I just heard that the Cartoon Network will not be playing certain Bugs Bunny cartoons, because they are too violent. Damned wussies!!! One of the ones being shown as an example was the one where Bugs and a concert singer have a running conflict on who is disturbing who.
This really makes me upset! Of course some of those cartoons looked violent, but no intelligent child, (just stupid network execs) takes it seriously. I grew up on those cartoons, damn it, and I don’t blow up cannons in peoples faces, or cause them to jump off cliffs. I’m glad I already have a large number of the “good stuff” on tape. God, I hated being treated as a child when I WAS a child, and now they tell me some of the “classics” might warp some kiddie’s mind.
OK, as a rant this is lame, but I just had to pull a Yosemite Sam and go #@*&%!!!
I have to agree. I watched Bugs and the other Warner Bros. characters every chance I got** when I was a kid. I never had any difficulty distinguishing cartoon “violence” from reality. I also never really believed that I could run off a cliff and not fall down until I looked down. But maybe kids were smarter back then.
**Since this was the early sixties “every chance I got” meant an hour or so once a week (Saturday morning).
[channeling Hank Jr.]
[singing]
Now, the latest thing they wanna stamp out is violence on TV
And worst of all is that Oscar-winning rabbit, Bugs Bunny.
Farewell, Foghorn Leghorn. So long, Yosemite Sam.
They’re messin’ with our heroes and we gotta stop 'em now.
[/singing]
[/channeling Hank Jr.]
Umm… could you offer a citation? The channel that showed uncensored Gundam Wing at night is not showing Bugs Bunny cartoons? I’m not saying it’s not true, just seems… odd.
It is odd, because it’s incorrect. The Cartoon Network is declining to air certain Bugs Bunny cartoons not because they’re too violent but because they have, shall we say, uncomfortable racial overtones:
Maybe I should have provided some cites, looked into it more, before I started the thread, but I was reacting to a news report on CNN. It did not mention any racial overtones, just violence. This was on Friday evening, May4th.
The Cartoon Network now says it plans to air a separate program about Bugs Bunny cartoons made during World War II, with clips of unflattering portrayals of Germans and Japanese.
For the record, there are 12 sensitive Bugs Bunny cartoons that have been yanked (they’ve been out of circulation for some time and include “All This and Rabbit Stew,” “Any Bonds Today,” “Frigid Hare,” and “Uncle Tom’s Cabinet”)
The Cartoon Network had intended to run those 12 out of chronological order and late at night. They even had a disclaimer to scroll across the bottom of the screen saying:
“Cartoon Network does not endorse the use of racial slurs. These vintage cartoons are presented as representative of the time in which they were created and are presented for their historical value.”
–source, Wall Street Journal May 4 2001
Ahhh, that makes much more sense. A couple of the old Superman cartoons have similar themes. It’s interesting, in a sort of disturbing way, to see those old shows and their portrayal of foreign characters (especially during WWII). If they do a program, I’ll probably watch it.
“Frigid Hare” HAS been shown within the last two years on the Cartoon Network because it was in 1999 I started taping the Warner Brothers cartoons(they had a special"50 Greatest Cartoons of the Millenium) “Hare” wasn’t one of those, but since I didn’t record earlier it had to have been SINCE then.
Cartoon Network does censor out one kind of violence: suicides. Often, especially in the “screwball” cartoons of the early/mid forties, the final gag of a cartoon would be to have the non-screwball type put a gun to their head, the camera would turn away, you’d hear a bang, and the screwball type would make an “Ain’t I a stinker?” comment. You’d also have bit players suicide if the Screwball did something wierd. There’s one (don’t remember which) where Bugs is dressed up as…er…something and a fish, seeing how Bugs is dressed shoots himself)
During the last couple of marathons, this type of gag has inevitably been cut. Overall, Cartoon Network should be commended for putting most of the violence back (Ever seen “Rabbit Seasoning” with ALL the gun violence cut? It’s gibberish), but this decision annoys me even if I understand their reasoning.
(And I understand WHY they chose not to show the racial cartoons, but I wish they had. Ignoring your past is never a good idea. Oh the other hand, paying attention to your past isn’t good for marketing.)
What’s amazing to me is that as a kid I’d watch these in all there supposed horror and think, “Ha ha. That’s a funny cartoon. I wonder what it means.”
It’s only now, as an adult that I look at some of these cartoons and think,“Wow, that’s really awful. They’re endorsing suicide, violence, and prejudices.”
Amazing, now that I’m an adult, I’m more susceptible to brainwashing, in the form of the PC police, than I was a kid. It never occurred to me as a kid that it’d funny to put a gun to my head, pull the trigger, and think everything would be O.K… Back then I would have said, “That’s stupid. You can’t do that and live.”
