Sigma 6 (cartoon)

G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 is an animated series produced by the Japanese animation studio GONZO, currently airing on 4Kids TV and G4, and on YTV since the fall of 2006. The series consists of 26 episodes. The series is currently on hiatus in the United States, but completed its run on YTV in Canada on June 16, 2007.

Premise

It is now the 21st century and G.I. Joe is still battling Cobra from taking over the world. An ambush in the Arctic and the subsequent escape of Cobra Commander from prison lead the Joes to believe something bigger is going on.

After a major attack by Cobra on the G.I. Joe Team's headquarters, the "Joes" are forced to retaliate. This time, they are equipped with Sigma suits. Designed by Hi-Tech, these special body suits protect the Joes from Cobra's laser blasts and, in addition, enhance their abilities. The "Joes" are now codenamed Sigma 6.

Series Overview

Essentially, G.I. Joe: Sigma 6 is a continuation of the two direct-to-video G.I. Joe CGI movies, G.I. Joe: Spy Troops and G.I. Joe: Valor vs. Venom, both films were produced by Reel FX Studios. Several references are made to events from Valor vs. Venom, such as Cobra Commander being captured and in prison, and General Hawk suffering a change in his DNA. Snake-Eyes continues to have Kamakura and Jinx as his apprentices. Despite these connections, there are changes that bring to question how much of a continuation Sigma 6 is from A Real American Hero. The series presents a more "anime-stylized" spin on G.I. Joe, creating some controversy among G.I. Joe fans.

Just as he was in the first season of the Sunbow G.I. Joe series, Duke is clearly designated as the G.I. Joe commander. He is also recast as a much younger man, someone who appears to have just come to his 30s than a man going to his 40s. Scarlett, who has always been a major character, had her position in the team upgraded to second in command after Duke. Like Duke, she has been aged younger for the series though their youth may be attributed to the fact that the artwork is done in an anime style. She is however still the team's counterintelligence specialist. Tunnel Rat’s appearance and personality varied greatly from his appearance in A Real American Hero series. Here, he is a bug-eating, unorthodox infiltration and demolitions expert. Heavy Duty seems to have retained his personality from Spy Troops and Valor vs. Venom, serving as the team's weapons expert. Added to the team is tracker, Spirit Iron-Knife, and his falcon Billy, who retains his strong and shamanist personality, as well as the team sniper and transportation specialist Long Range. Hi-Tech serves as the team's technician, mechanic, etc. Jinx, Kamakura and Snake-Eyes function as the team's ninja unit. Snake-Eyes has remained the silent deadly ninja commando with Jinx and Kamakura as his students. Hawk was last seen in a healthy state at the end of Valor vs. Venom but his appearance in Sigma 6 indicates otherwise. He is seen in a hospital where Duke visited him. In the start of Season 2, Lt. Stone (an apparent old friend of Duke's) arrives and joins the team under orders and provides them with a new seafaring base, the Sea Titan, as well as his personal attack copter, the Dragonhawk, which will also be used as a drop ship for the team's vehicles that can be carried by the Dragonhawk, like the Ninja Hovercycle, the Night Ranger Quad and the V.A.M.P.. Along with Stone is the soldier Firefly (who betrays the team and captures all but Duke and Hi-Tech in season 2 episode 7 "Revelations").

The changes are not limited to the Joe Team. Cobra Commander had his appearance greatly overhauled and, likewise, his personality. No longer comical, he is now a more deadly adversary, closer to his standard portrayal in the comics, however he has retained his cartoon counterpart's love of grandiose schemes. Destro is now more clearly aligned with Cobra and together with the Commander and the Baroness, they truly form the Cobra Triumvirate. Meanwhile, Overkill is upgraded from a lowly lab assistant to a scheming cybernetic chief scientist who is stuck inside a giant glass tube. Zartan remains Cobra's master of disguise, however his shape shifting and stealth abilities are due to his suit rather than skill and genetic enhancements as in A Real American Hero. The Dreadnoks are now Torch, Buzzer and Machete, a new character. Storm Shadow serves as Cobra's ninja, however seems more inclined to work with Cobra B.A.T.s, leading the Ninja B.A.T.s into battle. This differs from his original portrayal in Real American Hero as he's always had more faith in a well trained human as opposed to machines. Though the series is supposed to continue from Valor vs. Venom, in episode 2 "Escape", Cobra Commander says to Overkill that all his troops should be welcoming him, implying that Overkill was the only absent COBRA member. That claim ignores the presence of characters such as Dr. Mindbender or Slice in Valor vs. Venom.

