I’ve been avoiding posting about shows that didn’t actually air on Saturday mornings since this column is called Saturday Morning Superstars, but for Christmas, I have made an exception and will be looking at a classic ’80s holiday special, He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special. Like many holiday specials, this one runs a little cheesy, and perhaps very fittingly, was clearly designed to sell toys.
Obviously, since the He-Man cartoon was set on the alien world of Eternia, they have no concept of Christmas. But as it just so happens, this Holy Day on Earth coincides with the birthday of the twins, Prince Adam and Princess Adora, who are secretly He-Man and She-Ra. That explains why the heroes of Eternia and Etheria are gathered in one place to celebrate.
Meanwhile, Man-At-Arms has invented the Sky Spy, a satellite meant to keep tabs on Skeletor. But Orko, being the dumbass that he is, sneaks aboard and winds up being teleported to Earth where he winds up kind of kidnapping two children, Miguel and Alisha, to Eternia. The two are distraught that they will miss Christmas. Keep in mind, Queen Marlena was originally from Earth, so the children and Marlena teach the heroes of Eternia and Etheria about the meaning of Christmas, although they neatly sidestep any religious explanations.
The Big Bad, Horde Prime, decides that the Christmas Spirit could depower him, so he summons Hordak and Skeletor and sends them to capture the children. This is a little weird because Skeletor isn’t really a minion of The Horde, so oh well.
Skeletor winds up playing something of a “Scrooge” part in this. He captures the children before Hordak can get to them, and while escorting them and the robot dog Relay, starts to thaw, leading to some hilarious lines like “I don’t like to feel good nice. I like to feel evil!” Ultimately, Skeletor winds up saving the kids from both Hordak and Horde Prime.
The heroes end up sending the kids back to Earth, but Eternia holds its first Christmas celebration. There is one cool pan shot that displays all the major characters from both the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons, so that’s cool.
Let’s be honest, the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra cartoons were always kind of corny, so this isn’t too horribly off-brand for them.
As I said, both shows were meant to sell toys and a bunch of new toy characters are featured to get kids to beg their parents for them. From Masters of the Universe, there are Snout-Spout, Sy-Klone, Spikor, Modu-Bot, Two-Bad, and More. From Princess of Power, Perfuma, Mermista, and Peak-A-Blue get their share of the spotlight. If you’ve watched the later episodes of She-Ra in particular, you know that Filmation made a point of shoehorning in new toys products whether they had anything to do with the plot of the actual episode or not, so this was in keeping with that trend.
Then there is Hordak’s helicopter…
That… er… looks like a completely different type of “toy.” Like… the kind Mattel wouldn’t make. Y’know?
Uh… anyway. Though I don’t believe there were ever plans to make them into toys, a group of cuddly little robots (God, what a transition) called the Manchines are introduced and help Orko, Miguel, and Alisha escape capture. This was around the time the Go-Bots and Transformers were popular, so this could have been Mattel’s answer to those lines, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything that indicated that Mattel planned to make toys of them.
All in all, this is a “heart-warming” special. It’s corny, not more so than the regular shows. Although the song the kids sing at one point is just… horrible. “Joy and caring… Peace and love…” Oh, it’s just awful.
This was an hour-long special that aired in primetime in 1985 on the same syndication channels that aired the regular cartoons. Some of those channels continued to air it in subsequent years. It was released on VHS and has been released on DVD a few times, so it’s out there. It can also be streamed on Tubi and Youtube. Minus the commercials, it only runs about 45 minutes.
Okay, it’s no Charlie Brown Christmas, BUT… it’s no Star Wars Holiday Special either.
Do you love He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special? Is it part of your annual Christmas viewing?
