I know that they were the same company, but what production company was it?

Filmation  :)

I know that they were the same company, but what production company was it?


Filmation was one of the largest creators of "Saturday Morning" entertainment in the 1970's.  Their specialty was to take an existing TV Series or Movie, and turn it into a series for children.

He-Man was originally intended to be Conan.  But the rights fell through, so instead they approached DC to use the character of a short-lived Comic series they had run years earlier.

In addition, they did shows based on Gilligan's Island, Tarzan, Lassie, Flash Gordon, Archie, Star Trek, The Brady Bunch, Batman, Superman, Aquaman, The Lone Ranger, My Favorite Martian, Zorro, Ghostbusters, and many others.

They were also known as innovators in Live Action childrens shows.  They created some very sophisticated shows, which educated as much as entertained.  These include Ark II, Shazam!, Isis, and Space Academy,

Towards the end, they specialized in "Barbarians".  BraveStarr, Blackstar, Tarzan, He-Man, and She-Ra were all Filmation Productions.  It was such a popular theme, that even Joe Kirby & Ken Spears made their own version, "Thundarr The Barbarian".

The company finally went broke in the late 1980's.  It simply reached the point that they were unable to make a profit doing the animation here in the US.  They were one of the last ones that was based in the US, most of them already having moved to Asia for the work.

The company was headquartered in Reseda, California.  In fact, it was located at the NW corner of White Oak Ave and Sherman Way.  The next time you watch "Boogie Nights", most of the film is shot within 2 blocks of there.  The site where they dump the guy from the back of the Limo is right next door.

He-Man was originally intended to be Conan.  But the rights fell through, so instead they approached DC to use the character of a short-lived Comic series they had run years earlier.



You seem to have forgotten the immensely successful toy line "Masters of the Universe". It was these toys the comic you refer to was based on, and the show as well.

Source: http://www.he-man.org

You seem to have forgotten the immensely successful toy line "Masters of the Universe". It was these toys the comic you refer to was based on, and the show as well.

Source: http://www.he-man.org



Actually, they all appeared at the same time.

In 1980, Mattel, Filmation, and DC Comics all got together and decided they would work together on creating a show.  DC owned the rights to "He-Man", from a comic series they played with a decade before then abandoned.  They dusted it off, and together made a more "kid friendly" version. 

Once they decided on what it would be about, they all started working.  DC made 2 comics, and Filmation made almost a complete season of cartoons.  However, the cartoon was not picked up by any networks so the series just sat in the can.  The reimaging of the comic book was instead modified into the "mini comics" that were inserted with each of the toys.

The toy line did not do much, until 1982, after "Conan" was released.  The toys started to sell, and NBC remembered the series that nobody wanted, so picked it up.  At about the same time, DC started to make the comic books, seeing that they could just ride along on the momentum that Mattel and Filmation were creating.

And yes, the concept was originally to be "Conan".  Mattel and Filmation originally approached Marvel (who owned the comic book rights for Conan), but it never went anywhere.  So they approached DC, and found a much more receptive audience.  The prototype "He-Man" dolls were simply their prototype for Conan, but with Blonde hair.

I remember Filmation making a sound kind of like a ding on the end,

I watched Fat Albert and He Man after school all the time as a kid.. Those were great shows... I loved that little friend of He Mans.. Was his name Orbitty or something like that?

Kelly, his name was ORCO. And he was a magic "Think" that could never pull the right thing out of his hat. Like if he were locked in a cage he would try to pull out a key and pull out a lion or something like that. I was a He-Man fanatic!! Remember when they came out with the "New" He-man. They put this lavender looking shirt on him. That made He-man look more like Prince Adam.