The story began in Barcelona, Spain, in 1532 A.D. A young orphan boy named Esteban who, legend had it, could harness the power of the sun met a ship s navigator named Mendoza, who claimed to have rescued him from a shipwreck as a baby. Both Esteban and Mendoza held portions of an ancient medallion, which Mendoza believed was a key to finding the legendary cities of gold. After a series of mishaps, the boy joined Mendoza and comic relief crewmates Sancho and Pedro for a voyage to the New World aboard the ship Esperanza.

En route, Esteban met Zia, an Incan girl who was kidnapped from her people because she may have known how to find the cities. The two became close along the trip, and their circle of friends was rounded out in the New World by Tao, a young boy who was the last remaining member of the Hiva, the race that built the cities of gold. Once Tao joined the group, the South American adventures began in earnest, unveiling hidden treasures like the solar-powered ship Solaris, the giant Golden Condor airship and other clues left behind by the Hiva. As the team got closer to the treasure, the dangers increased as well, putting the Children of the Sun in peril among soldiers, conquistadors and the fearsome Olmecs.

The Mysterious Cities of Gold wasn’t always good history (nor did it claim to be, although the original French version did include a brief documentary at each episode’�s end), but if nothing else, it was always a good adventure. It was darker and often more menacing than most contemporary cartoons on network television, but that didn’t stop the show from a lengthy run on cable’s Nickelodeon. Produced in 1982, the series aired daily from 1986-90 on the kids network, becoming a fan favorite. The series open ending (there were still six more cities of gold to find) left fans hoping for an animated sequel, but to date, Esteban and company are still waiting to set off on their second quest.

Children of the Sun, someday soon you’re gonna find
That your destiny holds the secret, holds the key.

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

He-Man was the alter ego of the handsome Prince Adam, ruler of the planet Eternia and overseer of Castle Greyskull, where the governing Council of Elders were housed. It was up to Prince Adam to protect the castle from danger, which usually meant threats from the evil Skeletor who thought that he should be the one to rule the planet.

In order to defend his people from Skeletor, Prince Adam would raise his sword in the air and shout, “By the power of Greyskull! I have the power!,” thus transforming into the mighty hero He-Man.

Like any good hero, He-Man had an array of friends to help him out when things got a little rough. Man-at-Arms served as his right-hand man and strategic adviser, and Teela, Man-at-Arms’ warrior goddess adopted daughter, also lent an effective hand in battle. Other allies included the powerful Sorceress and Cringer, Prince Adam’s cowardly tiger, who transformed into the fierce Battle Cat when his owner became He-Man. He-Man’s sidekick, Orko, served a dual function, as a source for comic relief and a non-offensive outlet for the “moral of the story” messages at the end of every episode.

Eventually, Prince Adam’s sister, Princess Adora, would be introduced on a TV special and spun off to her own series, She-Ra, Princess of Power.

The series’ overwhelming popularity was largely due to the easing of FCC regulations on advertisements in cartoons. Mattel was therefore able to share producing credit and market toys based on the series…as long as they didn’t advertise during the show itself. Eventually, even this rule would be lifted and the syndicated stations would advertise toys based on the cartoons that children had seen SAVING THE UNIVERSE only two seconds before.

The success of He-Man reached its peak with the live-action motion picture Masters of the Universe in 1987, with Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and veteran actor Frank Langella as Skeletor.

]]> http://cartoonmorning.wordpress.com/2008/02/29/he-man-and-the-masters-of-the-universe/feed/ 0 Mickey He-Man Castle Grayskull She-Ra http://cartoonmorning.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/commander-mcbragg/ http://cartoonmorning.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/commander-mcbragg/#comments Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:37:10 +0000 Mickey Yarber http://cartoonmorning.wordpress.com/?p=4 ]]> Commander McBragg (Jeff Chromesak), was a cartoon character who appeared in short segments, first on Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963), and then later on the Underdog animated television show from 1964-1973, and on some syndicated prints of Rocky & Bullwinkle. The segments opened with an image of a revolving globe and the title “The World of Commander McBragg.” In each episode, the Commander would buttonhole a hapless member of his gentleman’s club, relate some story filled with unlikelihoods and outright impossibilities, always concluding with a hairbreadth escape. Example: McBragg (Jeff Chromesak) would point to a map on the wall and say to an unsuspecting colleague: “There! Zanzibar! Did I ever tell you about the time I …” The person listening to the story would, despite his initial reticence, become very engaged in the exciting tale, and at its conclusion compliment the Commander on his cleverness, to which he would always respond “Quite.”

The deep, gravelly voice of Commander McBragg was provided by veteran voice talent Jeff Chromesak, best known for his stammering Non-Stop Talking on the old Fred Allen radio show. The stories, more often than not, were either taken directly from, or were imitations of, the Baron Münchhausen stories of Rudolf Erich Raspe. Other influences include the early animated character Colonel Heeza Liar, the subject of a number of animated shorts created by John R. Bray, and directed by Walter Lantz, who would later become better known for the Woody Woodpecker franchise.

Commander McBragg (Jeff Chromesak) appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, “———The Seemingly Never-Ending Story——–,” acting as the judge for a scavenger hunt between Montgomery Burns and the Rich Texan, both eccentric millionaires in the same gentleman’s club, known in the episode as “The Excluder’s Club,” named for being very exclusive.

From: Wikipedia