| G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Action Force (UK version) |
| Genre | Action-adventure Military science fiction |
| Created by | Hasbro |
| Based on | G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero byHasbro |
| Developed by | Ron Friedman (miniseries 1–2) Steve Gerber (season 1) Buzz Dixon (season 2) |
| Directed by | Dan Thompson (miniseries 1–2) John Gibbs (season 1) Terry Lennon (season 1) Ray Lee (season 2) |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by | Jackson Beck |
| Composers | Johnny Douglas Robert J. Walsh |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 95(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Don Jurwich Jim Duffy |
| Animator | Toei Animation[1][2] |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Sunbow Productions Marvel Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | First-run syndication[3] |
| Release | September 12, 1983 (1983-09-12) – November 20, 1986 (1986-11-20) |
| Related | |
| G.I. Joe: Renegades | |
G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero[4] (retitledAction Force in the United Kingdom, also known asG.I. Joe: International Heroes in some international English-speaking regions) is a half-hour Americanmilitary science fiction animated television series created byRon Friedman.[5] Based on thetoyline fromHasbro, the cartoon ran in syndication from 1983 to 1986.[6] 95 episodes were produced.[7]
"G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring, highly-trained special mission force. Its purpose: to defend human freedom againstCobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world!"
When Hasbro launched theG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline in 1982 alongside theMarvel Comics series, it commissionedMarvel Productions to produce a series of fully animated 30-second television commercials which were broadcast in order to promote the comic book publication, since advertising regulations for a literary work were more lax than for a direct toy commercial.[8] The commercial for the first issue began airing throughout the Spring of 1982.[9] The popularity of these commercials led to the production of a five-partG.I. Joe mini-series which aired in 1983 (later titled "The M.A.S.S. Device" when it re-aired as part of the ongoing series). The plot centers on the titular M.A.S.S. Device, a powerful matter-transporter, and G.I. Joe and Cobra's race around the world to acquire the three catalytic elements which power the machine. A second five-part mini-series followed in 1984,G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (titled "The Weather Dominator" in later airings), with a similar plot that involved the Joes and Cobras traveling around the world to recover the scattered fragments of Cobra's new weather-controlling weapon, the Weather Dominator. Both mini-series were written byRon Friedman.G.I. Joe was promoted to a full series in 1985, with an initial order for a first season of 55 more episodes (in order to make up the required 65 episodes for syndication).[10] This season began with a third Friedman-penned five-part adventure, "The Pyramid of Darkness"; the story sees most of the existing cast from the two previous mini-series held captive by Cobra, while a new assortment of characters (that is, the new 1985 range of toys) thwart Cobra's attempts to surround the Earth with the electricity-negating Pyramid of Darkness. Both the new and old characters then shared the spotlight throughout the course of the remaining fifty episodes of the series, which were primarily stand-alone single-episode adventures, with the occasional two-part story. The season was story edited bySteve Gerber. A second season of 30 episodes followed in 1986, beginning with a fourth five-part story, "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" in which Cobra scientistDoctor Mindbender, inspired by a recurring dream, uses the DNA of history's most ruthless conquerors and rulers to genetically engineerSerpentor, who usurps Cobra Commander's leadership of Cobra. This mini-series introduced the new 1986 range of toys into the story, which were at the center of most stories across the rest of the season; in particular, the mini-series debuted formerWWF and then-currentAWA professional wrestlerSgt. Slaughter as a member of G.I. Joe, played byhimself. For this season,Buzz Dixon replaced Steve Gerber as story editor.[11]
