G.I. Joe: A Real American Franchise
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G.I. Joe, action figures, Cobra Commander, Sienna Miller, Channing Tatum, Duke, cartoons, Cobra, Dennis Quaid, toys, G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Baroness, Sigma 6, Marlon Wayans,
Building off the success of Barbie dolls in the female market, in 1964 the first G.I. Joe action figures were released. Hey welcome to WatchMojo.com, I’m your host Derek Allen and today we will look into the history of this mega successful franchise.
First half of the 1960s--It was just one year earlier when toy creator Stan Weston pitched the idea of a military themed figure to the creative director of toy manufacturing company Hasbro. Quickly approving development of the idea, Hasbro immediately coined the terms “Action Figure” and “Moveable Man of Action,” to describe these new toys, instead of the word, “doll” which many felt it implied it was for girls.
In less than one year, the G.I. Joe: America’s Moveable Fighting Man line was introduced at New York’s International Toy Fair, with the brand’s name being a nod to the Oscar-nominated 1945 film “The Story of G.I. Joe.”
Four figures were initially released, one to represent each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Standing at 11 ½ inches tall, the G.I. Joe action figures had 21 moving parts and featured full uniforms, boots, work caps, dog tags, facial scars, pistol and M16 machine gun. Immediately, Hasbro discovered they had indeed found an untapped market with figures aimed to boys as they sold more than 2 million G.I. Joe’s in the first year alone.
However, the second half of the 1960’s, with the United States fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam, Hasbro thought it best to refocus the brand in 1970 as a non-military “Adventure Team.” Now, G.I. Joe fought ecological disasters and wild animals, as opposed to other human beings.
Despite seeing new developments throughout the franchise’s first decade, such as the now-famous “Kung-Fu Grip” which allowed the action figure to grip objects in a lifelike fashion, the line ended in 1976. Despite G.I. Joe related toys being released in the years that followed, it wouldn’t be until 1982 that another official G.I. Joe line hit stores.
Now reintroduced as a 3 and ¾ inch figure, the new toy line was named G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and would eventually feature alongside it an animated television series, an animated film, as well as a Marvel comic book series. It was this incarnation of G.I. Joe that would become the franchise’s most recognized.
The new line placed the G.I. Joe team as a counter-terrorist team whose main objective was to protect humans from the terrorist organization, COBRA, who were bent on world domination. Each figure was released with what was called “ a file card,” which gave a biography of the character and his or her specialties.
The animated series tended to feature a specific character in each episode from the G.I. Joe line as a way to advertise their figures. Each episode also finished with a public safety lesson, which popularized the phrase “Knowing is half the battle.”
A poorly received direct-to-video animated film named G.I. Joe: The Movie was released in 1987 shortly after the animated series had been cancelled. Seeing the interest for the Real American Hero line waning in the late 80s and early 90s Hasbro decided to cancel the line in 1994.
Since the cancellation of that line, there have been other more short-lived ones such as Sergeant Savage and his Screaming Eagles, G.I. Joe Extreme, as well as the more recent G.I. Joe vs. Cobra and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines.
Trying to bank in on the past success of the G.I. Joe lines and perhaps lure in older adults who were perhaps fans in the past, Hasbro has released several lines based on past lines, including a Masterpiece series, A Real American Hero collection, as well as a collection beginning in 2007 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the line first released in 1982.
Taking more of its influence from the comic books rather than the cartoons, the G.I. Joe franchise was finally brought to the big screen in 2009 as a live-action film. The film cost $170 million dollars to make and is an origin story, detailing the rise of the terrorist Cobra Organization. Starring Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller, the film’s actors were scanned for Hasbro’s 2009 “Rise of the Cobra” toy line proving that the G.I. Joe franchise, even after 45 years is still fighting to win over new generations.
First half of the 1960s--It was just one year earlier when toy creator Stan Weston pitched the idea of a military themed figure to the creative director of toy manufacturing company Hasbro. Quickly approving development of the idea, Hasbro immediately coined the terms “Action Figure” and “Moveable Man of Action,” to describe these new toys, instead of the word, “doll” which many felt it implied it was for girls.
In less than one year, the G.I. Joe: America’s Moveable Fighting Man line was introduced at New York’s International Toy Fair, with the brand’s name being a nod to the Oscar-nominated 1945 film “The Story of G.I. Joe.”
Four figures were initially released, one to represent each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. Standing at 11 ½ inches tall, the G.I. Joe action figures had 21 moving parts and featured full uniforms, boots, work caps, dog tags, facial scars, pistol and M16 machine gun. Immediately, Hasbro discovered they had indeed found an untapped market with figures aimed to boys as they sold more than 2 million G.I. Joe’s in the first year alone.
However, the second half of the 1960’s, with the United States fighting an unpopular war in Vietnam, Hasbro thought it best to refocus the brand in 1970 as a non-military “Adventure Team.” Now, G.I. Joe fought ecological disasters and wild animals, as opposed to other human beings.
Despite seeing new developments throughout the franchise’s first decade, such as the now-famous “Kung-Fu Grip” which allowed the action figure to grip objects in a lifelike fashion, the line ended in 1976. Despite G.I. Joe related toys being released in the years that followed, it wouldn’t be until 1982 that another official G.I. Joe line hit stores.
Now reintroduced as a 3 and ¾ inch figure, the new toy line was named G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, and would eventually feature alongside it an animated television series, an animated film, as well as a Marvel comic book series. It was this incarnation of G.I. Joe that would become the franchise’s most recognized.
The new line placed the G.I. Joe team as a counter-terrorist team whose main objective was to protect humans from the terrorist organization, COBRA, who were bent on world domination. Each figure was released with what was called “ a file card,” which gave a biography of the character and his or her specialties.
The animated series tended to feature a specific character in each episode from the G.I. Joe line as a way to advertise their figures. Each episode also finished with a public safety lesson, which popularized the phrase “Knowing is half the battle.”
A poorly received direct-to-video animated film named G.I. Joe: The Movie was released in 1987 shortly after the animated series had been cancelled. Seeing the interest for the Real American Hero line waning in the late 80s and early 90s Hasbro decided to cancel the line in 1994.
Since the cancellation of that line, there have been other more short-lived ones such as Sergeant Savage and his Screaming Eagles, G.I. Joe Extreme, as well as the more recent G.I. Joe vs. Cobra and G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 lines.
Trying to bank in on the past success of the G.I. Joe lines and perhaps lure in older adults who were perhaps fans in the past, Hasbro has released several lines based on past lines, including a Masterpiece series, A Real American Hero collection, as well as a collection beginning in 2007 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the line first released in 1982.
Taking more of its influence from the comic books rather than the cartoons, the G.I. Joe franchise was finally brought to the big screen in 2009 as a live-action film. The film cost $170 million dollars to make and is an origin story, detailing the rise of the terrorist Cobra Organization. Starring Channing Tatum, Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller, the film’s actors were scanned for Hasbro’s 2009 “Rise of the Cobra” toy line proving that the G.I. Joe franchise, even after 45 years is still fighting to win over new generations.
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