My Saturday morning cartoon watching included several shows. My favourite Saturday morning cartoon was ThunderCats, which I wrote about previously. This time I had to search my memory for another one I enjoyed, which led me to She-Ra: Princess of Power.
She-Ra: Princess of Power debuted in 1985 as a complimentary series to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The show lasted two seasons with a total of 93 episodes. Mattel and Filmation collaborated on the series to attempt to grow their female audience. The He-Man toy line had been so lucrative with boys, that they felt this could do the same for girls.
For The Honor Of Grayskull…
I was a fan of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and even though I may not have been the target of this show, I just had to watch it. She-Ra: Princess of Power still had the same good versus evil that He-Man had, and best of all, she was He-Man’s twin sister.
Princess Adora was originally introduced in the animated movie The Secret of the Sword as Force Captain Adora. She was a member of the Evil Horde who ruled the planet of Etheria. Prince Adam/He-Man is also in the film and Adora finds out that she is actually the twin sister of Adam. She had been kidnapped as a baby by Horde leader Hordak.
After pushing pack the forces of Hordak, Adora is granted the Sword of Protection, which is the mirror of He-Man’s Sword of Power. The magic in sword allows Princess Adora to transform into She-Ra, and her steed Spirit into Swift Wind. She-Ra decides to stay in Etheria to continue to protect the Crystal Castle from Hordak and his Horde. He-Man returns to Eternia to defend Castle Grayskull
Why I Watched She-Ra…
When I think about it, I watched She-Ra for a few reasons. The first reason is because of the link to He-Man. Not only were they just two very similar shows, but they also aired back to back on Saturday’s. Some argue that He-Man was for boys, and She-Ra was for girls, but that is just wrong. They were both good shows to watch on Saturday mornings.
The second reason I watched the show was because of the whole good guy vs bad guy story lines. I mean, as a nine to eleven year old child, those shows just were always going to interest me.
Finally, one of the main reasons I enjoyed watching She-Ra was because of the little guy named Loo Kee. Loo Kee was a small Etherian creature that sort of resembled a squirrel. He was very colourful and always hid somewhere in the episode. Usually he would hide behind a tree or bush of some sort.
Then, at the end of the episode, he would come on screen and ask if we found him. Loo Kee would then show you where he was hiding and give you the moral of the story from the just watched episode. Speaking of morals, I think cartoons when I was younger always had those moral stories to them. These days… not so much.
Final Thoughts
She-Ra: Princess of Power was a really enjoyable Saturday morning cartoon from my youth. The show doesn’t hold up too well against the cartoons that are available today. However, I would say that I much preferred MANY of the cartoons when I grew up compared to cartoons of the 21st century.She-Ra may not have been my all time favourite, but I definitely tried not to miss an episode. I also spent a lot of time looking for Loo Kee… not always finding him. So if you’re looking for some retro cartoon to check out, I would definitely recommend a gander at She-Ra.
Have you seen She-Ra: Princess of Power? What did you think of the show if you have? What cartoons were your favourite growing up? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
