He-Man and She-Ra: The Music Video
"I Have The Power"
Produced by Erika Scheimer - Directed by Brett Hisey

History

When The Secret of the Sword was released across the United States in 1985, like every film, it had to be accompanied by a soundtrack. This soundtrack was released, but rather than featuring various instrumental pieces, which the He-Fan and She-Raver community later would have preferred, it was simply a narration of the film on vinyl. The theme tune, "I Have The Power" was, however, on the record in full. It was slightly edited for the film, so this was the only way to get hold of the piece. It is not known, as yet, whether the track was released as a single. However, having seen the following evidence, it is more than likely that it was planned to be - Erika Scheimer had teamed up with Brett Hisey to create a production to promote the track - a music video for "I Have The Power". To add to the mystery, the feature never made it to any television screens, suggesting that the single was planned, but never actually released. Up until recently, "I Have The Power", also hailed as She-Ra Princess of Power: The Music Video, had only been seen through various promotional purposes. It was shown publicly for the first time at the 2001 ComiCon Showcase in San Diego, 16 years after being made, and has also been made available, but only in limited quantites, through various auction sites. I was lucky enough to acquire an original copy earlier this year and, here, I'll take you through the marvellous spectacular this is "I Have The Power".

Pictoral Synopis

Fig. 1 ................. Fig. 2 ................. Fig. 3 ................. Fig. 4

Fig. 1: The Sorceress contacts Adora in her sleep, calling her name twice, as used in She-Ra Unchained.

Fig. 2: The picture ripples to reveal the Sword of Protection.

Fig. 3: As in She-Ra Unchained, the Sorceress tells Adora that "The time has come for you to seek your destiny".

Fig. 4: The Sorceress appears in the jewel in Adora's sword and tells her, "Let your heart guide you towards the path you know to be right".

Fig. 5 ................. Fig. 6 .................. Fig. 7 ................. Fig. 8

Fig. 5: The Sword of Protection appears levitating in the caverns of Grayskull. "And let this sword give you the strength to follow that path".

Fig. 6: As the haunting music sounds in the background, the sword moves from the centre of the screen to the left of the picture until it is out of shot.

Fig. 7: As in all Filmation productions, the logo appears and the company have their stamp on it.

Fig. 8: As in Into Etheria, the Sword of Protection opens a door in Grayskull and reveals a portal.

Fig. 9 ............... Fig. 10 ............... Fig. 11 ............... Fig. 12

Fig. 9: The sword is the focus, with the shimmering purple background. As "I Have The Power" begins, the titles fall into the picture from the top and bottom of the screen and then flash.

Fig. 10: A strange crystal, seemingly levitating in space and resembling one later employed as the door to the Crystal Castle, omits translucent flashing lights as the atmosphere changes.

Fig. 11: Seeing the planet Eternia in a She-Ra-themed production seems strange, as it was only ever seen once in a She-Ra episode - The Inspector. The camera zooms in and uses an attractive swirling effect, making it feel almost as though the viewer is falling towards the planet.

Fig. 12: A long-shot shows us Adam, Orko and Cringer sitting in what can only be assumed to be the gardens of the Royal Palace. New artwork was produced especially for this feature and this is the first time a lake or pond is seen in the Royal Palace - even though there would be one in the episode The Eldritch Mist. Note that Orko appears, whereas he is nowhere to be seen in the first five episodes of She-Ra and is said to be visiting his Uncle Montork in Trolla. This is odd, as the music video is clearly meant to promote the soundtrack used in The Secret of the Sword.

Fig. 13 ............... Fig. 14 ............... Fig. 15 ............... Fig. 16

Fig. 13: As Noam Kaniel's vocals begin, Adam suddenly starts miming the words. It actually looks fairly tacky, even though the words are meaningful.

Fig. 14: He turns over and with a frustrated look on his face, continues to mime. These cels were originally used in the He-Man episode Into the Abyss.

Fig. 15: The camera is enveloped by the water in the lake, which gives a beautiful turquoise ripple effect and then disolves into...

Fig. 16: A shot of the typically-used space background, with two separate fireballs shooting towards the the camera. The second disolves into...

Fig. 17 ............... Fig. 18 ............... Fig. 19 ............... Fig. 20

Fig. 17: A beautiful variation on Prince Adam's transformation, as seen in the Season Two He-Man episode Into the Abyss. The moon provides a stunning backdrop as Adam mimes along to the song,holds up the sword...

Fig. 18: And becomes He-Man, in good old stock-footage fashion!

Fig. 19: As in the He-Man series, as well as a few She-Ra crossover episodes, the previous scene is linked with the following one via a spinning He-Man logo, which explodes to reveal a different cel.

Fig. 20: Orko becomes a more prominent force, rather than just a background character, as he seems to summon He-Man and signal him to dive into the lake with him.