G.I. Joe: The Movie, a feature-length film version of the series, was intended to be released theatrically, followed by the release ofThe Transformers: The Movie. However, the movie encountered unexpected production delays which allowed theTransformers feature to be released first. Due to the poor box office performances of theTransformers andMy Little Pony films,G.I. Joe was relegated to direct-to-video status. It was released on VHS on April 20, 1987, and was later split into a five-part mini-series for television syndication. The movie follows up on the events of Season 2, revealing that Cobra Commander is actually an agent of a secret civilization known asCobra-La led by a half-serpent being named Golobulus. The same organization is also revealed to have had a hand in the creation of Serpentor, as the dream that inspired Doctor Mindbender to create him is revealed to be a subconscious suggestion that was implanted into his mind by one of Golobulus's bugs called the Psychic Motivator. In addition to Cobra-La, two new sub-teams were introduced within the Joe Team, the Rawhides and the Renegades, both of which were composed of characters which were introduced into the toyline during its 1987 lineup.[12]
Marvel Productions continued to produce animated commercials for the toyline and comic books (which featured a new theme song with the lyrics "Nobody Beats G.I. Joe") after the broadcast ofG.I. Joe: The Movie,[13] which was intended to set up Season 3.[12] However, the company never produced a third full season, ending up losing its license to the competing animation companyDiC during pre-production. Michael Charles Hill, who wrote several episodes of the show, had already proposed an outline for Season 3 that would have followed the events ofThe Movie. In this unmade third season, a criminal organization named "The Coil", composed of surviving members of Cobra Command led byTomax and Xamot, would have served as the new enemy faction, while a mutatedCobra Commander would have tried to secretly rebuild his organization after the destruction of Cobra-La, shifting allegiance between the Coil and the Joes in order to further his own ambitions.[14][15]
A secondG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero series was produced byDIC Entertainment that ran from1989 to1991. It premiered with a five-part mini-series which was titled "Operation: Dragonfire," lasted two seasons, and consisted of a total of 44 episodes. The DiC series served as a continuation of the Sunbow series, but it did not use the aforementioned season 3 pitch. Sunbow would later return to theG.I. Joe franchise, co-producing the 1994 straight-to-video animated pilotSgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles and theG.I. Joe Extreme TV series, which aired from 1995 to 1996. TheScreaming Eagles pilot featured appearances by characters from theA Real American Hero series (namelyHawk,Doc,Lady Jaye, andCobra Commander) in supporting roles, but its primary focus was on new heroes and villains.
G.I. Joe fights off the plans of terrorist organization Cobra to undermine the world governments and take over. Following the failure of Cobra's more elaborate plans, the organization starts coming up with ridiculous and outlandish ways to takeover. By the second season, Dr. Mindbender, along with Destro, Tomax and Xamot, have tired of the constant failures Cobra Commander has brought them. This leads to them creating a new leader from the combined DNA of past ruthless dictators: Serpentor. However, Cobra Commander persists as the field commander, and slowly builds his own faction to depose their usurper.
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G.I. Joe was a co-production betweenMarvel Productions andSunbow Productions. Sunbow's staff would write the scripts based on the character and vehicle designs provided byHasbro, while the artists at Marvel Productions would draw storyboards based on the scripts and record voiceovers.[11][12] The animation was outsourced toToei in Japan, who worked on all 95 episodes, as well as the movie.[1][2] TheG.I. Joe comics and animated series share a few common plot elements that were not products of the toyline at the time such as the town of Springfield, theOktober Guard and the character ofThe Baroness (who was only introduced into the toyline in 1984). However, they did not share the same continuity and as a result, they differed significantly in terms of how the characters were written and the direction the stories took (particularly regarding the nature of Cobra Commander's true identity). In contrast to the comics (in which non-toyline characters such as G.I. Joe commanding officerGeneral Flagg and Cobra scientistDr. Venom, were killed off early during its run), the TV series had to adhere to children's programming regulations and as a result none of the characters were allowed to use actual firearms and nobody was ever killed on-screen. Instead, characters used laser guns to fight their battles (which were color-coded for each side, red for the Joes and blue for Cobra) and whenever a vehicle was destroyed on-screen, the pilot or driver would often be shown exiting from it or