It’s been a little while since I took the time to deconstruct an awesome 80s kid’s bedroom and I was recently in the mood to re-watch some Fred Savage movies so I thought it was high time that I take a closer look at Louis’ room from the 1986 flick, The Boy Who Could Fly!
It’s been forever since I saw this movie the last, in fact it was probably sometime in 1987 when it was playing non-stop on HBO. This flick is sort of feels like a made-for-tv after school special, but it’s actually the big screen follow-up project for Nick Castle after his work on The Last Starfighter. It’s one of those movies that most of my friends from high school and on never saw when they were young and thus they would never believe me when I described it.
Though he only had a supporting role, this was the film that introduced me to Fred Savage and of all the neat 80s rooms I saw on screen as a kid, Louis’ was the one I coveted the most. I think a lot of this had to do with the fact that both his character and I were slightly obsessed with G.I Joe toys as you’ll see in this break down. So lets dig into the room and all of Louis’ stuff…
1). G.I. Joe Sleeping Bag
2). Alton Tobey Print of the Apollo 11 Astronauts
3). Teddy Bear Lamp
4). G.I. Joe HQ Command Center playset from 1982
5). Sentinel Toy Robot by Kamco
5a). Imperial Great White Shark and Frilled Dinosaur toys
In the above screenshot we get the largest amount of non-G.I. Joe toys in Louis’ room. There’s some more miscellaneous stuff on his desk in another shot, but there isn’t a good enough angle to really get a look at what’s there. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the rad dirt bike wallpaper. Pretty much everything from here on out is G.I. Joe stuff, like this better look at the stuff at his feet…
6). G.I. Joe Slugger from 1984
7). G.I. Joe Footloose Action Figure from 1985
8). G.I. Joe Amphibious Personnel Carrier from 1983
9). G.I. Joe Wild Bill figure from 1983 (Pilot of the Dragonfly helicopter)
10). G.I. Joe Spirit action figure from 1984
11). G.I. Joe Recondo figure from 1984
12). G.I. Joe MOBAT (motorized battle tank) from 1982 *UPDATED* Road Power Commander’s Tank by Echo (Thanks tothe rad @Twitziller for the correction!)
13). G.I. Joe Thunder action figure (driver for the Slugger) from 1984
One of the things I noticed while re-watching this flick is that Savage’s character Louis has a ton of multiple figures and vehicles. For instance in the shot above you can clearly see three Thunder and two Footloose action figures. Later there are multiple Barbecue figures and Cobra F.A.N.G. helicopters. Bottom line, his mother loved him. Also, the super cool Rob Lammle (SpaceMonkeyX) pointed out that there is a Doc figure I neglected to mention in the shot above, Thanks Rob! Upon further inspection I also noticed a Cobra Eels figure on the back of the tank too, and @twitziller pointed out that there’s a Firefly figure on top of the APC.
14). G.I. Joe Cobra Rattler from 1984
15). Gumby and Pokey bend-em figures
16). G.I. Joe Dragonfly helicopter from 1983
17). G.I. Joe Skystriker from 1983
18). G.I. Joe Cobra F.A.N.G. from 1983
19). Customized Tonka Sidewinder Cycle from 1984
I think it’s interesting that the set designers/prop masters chose to repaint and augment a Tonka Sidewinder big wheel to look like it was army themed instead of just buying an actual G.I. Joe branded cycle. They were both available at the same time. Either way, because of the new paint job Louis’ cycle had it took me forever to identify it…
20). G.I. Joe Torch action figure from 1985
21). G.I. Joe Alpine action figure from 1985
22). G.I. Joe Mutt action figure from 1984
23). G.I. Joe RAM motorcycle from 1982
There’s definitely a story point about it in the actual movie, but can I just say how adorable it is that Louis buried his “fallen soldiers” in actual graves in his back yard? As I mentioned, this is brought up in the flick when he freaks out one stormy night and goes out back digging through the mud looking for some of them as you can see below. Maybe this is why his mother always bought him so many doubles…
24). G.I. Joe Barbecue action figure from 1985
25). G.I. Joe Snow Job action figure from 1983
That about does it for Louis’ room and toys. I wanted to take a second and give a huge shout out to the amazing 3D-Joes site where I sourced the images for all of these toys. They are doing an amazing job of showcasing the classic Real American Hero toy line with scans, photos, and 3D turnarounds that you need to see to believe. They also have a bunch of prints for sale including some really great ones that cobble together all the carded G.I. Joe action figures from 1982-1989. I have both of these and they are hanging proudly in Branded in the 80s HQ!
If you enjoyed this breakdown, here are a bunch of other Awesome 80s Bedrooms I’ve deconstructed…
Sean’s Room and The Monster Squad Clubhouse!
Sara’s Room from Adventures in Babysitting
Eugene’s Room from The Monster Squad
David’s room from Flight of the Navigator
Robbie’s room from Poltergeist
Pee Wee’s room from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure
Elliott’s room from E.T. Part 1 Elliott’s room Part 2