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Ranking each MOTU and POP cartoon series

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(@hordeprime)
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I've been watching MOTU and POP since 1983, and have watched (almost) every episode ever produced. I'm curious how others here would rank each series.  Here are my thoughts (in chronological order):

Filmation MOTU: A

The reason I became a fan and stayed attached to this property through this day.  The world-building, iconic soundtrack, and beloved characters make this series rewatchable even 40 years later.

Filmation POP: A

Some spin-offs don't live up to the original show, but 1980's She-Ra was just as good as 1980's He-Man.  Melendy Britt as She-Ra will forever represent strength, compassion, and a little humor on the side.

New Adventures: B-

I think it's underrated, and realize not many share my opinion.  But I loved some of the characters, and the continuity of the series impressed me in a day when cartoons didn't seem to do that.  Also, there were some really funny moments.  The score was only so-so though.

MYP MOTU (200X): A

The reboot really expanded the lore and gave us greats like King Grayskull, the Faceless One, and a new and improved Count Marzo.  We got to see the Snake Men on screen and learned how Hordak nearly broke Eternia in half.

Netflix POP: D

I really wanted to like it.  (I even defended it at first when people were bashing it before it even aired.)  It's just so boring, and a few of the characters seem like they were dumbed down too much.  The music feels out of place.  I realize it was not made for older fans like me, but was intended to bring in new fans, and I think it somewhat accomplished its goal, so I'm glad it exists, because you can never have too many MOTU/POP fans.  I feel bad being overly critical of any MOTU/POP property, but I couldn't even finish watching this one, it was so boring.  I made it part-way through either season 3 or 4, then quit.  (Maybe one day I'll give it another chance.)

Revelation: A+

The crown jewel of the franchise.  Epic story, suberb voice acting, stunningly beautiful animation, and a Bear McCreary score that I've listened to over and over because it's fun, powerful and emotional.  This gave us the story we always wanted and then some.  I've watched it now more times than I can count, and it continues to amaze me with how good it is.

CGI MOTU: B-

I generally liked this one.  It was an interesting take on the MOTU universe.  It's not in the upper tier of shows (Filmation/MYP/Revelation), and not as rewatchable as any of those, but it had some fun storylines, and some good humor too.  The music was catchy.


   
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(@disneyboy)
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Well opinions will definitely vary on this thread!

 

I would honestly rate Filmation She-Ra higher than He-Man because across the board it was a better production. Stronger animation, more original design work (no Conan to draw inspiration from), a breakthrough female lead character and capable female supporting cast (that didn't diminish the guys!), plus all the terrific music and heart from the He-Man series, and some of the He-Man character swung by. The overall Horde VS Rebellion narrative was far more interesting than the "who takes over the castle today?" plots of He-Man. I love He-Man too, don't get me wrong, but She-Ra just had much more going for it.

I would sadly rate the MYP 2002 series lower than an A. It just didn't work. Was it trying very hard to be faithful to the original series? Yes. But the voice cast just weren't pulling it off as well. The animation, while more elaborate, wasn't tremendously appealing or consistent and the characters were over-designed to put it mildly. Some of the scripts were really dull and in spite of some new twists on the material and lore, it just never seemed to go anywhere. I do enjoy it, I'm not bashing it, but it really wasn't an A. I don't think you can give it an A if the new generation fails to care about it much.

I'm glad you enjoyed Revelations, but that's really a matter of taste. To call it "the best" is...interesting. There is a lot of good stuff about it, but I generally felt that Kevin Smith was having fun and trying to be grand and epic and sort of doing his own things. I don't think this is everyone's idea of He-Man, and I definitely don't think the storytelling in the first season worked. You can't just build off of Filmation's narrative when you're showing us brand new versions of these characters and being so careful to differentiate yourself from Filmation for legal reasons. You need to set up your own world more, and this show didn't. It just assumed we'd care about how betrayed Teela felt, even though her relationships were barely established in the first episode (because they were claiming it was a sequel to Filmation, which it never was.) Plus, there's the bold choice to push He-Man into the background which didn't go over well and was a bit misguided (not agreeing with all the haters, mind you, but again, it was weird). There are some beautiful visual moments throughout, but the end result is pretty strange.

