The Story of the Cartoon That Sold Wartime Heroics to a Generation of Ki

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/gi-joe-tv-show-oral-928423

The cast looks back at the series that changed the toy business forever and left a complicated political legacy: "I'm a liberal and always have been," says creator Ron Friedman. "I felt that the Joes would be liberal and the Cobra people should not be."

In 1982, G.I. Joe was brought out of retirement thanks to a brilliant marketing campaign executed with military precision.

The Hasbro toyline had been defunct since the late '70s, with the American public soured on the military following the Vietnam War and the toys falling victim to rising oil prices that made 12-inch figures too expensive to manufacture. As Joe sat in retirement, Hasbro watched with envy as Star Wars toys made obscene amounts of money by trading off the emotional attachments children had to the film series' colorful characters.

Hasbro chairman and CEO Stephen D. Hassenfeld was at the helm of the company when the Joes were taken out of mothballs and reconceived for a new generation. For the first time, the Joes were given a storyline: They were good guys locked in an eternal battle with the ultimate villains, Cobra. That story transformed Joes from generic figures into an intellectual-property-driven concept.

The Joes, revamped as smaller, 3¾-inch figures, may not have had blockbuster movies, like Star Wars, but they did have a newly launched Marvel Comic from Larry Hama, which became a smash hit and drove toy sales. Next, Hasbro set its sights on the small screen, enlisting veteran TV writer Ron Friedman to create a series that would change the toy industry forever.

Friedman's five-part G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (1983) and follow-up G.I. Joe: The Revenge of Cobra (1984) was followed by two seasons of the syndicated show (1985-86). At the time, FCC rules prohibited children's programs from advertising their own brand of toys, so instead Hasbro advertised the G.I. Joe comic — to fantastic results. The success of the show catapulted Hasbro to new heights, its stock soaring and giving rise to Transformers and My Little Pony TV shows (and huge toys sales).

The Joe series would go on to inspire a generation of first responders and U.S. service members, and helped revamp the image of the U.S. military. Friedman and some of his cast were political liberals, who have complex feelings about the show's portrayal of war and its legacy. But they ultimately see the series as a force for good in the lives of the children who watched it, with its positive messages of inclusion, self-sacrifice and heroism.

Here, Heat Vision catches up with the creator and stars of the series, with many of the actors slated to appear Sept. 17 at a Long Beach Comic Con reunion panel and also set to hit the road for a tour.