She-Ra - Princess of Power - Season Two
She-Ra - Princess of
Power DVDs
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Seemingly no sooner than my sad goodbye to the He-Man and the
Masters of the Universe series, I've concluded my tour of the She-Ra
Princess of Power DVDs last night. The second season of She-Ra
represents the end of the Filmation run of the entire franchise and
believe it or not; this shows through the quality of the story
writing and even in the animation stock itself. He-Man and She-Ra
always had a very distinctive look to them (even when compared
against animation from other studios in that era) and the final
season of She-Ra was no different except that the animators began
tweaking the stock sequences to increase the degrees of facial
expression and interaction. Arguably, this is perhaps the
best-looking and most modern incarnation of the entire He-Man/
She-Ra universe to come out of Filmation.
Unlike He-Man, which ran for two full 65-episode seasons, She-Ra ran
for a 65-episode debut season and a half package (28 episodes) for
the second; which are all contained on this set. Unlike He-Man,
which to me felt pretty tapped out in the end, She-Ra gives off the
impression that the show was just getting started as the curtain
closed in 1987. The show's creative staff simply created a world
with so many unique characters that it certainly could have run for
many more seasons without getting stale. Regretfully many story
plots introduced in earlier episodes never find resolve before we
say our final farewell. I personally would have liked a little more
closure with Adora and Sea-Hawk's relationship. Likewise characters
like Peekablue, Perfuma, Cast-A-Spella, Queen Angela, Light Hope,
Frosta, etc. never feel fully fleshed out. Also oddly enough, the
second season moves away from the secrets of Whispering Woods (and
with that Madam Razz, Broom, the Twigets, etc.) and takes the viewer
into much grander locales (including outer space several times).
At this point in time Larry DiTillio had left Filmation and Tom
Tataranowicz had gone from storyboard artist to director. Because of
these behind-the-scenes swaps, the show does have a unique feel to
it. Perhaps this was also due in part to the reality that pumping
out episodes had to have become a well-oiled-machine for the
Filmation crew after 130 He-Man episodes, 65 She-Ras and a few
animated feature films along the way.
Also worth mentioning is the fact that individuals wondering what
else was popular at the time in animation need look no further than
within the show itself as its guest appearances very closely mimic
trends of the time. When transforming robots like Transformers and
Go-Bots became the rage, She-Ra found herself battling the
Monstroids. The Meteorbs and Dinosorbs bear an uncanny resemblance
to the Lions from Voltron and the Bibbets are near clones of the
short lived Paw Paws. Not to worry though, She-Ra never looses her
way despite the outside influence.
The second season contains perhaps the greatest concentration of
He-Man crossover episodes as well. While the creative staff
accredits this to the endlessly fluctuating ratings game, I like to
think that we as a society kind of missed He-Man (after all, at this
point in the time the show had been laid to rest permanently) and
his twin sister's program offered an opportunity to allow He-Man to
live on if even only temporarily. Unlike the first season, I can
honestly attest that his episodes were welcome here. It was a final
opportunity to relive some of the magic of the show that started it
all.
Included on this six-disc set are the following 28 She-Ra episodes:
One to Count On
Return Of The General
Out Of The Cocoon
A Lesson In Love
Something Old, Something New
Loo-Kee's Sweety
The Pearl
The Time Transformer
Above It All
Day Of The Flowers
Brigis
The Caregiver
When Whispering Woods Last Bloomed
Romeo And Glimmer
The Perils Of Peekablue
Just The Way You Are
The Locket
Shera Makes A Promise
Bow's Magical Gift
Sweet Bee's Home
Glimmer Come Home
The Inspector
Portrait of Doom
Hordak's Power Play
Shades Of Orko
Assault On The Hive
The Bibbet Story
Swifty's Baby
Like always, BCI pulls the stops when it comes to special features.
This set includes two commentaries: On episode 83 "She-Ra Makes A
Promise" with Tom Sito and Dori Littell-Herrick & on episode 85
"Sweet Bee's Home. Both are hosted by Andy Mangels. The Stories of
She-Ra, Princess of Power Part 3 Documentary with brand new
Interviews with Producers, Writers, Directors and experts,
specifically commenting on She-Ra's final adventures and the
remarkable art of the series. DVD-ROM features 28 Scripts, Model
Sheets "Hordak & Villains", Storyboard, and "The Silaxian Wars" the
script and storyboards for the stunning She-Ra episode you never
saw. Finally, included once again are 2 collectible 4"x 6" She-Ra
Princess of Power Art Cards this time by artists Leinil Francis Yu
and Colleen Doran.
In conclusion it is sad to say goodbye to She-Ra Princess of Power
but thanks to BCI, the show will live on indefinitely in a package
worthy of the legacy itself.
