Sylvester Stallone Was “Very Embarrassed” by Rambo Toys and Cartoon

Sylvester Stallone was not a fan of the Rambo toys and Saturday-morning cartoon that turned his R-rated action hero into children’s entertainment. In a fascinating 1986 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Stallone admitted that he was “very embarrassed” by the merchandising surrounding John Rambo and insisted that he had tried to stop it.

By that point, Stallone had become one of the biggest movie stars in the world thanks to the Rocky films, First Blood, and Rambo: First Blood Part II. Rambo had also become a cultural phenomenon, with the character’s name being used as shorthand for American military power and aggressive foreign policy. But Stallone felt that the public image of Rambo was getting far removed from the character he had helped create. And he was particularly unhappy about one thing: Rambo was being sold to children.

Stallone Didn’t Want Rambo Toys Made for Kids

When the Chicago Tribune asked Stallone about his increasingly violent public image and the fact that it was being sold in toy stores, he called for his assistant and asked him to “Bring the book.” The book was a catalog of Rambo merchandise. According to Stallone, the catalog was filled with action figures and toy weapons carrying the image of his character. He was especially disturbed by the fact that some of the products were being marketed to very young children.

Stallone insisted that he did not control the licensing rights to Rambo and therefore could not prevent the merchandise from being produced. “I couldn’t control it,” he said. “I tried to stop it.”

He also claimed that he received only a small percentage of the net licensing revenue, while the merchandise was expected to generate a lot of money.

“It’s not for kids. The movie was not supposed to be for little kids, and I wouldn’t let my own children play with those toys.”

He then shared a story about what happened when somebody tried to give him a truckload of Rambo merchandise. According to Stallone, this merch was delivered to his house around Christmas. The people who brought it suggested that he give it to children in a hospital or donate it to a charity such as Toys for Tots.

“I told ’em, ‘Get this . . . the hell out of my driveway and burn it. Don’t give it away.’”

He believed that the toys were encouraging people to view him as someone who embraced violence for its own sake, rather than understanding what he was trying to say with the Rambo movies. “They think I’m some kind of Hitler,” he said.

Stallone Was Also Angry About the Rambo Cartoon

The toys were bad enough. Stallone was even more upset about the Rambo: The Force of Freedom animated television series. The cartoon premiered in 1986 and turned Rambo into a Saturday-morning hero who fought villains around the world. Stallone knew it was coming when the Tribune interview took place, and he wasn’t thrilled.

“As for ‘Rambo,’ I can’t stop it. They’re going to make this Saturday morning TV cartoon show for kids with what they tell me is a softened version of Rambo doing good deeds. First of all, that isn’t Rambo.”

Stallone explained that he had been told the cartoon producers could make the show without his approval because they weren’t technically using him. They were using a likeness of a character he had played but did not own.

Stallone Said Rambo Wasn’t About Blowing Up Russia

One of the most interesting parts of the Tribune interview is that Stallone was also pushing back against the way Rambo had become a political symbol. By 1986, “Rambo” had become part of the American political vocabulary. Stallone didn’t like that headlines were using the character’s name as a shorthand for military aggression.

“All we were trying to do with the Rambo character is give vent to the frustrations of the guys who fought in Vietnam and weren’t given the support to win. Rambo isn’t about the United States blasting Russia off the face of the Earth.”

For Stallone, the emotional core of Rambo was the Vietnam veteran who returned home feeling abandoned. He pointed to the famous final speech in Rambo, in which John Rambo breaks down while describing what happened to the men who went to Vietnam and came home to a country that didn’t seem to understand them. Stallone told the Tribune that he had visited veterans’ hospitals while writing the speeches in First Blood and Rambo, talking to veterans about their frustrations.

“Rambo doesn’t say very much, so when he talks, it had better be good.”

The character he saw as a symbol of wounded veterans had suddenly become an action figure with a toy machine gun.

Stallone Wanted to Control His Movie Merchandising After Rambo

The Rambo situation changed the way Stallone approached merchandising, and he told the Tribune that the experience had convinced him to take greater control over the merchandising of his future movies. He promised,

“There aren’t going to be any ‘Cobra’ toys.”

Of course, Stallone was promoting Cobra at the time of the interview. The film, which opened in May 1986, cast him as another violent action hero, Los Angeles police officer Marion “Cobra” Cobretti.

Stallone Admitted He Wasn’t Really Like Rambo or Rocky

The Tribune interview also offered a glimpse at how Stallone viewed his two biggest characters. When asked whether he was actually like the gentle, loyal Rocky Balboa, Stallone admitted that he wasn’t.

“I wish I were more like Rocky.”

He described Rocky as someone with a simple life, a wife, a child, and loyal friends. As for himself, Stallone felt that he was driven by ambition and anger. He even described himself as having a “little Tasmanian devil” inside him that woke him up every morning and pushed him to make more movies.

Rambo Became a Children’s Franchise Anyway

Rambo: The Force of Freedom arrived on television in September 1986, just months after this interview. The animated series featured Rambo and his team battling villains around the world and was very much aimed at the Saturday-morning audience Stallone had objected to. It only ran for 65 episodes, but 65 is a lot when it’s something you’re embarrassed of. The Rambo toy line also continued.

What do you think of Sylvester Stallone’s embarrassment over the Rambo toys and cartoon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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