A Beastly Sideshow is the 15th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Beast Man captures Cringer to lure Prince Adam into a trap at Snake Mountain.
Synopsis[]
A carnival arrives at the Royal Palace and Prince Adam, Cringer, Man-At-Arms, Teela, and Orko are all in attendance. Orko tries to copy the Human Electrode's act by using "ancient magic from the planet Earth called pepper, but fails. He hands the worthless pepper to Adam. The animal handler releases a Shadow Beast (Filmation), which grabs Teela. She manages to calm it and is put down safely, but Man-At-Arms tells the animal's handler he will be banished if he tries another dangerous trick like that. A white feline named Pretty Kitty captures Cringer's attention.
That night, the animal handler tells Pretty Kitty to pay Cringer a visit. She stands beneath the window of Adam's bedroom, and in a rare case of courage, Cringer jumps from the window into a fountain and follows Kitty back to her cage. The animal handler reveals himself to be Beast Man in disguise, and tells Cringer their next stop is Snake Mountain. The next morning, Adam can't find Cringer, and Man-At-Arms notices that the Carnaval has departed a day earlier than planned. Orko floats to them in a hurry to tell them that one of Teela's guards has found a message from Skeletor. It states he has Cringer and tells Adam to come get him at Snake Mountain. Man-At-Arms warns Adam it's a trap, and Adam transforms into He-Man, stating "If it's He-Man Skeletor wants, it's He-Man he'll get."
At Snake Mountain, Skeletor, Beast Man and Evil-Lyn await the arrival of Adam in the throne room. When an alarm goes off, they are surprised to see He-Man climbing the walls instead. Beast Man states their plan is working better than planned, but Skeletor reminds him it was his plan. During his climb, He-Man is attacked by the Shadow Beast, which is supposed to take He-Man into a cave. But Teela appears, having travelled to Snake Mountain by Sky-Sled after learning Adam had gone there. She manages to calm the savage beast once more, and tells He-Man she'll wait outside in case Adam shows up, while He-Man climbs on.
Cringer has been placed in a glass cage ballancing on the edge of a rock. A trap door has been set for He-Man to fall into a pit containing the Octabeast as he approaches the rock. Cringer tries to warn He-Man it's a trap, but can't be heard from inside the cage. Performing another feat of courage, Cringer uses his weight to cause the transparent cage to tumble off the cliff, and He-Man catches it rather than stepping on the mechanism that opens the trap door. Observing from the throne room, Skeletor blames Beast Man for their plan's failure. He-Man decides to pay Skeletor a visit and uses the Sword of Power to transform Cringer into Battle Cat. Another alarm alerts Skeletor that someone else has entered his lair: Teela. She walks into the Octabeast trap and is grabbed by one of it's tentacles. Skeletor orders Beast Man to communicate with the creature and have it bring the woman to the South Entrance. Teela is chained to a wall by Beast Man, and Evil-Lyn uses her wand to energize the chains so that even He-Man won't be able to break them.
Beast Man attacks He-Man using his whip, but He-Man grabs it and pulls Beast Man through the air. Battle Cat drags Beast Man into a corner, which is then sealed off by He-Man using a large crystal slab, mimicking the glass cage Cringer was held in earlier. Evil-Lyn appears and fires a magic ray from her wand, which ricochets on the walls. He-Man ties the hilt of her wand around her arms and allows Battle Cat to drag her to the improvised cell as He-Man slides open the glass 'entrance' so that Evil-Lyn can join Beast Man inside. He-Man and Battle Cat enter Skeletor's throne room, where Skeletor orders him to escort him into Castle Grayskull. He-Man tells him to hand over his magic staff instead. Skeletor uses the staff to create a wall of mirrors reflecting multiple versions of himself. The walls on either side of He-Man and Battle Cat begin to close in on him. As they struggle to keep from being crushed, He-Man notices the vial of pepper given to Adam by Orko popping out of his harness. He throws it at Skeletor, who sneezes, destroying the mirrors one by one and revealing his true location. Battle Cat lunges at Skeletor, who flees. He-Man and Battle Cat then go to find Teela and release her. Despite Evil-Lyn's claims, He-Man is able to break the energized chains with ease. Teela wants to find Adam and Cringer, but He-Man assures her that he will make sure they get back to the palace. Instead, he asks her to concern herself with Beast Man and Evil-Lyn, and she replies that she will make sure that they are put on trial in an Eternian court of law.
Later, back at the palace, Teela recounts her story to Adam, after which Adam returns the pepper to Orko. Orko finds it difficult to beleave Adam's claim that the pepper saved the day. He takes it back sniffs it and gets an uncontrolable sneezing fit.
Moral[]
He-Man: "Today I want to talk to you about courage. Now courage not only means being brave in the face of danger, it also meanshaving the strength to say 'no' when your friends are trying to talk you into doing something you know is wrong. In short, courage means having principles and sticking to them, no matter what. See you all again soon."
Features[]
- Heroic Warriors
- Evil Warriors
- Creatures
- Others
- Human Electrode
- Chef Alan (indirect mention)
- Teela's Guard (mentioned)
Locations[]
- Eternos
- Snake Mountain
- Castle Grayskull (mentioned only)
Objects[]
- Vehicles
- Artifacts
- Weapons
Cast[]
- John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Beast Man
- Alan Oppenheimer as Skeletor, Man-At-Arms and Battle Cat/Cringer
- Linda Gary as Teela and Evil-Lyn
- Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko
Behind the Scenes[]
- Script was approved March 8, 1983 and final script revision was done May 9, 1983. The character models were finalized on May 5, 1983.
- The original VHS release in the US omitted the title card and the story was listed as 'A Beastly Menagerie' on the back cover.
- This story is loosely based on the Filmation script premise 'Cat's Cradle' in which He-Man had to rescue Cringer from Beast Man's fortress.
- In the original script, the scene in which Skeletor makes the walls close in on He-Man was supposed to take place in a cavern instead of Skeletor's throne room, which would make more sense logistically.
Continuity[]
- Several of the background crowd scenes were reused in The Greatest Show on Eternia.
- The shot of Man-At-Arms repairing the Sky Sled was first seen in the moral to The Curse of the Spellstone. A version with Adam replacing Man-At-Arms was used in Teela's Quest.
Errors[]
- When Cringer says 'I wonder what she's doing after the show', referring to Pretty Kitty, just before the scene ends, his mouth disappears.
- The background crowd shot remains the same during the sequence in which the Shadow Beasts puts Teela down, making for an awkward jump cut.
- As Pretty Kitty walks towards the Royal Palace, she comes to a wall with a doorway that appears to merge into the background wall. The animation overlays don't match up.
- When Teela says 'The Shadow Beast and I are old friends', the close up of the Shadow Beast does not match the shots preceding and following it in which it is holding He-Man in the air with one arm.
- Cringer manages to roar just like Battle Cat. He will do so again in Orko's Favorite Uncle.
- As He-Man and Battle Cat enter the top of Snake Mountain, his sword is visible on his back in one shot, and in his right hand in the next.
- Evil-Lyn's wand keeps changing in length during each scene it is used in and in one close-up of her feet, she suddenly has high heels.
- When the walls begin to move in on He-Man and Battle Cat, there are different amounts of space left when we see Battle Cat pushing back the wall and when He-Man is doing the same in the next shot.
Gallery[]
External links[]
- Frank's He-Man page
- Internet Movie Database
- The TVDB
- TVmaze
- Gallery courtesy of He-Man Reviewed