She-Ra Princess of Power Season 2

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.