Thursday, August 24, 2006
"Rapunzel, Let Down Your Hair!"
Tom and Jerry have just been walloped. No! Not by each other but by the censors in Britain. After a complaint was lodged by a viewer about smoking characters in the cartoon series, the governmental agency that polices the air waves over there decided to have a look-see. When it spotted Tom’s opponent in a tennis match smoking a cigar, it got their attention in a hurry. Before one could say “Holy Mackerel!” the censors zoned in on the Boomerang Cartoon Channel. After noting a few inappropriate improprieties, they convinced Boomerang to cooperate by editing out all smoking scenes. In the blink of an eye targeted scenes went the way of the candy cigarette.
It was not the first time that cartoon channels have been embroiled in such controversies. Back in 1999 the Cartoon Network decided to pull the highly popular Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, from the airwaves in order not to upset the sensitivities of Hispanics in the United States. He was gone from the small screen faster than one can say "Arriba! Arriba! Arriba! Andale! Andale!” R.I.P. poor Speedy! Whoops! Not quiet so fast. It seems that there is one place where Speedy still makes a regular appearance on TV—The Cartoon Network Latin America.
Actually, cartoons have been prone to disappear over the years at the slightest hint of political incorrectness. In 1968 United Artists issued a “Censored 11” list of eleven cartoons that were deemed to be politically incorrect and were taken out of the distribution channels. Among them were three by Tex Avery, the renowned cartoonist who gave the world Daffy Duck, Chilly Willy and Droopy. He also was famous for taking a phrase from his North Dallas High School days and making it a household phrase, “What’s up, doc?” What did Avery do wrong? Well, in “All This and Rabbit Stew,” Bugs makes an appearance in Black Face.
Two other cartoons among the “Censored 11” are "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" and "Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears." They were banned for obvious reasons. There are fairy tales and then there are fairy tales.
Fairy Tales have actually been cleaned up numerous times over the years. In fact, if it were not for the Brothers Grimm, we might not have any fairy tales today at all. Back in 1812 the two German brothers published a collection of fairy tales under the title Children’s and Household Tales. The book included Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel. Most of these were borrowed from the French, but were cleaned up to make them suitable for children. Rapunzel, for instance, noticed that after she had let her hair down once too often for the young prince, her dress was getting tight in the belly. Ummm…. Yep! Now this would never do for children at bedtime. So that part and a few others as well got axed. But that was just the start. They cleaned up hundreds of these children’s tales. Today the Grimm Brothers can be thought of as the Disney of the Nineteenth Century.
So the next time you pop a Disney movie in your DVD play and all of a sudden you can’t believe what you are seeing, just ask yourself “Where are the Grimm brothers when we really need them?” Or if you happen to be watching the news on a British TV station and all of a sudden you see a porn movie playing over the shoulder of the news analyst, you might be wondering where the censors and technicians are. They are probably busy down the hall cutting out inappropriate behavior from Tom and Jerry. And “Holy Mackerel?” It was popularized by the Kingfish in the now banned “Amos and Andy” series. Is it too late to ban that expression? "Th-th-th-that's all folks!"
Tom and Jerry have just been walloped. No! Not by each other but by the censors in Britain. After a complaint was lodged by a viewer about smoking characters in the cartoon series, the governmental agency that polices the air waves over there decided to have a look-see. When it spotted Tom’s opponent in a tennis match smoking a cigar, it got their attention in a hurry. Before one could say “Holy Mackerel!” the censors zoned in on the Boomerang Cartoon Channel. After noting a few inappropriate improprieties, they convinced Boomerang to cooperate by editing out all smoking scenes. In the blink of an eye targeted scenes went the way of the candy cigarette.
It was not the first time that cartoon channels have been embroiled in such controversies. Back in 1999 the Cartoon Network decided to pull the highly popular Speedy Gonzales, the fastest mouse in all of Mexico, from the airwaves in order not to upset the sensitivities of Hispanics in the United States. He was gone from the small screen faster than one can say "Arriba! Arriba! Arriba! Andale! Andale!” R.I.P. poor Speedy! Whoops! Not quiet so fast. It seems that there is one place where Speedy still makes a regular appearance on TV—The Cartoon Network Latin America.
Actually, cartoons have been prone to disappear over the years at the slightest hint of political incorrectness. In 1968 United Artists issued a “Censored 11” list of eleven cartoons that were deemed to be politically incorrect and were taken out of the distribution channels. Among them were three by Tex Avery, the renowned cartoonist who gave the world Daffy Duck, Chilly Willy and Droopy. He also was famous for taking a phrase from his North Dallas High School days and making it a household phrase, “What’s up, doc?” What did Avery do wrong? Well, in “All This and Rabbit Stew,” Bugs makes an appearance in Black Face.
Two other cartoons among the “Censored 11” are "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" and "Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears." They were banned for obvious reasons. There are fairy tales and then there are fairy tales.
Fairy Tales have actually been cleaned up numerous times over the years. In fact, if it were not for the Brothers Grimm, we might not have any fairy tales today at all. Back in 1812 the two German brothers published a collection of fairy tales under the title Children’s and Household Tales. The book included Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel. Most of these were borrowed from the French, but were cleaned up to make them suitable for children. Rapunzel, for instance, noticed that after she had let her hair down once too often for the young prince, her dress was getting tight in the belly. Ummm…. Yep! Now this would never do for children at bedtime. So that part and a few others as well got axed. But that was just the start. They cleaned up hundreds of these children’s tales. Today the Grimm Brothers can be thought of as the Disney of the Nineteenth Century.
So the next time you pop a Disney movie in your DVD play and all of a sudden you can’t believe what you are seeing, just ask yourself “Where are the Grimm brothers when we really need them?” Or if you happen to be watching the news on a British TV station and all of a sudden you see a porn movie playing over the shoulder of the news analyst, you might be wondering where the censors and technicians are. They are probably busy down the hall cutting out inappropriate behavior from Tom and Jerry. And “Holy Mackerel?” It was popularized by the Kingfish in the now banned “Amos and Andy” series. Is it too late to ban that expression? "Th-th-th-that's all folks!"
