She-Ra

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(Redirected from She-Ra: Princess of Power)

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She-Ra was the heroic lead in a series of toys produced by Mattel called She-Ra: Princess of Power. She also appeared in the tie-in cartoon of the same name, which was an attempt to make a version of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series that would appeal to young girls in the same way that He-Man appealed to boys.

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The toys

The toyline was primarily focused on She-Ra and her allies. The villain of the toyline was Catra, a "jealous beauty".

Many of the villains in the cartoon had toys released as part of the Masters of the Universe toyline. Most came out as members of the Evil Horde, though a few were released as Snake-Men.

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The cartoon

The premise of the show is that She-Ra, whose secret identity is Princess Adora, and her friends must free Etheria from Hordak and his evil Horde, after realizing her true destiny through the help of her brother Prince Adam, who is also known as He-Man. The She-Ra cartoon's premise is similar to the He-Man premise, with the distinction that while He-Man serves King Randor and the rulers of Eternia (a neighboring planet), She-Ra is a revolutionary engaged in a rebellion against Hordak, the ruler of Etheria, and to a larger extent against the rarely seen Horde Prime, leader of an evil intergalactic empire. Another similarity and distinction is that while both series mixed science fiction and sorcery, He-Man's stories tended to lean towards science fiction while She-Ra's were geared more towards sorcery. She-Ra, like He-Man, wields a magic sword: the Sword of Protection. Adora transforms into She-Ra by holding it aloft and saying, "For the honor of Grayskull... I am She-Ra!"

Additionally, She-Ra and her alter ego Princess Adora look exactly the same, due to budget restraints on the animation (and the presumption that youngsters would not be able to follow the stories with a vast distinction in appearance) much as He-Man and Prince Adam did, and the only real change that occurred in the transformation was a change in the standard clothes and a deeper, more authoritative voice. Unlike Adam, who would pretend to be a lazy, irresponsible playboy to keep people from suspecting he was He-Man, Adora never acted as anything but her true self. She-Ra also possessed vast superhuman strength & stamina, in addition to being very athletic and agile, and like He-Man, She-Ra would often try to outsmart her opponents rather than simply beat them up outright. Her personality embodied the stereotypical female traits of being kind, compassionate and soft spoken while being brave and steadfast in the face of danger. It is unclear if He-Man and She-Ra are in fact brother and sister in the same way their alter egos Prince Adam and Princess Adora are, or if their casually referring to each other as brother and sister is merely an extension of their alter egos' personalities.

She-Ra has allies among the rebels: they include Bow, an archer with an assortment of specialized arrows; Glimmer, who can manipulate light, is Princess of Brightmoon and daughter of Queen Angella; Madame Razz, a somewhat absent-minded Twigget witch and her talking, flying Broom; Kowl, a wise and sharp-witted owl-like bird; Castaspella, the sorceress queen of Mystacor; and Frosta, ruler of the Kingdom of snows, who can command snow and ice. While He-Man rides a tiger, She-Ra rides a horse, Spirit, who through the power of her sword is transformed into a winged unicorn (pegacorn), called Swift Wind. The rebels operate from the Whispering Woods, a dense magical forest inhabited by the Twiggets. In the episodes encompassed by the feature film, the rebels also succeeded in reconquering Castle Brightmoon from the Evil Horde.

Like the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, there were also three people on Etheria that knew of Adora's true identity. Madame Razz, her sidekick Broom, Kowl and most importantly, Lighthope, who in turn appeared occasionally as the gatekeeper of the Crystal Castle, a hidden castle on Etheria which was introduced in an episode of the same name one quarter into it's first season. Unlike Skeletor, who always tried to conquer Castle Greyskull on He-Man, Hordak may have known of The Crystal Castle's existence, but no episode focusing on that idea ever materialized. And like the friends of He-Man who knew of his secret, Adora's friends knew of Adams secret as most of the characters from Masters of the Universe appeared occasionally throughout the series run.

Hordak, who was a co-conspirator with He-Man's Skeletor to kidnap Adora from Eternia, has a supporting cast of villains. These include Shadow Weaver, Hordak's right hand, a dark witch with a whole complement of spells and who was originally a sorceress from Mystacor named Light Spinner; Leech, who can suck the energy out of his unsuspecting victim; Mantenna, a hideous creature with pointy ears and pop-action eyes that emit various energy beams attacks capable of incapacitating his foe (who was played, however, as a stammering, incompetent boob rather than the capable, erudite threat of the mini-comics); Grizzlor, a hairy bearlike beast, who reminds one suspiciously of Eternia's Beast Man, and Catra, an anti-She-Ra who can transform into a giant cat (hence the name) through means of a magical mask. Adora was raised as Hordak's protégé and manipulated by Shadow Weaver's magic, but through the encounter with her brother was convinced to join the rebellion. Hordak is also supported by an entire army of Horde troopers, recognizable by their heavy armor, dome-shaped helmets (adorned with a fin) and phallic blasters; the troopers also have a host of different combat vehicles, giving them a technological advantage over the rebels in the war for Etheria. The Horde operates from the aptly named Fright Zone and controls much of Etheria. The notorious Beast Island serves as a prison camp.

One interesting feature of the cartoon was the presence of a "hidden character" in most episodes, Loo-Kee. This small pixie-like creature, dressed in a rainbow-colored outfit, was drawn into the background art of one specific scene in a given episode; the viewer was implicitly challenged to try and find him, much like the Where's Waldo? phenomenon of years later. Loo-Kee was used to deliver the end-of-show "morals" segment (a trademark of most Filmation shows of this era), and it was during this segment that it was revealed where exactly he could be found in the episode. Loo-Kee was not a character in the She-Ra series per se, and was only used as such on a single occasion.

She-Ra had her début in the full length animated movie, He-Man and She-Ra: The Secret of the Sword, which appeared in 1984. The syndicated series premiered in 1985 and was cancelled in 1986; it lasted 93 episodes.

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Possible Inspiration

Since He-Man was inspired by Conan the Barbarian, it's possible that She-Ra is inspired by Red Sonja and the Evil Horde inspired by the Conan villain Hizar Zuhl. However unlike Red Sonja, She-Ra is He-Man's twin and her attire is relatively modest in comparison.

There was also a little-known paperdoll by WHITMAN named Star Princess and Pluta in the late 70s. There were at least three versions produced; two books with the same dolls, one book having their North Star Space Bace, and a boxed version with a unique paper doll. Star Princess was an ordinary girl until visited by aliens that turned her into Star Princess, and her faithful horse became Pluta, her android assistant. One of Star Princess's many outfits was a white tunic-style dress with wrist cuffs, a red cape with a shoulder flare, and sandals. She-Ra's outfit closely resembles this outfit. A second outfit (this one from the boxed set) had golden 'armor' similar to Teela's from He-Man.

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2002 series

It was rumored that She-Ra was supposed to be reintroduced in the third season of the 2002 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, however, the series was cancelled after the second season, and thus She-Ra never came to be in the latest incarnation. She did, however, receive an updated action figure to fit in with the new 2002 Masters of the Universe toyline. This item was an exclusive to the Wizard World Chicago and San Diego 2004 comic-book and pop culture conventions.

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External links

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Further reading

fr:She-Ra, la princesse du pouvoir he:הפוני הקטן pt:She-Ra

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