JoeCanuck
General Section => General Joe Talk => Topic started by: olyeller01 on May 07, 2010, 11:38:20 PM
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I never had the opportunity to watch the GI Joe cartoon as a kid. It only came on very early in the mornings in Houston when I was a kid. So all the cartoons are fresh to me, and after watching quite a bit of it, I noticed a few things. For one, I wish that modern cartoons had the built-in history lessons that these old cartoons did. I remember getting interested in dinosaurs because of Transformers and the Dinobots. But if I had watched Joe, I would have learned about everything from ancient Greece to ancient Egyptian mythology to DNA and cloning to the Montana-class battleships. And while that episode is kind of meh, ya just gotta love the Montana-class.
For those not in the know who want to learn more, the Montana-class was the planned successor to the Iowa-class. They were bigger and slower, but were more heavily armored and armed, with 12 16 inch guns mounted on four turrets, two fore and two aft. The Montana class would have been capable of rivaling even the mighty Yamato. They were planned before WWII but were cancelled in 1943 in favor of more Essex-class aircraft carriers. Now you know...
So, history lesson over, back to the task at hand. Other stuff I really like about the Sunbow cartoons: I love hearing all the voices who also just happen to be voices of some of my favorite Transformers (Peter Cullen makes a great Osiris). Sgt. Slaughter is just awesome. Leatherneck & Wetsuit's constant bickering is amusing. Shipwreck is good comic relief. I love the adult jokes that were snuck in...for example, the Greek episode where Leatherneck makes the comment about his head not feeling that way "since that night in Hong Kong."
Stuff I don't like? Lifeline's constant whining. Some of the super-contrived and poorly executed stories. The terrible shooting all the way around ;D...unless BATs are involved.
Oh yeah, and I was shocked at Dusty referring to an Arab in one episode as a "camel-jockey." That'd be a HELL of a lawsuit these days!
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I've been watching them too.
I've learned that whenever there is someone other than the Joes who is whiney, complains, or too quiet, they are a Cobra spy.
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I only got through a few DVD's before my wife yelled at me to stop. Now I have to watch them at work during my lunch.
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I watch 'em on the laptop with earphones. You know, some things that we remember fondly from our childhoods just don't hold up well. But G.I.Joe isn't one of them. I still like it, and usually watch the intro also.
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I bought all the Rhino Video DVD versions as soon as they came out... until Sony cancelled the second half of the 1986 season. I can't wait for Shout's versions so I can finally watch The Spy Who Rooked Me (I'm a sucker for Bond spoofs).
As for the shows themselves, I think they age well. I forgot Cobrathon had computer viruses and the internet in it, in 1986! I even started to like Sgt. Slaughter upon rewatching these shows.