Sigma 6 also has a recurring man vs. machine theme. Cobra’s forces are often seen to be primarily composed of the Battle Android Troopers or B.A.T.s, while the members of the Cobra Triumvirate all possess some form of cybernetic enhancement or enhanced armored suits, with normal troopers wearing full armored uniforms.

Continuity Problems

In the Direct-to-Video DVD "First Strike" released on October 3, 2006, the first five episodes of Sigma 6 were re-recorded and re-edited with new dialog, cut scenes, and information including a perplexing paradox on the show's place in the G.I. Joe continuity. When we first meet Sigma 6 Duke, he is a fresh out of training school and he was just assigned his codename of "Duke." There is no active G.I. Joe team, and he is tasked to form one. (This stands in direct contrast to the original version of the first five Sigma 6 episodes where the opposite was true for all the aforementioned examples.) Later, when Duke has a meeting with General Hawk, we are told the events in the two Reel FX movies took place 20 years earlier, and there are flashback scenes with footage from the Valor vs. Venom movie including images of Duke, Scarlett, and Snake Eyes. Given that Sigma 6 takes place two decades later, it is unclear as to how to view the current characters. Obviously they are not the same people from the previous films, so one would speculate they are just new recruits with shared codenames. However this does not explain each member's uncanny resemblances to their past counterparts, nor does it explain unique characters such as Snake Eyes, Zartan, and Destro. As it stands, there is no satisfactory answer to this question aside from fan speculation and conjecture.

Episodes

Season 1

Season 2

Music

1. "Be a Hero (Sigma Six)"

Version 1 FOX 4KIDS TV preview only
Version 2 (eps. 1-13)
Version 3 (eps. 14-26)

Production

Companies

Licensed By: 4Kids Entertainment
Release Studio: 4Kids Productions
Dubbing: Voicebox Productions, Inc
Dubbers: 4Kids Productions

English Staff

Created By: Miguel Gaban
Script Adaptation: John Touhey
Executive Producer:
- Gail Tilden
- Norman J. Grossfield
- Alfred R. Kahn
Creative Management: Kyoko Grant
Graphics:
- Jennifer Obrotka
- Lucialie Dumaguing
- Paul J. Baccash
- Jordan Podos
Associate Producer: Julie Rath
ADR Director: Eric Stuart
Production Supervision:
- Brenda Dillon
- Andy Zine
Music Composition:
Editing
Post-Production Coordinator: Chris Guido
Post Production Supervisor:
- Chris Guido
- Brenda Dillon
Production Assistant: Joan Vollero
Music Producer: John Sands
Mix Engineer: Ron London
Vice President Of Production: Brenda Dillon
Voice Direction:
- Eric Stuart
- Darren Dunstan
- Dana Southern

Cast

Duke - David Wills / Frank Frankson
Scarlett - Amy Birnbaum / Veronica Taylor
Hi-Tech - Eric Stuart
Kamakura - Michael Sinterniklaas
Heavy Duty - Robert B. Owens
Cobra Commander/Destro/Zartan - Marc Thompson
General Hawk/Spud the Robo Dog - Anthony Salerno
Jinx - Liza Kaplan
Tunnel Rat - Sebastian Arcelus
Baroness - Bella Hudson / Kayzie Rogers
Spirit - Darren Dunstan
Scott Amberknee - Chris Adams
Storm Shadow - Jason Anthony Griffith
Firefly - Sean Schemmel
Overkill - Jack Quevas
Machete/Torch - David Brimmer
Buzzer - Wayne Grayson
Long Range - Scottie Ray
Lt. Stone - Dan Green

Others Credited

Amy Palant
Kathleen Delaney
Ted Lewis
Maddie Blaustein
Dana Southern
Brian Mailard
Greg Carey
Pete Zarustica
Liza Jacqueline
Kelly Ray
Tom Wayland

Spanish Cast

Latin America

Duke - Carlos Jiménez
Scarlett - Shirley Marulanda
Hi-Tech - Alexander Páez
Kamakura - Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez
Heavy Duty - Eleazar Osorio
Cobra Commander - Omar Barrera
Destro - Mario Gutiérrez
General Hawk - Rafael Ignacio Gómez
Jinx - Dilma Gómez
Tunnel Rat - Wolfang Galindo
Baroness - Mónica Valencia
Spirit - Julio Cesar Mora
Scott Amberknee - Andrés Palacio
Storm Shadow - Lwding Leonardo Salas
Overkill - Bayardo Ardila
Zartan - John Grey Clavijo
Buzzer - Gonzalo Eduardo Rojas
Long Range - Camilo Rodríguez
Firefly - Mario Gutiérrez
Lt. Stone - Oscar Fernando Gómez

External links

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at G.I. Joe: Sigma 6. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Joepedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.