parachuting before the destruction. However, the show was still allowed to make references to off-screencasualties, as the term could be used interchangeably for injuries and deaths. One particular episode in Season 1, a two-parter titled "Worlds Without End" in which the Joes are transported to an alternate universe where the Joes have been defeated by Cobra, features a scene in which three members of the Joe Team (Steeler,Grunt andClutch) find the skeletal remains of their counterparts from that world (the second part of the episode ends with the aforementioned characters deciding to remain in the alternate universe and replace their deceased counterparts). Apublic safety lesson was usually featured at the end of each episode, using G.I. Joe characters in brief scenarios to impart safety tips to children. These lessons gave birth to the catchphrase, "Now we know!", and the response, "And knowing is half the battle". In each episode's opening title sequence voice actorJackson Beck states that, "G.I. Joe is the code name for America's daring, highly-trained, Special Mission force. Its purpose: To defend human freedom against Cobra, a ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world". Because the series was produced as a vehicle to sell the toys, most of the episodes would focus on the newest characters being sold in stores at the time, while older characters would fall by the wayside as they were being phased out from the toyline.[14] Most notablyHawk, who was part of the 1982 launch lineup and the original G.I. Joe leader in the Marvel comics, was absent during the entirety of Season 1 in favor of havingDuke (a character introduced in 1983, the year when the first miniseries aired) serve as the leader instead. When Hawk was reintroduced to the toyline with a new action figure in 1986, the character was suddenly part of the team in Season 2 as Duke's superior and the head of G.I. Joe's chain of command with no explanation for his absence in the prior season.[a]
Various episodes were released on home video byFamily Home Entertainment in North America. A total of 12 numbered volumes were produced onVHS andBetamax from 1984 to 1986. Vol. 1 and 2 featured the first two mini-series, "The M.A.S.S. Device" and "The Revenge of Cobra" respectively, edited as feature-length movies,[9] while Vol. 3 through 11 featured a single episode each from the first season. These tapes were originally released in clamshell cases packaged in large boxes and were subsequently reissued with standard cardboard sleeves. Vol. 12 contains three episodes, each preceded by a live-action introduction hosted bySgt. Slaughter, although certain versions of this volume only contains two episodes. All 12 volumes featured comic book-like packaging artwork. The "Arise Serpentor, Arise" mini-series was later released as an edited feature-length movie on VHS andLaserDisc in 1991, making it the soleG.I. Joe release in the latter media format.[17][18]Rhino Home Video would later acquire the home video rights to the series and release a second series of VHS tapes under their "Kid Rhino" branding. Nine volumes were released for general retail between 1999 and 2000, each containing two episodes (including two-part episodes). A tenth volume was released in 2001 as part ofBlockbuster Video's exclusive "Kidmongous" series, which contained four episodes. Outside North America, episodes ofG.I. Joe were also released on VHS in other countries by various local companies, with theAction Force version of the show receiving a total of 27 VHS releases in theUnited Kingdom.[17]
In 2003-2004,Kid Rhino Entertainment (a subsidiary ofAOL Time Warner) (aWarner Family Entertainment andWEA/Warner Music Group-distributed label) began releasingG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero on DVD in Region 1. They released the original two mini-series in 2003 followed by Season 1 in 2 volume sets in 2004. The first half of Season 2 was released in late 2004 but the remaining episodes were never released due to quality issues when the original DVDs were released (such as adding more sound effects when watched in 5.1 surround sound, since they did the same to the Transformers G1 DVD sets, also done by Rhino). These DVD sets have since gone out of print as Rhino lost the distribution rights.[19] In 2008,Hasbro reacquired the worldwide distribution rights to theSunbow library which includes G.I. Joe.[20] During 2008 and 2009, Hasbro released five gift packs of cartoon-inspired action figures, each including a DVD.[21][22] The first four sets included the four miniseries, and the fifth an assortment of Sunbow series episodes.[23] In March 2009,Shout! Factory acquired the rights to re-release G.I. Joe on DVD in Region 1 withVivendi Entertainment. They have subsequently released Season 1 in 3 volume sets. On July 22, 2009, they releasedG.I. Joe - A Real American Hero: Complete Collector's Set, a 17-disc boxset featuring all 95 episodes and extensive bonus features including archival Hasbro toy commercials and a collectible 60-page book.[24] The second and final season was released as a stand-alone set on April 27, 2010.[25] This series is available for streaming on Hasbro's own channel onYouTube dedicating to this series; as well as on theTubi andBentkey streaming services.[citation needed]
