G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983 TV series)


G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is a half-hour American animated television series created by Ron Friedman. Based on the from Hasbro, the cartoon ran in syndication from 1983 to 1986. 95 episodes were produced.

History

When Hasbro launched the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline in 1982 alongside the, it commissioned Marvel Productions to produce a series of fully animated 30-second television commercials which were broadcast in order to promote the toys and comics, beginning with an ad for the first issue that aired throughout the Spring of 1982. The popularity of these commercials led to the production of a five-part G.I. Joe mini-series which aired in 1983. 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 II: The Revenge of Cobra, 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 by Ron Friedman.
G.I. Joe was promoted to a full series in 1985, with an initial order for a first season of 55 more episodes. 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 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 by Steve Gerber.
A second season of 30 episodes followed in 1986, beginning with a fourth five-part story, "Arise, Serpentor, Arise!" in which Cobra scientist Doctor Mindbender, inspired by a recurring dream, uses the DNA of history's most ruthless conquerors and rulers to genetically engineer Serpentor, 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 former WWF and then-current AWA professional wrestler Sgt. Slaughter as a member of G.I. Joe, played by himself. For this season, Buzz Dixon replaced Steve Gerber as story editor.

Film

G.I. Joe: The Movie, a feature-length film version of the series, was intended to be released theatrically, followed by the release of '. However, the movie encountered unexpected production delays which allowed the Transformers feature to be released first. Due to the poor box office performances of the Transformers and ' 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 5-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 as Cobra-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' 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.

Cancellation

Marvel Productions continued to produce animated commercials for the toyline and comic books after the broadcast of G.I. Joe: The Movie, which was intended to set up Season 3. However, the company never got around to producing a third season, because it ended up losing its license to the competing animation company DiC 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 of The Movie. In this unmade third season, a criminal organization named "The Coil", which is composed of a group of former Cobra elites who are led by Tomax and Xamot, would have served as the new enemy faction, while a mutated Cobra 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.

Subsequent series

A second series was produced by DIC Entertainment that ran from 1989 to 1991. 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 the G.I. Joe franchise, co-producing the 1994 straight-to-video animated pilot Sgt. Savage and his Screaming Eagles and the G.I. Joe Extreme TV series, which aired from 1995 to 1996. The Screaming Eagles pilot featured appearances by characters from the A Real American Hero series in supporting roles, but its primary focus was on new heroes and villains.

Production

G.I. Joe was a co-production between Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions. Sunbow's staff would write the scripts based on the character and vehicle designs provided by Hasbro, while the artists at Marvel Productions would draw storyboards based on the scripts and record voiceovers. The animation was outsourced to Toei in Japan, who worked on all 95 episodes, as well as the movie.
The G.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, the Oktober Guard and the character of The Baroness. 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.
In contrast to the comics, 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 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-screen casualties, 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 find the skeletal remains of their counterparts from that world.
A public 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 catchphrases: "Now we know." To which they respond, "And knowing is half the battle".
In each episode's opening title sequence voice actor Jackson 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. Most notably Hawk, 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 having Duke 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.

Cast

VHS, Betamax and LaserDisc

Various episodes were released on home video by Family Home Entertainment in North America. A total of 12 numbered volumes were produced on VHS and Betamax 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, 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 by Sgt. 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 and LaserDisc in 1991, making it the sole G.I. Joe release in the latter media format.
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. A tenth volume was released in 2001 as part of Blockbuster Video's exclusive "Kidmongous" series, which contained four episodes.
Outside North America, episodes of G.I. Joe were also released on VHS in other countries by various local companies, with the Action Force version of the show receiving a total of 27 VHS releases in the United Kingdom.

DVD

In 2003-2004, Kid Rhino Entertainment began releasing G.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. These DVD sets have since gone out of print as Rhino lost the distribution rights.
In 2008, Hasbro reacquired the worldwide distribution rights to the Sunbow library which includes G.I. Joe. During 2008 and 2009, Hasbro released five gift packs of cartoon-inspired action figures, each including a DVD. The first four sets included the four miniseries, and the fifth an assortment of Sunbow series episodes.
In March 2009, Shout! Factory acquired the rights to re-release G.I. Joe on DVD in Region 1 with Vivendi Entertainment. They have subsequently released Season 1 in 3 volume sets. On July 22, 2009, they released G.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. The second and final season was released as a stand-alone set on April 27, 2010. This series is available for streaming on Hasbro's own channel on Youtube dedicating to this series; as well as it's available on the Tubi streaming service.
DVD NameEp #Release Date
The Original Mini-Series: A Real American Hero and The Revenge of Cobra10May 13, 2003
Season 1, Part 127January 27, 2004
Season 1, Part 218June 29, 2004
Season 2, Part 115August 17, 2004
Season 1, Part 122July 14, 2009
The M.A.S.S. Device5September 1, 2009
Season 1, Part 221November 3, 2009
Season 1, Part 322February 2, 2010
Season 230April 27, 2010
The Complete First Series95June 26, 2012

UK VHS releases

VHS titleVHS StudiosRelease DateEpisodesNotes-
Action Force – The Synthoid Conspiracy, Lights! Camera! Cobra!St. Michael Video1987The Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 1, The Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 2, Lights! Camera! Cobra!-
Action Force – Captives of Cobra and Eau de CobraTempo Video 1987Captives of Cobra – Part 1, Captives of Cobra – Part 2, Eau de Cobra-
Action Force – Worlds Without End and Flint's VacationTempo Video 1987Worlds Without End – Part 1, Worlds Without End – Part 2, Flint's Vacation-
Action Force – The Pyramid of Darkness Tempo Video 1987The 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! Tempo Video 1988Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 1, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 2, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 3, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 4, Arise, Serpentor, Arise! - Part 5Promo: Action Force, The Transformers, Robotix, Bigfoot and the Muscle Machines-
Action Force: The MovieTempo Video September 19, 1988-
The Action Adventure Collection - Volume 1Tempo Video 1988Action Force - Where the Reptiles Roam, Inhumanoids - Negative Polarity, The Transformers - Starscream's Brigade-
Action Force – Sink the MontanaTempo Video September 19, 1988Sink the MontanaThis 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 Tempo Video 1989Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 1, Synthoid Conspiracy – Part 2-
Action Force – Grey Hairs and Growing Pains & Into Your Tent I Will SilentlyTempo Video 1989Grey Hairs and Growing Pains, Into Your Tent I Will Silently-
Action Force – There's No Place Like Springfield, The Spy Who Rooked MeTempo Video 1989There'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 SlitherTempo Video 1989Let's Play Soldier, Cold Slither-
Action Force – My Favorite ThingsCollins Video1989My Favorite Things-
Action Force - The Most Dangerous Thing in the World & Once Upon a JoeTempo Video 1989The Most Dangerous Thing in the World, Once Upon a Joe-
The Action Adventure Collection - Volume 2Tempo Video 1989The Transformers - Ghost in the Machine, Action Force - My Favorite Things, COPS - The Case of COPS File #1 - Part 1

Reception

In January 2009, IGN ranked G.I. Joe as number 19 on its list of the Top 100 Animated Series.