ETERNIA'S SCHOLAR
Professor Smallen
Professor Smallen misplaces his glasses and forgets whether he has had lunch, but he does not lose books, and twice the cartoon makes Eternia's knowledge his problem.
Professor Smallen is a scholar in Filmation's He-Man, voiced by John Erwin, who finds the Book of Ancient Eternia in "Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" (1983) and returns in "The Great Books Mystery" (1984).
The record
The facts
WHO HE IS
The professor
Every kingdom with a library needs someone to fuss over it. Filmation's He-Man gave Eternia Professor Smallen, a stout scholar with round glasses, a black moustache and a habit of stammering when he gets excited, who works with the university and turns up wherever Eternia's past is written down.[1] He appears in two episodes, a year apart, and in both of them the thing at stake is knowledge: a book dug out of a ruin, then every book in the kingdom.
He is no fighter and the show never asks him to be one. He talks, he catalogs and he gets into trouble, and Man-At-Arms is usually the one standing next to him when it happens.
[1] ^ "Professor Smallen? With the university?" is Prince Adam's reply when he hears where Man-At-Arms has gone. His title in The Great Books Mystery comes from King Randor, who calls him Professor Smallen.
THE SIGNATURE EPISODE
Keeper of the Ancient Ruins
Lee Robert's "Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" opens at Smallen's dig in the Sands of Time desert.[2] Man-At-Arms is testing a converter that turns sand into protein, and the professor has better news: "By chance, I, uh, happened to notice a loose brick. You may have the honor of opening it, Duncan." Behind the brick is the Book of Ancient Eternia, written in the old language, and Smallen radios the palace so Teela can translate it on the Lango Computer. He gets as far as "Page one" before the ruin's guardians wake up around him: the Zactons, "thousand-year-old robots," or, as the professor puts it, "antiques!"
The Zactons have one rule, and they repeat it to anyone who will listen: "All who came before you came to rob and plunder. We must protect the treasures." "No, we are only cataloging them," comes the protest, and it does no good. The robots freeze both men in a time ray, and while a desert storm brings Teela, Adam and Cringer in after them, the episode belongs to Man-At-Arms, who is revived to prove himself by repairing a damaged Zacton named Kappa. Trap Jaw arrives for the book, the Zactons work out who their real enemy is, and they freeze him with the same ray. Smallen is revived last, still mid-sentence: "Uh, no, wait. We were only cataloging."
The ending is his. When the grateful Zactons try to give the visitors a treasure to keep, the visitors turn it down because it "belongs with the other treasures for all to see and enjoy," and the talk turns to "a special place for all Eternians to view this wonderful work." He-Man's closing message picks up the idea: today Professor Smallen found a treasure that "wasn't gold or jewels but something even more precious: knowledge," and the best place to find it is a museum.
[2] ^ He-Mania's episode page lists "Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" as MU47, written by Lee Robert and first aired on October 18, 1983, and sums it up as Man-At-Arms and Professor Smallen being captured by ancient robots.
Professor Smallen in the ruins of the Zactons.
Clipped from our own copy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Keeper of the Ancient Ruins (1983), 2:31 to 4:20, 1 minute 49 seconds. Nothing is added and nothing is sped up. Copyright Mattel.
HIS SECOND EPISODE
The Great Books Mystery
Harvey Brenner's "The Great Books Mystery" (September 24, 1984) brings him back, redrawn, to the palace with the worst news of his career: "all the books in the ancient archives have disappeared."[3] King Randor asks if he is sure he is not getting forgetful, and Smallen's answer is the best line he ever has: "I do misplace my glasses sometimes and I don't always remember if I'd had lunch or not but I don't lose books."[4] He is right. Every great book in the kingdom has vanished, and the rest of the episode, Batros, Skeletor and the hunt across the desert, plays out without him.
[3] ^ He is drawn differently in his second episode: gray hair and a beige coat in Keeper of the Ancient Ruins, brown hair and a blue coat in The Great Books Mystery. The glasses and the moustache stay.
[4] ^ Both episode cast lists give his voice to John Erwin, who also voices He-Man and Prince Adam in both.
LATER SERIES AND FILMS
After Filmation
The later series are not part of the Filmation canon this encyclopedia follows, and none of them has brought the professor back. He is not in Filmation's She-Ra, the 2002 series, Revelation or Revolution, the Dolph Lundgren movie or the 2026 film. No toy of him has ever been made.
Filmation's Eternia is a place old enough to have lost things, and Smallen is the one who wants them back on a shelf where everyone can see them.
IN BRIEF
Professor Smallen on screen
"Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" airs
The Book of Ancient Eternia, the Zactons and the time ray.
"The Great Books Mystery" airs
Smallen reports every book in the ancient archives gone.
Questions
Professor Smallen questions, answered
Who is Professor Smallen?
A scholar from the university in Filmation's He-Man, who studies Eternia's ancient past.
Which episodes is Professor Smallen in?
"Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" (1983) and "The Great Books Mystery" (1984).
Who voices Professor Smallen?
John Erwin, per the cast lists of both episodes.
What does he find in Keeper of the Ancient Ruins?
The Book of Ancient Eternia, hidden behind a loose brick in a ruin in the Sands of Time desert.
Who are the Zactons?
Thousand-year-old robots guarding the ruin. They take every visitor for a thief, freeze Smallen and Man-At-Arms in a time ray, and turn friendly once Man-At-Arms repairs one of them.
Does Smallen keep any of the treasure?
No. When the Zactons offer a gift, it is turned down because it "belongs with the other treasures for all to see and enjoy."
What does Smallen do in The Great Books Mystery?
He tells King Randor that every book in the ancient archives has vanished, and insists he has not lost them.
Why does he look different in his second episode?
The Great Books Mystery draws him with brown hair and a blue coat; Keeper of the Ancient Ruins gave him gray hair and a beige coat. The episode never explains the change.
Is there a Professor Smallen figure?
No. He has never been made as a toy.
Compiled by the heman.org desk from the Filmation episodes "Keeper of the Ancient Ruins" and "The Great Books Mystery," their subtitle tracks, cast lists and episode guides, and He-Mania's episode page for "Keeper of the Ancient Ruins."
Alongside
Characters in the same story
On Screen