Home  Episode Summaries Season 2 Once Upon a Joe - Notes
Credits: written by Buzz Dixon
Production Number: 600-64
Original Airdate: October 1, 1986
When an orphanage is accidentally damaged during a Joe vs. Cobra battle,
Shipwreck and several other Joes volunteer to help repair it. While doing
so, Shipwrecked is dragooned into telling the children a fairy tale - a
typically cockeyed Shipwreck extravaganza with Joe and Cobra characters
substituting for traditional fairy tale figures. In the “real world,” however,
Cobra is planning a retaliatory attack against the Joes at the orphanage.
| THE PERSONNEL |
| G.I.Joe: Alpine*, Bazooka*, Beach Head, Cover Girl*, Cross Country, Dial-Tone, Flint*, Generic Joes*, Lady Jaye*, Leatherneck, Lifeline, Lift-Ticket, Low-Light*, Mainframe*,
Polly, Roadblock*, Scarlett*, Shipwreck, Wet-Suit |
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Cobra: BAT, Buzzer, Cobra Commander, Dr. Mindbender, Strato-Viper, Thrasher, Torch, Torch, Zandar, Zarana, Zartan |
| THE GEAR |
| G.I.Joe: Armadillo, HAVOC, LCV Recon Sled, Mauler, Silver Mirage Motorcyle, Tomahawk |
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Cobra: Firebat, Night Raven, Swampfire |
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* indicates the character was silent during the episode
The breath mint vs. candy mint argument, which was heard within the Dreadnok's
camp and Shipwreck's tale, parallels the 1980s "Tastes Great - Less Filling"
Miller Lite commercials, which featured several sports celebrities.
 
Although G.I.Joe was broadcasted long before Buffy: The Vampire
Slayer, it is interesting to note that the two series share one name
in common, Sunnydale, which was the name of the orphanage in the episode
and the name of the city where the slayer resides.
 
The janitor's face bears a striking resemblence to the disguise used by
Zartan in "The
Viper is Coming."
The McGuffin Device may be a nod by writer Buzz Dixon to Alfred Hitchcock, who coined the term "The McGuffin" to describe
"the gimmicks (missing papers, stolen gems, uranium deposits) that motivate
the plots of his thrillers" (All Movie Guide by Hal Erickson).
  
The Big Ugly Giant in Shipwreck's tale was probably based on a two characters
Elmer Fudd from various Warner Bros. cartoons (since both characters share
the same speach impediment) and Bluto from Popeye (because the character
was about to be defeated thanks to a can of spinach).
 
Probably the most well-known error in the episode is the sudden disappearance
of two kids while Shipwreck was telling his story.
 
As noted by Matthew Pak, Beach Head appears twice in the episode without
his mask (Matthew Pak's 3 3/4" G.I.Joe Collector Guide - Volume
Two: The Television Episodes).
  
 
Another inconsistency in Beach Head's character design is his gloves,
which appear and disappear from one shot to the next throughout the episode.
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| While Zartan is disguised as Shipwreck, his mouth moves at the same time as Jenny's, however, he does not say anything. |
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Ripcord
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Original:
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Rather than giving up while facing adversity, Ripcord explains that
identifying the problem and solving it is the more successful route. |
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USA:
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Unknown |
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