He Man/ She Ra: A Christmas Special

Throughout the years cartoons have provided the source material for some very touching themes. The 1980s (and earlier) were a less politically correct time for society and as such allowed for Christmas to be celebrated by our beloved characters. While perhaps the most famous of these specials is the Charlie Brown's Christmas, He-Man & She-Ra teamed up back in 1985 to offer up 45 minutes of sheer holiday joy.

The plot involves the ever-mischievous Orko stowing onboard Man-At-Arms' spy satellite and accidentally launching it out into space. For reasons never quite explained, he winds up crash landing on the distant planet earth just prior to Christmas. Upon arriving he meets two young children in the process of cutting down a pine for use as their Christmas tree. When beamed back to Eternia, the children follow Orko and end up bringing the holiday spirit along with them in the process.

The hilarity really ensues when Skeletor begins to catch a bit of the Christmas spirit himself. This episode coincides with the era at Filmation where Hordak became the true villain of both shows and Skeletor basically became a really cool looking comedian. Somehow or other, the formula simply works. And unlike the Charlie Brown special mentioned above, the He-Man She-Ra Christmas Special actually has less to do with the holidays themselves and more to do with a kidnaping escapade whereby Hordak and Skeletor start to compete with each other to earn the respect of Horde Prime. Also as mentioned before, the run time for the feature is roughly 45 minutes (approximately that of 2 standard episodes back to back). Don't mistake this for an excuse to overlook this gem as it truly represents an intregal piece to anyone's BCI/ Masters of the Universe collection.

As always the case with BCI, the attention to detail in the packaging is second to none. While only a single disc, the package comes with a beautiful slip cover containing a beautifully decorated tri-fold inner sleeve. The book is again full-color and is loaded with cool facts and history and once again BCI slips 2 collector's art cards into the package: This time by comic artists Phil Jimenez and David Mack. If all this isn't enough to warrant picking up this gem, the special features included on this disc surely will be.

Once again BCI simply raises the bar on what is thought possible in terms of shedding the behind-the-scenes light on the whole creative process in assembling the He-Man/ She-Ra legacy. This time we are treated to 2 brand new documentary features (how BCI tracked down all of the individuals involved is truly worthy of a documentary itself). The first, The Holidays and Morals of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is an excellent series of interviews with the show's writers, artists, and producers regarding the themes and lessons packed into each program and how the tradition started. The second piece (my favorite of the two) is entitled The Heroes and Villains of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. This time we hear from the same motley crew in the first feature only now they get into their favorite heroes and villains and what made them tick. Combined the two features actually trump the run-time of the feature presentation (about 70 minutes). Very interesting stuff!

Finally fans are treated to the usual bag of treats that BCI has earned a reputation for including on their collections: A previously unreleased music video "I have the power", a montage of moral-tags at the closing of each show, character profiles, trivia and fun facts, and the complete Christmas Special script on DVD-Rom. Another beautiful little collection from a company who leaves no stone unturned when it comes to the He-Man Universe.