Beast Island (episode)

Beast Island is a first season episode of the animated television series She-Ra Princess of Power, produced in 1985. Written by Larry DiTillio, directed by Lou Kachivas.

Synopsis
At the rebel camp, Madame Razz and the Twiggets use their magical powers to find He-Man; he is being held captive on Beast Island. Razz eventually manages to conjure up a flying ship and the rebels fly to Beast Island in an attempt to rescue their newest ally.

On the island itself, Force Captain Adora confronts the imprisoned He-Man, telling him that the sword he dropped feels as if it were made for her. He-Man agrees, but adds that the sword is only for one who is on the side of good. Adora says that she serves the rightful rulers of Etheria, but He-Man asks her if she's seen how the Horde treats the people. Adora admits she's spent most of her life in the Fright Zone and has actually seen little of Etheria, so He-Man suggests she go out into the world and sees what the Horde is really like.

Hordak and Shadow Weaver discover the rebel ship on their own way to Beast Island, and Hordak promptly shoots it down. Glimmer's powers manage to save the rebels from serious injury, but she is left very weak by the exertion. Shadow Weaver gets suspicious of Adora's wishes to leave the safety of the Horde, but Hordak is unconcerned feeling his training and Shadow Weaver's spells ensure Adora's loyalty. The rebels come face to face with one of the monsters that inhabit the island; they flee from the monster, unable to stop it. Just when they are almost cornered, Battle Cat launches some fruit at the monster, blinding it and forcing it to leave.

At the prison stronghold, Adora and her steed Spirit leave the island in an attempt to prove He-Man's accusations wrong. As she leaves, the rebels successfully manage to break into the Fright Zone, only to have Grizzlor face off against them. Adora travels the world and begins to witness some of the Horde's atrocities against innocent people.

The rebels fend off a battalion of Horde Troopers and soon find themselves in the room where He-Man has been chained. Just as they prepare to free him, Hordak and Shadow Weaver overpower them, Shadow Weaver paralyzing them with gas. Hordak plans to exact punishment on the rebels if He-Man does not tell him why he has come to Etheria. The Horde leave to let him consider this offer, and then Kowl appears, having escaped the paralyzing gas, and immediately sets about freeing He-Man. He-Man releases the imprisoned rebels, but the alarm is set off and the entire Horde are alerted to their escape attempt. He-Man uses his great strength to take care of the Horde Troopers that stand before them; arriving on the launch pad of Beast Island He-Man battles Grizzlor's Destructo Tanks as the rebels prepare to commandeer a Batmek to make their escape.

Adora returns to the Fright Zone, confronting Hordak and Shadow Weaver about what she has now seen with her own eyes. Shadow Weaver determines that the sword Adora carries is somehow weakening the spell cast on her; she puts Adora to sleep with her magic and retrieves the sword, vowing to Hordak that she will learn the secrets of the sword, along with He-Man's secrets as well.

To Be Continued...

Characters

 * Great Rebellion
 * Bow
 * Broom
 * Glimmer
 * Kowl
 * Madame Razz
 * Sprag
 * Spritina (first Filmation appearance)
 * Sprocker (first Filmation appearance)


 * Heroic Warriors
 * Battle Cat
 * He-Man


 * Evil Horde
 * Force Captain Adora
 * Grizzlor (first Filmation appearance)
 * Hordak
 * Horde Troopers
 * Shadow Weaver
 * Spirit (first Filmation appearance)
 * Villains
 * Worble

Objects

 * Vehicles
 * Annihilator
 * Batmek
 * Destructo Tank
 * Flying Ship

Locations

 * Etheria
 * Beast Island
 * Fright Zone
 * Whispering Woods

Cast

 * Melendy Britt as Princess Adora
 * George DiCenzo as Hordak and Bow
 * Linda Gary as Glimmer, Shadow Weaver and Madame Razz
 * John Erwin as He-Man
 * Alan Oppenheimer as Battle Cat and Announcer
 * Erika Scheimer as Jason
 * Lou Scheimer (credited as Erik Gunden) as Kowl, Grizzlor, Broom, Slave, Father and Horder Trooper

