PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*
Maybe if I'd been in my grade-school years during the rise of the Filmation HE-MAN cartoon, I would have liked it no less than the actual superhero cartoons I was raised on. Yet I doubt it. I found the He-Man series a soulless, design-by-committee concept, made even less charming by the fact that even the non-toy characters were poorly conceived.
Yet when the episodes comprising SECRET OF THE SWORD debuted, I rather liked He-Man's new sister She-Ra. I don't know how much design input the toy line had on the characters, but I thought overall both the heroine and her support-characters looked better. Maybe this was because HE-MAN was slapped together as a vague amalgam of magical fantasy and clunky science-fiction. The same elements are in SHE-RA as well, but there was a better opposition of those elements. The heroine and her comrades-- a flying horse, a talking owl, an archer and a comical witch with a talking broom-- had a more pronounced fantasy-feeling. In contrast, most of the sci-fi elements were aligned with the villainous Hordak and his coterie of super-powered henchpersons (though he had a spooky witch-ally named Shadow Weaver).
The plot's pretty thin, so I'll keep to the bare essentials. Guided by a prophecy from his mentor The Sorceress, He-Man (in his "secret identity" of Prince Adam) leaves his homeworld Eternia and visits the dimension of Etheria, along with his friend-and-steed Cringer/Battlecat. All the hero knows is that he must give a second sword, one much like his own, to a heroine of that world. He's summarily captured by the forces of Hordak, under the command of an officer named Adora, who turns out to be the one he's supposed to seek out.
As I've already given away, Adora is actually the sister of Adam, having been stolen by Hordak during an abortive invasion of Eternia-- an invasion abetted by He-Man's nemesis Skeletor. Hordak had Adora raised as an officer in his Horde just for spite, but Adora doesn't know she's on the wrong side. With just a few preachy statements He-Man opens Adora's eyes to Hordak's tyranny. Thus she proves worthy of the sword, which transforms her into the super-strong heroine She-Ra, and her horse into a Pegasus-type.
To say the least, Hordak is not pleased to have a super-powered heroine busting up his operations. He makes a stealth invasion of Eternia to get even, joins briefly with his despised former ally Skeletor, and after defeat returns to Etheria. She-Ra/Adora also decides to remain in Etheria rather than joining her family in Eternia, until the day that she expels the Horde from her adopted world.
I've skipped various incidents, but it's a thinly plotted adventure anyway. As I recall the average episode of SHE-RA was better plotted than the average episode of HE-MAN, but maybe I just liked the way She-Ra seemed to get a little bustier after her transformation.
The HE-MAN/SHE-RA CHRISTMAS SPECIAL seems more He-Man centric by far. Both Adam and Adora are in Eternia, preparing to celebrate their mutual birthday. Adam's comical sidekick Orko takes a spaceship off on a trip and ends up broaching dimensional barriers. He ends up on Earth-- incidentally, the homeworld of the twins' mother-- where it happens to be the Christmas season. Two kids, Miguel and Alisha, come across the marooned Orko and make friends with him, in addition to telling him all about Christmas.
Seeking to rescue Orko, Adora becomes She-Ra, travels back to Etheria, looking for needed resources. After vanquishing a hostile monster she must contend with giant machines called "Monstroids," which are a little better designed than the average Filmation robot. She-Ra escapes and brings the item back to Eternia, making it possible to teleport Orko back to his homeworld-- but with the two kids along for the ride. While the kids await their return, they relate the customs of the Yuletide season to everyone there, who, being good guys, are immediately won over.
The master of Hordak's horde, Horde-Prime, nurtures some strange belief that the "Christmas spirit" can interfere with his conquest of Eternia, so he sets a bounty for the capture of the Earth-kids. Both Hordak and Skeletor compete for the reward. as do The Monstroids.
There are a lot of captures and escapes, all pretty dull. Skeletor eventually secures the kids, but because he's forced to protect them from cold and wild beasts, he begins to absorb some of the "Christmas spirit." Frankly, I like Hordak better and thought his temporary conversion would've been more dramatic. But as I said, He-Man's mythology gets the strongest emphasis here.
Though the "action" in a Filmation production is spotty at best, CHRISTMAS SPECIAL is much weaker in this department than SECRET OF THE SWORD. If you like treacle in your stocking, the Special has that in abundance, but not much else.
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