# Nudity in American Animation **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386 "2007-03-18T00:49:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/1 "2007-03-18T00:49:57Z")
I’m currently watching **Hellboy: Blood and Iron** on cartoon network. While it seems to take pains to mimic Mignola’s style of drawing, it certainly takes liberties with both character design and occasionally plot. I’ve noticed that at many times during the feature, female characters have appeared nude or topless. Normally in an american Animation release this would be a complete no-no. In this instance they’ve created a really **odd** solution. _They simply have removed the nipples._ This seems not only seriously strange, but why bother? Considering that they could just have simply edited the shot, or convienently place shadows, etc, Why bother showing a fully nude female at all? Occasionally Mignola will do this in his comic, but it seems an odd solution. What’s up with this? Are they simply trying to push the boundries? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/2 "2007-03-18T01:15:09Z")
Cartoon nudity is far more acceptable than live-action nudity in the US, but there are limits. Female nipples and male genitialia are still taboo. Look at **Family Guy** , Peter is often seen nude, but his fat always leans down to cover his genitals. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/3 "2007-03-18T01:17:56Z")
What was that comedy central show, Bob and Margret? Anyway, it had nudity all the time, male and female as I recall… ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/4 "2007-03-18T01:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Cartoon nudity is far more acceptable than live-action nudity in the US, but there are limits. Female nipples and male genitialia are still taboo. Look at **Family Guy** , Peter is often seen nude, but his fat always leans down to cover his genitals. [/QUOTE] Good point Alpha, but there seems to be a difference between the blatant shock-value gross out of family guy and the sort of casual pseudo-nudity seen in the Hellboy feature. I’m wondering if this is a simple use to stick true to the comics, or a subtle pushing of the envelope. Call me old fashioned, but a bare jiggly cartoon boob seems far MORE disturbing to me without the nipple then with. After all if it’s anatomically correct, my viewing usually results as: “Oh look a boob.” 🙂 With this oddity it spawned a lot of initial confusion. “Is that a boob? :dubious: hmmm huh, i guess it IS a boob! But wait…now she’s fully in the light and she doesn’t have nipples…Weird!” 😕 It seemed to draw my attention far more than if it had simply been complete. I suppose it’s a fair compromise in terms of staying true to the comics but it was still really weird. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/5 "2007-03-18T01:29:17Z")
[QUOTE=Red Barchetta] What was that comedy central show, Bob and Margret? Anyway, it had nudity all the time, male and female as I recall… [/QUOTE] Wasn’t that made in Canada? ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/6 "2007-03-18T01:33:45Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Wasn’t that made in Canada? [/QUOTE] Yes, it was. It was based on an Oscar-winning short produced through the National Film Board of Canada, which depicts a man’s penis in numerous scenes (very badly drawn, I might add). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/7 "2007-03-18T04:52:10Z")
The original _Fantasia_ showed perky teenage centaur boobs sans nipples but, IIRC, there is a momentary glimpse of witch tit during “Night on Bald Mountain” showing nipple and, by the looks of it, it was a chilly evening. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/8 "2007-03-18T05:01:27Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Wasn’t that made in Canada? [/QUOTE] Canada/UK co-production. Channel 4, Nelvana, and CanwestGlobal were the primary producers (the original Bob’s Birthday short was Channel 4, and the NFB). Although I don’t remember any nudity in it other than Bob’s talliwacker in Bob’s Birthday… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/9 "2007-03-18T05:40:37Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] The original _Fantasia_ showed perky teenage centaur boobs sans nipples but, IIRC, there is a momentary glimpse of witch tit during “Night on Bald Mountain” showing nipple and, by the looks of it, it was a chilly evening. [/QUOTE] More than once, but those were harpies. Being non-human I guess it’s okay. I know, I know: the centaurettes are non-human as well, but the point (heh) of interest is human enough to be rousing. IIRC they had to argue with the Hays office to show what they did. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/10 "2007-03-18T12:58:02Z")
