staff" the evil Faker seems to be largely a diversion for the episode, having nothing to do with the Shaping Staff itself. His appearance is so fleeting that it attains the notion of being an add-on or an afterthought. The concept of there being an evil He-Man is so interesting that we wonder why Filmation did not create an entire episode around the Faker character.

By combining the Skeletor and He-Man model sheets you can see below what the character may have looked like in the hands of Filmation. Below are two versions; on the left is Faker colored as the action figure; and on the right colored as he is pictured on the backs of the Mattel cards.


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Faker; possibly one of the most wasted characters in the He-Man series.

What was Faker?

In Filmation's adaptation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe the one character they misused is one that people often forget; Faker. Released with the earliest assortment of characters the blue-skinned He-Man was given a poor origin in the season one episode "The Shaping Staff" and did not resemble his toy form at all. A lot of people are often confused by Faker and what his purpose was in the world of He-Man. The only real decent story for his existence was given by the UK annuals which stated:

"A being created by Skeletor himself with the aim of looking exactly like He-Man, to create maximum trouble and confusion. Unfortunately for Skeletor something went wrong in the spell, and Faker is a miscolored and negative version of He-Man, easily detectable as the evil being he is. Through magic, Skeletor can make him into an exact likeness, but the spell lasts only a very short time, and the evil creature is soon revealed."

Poisonous?

Featured in issue fifty-three of the UK Masters of the Universe comic here is a short strip (based on a classic gag) titled "Once Bitten" featuring Rattlor and Tung Lashor of Snake Men and She-Ra cartoon fame.


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Snake Mountain: Explained!

Issue twenty-two of the UK Masters of the Universe comic attempted to solve one of the great He-Man mysteries: Why did Snake Mountain differ between the toy playset and the cartoon?

The Secret Files of Scrollos claimed that the first Snake Mountain design (the cartoon one) did not offer enough protection, prompting Skeletor to build the one that resembled the toy playset. Below is an image of the two comic panels (which originally appeared on separate pages). The UK comic also addressed why there were two different versions of the Fright Zone. But that is another post for another time! :)


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Teela...in pink?

In the minicomic "The Temple of Darkness!" one character sports an on-model, bizarrely-colored, cartoon-accurate costume! As you can see from the image below Teela thought it would be interesting to sport a completely pink costume; upping her femininity possibly?


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Because I like playing about with images I've colored the actual Teela cartoon model sheet with the above minicomic colors. Personally I don't think it looks too bad!


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He knows what to do!

Storyboard artist, director, and occasional animator Tom Sito always liked to include jokes within his work. His storyboards to the season one episode "Castle of Heroes" are no exception! Many of the panels are loaded with very expressive comical drawings, but by far two of the funniest panels have Skeletor ranting and sulking while a very odd-looking Clawful looks on!


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The cowardly cat's point of view.

The season two episode "Battlecat" features one of my favorite variations on the transformation sequence. When Cringer witnesses Prince Adam transforming into He-Man we are treated to a shot from the cowardly cat's point of view.


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As good as the final shot is, you'll notice that the original storyboard panel (drawn by Hal Sutherland) is slightly more dramatic with Prince Adam's pose and Cringer's positioning.


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Anime Glimmer!

As mentioned in a previous Blog entry Emiliano's Princess of 1999, when Zadoc Angell and I were running the Episode Review Website back in 1999, we asked a few artists to contribute to a gallery section we were creating. The idea was to get some highly talented artists to depict our favorite Eternians and Etherians in their own unique styles. At the time (and to this very day) one of my favorite anime-inspired fan artists Gabriel Lamberty agreed to draw two pieces for the gallery; Glimmer and Prince Adam. Today I present Glimmer in all her anime glory, with Prince Adam to follow at a later date.

I MUST ask Gabriel to do some more commissions...


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