G.I. Joe: The Movie (also known as Action Force: The Movie in the UK) is a 1987 animated action–adventure film produced as a spin-off from the animated series G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, based on the original Hasbro toyline.[2] It was produced by Sunbow Productions and Marvel Productions and was animated in Japan by Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
Created at the height of the G.I. Joe craze in the 1980s, G.I. Joe: The Movie was intended as a theatrical release to be closely followed by The Transformers: The Movie. However, the G.I. Joe film encountered unexpected production delays which allowed the Transformers feature to be released first. Due to the poor box office performances of The Transformers: The Movie and My Little Pony: The Movie, G.I. Joe: The Movie was instead released direct-to-video as well as aired on television in syndication, first in feature-length format[citation needed] and later split into a five-part miniseries format as part of the series’ syndication package.
source : wikipedia