[QUOTE=DesertDog] More than once, but those were harpies. Being non-human I guess it’s okay. I know, I know: the centaurettes are non-human as well, but the point (heh) of interest is human enough to be rousing. IIRC they had to argue with the Hays office to show what they did. [/QUOTE] Fascinating. Apparently, simply being a non human character, not matter how, um, titillating, is enough to make it past the censors eh? Well if that’s the case then it certainly explains the film I saw. We had bare breasted goddesses, vampires, witches and harpies, but not a human breast to be seen. Now that I think on it, whenever the vampire was in her “beautiful woman” guise the usual editing seemed to apply. What an odd double standard. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/11 "2007-03-18T13:26:59Z")
Heh. A couple of more exceptions to test the rule—again, from Comedy Central. •_Drawn Together_, which already has an uncensored version that goes to DVD, has managed to sneak nudity on-air a few times. (Once, for sure, it was during a special “no censoring” timeslot, but the other, IIRC, was during regular, albeit very late-night, air time.) •And, naturally, _South Park._ (A number of scattered incidents, often in non or barely sexual contexts.) Heck, the Simpsons even showed Michelangelo’s David onscreen—and I’m pretty sure I saw a calendar with Marge as Venus de Milo…in all her British-TV-where-they-can-show-nudity-but-edit-out-cartoon-turtles-clubbing-robots-to-death style glory…on sale once—and Futurama, technically, showed Leela topless a couple of times. ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/12 "2007-03-18T13:57:57Z")
Speaking of the Simpsons, there was a Tracy Ullman short where the family goes to an art museum and Homer and Bart ogle a painting of a naked woman, much to Marge’s dismay. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/13 "2007-03-18T15:18:30Z")
Anyone else remember _Heavy Metal_? If I remember correctly, there was quite a bit of sex and nudity in that animated feature… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/14 "2007-03-18T19:44:44Z")
It’s only been relatively recently that animated male nipples have apperared as well. Take a look at He-Man cartoons from the 80s. Not a nipple in sight. Same for comic books. You’d have characters whose costume involved being naked from the waist up, like Ka-Zar, and no nipples. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/15 "2007-03-18T20:32:01Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Anyone else remember _Heavy Metal_? If I remember correctly, there was quite a bit of sex and nudity in that animated feature… [/QUOTE] Wasn’t the nerd-turned-action hero naked all the time? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/16 "2007-03-18T20:41:56Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] in all her British-TV-where-they-can-show-nudity-but-edit-out-cartoon-turtles-clubbing-robots-to-death style glory [/QUOTE] Does British TV still ban ninja violence? I know they’re against hanging (see: the “Out West” episode of _Ren & Stimpy_), but I read on Mirage Studio’s website that the current Ninja Turtles series airs in England with its original name (the original series was renamed “Hero Turtles” and any use of Michaelangelo using his nuchukus was removed because it was considered too violent for a kids’ show). ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/17 "2007-03-18T20:55:01Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Wasn’t the nerd-turned-action hero naked all the time? 😕 [/QUOTE] No, he put on a loin cloth pretty early, stating he couldn’t go around with ‘[his] dork hanging out’. There’s plenty of sex and nudity in the Den segment, though. And So Beautiful and So Dangerous, and Taarna. I can’t remember if there was any in Harry Canyon (I don’t think so), and Captain Sternn and B-52 were both ‘clean’. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/18 "2007-03-18T20:59:35Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl] Anyone else remember _Heavy Metal_? If I remember correctly, there was quite a bit of sex and nudity in that animated feature… [/QUOTE] Although technically American, Heavy Metal the movie was based on Heavy Metal the Magazine, which was in turn based on Metal Hurlant the magazine, a cheese-eating surrender monkey production. Hence, technically, Heavy Metal is an import. From France. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/19 "2007-03-18T21:04:36Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] I can’t remember if there was any in Harry Canyon (I don’t think so). [/QUOTE] That was the cab driver, right? The fare he picked up popped her top at some point (“Harry, can I sleep in here with you tonight?”) ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386/20 "2007-03-18T21:11:40Z")
[QUOTE=Tengu] No, he put on a loin cloth pretty early, stating he couldn’t go around with ‘[his] dork hanging out’… [/QUOTE] Oh, am I thinking of the original comic then? :smack: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nudity-in-american-animation/396386.md?page=2)