Fig. 21 ............... Fig. 22 ............... Fig. 23 ............... Fig. 24

Fig. 21: They both dive head-first into the lake and apparently arrive on Etheria.

Fig. 22: Adora peers out of her bedroom window in the Fright Zone, a scene taken from the third part of her origin story, She-Ra Unchained. In the music video, however, a bright light shines from the top left-hand corner of the screen, giving a dazzling variation to the familiar footage.

Fig. 23: Another piece of stock footage is employed next and is the only trace of the Horde in this feature. We briefly see the Horde Trooper from Into Etheria fire a shot at and stun He-Man, who consequently drops the Sword of Protection. Adora picks it up and the jewel glistens in the light.

Fig. 24: Almost as if Adora had had a premonition, we then see a brief shot of the twins hugging, whilst surrounded by a brilliant white light. The animation is from Reunions, but the effect is new.

Fig. 25 ............... Fig. 26 ................ Fig. 27 ............... Fig. 28

Fig. 25: Just as Adam transformed earlier, Adora's turn soon arrives. The footage is taken fromShe-Ra Unchained - but instead of saying 'For the honour of Grayskull', she too mines along to the soundtrack as she transforms...

Fig. 26: ...into She-Ra!

Fig. 27: He-Man continues to mouth the words to "I Have The Power" - in Reunions, he would say, "Quick, let's cross swords!" to defeat Hunga the Harpy, but here, the swords cross and provide us with a brilliant display of light, which cuts to...

Fig. 28: ...possibly the most simple, but stunning, piece of artwork. The Twins of Power stand atop a mountain and their silhouettes are lit up by powerful strikes of lightning. The image does not even begin to capture the spectacle of seeing this particular piece on the screen. It is overwhelming.

Fig. 29 ............... Fig. 30 ................ Fig. 31 ............... Fig. 32

Fig. 29: The charge caused by the swords continues, but from a different angle, seemingly one simply extended from Fig. 27. The colour clears to leave a bright, dazzling ray of sunlight...

Fig. 30: ...which is soon accompanied by Swift Wind, who flies into the picture.

Fig. 31: She-Ra telepathically summons Swift Wind, as she does in various later episodes of the series. Note that this animation was not used in The Secret of the Sword and the background that accompanies the cel of She-Ra, and those that briefly follow, is actually a He-Man background.

Fig. 32: He-Man and She-Ra ride away on Swift Wind.

Fig. 33 ............... Fig. 34 ................ Fig. 35 ............... Fig. 36

Fig. 33: An interesting panning shot of Bright Moon establishes the castle as an important figure of Etheria. However, Glimmer and even Angella are nowhere to be seen in this feature. Notice that the large amount of Rebels are a different selection to those used in Battle for Bright Moon and that the sky changes from light to dark as the camera pans across.

Fig. 34: He-Man and She-Ra hug again.

Fig. 35: Orko makes a re-appearance - even though he would make his first appearance on Etheria in A Talent for Trouble, an episode well into She-Ra 's run. He spins around uncontrollably, keeping true to his stereotyped 'comic character' mould.

Fig. 36: The animation employed for Orko is clearly meant to represent a celebration for the unity of He-Man and She-Ra and not for the same purpose as in the He-Man episode Battle of the Dragons, from which it was taken. He shoots past the moon several times.

Fig. 37 ............... Fig. 38 ................ Fig. 39 ............... Fig. 40

Fig. 37: The Rebels celebrate as they are showered by sparks produced by Orko. Notice that two other She-Ra characters - Madame Razz and the less-important Sprocker - make a brief appearance with the crowd.
Fig. 38: We see that Orko hasn't just created the odd shaft of light, he has been used to work up a fireworks-scene, which looks spectacular, especially with the crowd looking up at it.

Fig. 39: Orko spins like a Catherine Wheel before exploding (ouch!) and leaving... Fig. 40: ...a very retro image. He-Man and She-Ra standing on the mountain top once more, holding their swords together, with a palette of colour scrolling past them in the background. It's a blinder.

Credits

No production would be complete without the credits - after the image of He-Man and She-Ra fades out, each card states something different, whilst accompanied by the eerie music that the music video began with.


Fig. 41 ............... Fig. 42 ............... Fig. 43

Fig. 41: Produced by Erika Scheimer and Directed by Brett Hisey

Fig. 42: "Thanks to the many talented artists, crafts people and technicians whose patience, love and care made this production possible."

Fig. 43: Notice how the previously black background now has a strange red-tinge to it.

Fig. 44 ................. Fig. 45

Fig. 44: The red-tinge grows stronger as the soundtrack is given a promotion.

Fig. 45: The feature concludes by a simple explosion omitted from the centre of the screen.

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