Furthermore, in reference to the cartoon mentioned in the O.P., even as a kid I saw the deeper meaning behind that cartoon. That is, each character gets a bigger gun to out-do the others “Big Gun”. It finally ends by having the biggest gun go off and completely destroy everything in the vicinity. I remember thinking then how the idea of bigger and better can quickly get away from a person and get into the realm of ridiculous.
I’m certain I’ve seen a Coyote/Roadrunner cartoon censored for un-PC drug use: one of the several, I believe, involving a big jar of Acme Tornado Pills or Acme Earthquake Pills. Either the Roadrunner (being tricked) or the Coyote (being stupid) swallows all the pills and experiences the hilarious results - but the actual swallowing is snipped out - can’t give the kiddies ideas! - and the joke doesn’t make sense.
I THINK I saw this happen on the ABC Saturday morning show, not the Cartoon Network, because I have rarely had cable.
That reminds me of a South Park episode. (Spoiler follows, if you’ve never seen this episode.) There was a debate about the City of South Park’s flag, which depicted a lynching. The adults were up in arms about the racial aspects of the flag. The kids didn’t see that the person being lynched was black; they just saw a guy being hanged. To them, the whole debate was about capital punishment.
Depending on your point of view, kids are smarter or stupider than we think. They see cartons as cartoons, yet they often miss social issues that cause adults to go ballistic. I grew up with Saturday morning cartoons and yet I’m not violent, suicidal or a racist. If I had kids I would not want them to go around acting out racial stereotypes, or to jump off cliffs (although I did my share of jumping off the roof – not prompted by cartoons; it was just fun), or to shoot cannons at one another. To that end, I understand why Network Execs would be sensitive; but those cartoons never did me or my friends any harm.
The Cartoon Network has restored the one with Earthquake pills. I’ve seen it within the last year. (I don’t think it was tornado pills as such…I remember the one your talking about, though). However, there’s also one where Bugs is filling in for the Road Runner and is using “Acme Speed Pills” to run super fast. And that one is gone.
Like i said, I remember when ALL “gun violence” was cut from cartoons. “Rabbit Seasoning” was incomprehensible:
Bugs: Do you wanna shoot me now, or wait 'till you get home?
Daffy: SHOOT 'IM NOW! SHOOT HIM NOW!
Bugs: YOU KEEP OUTTA THIS! He doesn’t haveta shoot you now
Daffy: I say, he DOES have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!
Elmer: <shrugs, raises rifle>
Daffy: <sticks out tongue and says> Nyaah
Elmer: <Fires>
Daffy: <bill falls off, tongue still sticking out>
Imagine the scene if the part with Elmer raising the rifle and firing was cut. What you got was these scenes where Daffy’s bill would fall off for no apparent reason. Yuk. It’s to Cartoon Network’s credit that they’ve restored most of these.
Sadly, I wish they’d go further. One cartoon that’ll be shown in the upcoming marathon that’ll be butchered is “Southern Fried Hare”(?). Sam is a Confederate Soldier. Bugs is trying to get across the Mason-Dixon line because there’s a drought. Sam won’t let “yankee varmnits” past. In one of the funniest WB sequences ever, Bugs is being chased by Sam who draws back his hand to take a swipe at Bugs. Bugs puts on blackface and puts cotton on his head to look like an escapee from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He then slaps a whip in Sam’s drawn back hand. Bugs gets on his knees and starts pleading “Please don’t beat me Massah! Pleeeeease!”
Sam’s expression changes from bewildered to horrified at the idea. Bugs zips off stage and comes back dressed like Abe Lincoln. He turns to Sam and says sternly “What’s this I hear about you beatin’ slaves?”
Sam responds with a stunned/flustered “I…he…who…they” incoherent protestation as he tries to hide the whip. It’s obvious he’s horrified that someone would think he would do such a thing.
Bugs leaves saying “I have to get home to my Gettysburg Address” Sam sees Bug’s tail poking out from the longcoat Bugs is wearing and the chase resumes.
Trust me: when seen, it is NOT an endorsement of slavery, a mockery of black people, a mockery of Lincoln or anything else. It’s just funny. And it’s always cut nowdays.
::Sigh::
And I still give Cartoon Network a lot of credit for putting most of the cartoons back in . Given that they’ve given me 95% of what I want, I can’t fault 'em too much for not going as far as I’d like.