I realize the Netflix CGI show has been cancelled - and I haven't finished watching it - but I was sincerely impressed with the way it reinvented the mythology and redesigned the characters. That's not easily done.

I wonder that the next animated interpretations will offer us!


   
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(@michaelholloway)
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My love of fantasy and science fiction started very young and naturally it started with Masters Of The Universe.

The world of MOTU opened my eyes and heart to epic fantasy for the first time.

 

I love the Classic MOTU series because of the theme of heroes fighting villains and the life lessons I learned from the morals in each episode. 

 

When Princess Of Power came along, I was even more engrossed because I love the theme of freedom fighting rebels battling a totalitarian government, and it was the start of my fandom of strong female superheroes.

 

I loved the Masters Of The Universe live action movie, because it made the series even more real to me and I love the effects and story which touched on my desire to see MOTU characters interact with us Earthlings. I especially loved Meg Foster as Evil-Lyn (who is admittedly my favourite MOTU character of all time in any version).

 

I had never heard of New Adventures Of He-Man (except for the toyline) when I was young, it never aired here on screen in Australia. The toys looked cool, especially Tuskador, Hydron, Sagitar and Flipshot. When I made friends with Havoc on He-Man.Org, he sent me the episodes on VHS tape and I actually quite liked it, even though it was vastly different than anything I had seen before. 

 

Havoc also sent me Mike Young Productions MOTU on VHS which I loved because it was the first new MOTU content we had seen in many years and it was bold and exciting and featured characters we had never seen on screen before.

 

Now of course I have the movie and all the animated series on DVD, except for MOTU Revelation which isn't on DVD yet. I loved the gripping sense of urgency and mature themes of the Revelation series and I am looking forward to Revolution next year. I love Melissa Benoist as Supergirl and I can't wait to check out her performance as Teela.

 

The MOTU CGI series is also very different than anything I had experienced before but I love the visuals and story.

 

I absolutely LOVE She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power, especially the social justice warrior themes of equality, diversity and inclusiveness.

 

 

Supreme Fan Of The Go-Go's & The Bangles!
Masters Of The Universe, Princess Of Power & New Adventures Of He-Man Fan!
Social Justice Warrior!
DC Comics Fan!


   
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(@herapop)
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The best MOTU cartoon in my opinion is the Netflix CGI He-Man cartoon. Although the designs are not all that (they're too sci-fi not enough barbarian) everything else about this show is great. It's camp and embraces the whimsy of the franchise while still delivering a fun and compelling plot. The humor is a bit childish but it is a kids show so that's not something that really bothers me. I really wish they'd gotten to do that season 4. The plots and the additions/modifications to the lore in this show were really good too. It's new and fresh but still felt like MOTU.

In second place I'd put the Filmation She-Ra. Both Filmation shows are pretty silly (in a good way) but She-Ra's also had a decent overarching story going in. Filmation is very iconic for a reason.

In third place I have Netflix She-Ra and 200x tied. Both were decent shows but had a lot of flaws as well. Netflix She-Ra wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing to me but even when I got over that I had issues with the story. It was good in general but I disliked how every villain turned good in the end. As for 200x, the visuals are like a love hate thing for me. It's too stylized and the designs are trying way too hard to be edgy and serious which is not what the franchise is about to me. But the animation overall is really cool. The story is all over the place but it did add a lot of cool things to the lore.

Fourth place is Filmation He-Man and Revelations. Great visuals, cool designs, good animations but very disappointing stories. Revelation like 200x was just trying too hard. And the fact that Teela is a Sorceress that can leave the castle and that the rule was arbitrary is one of the main reasons this show is ranked so low.

Last place is New Adventures for obvious reasons. It's not bad it's just barely MOTU. I do wish they can retcon some of the characters in it to mainstream MOTU and bring them to Eternia though. Especially Mara and her hair mace, she'd fit right in.


   
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