Behind the Scenes

 * Script was approved May 30, 1984 and final script revision took place September 18, 1984.
 * The full, original title as seen on the shooting script was "The Sword of She-Ra Part II: Beast Island". The unused part of the title is still spoken by the announcer (Alan Oppenheimer), although he refers to 'chapters' instead of 'parts'.
 * "Beast Island" starts with an alternate opening sequence narrated by Lou Scheimer which introduces She-Ra and the Great Rebellion, but does not disclose her secret identity.
 * Scenes from "Beast Island" which were cut out for The Secret of the Sword:
 * The scene at the Rebel camp continues after Battle Cat says "Lets go!" Glimmer explains that the Rebels don't have flyers like the Horde, so Madame Razz conjures up a 'Frying Ship' then corrects it to a 'Flying Ship' and Glimmer teleports herself on board.
 * The conversation between Adora and a chained He-Man is longer, with Adora refusing to believe that the people of Etheria are afraid of the Horde and calling He-Man a liar.
 * Inside the Flyer, Shadow Weaver proposes to stop the Rebel ship with a spell, but Hordak wants to 'do the stopping' himself.
 * The attack of the monster on Beast Island has a few more shots because there's room for a commercial break in-between. Also, there is no slide-whistle sound when the monster tosses Battle Cat away in the theatrical version.
 * Adora witnesses a Horde Trooper confiscating Whitey the horse from a boy named Jason.
 * When the Rebels are pinned down in the prison complex, Madame Razz uses her magic to turn two Horde Troopers into sheep.
 * The music score was restructured for The Secret of the Sword to compensate for the numerous edits to the original five episodes and is completely different in many scenes.
 * During the recap at the start of the episode, the footage of He-Man vs Adora from Into Etheria has been altered. In the recap version, He-Man is seen holding his Power Sword as he confronts Adora, who is holding the Sword of Protection. But in “Into Etheria”, she was holding a nondescript sword while He-Man had her Sword of Protection (having lost his own sword earlier).
 * According to the original shooting script by Larry DiTillio, Hordak's personal Flyer is known as 'The Annihilator'.
 * When Hordak shoots Madame Razz's Flying Ship out of the sky, the display on his control panel flashes the words 'die! die'.
 * The shooting script implies that He-Man destroyed the entire prison comlex on Beast Island before leaving it, instead of just a small part of it as seen in the finished episode. This way, the location could be used again in various episodes.
 * Sequences that were cut from the original shooting script:
 * Before Madame Razz transforms the Frying Ship into a Flying Ship, she mispronounces the spell again and it becomes a Flying Whip that began whipping the Twiggets.
 * At Beast Island, Adora and Grizzlor watch the captured He-Man on a monitor and have a few lines before Hordak and Shadow Weaver enter.
 * When Kowl offers the chained up He-Man some assistance, He-Man asks how Kowl managed to escape the freezing spell. Kowl explains that he saw it coming and managed to slip away. Nobody noticed him, an advantage of being small.
 * Hordak and Shadow Weaver share a few lines as they escape Beast Island in his personal flyer, the Annihilator when He-Man destroys part of the prison.

Continuity

 * The sequence in which Madame Razz, aided by Sprag and Sprocker uses a spell to locate her missing friends is reused in the episode The Wizard, albeit with a different background. Another variation, featuring different Twiggets is seen in Portrait of Doom.
 * The shot of Hordak and Shadow Weaver in the Annihilator would be reused in The Red Knight, with Mantenna replacing Shadow Weaver, but striking the same pose.
 * Glimmer is seen using her teleportation power for the first time here. The only other instance in which she will use this gift is seen in the episode Small Problems.