The twelve cartoons that will be pulled from the “June Bugs” marathon June 1-3 (which will be a couple of days after my cable system picks up the Cartoon Network) according to animation historian Jerry Beck, and my guesses on the reason they will be cut (thanks to Beck’s famous book “Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies”) are:
1.Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt (Native Americans)
2.All This And Rabbit Stew (blacks-ironically, Beck’s book doesn’t mention the hunter is black)
3.Any Bonds Today? (Bugs imitates Jolson)
4.What’s Cookin’ Doc? (clip from “Hiawatha” shown)
5.Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (wartime Japanese)
6.Herr Meets Hare (wartime Nazi/Germans)
7.Which is Witch? (African witch doctor)
8.A Feather in His Hare (Native Americans)
9.Frigid Hare (Eskimos)
10.Bushy Hare (Aborigines/blacks)
11.Horse Hare (Native Americans)
12.Mississippi Hare (Civil War-era blacks)
Jerry Beck proves a point-it’s okay to show edited versions to children, but Warner Bros. should also cater to the adult public and allow access to uncut versions, possibly on VHS or DVD. He says they should be treated as classics, like “Casablanca” or “I Love Lucy.” I agree with him.
While seeing the need to actually “think of the children” when talking about cartoons shown in kid-viewing hours or on kid networks, I agree that much (all?) of the stuff being lost should be preserved for the reasoned consumption of adults.
I will be very sad if I never again see Bugs saying, to an Aborigine bushman, “Well, Unga-Bunga to you too!”
Thanks for the information mobo85. Of the twelve cartoons you listed I have one(Frigid Hare, see earlier post) and maybe another(got to check to see if a title was changed). I have between two and three hundred Warner Brothers cartoons taped(note to self, get a life) and some kind of gag is ALWAYS being played on SOMEONE for one feature or another. I have “Rabbit Seasoning” complete as well as a lot of what I call the hunting cartoons. There was a LOT of shooting!!
I agree with the folks who think the cartoons should be preserved as they were, but can understand those who think they can, or should, be played late at night or marketed on VHS or something. I think the “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” was on a tape marketed some years ago, but was almost immediately pulled from the shelves when Americans of Japanese heritage protested. That’s what I remember anyway, don’t have a cite.
In thehe Coyote/RR cartoon with the tornado pills the pills were not meant for ingestion. The Coyote took them out one at a time and, when a drop of water was place on them, a tornado was made. Of course, at one point a whold mess of water is dumped on ALL the pills and a huge tornado sweeps him away. And in one cartoon he did ingest a bunch of pills that built up his legs muscles and allowed him to run very fast, but then he couldn’t control himself and slow down.
In one Elmer Fudd cartoon he has a dog that a flea decides to camp out on. The dog doesn’t want to scratch or he will be bathed, but at one point the dog itches so badly he pulls himself around the room on his butt, and then looks at the camera and says “I’d better be careful or I could get to LIKE this!” Hmmmm, I wonder what the censors think of that one now. What would that teach the kiddies? I’ve got to go look up the name.
The very fact that we are debating the pros and cons of whether or not Bugs Bunny (and that type of) cartoons promote violence, racism, drug abuse (and let’s not forget sexual harassment - remember Pepe LePeau?) makes my skin crawl. I keep getting the feeling that rampant PC’ism is getting in the way of the real issues our society should be dealing with.
Hold on a minute, someone’s at my door…No! Don’t arrest me! I didn’t mean it! I’ll be good! I’ll never say anything un-PC again! Honest!
::sound of door slamming as I’m dragged off by the PC Police to have my noggin sudsed up::
I have already witnessed with abhorence as local stations have butchered classic Warner Brothers cartoons by removing gun and violence scenes. Similar ballyhoo about violence on the Three Stooges and the like all indicate one simple thing. It is the politically correct adults who have blurred the borders of fantasy and reality, not the children. This is what we should be most afraid of.
Flaming jerkoff nitwit broadcasters desecrating some of the finest animation that will ever grace our screens! Real pearls before fake swine, I say.
I’m on your side to some degree, but…some of Warner Brother’s Censored 11cartoons (which includes one of the ones on Mobo’s list) do contain some pretty horrific stereotypes by today’s standards.
I don’t think that they should be banned, and I think Warner is dumb to try to hide them, but frankly, many of the 11 they list probably shouldn’t be broadcast to children or without at least some strong disclaimers. In Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips, Bugs calls the Japanese “Slant Eyes”, “Monkey Face” and a number of other worse, slurs that during the context of WWII were no problem, but today, without a reminder of the context are disturbing to say the least.
There are some Warner Brothers cartoons, that by any reasonable standard (and I am emphatically NOT PC) are racist. I don’t think they should be forgotten, banned or censored, and some of them, despite their racism are still utterly brilliant (“Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarves” is one of Warner’s top 20 cartoons of all time, IMHO) but society has changed and for the better. Just showing them to kids, without a context is a bad idea. Some of the ones we’re talking about haven’t been shown since the '60s (“All This and Rabbit Stew” has been on the “Forbidden 11” list since it was created in 1968). I’ve been lucky enough to see many of them and I’d love to see them distributed to adults, but I don’t fault the Cartoon Network for not showing them in a venue aimed at kids.
I firmly believe Cartoon Network should be commended for giving us back 95% of the classic WB lineup almost completly uncut, not condemned for beacuse they didn’t give us 100%.