The Mattel company released the first wave of the
Masters of the Universe toyline in 1982. After the
Federal Communications Commission relaxed its ban on toy-based children's programming, Mattel decided to commission a cartoon to promote their toyline. Based on their animated commercial work for Mattel, including a spot for the toyline, Filmation was chosen to produce the series. Mattel hired screenwriter Michael Halperin, experienced in live-action TV, to write a pitch
bible (submitted on December 1, 1982) to flesh out the backstory both for merchandising and for the cartoon. The bible introduced He-Man's alter-ego, as well as the planet Eternia, Queen Marlena's origin, among others. Unfortunately, it was not considered viable, so the bible was reworked by Filmation staff writer
Tom Ruegger, having already developed
Blackstar along similar lines. Most of the character designs were handled by Herb Hazelton. Some time after, both firms pitched the idea to the
ABC network, who turned it down. Then, on Lou Scheimer's suggestion, the show was re-pitched and sold at the 1983
NATPE conference to independent stations. By March 28, the show had cleared 60% of the country; by August 29 half of the 65 episodes were completed. The resulting series,
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, debuted through
barter syndication in September 1983, and became the first syndicated show to be based on a toy. By 1984, it was seen on 120 U.S. stations and in more than 30 countries. Despite the
limited animation techniques that were used to produce the series,
He-Man was notable for breaking the boundaries of
censorship that had severely restricted the narrative scope of children's TV programming in the 1970s. For the first time since
Ruby-Spears's
Thundarr the Barbarian, a cartoon series could feature a muscular
superhero who was actually allowed to hit people (although he more typically used wrestling-style moves rather than actually punching enemies), though he still could not use his sword often; more often than not He-Man opted to pick up his opponents and toss them away rather than hit them. The cartoon was controversial in that it was produced in connection with marketing a line of toys;
advertising to children was itself controversial during this period. In the United Kingdom, advertising regulations forbade commercials for He-Man toys to accompany the program itself. In similar fashion to other shows at the time, notably
G.I. Joe, an attempt to mitigate the negative publicity generated by this controversy was made by including a "life lesson" or "moral of the story" at the end of each episode. This moral was usually directly tied to the action or central theme of that episode. The show was so successful that it spawned a spin-off series,
She-Ra: Princess of Power, following the adventures of He-Man's sister, Princess Adora. Mattel's subsequent attempts to relaunch the He-Man toy line also led to the short-lived sequel series
The New Adventures of He-Man in 1990, and a
reboot of the franchise for a contemporary audience in 2002. It is also noted for featuring early script-writing work from
J. Michael Straczynski, later the creator of
Babylon 5;
Paul Dini and
Brynne Stephens, both of whom who would go on to write acclaimed episodes of
Batman: The Animated Series;
Beast Wars story editor
Larry DiTillio; and
David Wise, later the head-writer of the TV version of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and
The Real Ghostbusters. In 2016, a new episode of
He-Man was released. ==Music==