What are some of the first things that come to mind when you think of “kid-friendly entertainment”? Does this list include machine guns, blood, sweat, and John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone)? If not, you must not have been born in the ’80s, asthe ultra-violentRambofranchisebecame surprisingly successful and lucrative among audiences.
Anunflinching sense of patriotismwas ever-present in the Reagan-era 1980s, and that tended to shine through within media directed towards children. The massively popularG.I. Joefranchise heavily focuses on characters involved in a fictional military branch based on the United States Armed Forces. While there’s certainly an argument to be made that the originalG.I. Joecartoon encouraged an unrealistic depiction of military service, the numerous conflicts between G.I. Joe and C.O.B.R.A. aren’t realistic, to begin with. TheRamboIP is rooted in grit and criticism of real-life warfare, so the attempts to make the title character a family-friendly face are quite unusual.
Rambo: The Force of Freedom
On Colonel Trautman’s request, John Rambo leads the special unit The Force of Freedom against paramilitary terrorist organization S.A.V.A.G.E. (Specialist-Administrators of Vengeance, Anarchy, and Global Extortion) all over the globe.
‘Rambo: The Force of Freedom’ Is a Direct Rip-Off of ‘G.I. Joe’
Before becominga hit animated series in 1985,G.I. Joewas a ludicrously successful collection of toys and action figures. Of course, these were initially targeted toward children, and thus most action figures were based on child-friendly IPs. Action figures are far from extinct, but in a modern age that is becoming more and more dominated by digital entertainment, they’ve become closer to collector’s items for hardcore fans and adults.
The clear pattern of marketability of theG.I. JoeIP ensured the animated show’s production, much like how their sister Hasbro property,Transformers, found its way on television sets around the globe. Every week, America’s finest heroes would go toe-to-toe with the infamous terrorist organization C.O.B.R.A. Despite only being on the air for about a year,it inspired a ton of toy sales.
Intentional or not, it’s clear that other parties wanted to capitalize on the widespread success ofG.I. Joeand fast. One such party was the people behind 1982’sFirst Bloodand 1985’sRambo: First Blood Partwhich had become wildly successful.Part IIin particular gave this new franchise some viability for multimedia content. Despite both films having an R-rating for severe violence, that didn’t stop anyone from thinking it was a good idea to turn it into a TV-Y7-rated cartoon show.
Thus,Rambo: The Force of Freedomwas born, and released a mere year after the originalG.I. Joeseries.The blatant similarities between the twoare wildly apparent, with similar animation styles, a flashy theme song, and original characters primed for action figure sales. The show also managed to recruit several members of voice-acting royalty for the show, includingTeenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesstarJames Averyand even Optimus Prime and Megatron themselves,Peter CullenandFrank Welker. There’s even an evil acronym organization called S.A.V.A.G.E., probably because one called P.Y.T.H.O.N. would have been just too on the nose.
Rambo Is Based on a Real-Life World War II Veteran
‘First Blood’s dark tone held more truth than you realize.
‘Rambo: The Force of Freedom’ Fundamentally Misunderstood the Message of ‘First Blood’
As ludicrous a concept of turning John Rambo into the star ofa family-friendly cartoon showis, it worked. The massive marketing combined with the show’s success helped contribute to the character’s popularity in the 1980s. While we can agree that the character of John Rambo should be in the minds of followers of American pop culture, how society seems to remember John Rambo is counter-intuitive to what he’s meant to be. Most seem to remember Rambo as the poster child for the infallible action hero who blows things up first and asks questions later, but that’s not his original purpose.
1982’sFirst Bloodis not an action movie. Sure, it has plenty of action and legendary action star Sylvester Stallone, but it’s a gritty post-war drama. Despite serving his country and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery in one of the deadliest conflicts in U.S. history, Rambo is treated as if he’s a freeloading bum. It’s a tragic tale of a mentally scarred person who is pushed to the edge by a government that has no regard and respect for his service.
In short,not only isFirst Bloodnotan action film, it’s an aggressively anti-war film.It heavily criticizes the Vietnam War and the aftermath of the conflict, in the same way thatGodzilla: Minus Oneis a commentary on the horrific environment created by World War II. “Patriotic” shouldn’t be the word that comes to mind when it comes toFirst Blood, and yet, thanks toFirst Blood Part IIand to a lesser extentRambo: The Force of Freedom,Rambois now universally considered a patriotic action icon.
Rambo Isn’t the Only Character To Be Turned Into a Children’s Cartoon
Rambo: The Force of Freedomis a strange beast. However, it’s only one entry in a bizarre trend offilms turned into animated kids’ shows. For example, there were not one,but two animatedRoboCopshowsthat turnedPaul Verhoven’s 1987 controversial satire of a brutal and dystopian future of Detroit into a semi-generic superhero landscape and even employed Inspector-Gadget-like devices in a blatant attempt to anchor it to a younger audience.
It’s not just action movies that got the animated cartoon treatment either. Some raunchier PG-13 comedies also had their risqué characters toned down for a children’s environment, includingBeetlejuice,Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, andDumb and Dumber. These programs didn’t have nearly the effect the feature films did, but they did miss the point and purpose of the source material.
