For those of you who don't know, G.I. Joe can be summed up very simply with the following opening credit narration: "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".
G.I. Joe the animated series premiered in September of 1983 and ran for a total of 95 episodes and one movie in length (even by the standards of the time this was impressive). The show began with a five-part mini-series titled "The M.A.S.S. Device" (1983). One year later the show followed this up with a second mini-series titled "The Revenge of Cobra" (1984). Finally, one year after that the official Season One of G.I. Joe began with another five-part story "Pyramid of Darkness" (1985). So basically the first 15 episodes were comprised of 3 five-part stories, then the show moved into an episodic format.
If you were to only watch these first 15 episodes of the series my bold declaration of greatness would certainly seem unfounded though. I say this because the first three story arcs are practically identical. Basically there is some kind of secret weapon developed by Cobra that will allow them to take over the world (there was a teleportation device, a weather denominator and a space station capable of creating a pyramid-like zone over the earth that no machines could function within, including guns. Go figure.). To save the day our heroes need to race across the globe and achieve certain objectives before Cobra does (kind of like a scavenger hunt, but for world domination). Finally the sinister scheme collapses in on itself - often times due to the stupidity of Cobra's inept leader Cobra Commander - and the day is saved. To say that these stories are derivative is an understatement. Yet once you get past them and begin watching the one-shot episodes things take a turn for the better. Ultimately it's this episodic format used throughout the rest of the series that allows G.I. Joe to truly shine.
Now I'm not going to try and tell you that this show isn't cheesy. It's every bit as silly as the other action/adventure cartoons of the time period: Transformers, Thundercats, He-Man etc. You may have heard jokes about pilots always being able to bail out their airplanes/helicopters before they crash, or sarcastic comments regarding the marksmanship of supposed elite soldiers who can never hit opposing troops (yet they can hit any non-living target they aim at). All of this is 100% true and is only the tip of the iceberg (I about died laughing when Snake-eyes started break dancing in one particularly silly episode). Still the writers of this show actually acknowledge the silliness and often make light of it, almost like a sly wink to the viewer. One example can be found in the episode "Lasers in the Night". In this episode Cobra Commander comes up with the bizarre idea that by carving his likeness into the moon with a laser (kind of like a cosmic Mount Rushmore) he will prove to the world just how unbeatable Cobra is. When Destro (resident arms dealer and weapons developer) finds out that this is the purpose behind the over elaborate scheme he actually berates him for being stupid enough to waste millions of dollars on something that amounts to nothing more than cosmic graphite. The same thing can be found in "Eau De Cobra". When Cobra develops an irresistible mind control love potion they decide to use it on a Greek shipping tycoon (apparently they wanted control of his shipping fleet). Well the bottle ends up going overboard during a struggle and divers from both G.I. Joe and Cobra try to retrieve it. In the end neither side gets it because a crab takes the perfume bottle into its hiding hole under the ocean floor. Naturally Cobra Commander is pretty pissed about losing his precious perfume to a crustaceans, but Destro just laughs and comments that it was a fitting end to an absurd scheme (my sentiments exactly). Of all the 80's action/adventure cartoons I've re-watched of late this is the only one willing to acknowledge its own ridiculous nature, and that was kind of refreshing.
The writers of G.I. Joe also do a good job of using a large cast. One of the benefits of having so many characters is that you don't need to use the same ones every episode. This helps keep the cast from becoming stagnate and with so many characters to choose from the show could mix and match them for different dynamics (though specific pairings like Flint and Lady Jaye or Alpine and Bazooka were common). I do have one complaint about this practice though. Some of the fan favorite characters like Snake-eyes and Duke suffer from severe under usage as the series progresses. This is a result of the show trying to feature new characters and thus push the corresponding action figures. Sadly this is just another example of how merchandise drove cartoons of this era with the focus of shows being on selling new toys and not on telling good stories.
Before I start examining the production side of this series I would like to take a break and talk about a game I thought up while watching this show (you must be 21 or older to play though). As an adult you have a tendency to notice things you don't as a child. For example G.I. Joe goes through more military hardware in a single episode than the entire US army would in a full scale war. I could not count the number of Sky-strikers (F-14 fighter jets), tanks, helicopters ect. that crashed and burned just in the first season. Whole squadrons of million dollar jets get destroyed on a regular basis. So here's the game. Get some friends together and set up some shots (liquor of your choice). Every time a G.I. Joe military vehicle is blown up you drink one. The last person left conscious wins! You can even change things up and have some people drink every time the battle cry "Yo Joe" is used, and others drink when the bad guys yell "Cobra". The possibilities are endless.
Now assuming everyone has sobered up from that awesome drinking game we'll continue. In terms of visuals G.I. Joe impressed me. While many of the 1980s action/adventure cartoons used the infamous minimal animation technique - which would result in choppy, stilted movements - G.I. Joe apparently benefited from a large enough budget to go with mostly full movement and thus the show still looks pretty good (though I must admit the use of movement is still "economical"). Characters are always on model and even though some episodes appear better than others the overall look and feel of the show is consistent. Backgrounds are equally impressive with nice paintings of exotic settings being the norm. Once again I have to say that of all the action/adventure cartoons of this era G.I. Joe stands out with some impressive visuals.
The audio elements of G.I. Joe are pretty solid as well. The actors give good performances while providing unique voices for each character. The villains of the series (Destro, Cobra Commander, Zartan) are especially good. Some of the accents are overdone (Barbecue's Boston accent for example) but on a whole this is one of the better voicing casts you'll find in the genre. The show's musical score also gets high marks and is one of the most memorable aspects of the series. The opening theme song is widely considered one of the best cartoon openings ever, and the in-show music is similarly strong (though perhaps a little dated). Unfortunately that same in-show music is so heavily recycled that you get sick of it fast. Despite being common practice I have to knock off points for using the same sound track over and over in the same way without even trying to mix things up a little. Even with these flaws I would still rank G.I. Joe as one of the better sounding action/adventure shows from the 1980s.
Taken in its entirety, I would like to reiterate that G.I. Joe to be one of best 1980's action/adventure cartoons you'll find. Though it contains many of the same failings found in other cartoons of the genre, G.I. Joe was willing to laugh at itself when others were not while pushing for a higher standard of production quality. As far as recommending this show I have to fall back on my standard conditional recommendation. If you don't like 1980's action/adventure cartoons stay far, far away. If you loved this series as a kid then you may have some fun revisiting it, even if it's just to see how silly the show really was. As for the DVD's themselves there are several options available. I bought the collectors edition complete series footlocker. This gives you all 95 episodes with a companion booklet, additional bonus material and a dog tag flash drive containing two silent comics. This is a good deal but also pretty expensive at $149.99. For those not interested in breaking the bank, the series is also being released in smaller chunks costing between $20 and $25 each. You get over twenty episodes in each volume and many of the special features found in the collectors edition.
