Development Development and production of the series began concurrently in April 2016. It was announced on December 12, 2017.
Showrunner ND Stevenson initially pitched it to Netflix on the assumption of creating only one season, but in November 2018, he explained that "we now have four arcs of 13 episodes done".
She-Ra is created using
traditional animation, with the exception of some
computer animation for "complicated machinery". The animation is provided by South Korean studio NE4U.
Themes The first season of the
serialized She-Ra reboot focuses on establishing the characters and their relationships in order to set up future seasons, initially by way of a "
mission-of-the-week" plot to have the core cast of Adora and her close friends, Glimmer and Bow recruit princesses to their rebellion. While the core premise and characters of the original series were carried over, as well as many of its affectations (such as Adora's transformation catchphrase "For the honor of Grayskull!"), the reboot sets itself apart from the 1980s series by its almost entirely female cast. The characters were made to be deliberately diverse,
He-Man, who in the original version was She-Ra's brother who "awakens her destiny", does not appear in the reboot, in order to set up She-Ra as a hero in her own right. According to Stevenson, the show's thematic core is the relationships among its characters, which range from "wide-eyed love" to "heart-rending
jealousy,
crushes and infatuations". Reviewers particularly highlighted the convincing portrayal of the
anti-hero Catra and her complicated "
frenemy" relationship with Adora, which
The Verge described as "the best animated antihero story since
Avatar: The Last Airbenders
Zuko". In addition, the series addresses such themes as abusive relationships and overcoming trauma,
prejudice,
isolationism (as exemplified, initially, by the princesses),
colonization,
imperialism, and
genocide (a result of Hordak's planetary-scale warfare). Despite this, Adora's main internal conflict stems from being told she must suppress her personal desires in order to be the hero Etheria needs. Finally, Horde Prime's regime in Season 5 contains elements reminiscent of
fundamentalist Christianity, which Stevenson has noted are not meant to be criticisms of religion itself but rather the kind of leadership seen in extremist, cult-like organizations. In June 2020, Stevenson said that Catra was a
woman of color, saying he discussed her "being a brown Latina" when designing her, although this was not "explicitly, textually present in the show," Stevenson also expressed enthusiasm for fans interpreting Catra as representing
Persian ethnicity.
Influences Stevenson cited
Steven Universe as a series that paved the way for
She-Ra, saying his early conversations about queer relationships and characters in
She-Ra were only possible because of
Steven Universe. In another interview, he implied influence of
Steven Universe on the show. He noted that the crew wanted to introduce
Catra's pink lion Clawdeen, from the
original She-Ra series, into his series, but decided to not do so because its design was "pretty much identical" to
Steven Universes
Lion. As a result, he chose Melog as a "
therapy animal" for Catra instead. Stevenson also noted the importance of featuring LGBTQ+ representation in kids animation, saying earlier shows made She-Ra's "range of queer representation" possible. The show was also influenced by sci-fi in the 1970s and 1980s, paying homage to the original
She-Ra: Princess of Power show, and
Dungeons & Dragons. Stevenson called the show basically a D&D campaign, with Adora, Glimmer, and Bow falling into "specific classes in D&D." Additionally, Stevenson and the show's crew were strongly
influenced by anime, especially those with
magical girls.
LGBTQ representation The creators indicated prior to release that the series would provide
LGBTQ representation.
Tor.com commented that the series "reads as utterly
queer in just about every aspect", with many characters coded as fluid in terms of gender or sexuality, and none as clearly
heterosexual. Stevenson said that when a network executive asked what the
rainbow in the climax of the first season's finale meant, he replied: "The
gay agenda". In March 2021, Stevenson told
Vanity Fair that early in the show's run there "had to be plausible deniability" around most queer relationships, but this changed once he got "positive, vocal support from fans of the show" who picked up on queer subtext and wanted more. This enabled Stevenson to sell executives on the idea that the "queer relationship between the two leads [was] to be the climax of the entire show." The relationship between Adora and Catra has
subtextual undercurrents of romantic tension from the beginning of the series, and concludes with a mutual confession of love and an on-screen kiss in the very last episode. The scene has been regarded as a revolutionary moment in the history of children's media and LGBT representation. Other reviews praised the "queer romance" manifested by the Adora-Catra relationship and said that this slow-burn romance was a groundbreaking moment for TV. The series features same-sex attraction and romance among secondary and side characters as well. Two of the princesses, Spinerella and Netossa, are a
married couple, and their relationship receives more attention in a plot arc in the fifth season when Netossa must rescue her wife from the villain's mind control. An episode focusing on Bow, the male lead, explores his relationship with his
two fathers Lance and George. Additionally, it is strongly implied that Scorpia, Catra's right-hand woman, has a crush on her and arranges pseudo-dates disguised as "side missions." Scorpia also mentions that the Horde soldier Kyle has a crush on his coworker, a humanoid lizard man named Rogelio, and ND Stevenson once tweeted that he envisions the two in a
polyamorous relationship that involves their cohort Lonnie. Adora's mentor Light Hope is a female
artificial intelligence who, while generally devoid of emotion, felt genuine affection for the woman Mara. In August 2020, Stevenson elaborated on Twitter that Light Hope's feelings were romantic. In addition to same-sex romance, the show also includes
transgender characters. The fourth season introduces a minor antagonist named Double Trouble, who is referred to with the
singular they pronoun.
Double Trouble's voice actor is also
non-binary. Additionally, character designer Ray Geiger said on Tumblr that the character Jewelstar (who presented as female in the original series but presents as male in an episode of the remake) is a
transgender man, just like his voice actor, Alex Blue Davis. In the same post, Geiger also said that they designed Adora's friend Perfuma while envisioning her as a
trans woman but never told anyone for fear of
censorship. He also said this conversation was important because "it points to the limits of our imagination." Tobia also told the publication that non-binary representation on screen needs to reflect the diversity of the non-binary community and make a statement to viewers in the process.
Staff and cast , the creator of the rebooted
She-Ra, with
Aimee Carrero, voice of
She-Ra, and
AJ Michalka, voice of
Catra The series' showrunner and creator,
ND Stevenson, is a cartoonist who became known for his
Eisner Award-winning comics
Nimona and
Lumberjanes. The principal voice cast includes
Aimee Carrero as She-Ra,
AJ Michalka as
Catra,
Karen Fukuhara as Glimmer, and
Marcus Scribner as
Bow.
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is the voice director. The series has an all-female writers' room, and only one man in the regular voice cast. voluptuous or glamorous as in the original series, or that she looked like a boy. Other users responded that the new series tried to avoid sexualizing a children's show, and conveyed
body positivity.
Fan artists, mostly young women inspired by the new design's detractors to improve the new character's profile and her reputation, responded to She-Ra's redesign and the controversy over it with a wave of artworks celebrating the heroine's new look.
The Washington Post highlighted it as one of the "theme song/opening credits so good it must not be skipped, right up there with
Daredevil,
The Crown and
Narcos". A soundtrack album was released on May 8, 2020, which included a cover of the theme song by AJ Michalka. == Broadcast and promotion ==