Here’s how to watch He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe’s classic 1985 festive spin-off He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special online for free. Based on the Mattel toy line of the same name, He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe was one of the most popular animated kid’s TV shows of the 1980s. The series is set on the mythical planet of Eternia which is home to Adam – a young prince who adopts the secret superhero persona of He-Man by way of a magical sword to defend the planet from a power-hungry villain named Skeletor.
The popular cartoon ran for just two seasons but spawned a number of spin-offs including the feature-length film The Secret Of The Sword and a quite literal sister series titled She-Ra: Princess Of Power, which followed the adventures of Prince Adam’s twin sibling Princess Adora. The show also spawned a festive television special titled He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special that originally aired a month after its November 1985 series finale.
In the special, He-Man and She-Ra’s sidekick, Orko accidentally launches a space shuttle and crash lands on Earth where he meets two children named Miguel and Alisha who explain the concept of Christmas to him. While He-Man and She-Ra manage to beam wacky sidekick Orko back to Eternia, they unwittingly transport Miguel and Alisha there too who are distressed to learn they might miss Christmas. Meanwhile, Skeletor and rival villain Hordak are instructed by their master Horde Prime to capture the children before the goodwill of Christmas can spread and stop his rise to power. He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special has previously been released on VHS and DVD, but now it’s available to watch online for free thanks to the Masters of the Universe: He-Man & She-Ra YouTube channel.
It seems that Horde Prime had good reason to worry about the spirit of Christmas spreading as even the villainous Skeletor is uncharacteristically kind after capturing Miguel and Alisha. Not only does Skeletor fit the kids out with warm winter jackets, but he also fends off an attack from a snow beast and shoots down his master ship so he can’t kidnap them – despite constantly reminding everyone that he’s a bad guy.
He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special is undeniably cheesy but it’s a must-see for fans of the franchise which is enjoying something of a renaissance at the moment thanks to the Netflix reboot shows She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power and Masters Of The Universe: Revelation. Netflix is also currently airing a CGI-animated re-imagining of the He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe cartoon which is set to release a third season later this year and is teaming up with fraternal directing duo Aaron and Adam Nee to make a live-action He-Man origin story film.