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| The Original Mini-Series: A Real American Hero and The Revenge of Cobra | 10 | May 13, 2003 |
| Season 1, Part 1 | 27 | January 27, 2004 |
| Season 1, Part 2 | 18 | June 29, 2004 |
| Season 2, Part 1 | 15 | August 17, 2004 |
| Season 1, Part 1 | 22 | July 14, 2009 |
| The M.A.S.S. Device | 5 | September 1, 2009 |
| Season 1, Part 2 | 21 | November 3, 2009 |
| Season 1, Part 3 | 22 | February 2, 2010 |
| Season 2 | 30 | April 27, 2010 |
| The Complete First Series | 95 | June 26, 2012 |
| VHS title | VHS Studios | Release Date | Episodes | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action Force – The Synthoid Conspiracy (Parts 1 & 2), Lights! Camera! Cobra! | St. Michael Video | 1987 | The Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 1, The Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 2, Lights! Camera! Cobra! | ||
| Action Force – Captives of Cobra (Parts 1 & 2) and Eau de Cobra | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1987 | Captives of Cobra – Part 1, Captives of Cobra – Part 2, Eau de Cobra | ||
| Action Force – Worlds Without End (Parts 1 & 2) and Flint's Vacation | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1987 | Worlds Without End – Part 1, Worlds Without End – Part 2, Flint's Vacation | ||
| Action Force – The Pyramid of Darkness (Parts 1-5) | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1987 | The Pyramid of Darkness – Part 1, The Pyramid of Darkness – Part 2, The Pyramid of Darkness – Part 3, The Pyramid of Darkness – Part 4, The Pyramid of Darkness – Part 5 | ||
| Action Force – Arise, Serpentor, Arise! (Parts 1-5) | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1988 | Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 1, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 2, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 3, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 4, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 5 | Promo: Action Force, The Transformers, Robotix, Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines | |
| Action Force: The Movie | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | September 19, 1988 | |||
| The Action Adventure Collection - Volume 1 | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1988 | Action Force - Where the Reptiles Roam, Inhumanoids - Negative Polarity, The Transformers - Starscream's Brigade | ||
| Action Force – Sink the Montana | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | September 19, 1988 | Sink the Montana | This Video Also Contains Advertising 3 Action Force Toys Commercials, 3 Transformers Toys Commercials, Promo: Action Force The Movie, The Transformers, Action Adventure - Volume I, Jem, Sparky's Magic Piano, Spot's First Video, The Shoe People, MoonDreamers, Little Clowns of Happytown, My Little Pony And My Little Pony & Other Friends and Tempo tape cassettes | |
| Action Force – Synthoid Conspiracy (Parts 1 & 2) | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 1, Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 2 | ||
| Action Force – Grey Hairs and Growing Pains & Into Your Tent I Will Silently | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | Grey Hairs and Growing Pains, Into Your Tent I Will Silently | ||
| Action Force – There's No Place Like Springfield (Parts 1 & 2), The Spy Who Rooked Me | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | There's No Place Like Springfield – Part 1, There's No Place Like Springfield – Part 2, The Spy Who Rooked Me | ||
| Action Force – Let's Play Soldier & Cold Slither | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | Let's Play Soldier, Cold Slither | ||
| Action Force – My Favorite Things | Collins Video | 1989 | My Favorite Things | ||
| Action Force - The Most Dangerous Thing in the World & Once Upon a Joe | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | The Most Dangerous Thing in the World, Once Upon a Joe | ||
| The Action Adventure Collection - Volume 2 | Tempo Video (MSD Video) | 1989 | The Transformers - Ghost in the Machine, Action Force - My Favorite Things, COPS - The Case of COPS File #1 - Part 1 |
In January 2009, IGN rankedG.I. Joe as number 19 on its list of the Top 100 Animated Series.[26]
