House of Shokoti Part 1

House of Shokoti Part 1 is the 40th episode of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, written by Larry DiTillio and directed by Lou Kachivas. Melaktha and Prince Adam lead an archaeological expedition to find a mysterious pyramid in the Sands of Time, but a shadowy villain is determined to get there first.

Moral
Ram Man:  "In today's story, I sure was busy. Boy, did that hurt. Ramming things may look like fun, but it really isn't. Trying to use your head the way I do is not only dangerous, it's dumb! I mean, you could get hurt, badly! So listen to Rammy: play safely and when you use your head, use it the way it was meant to be used: to think. Until later, so long!"

Heroic Warriors

 * Prince Adam/He-Man
 * Cringer/Battle Cat
 * Man-At-Arms (mentioned)
 * Orko
 * Ram Man
 * Sorceress
 * Teela (mentioned)

Allies

 * Melaktha
 * Stanlan

Evil Warriors

 * Skeletor (mentioned)
 * Trap Jaw

Villains

 * Masque
 * Reptile Men
 * Space Pirates (mentioned)

Locations

 * Castle Grayskull
 * Eternos - Royal Palace
 * Sands of Time
 * Calash
 * Fortress in the Sands
 * Trap Jaw's Hideout
 * Fertile Plain (name visible on map)
 * Forgotten Forest (name visible on map)
 * Ice Mountains (name visible on map)
 * Mystic Mountains (name visible on map)
 * Vine Jungle (name visible on map)

Vehicles

 * Battle Ram
 * Wind Raider

Creatures

 * Sand Digger

Technology

 * Spider Drones

Cast

 * John Erwin as He-Man/Prince Adam and Ram Man
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Masque, Cringer and Melaktha
 * Linda Gary as Stanlan and the Sorceress
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Orko, Trap Jaw, Reptile Man and Fortres Soldier

Behind the Scenes

 * Larry DiTillio's script was originally deemed too expensive to produce, owing to several new models and a lot of light and shadow work. However, producer Hal Sutherland suggested that costs could be cut by making it a two-parter. This meant DiTillio had to write a prequel story (which became part 1) primarily using stock footage from earlier episodes. As such, Part 1 was written months after Part 2 and Ditillio still thinks the first part is one of his worst efforts and the second part one of his best.
 * Script was approved June 15, 1983 and final script revision took place July 21, 1983.
 * The new characters Lord Masque, Melaktha and Stanlan were all designed by storyboard artist Don Manuel. Masque was eventually released as an action figure by Mattycollector in 2016.
 * The original opening scene, which was story-boarded but never animated, saw a Nomad traveling the desert on a Slotto and discovering the pyramid. He flees when Lord Masque appears and converses with the mysterious voice of Shokoti, who orders him to guard the temple and prevent anyone from approaching. During a scene later at Castle Grayskull, the Sorceress does mention the Nomad from this deleted scene.
 * In the original script, the disguised version of Masque is referred to as 'Racca' and the commander in the Fortress in the Sands who brings He-Man the control box is called 'Sylus'.
 * When He-Man is handed a control box from one of Trap Jaw's robots, the circuits on the control box were meant to resemble Trap Jaw's face.
 * Backgrounds featuring various dunes at nighttime were created to be used in several episodes. Most notably the background from the shot when the Lizard Man recognizes Lord Masque, which features a glowing section of sand that will be used in The Witch and the Warrior for a night time campfire scene.
 * A rare occasion of the toy accurate Battle Ram without the Sky Sled attached to it can be spotted in the desert scenes, twice.

Contnuity

 * Trap Jaw's Spider Drones would be used again in Trouble's Middle Name and Beauty and the Beast.
 * The animated sequence of Orko doing a backflip will be seen again in Game Plan.
 * The sequence of Orko using his magic to make a 'Bang' sign pop out of Trap Jaw's Lasatron was first used in Quest for He-Man.
 * The Eternian Library was first seen in The Dragon's Gift.
 * The animation of Cringer laughing with his paws on his head would be reused in Temple of the Sun.
 * The exterior shot of the village of Calash will be seen again as Aridan in The Witch and the Warrior. It also features background elements first seen in Colossor Awakes.
 * The Sand Scuttle is seen again in Search for a Son.

Errors

 * After a Spider Drone falls into a hole created by He-Man, two others stop at the edge. But the animation layers are switched, making the one on the right appear to be much smaller than the one on the left instead of farther away.
 * Ram Man knocks a Spider Drone back into another one, but the background plate remains the same as it switches to the second Drone.
 * When Orko and Stanlan shake hands, the shading on their arms can't keep up with the movement and is misaligned.
 * Ram Man is being used as a human jack to hold up the speeder as Adam works on it in one scene. But later, when they are surprised by the Sand Digger, the speeder is still in the same lopsided position without anything to hold it up.
 * When Adam tells Cringer that they are 'far enough out of sight now', he is already speaking with He-Man's voice.
 * When He-Man is throwing the Sand Digger, Battle Cat is moving his paws while he should be keeping ground.
 * As He-Man and Battle Cat exit the tent after their transformation, He-Man is posing his empty fist as if holding his sword.
 * He-Man punches the sand creature and ends up with sand on his fist. But the sand is colored daytime yellow instead of nighttime blue.

The He-Man and She-Ra Blog

 * A brief review #040 - "House of Shokoti" Part 1
 * Happy Birthday He-Man #4 - Sand Demon?
 * Happy Birthday He-Man #15 - Bang! Bang!
 * Memories #17 - To be cotinued!