Your first time

[Vdubdavid]

Here's an interesting question. When was the first time you fell into the horrible world that is cartoon censorship? I think my first time was a long time ago when I noticed something was missing from "The Big Snooze" (Bugs taking the sleeping pills.)

[PorkyandDaffy]

I remember back years and years ago, when I was watching HARE RIBBIN' on CN with my cousin, we both were confused about the ending. The dog cries "I wish I were dead" and Bugs asks "Do you mean itttttt?", then the dog suddenly faints on the floor. But since we were both young kids back then, we just assumed that Bugs made the dog have a heart attack and die, which, now looking back on it, sounds like a very dumb assumption.

Only a few years ago, just sometime shortly before I discovered Jon's great Censored Cartoons Page, I remember seeing THE STUPID CUPID on CN, and - since I was more aware and interested about film censorhip then - I KNEW something had to be cut between the part where the dog is swooning the cat, to the part where Daffy is in his bath singing. The dissolve looked to fast and fake. I was also suspicious about that ending, although to this day, I'm still not sure if it's a TV cut, if the ending was cut out before this was released in theatres, or if that's just the way Tashlin wanted it to end (seems like a pretty weak idea for an ending if that's what he wanted).

[alstin]

I'm a new one. I was watching June Bugs this year when the narrator said that the ending of The Heckling Hare was cut from the cartoon and lost forever. A few days later I saw something on the news that said "Racist Rabbit?" I immediatley went to the one place where you can find anything-the INTERNET!!! I was looking for info on these cartoons all around, (which I still don't have even one of :( ), and I asked Jerry Beck a question. He told me to ask this board, and I'm glad I did!!!:) :D ;) :p :cool:

[Matthew Hunter]

"I Taw A Putty Tat"....I noticed that the blackface gag was removed from TV, and I had seen it uncut before. I suspected foul play.
-Matthew

[Matt Yorston]

Believe me, I'm no stranger to cartoon censorship. But I first started watching cartoons such a long time ago that I really can't remember QUITE when I first experienced a certain censored cartoon.

However, these are some of my childhood exposures to censorship...

On ABC, the ending to "Don't Give Up the Sheep" ALWAYS puzzled me. ABC would remove this cartoon's entire ending (of Ralph trying to disguise himself as the replacement sheepdog only to be pulverized on the head and rear by Sam's giant club), thus ending the cartoon with the "dynamite-in-the-blowtube" gag. Even at that young age, I thought, "That doesn't seem like an ending AT ALL. Where's the build up? Where's the pay-off gag? Stalling's trademark ending music isn't even there!!!" (which proves how well I knew those cartoons even then). Sure enough, in 1991, I was watching the same cartoon on "Merrie Melodies" with the end gag restored. "Ah-HA!," I thought to myself, "Something WAS missing!"

When I rented "Bugs Bunny's Wacky Adventures" in 1989 and watched "Long Haired Hare", it was then when I first saw the "dynamite stick disguised as an autograph pen" gag. "Strange", I thought, "I don't remember seeing THAT in this cartoon when it was on Bugs & Tweety."

And, of course, "A Mutt in a Rut" was THOROUGHLY butchered when I first saw it on ABC (noticing a trend here?). The climactic gag involving Rover planting dynamite underneath Fudd only to get blown up by it himself was completely gone ending the "Rover Vs. Fudd" gags with the "wildcat turning on Rover" bit. They altered the scene's dialogue too. The "wildcat" scene ended with Rover thinking, "Hmph. He doesn't fool me. Just tryin' to catch me off guard." ABC replaced that with the removed scene's ending dialogue (Fudd saying "I'll see that you get a medal for this. How can I ever wepay you?") to make it seem as if THAT was how the scene ended all along. I must say, even though the editing seems downright sloppy to me today, they sure had me fooled at the time.

[Matt Yorston]

...And here's a switch.

This is an example of ABC restoring a scene (or scenes as the case may be) that was formerly edited by another network (a rarity for them). I think this may actually be an example of the first time I was exposed to cartoon censorship.

When CBS aired "Long Haired Hare", all scenes of Giavanni Jones inflicting vengeful violence upon Bugs were deleted. The banjo scene simply ended with Jones breaking up said banjo (the scene with him slamming the banjo's head, its only remaining piece, atop Bugs noggin and Bugs' comment, "Music hater", was deleted). The following harp scene ended with Bugs simply asking Giavanni, "Eh, what's up, Doc?" Giavanni's response (slamming the harp painfully against Bugs' neck) was removed. And, instead of just deleting the ending to the following tuba scene, the entire scene was deleted outright. CBS just cut from the harp scene to the concert opening. With all these scenes removed, the cartoon's entire set-up was pointless. Why would Bugs have a reason to retaliate against Giavanni if he really ostensibly let him off easy? Needless to say, CBS' removing these scenes made the cartoon almost senseless.

ABC restored all these scenes when they showed "Long Haired Hare" and, yes, I did think to myself, "I don't recall seeing THAT in this cartoon before." However, CBS also deleted ANOTHER scene... the "dynamite stick disguised as an autograph pen" gag. As I mentioned before in this thread, ABC also deleted that making my renting "Bugs Bunny's Wacky Adventures" the first time I truly saw that scene.

Phew! Censorship just drives you batty!

[Jack]

Originally posted by Matt Yorston
Phew! Censorship just drives you batty!
You called?

First time I recal being aware that things were edited was when I was in 4th grade or so. They had a special on the news about violence in older cartoons. It never really hit me hard until CN edited one of my favorite cartoons, Magial Miestro. They had played is several times uncut, in fact, I think the first time I ever saw it was on CN. I noticed the awful edit one day, it was just too obvious.


Jack:D

[J Lee]

The ending edit on "Fresh Hare" is the one I first remember, because growing up in the 1960s, WNEW in New York always edited it, and the sudden cut to black and the clipped music made it obvious there was something that should be there that wasn't anymore.

WNEW also edited the end of "Goofy Groceries" to eliminate the Edddie "Rochester" Anderson tag line. Cutting at the explosion was a little less obvious, though even back when I was in the single-digit age I knew Warner Bros' just would not end a cartoon that lamely without adding some kind of gag after the blast. It just took about a decade and a trip down to Dallas-Fort Worth to finally see the damn ending in the early 1970s. Too bad the days of each area of the country being able to edit cartoons their own way is gone.

[lislebartman]

My first encounter with censorship was when I was about 11-12 years old and WGN here in Chicago broadcast the Warners toons. These 3 cartoons were missing entire scenes:

"Fresh Hare" - WGN's version ended when Elmer snapped the cuffs on Bugs and Bugs drags him off. Quick cut to end title card. Entire 'minstrel show' end gag missing...

"Southern Fried Rabbit" - abrupt cut from when Sam shoots at Bugs's feet to the scene where Bugs is dressed as Abe Lincoln and asks Sam to look him up at his Gettysburg address. Entire 'Bugs in blackface'/'Don't beat me, masser...' scene missing...

"Show Biz Bugs" - cartoon ended abruptly when rigged xylophone explodes in Daffy's face. Entire last scene missing...

Yet, there were no such cuts in "I Taw A Putty Tat" or "Confederate Honey". Very strange...

[Jon Cooke]

I first started noticing cartoon censorship as I was discovering all the great classic cartoons on the showings on TBS and TNT when we got cable television in the early 1990s.

TNT and TBS must have had multiple prints of some cartoons, because sometimes a few cartoons (like "I Taw a Putty Tat", "An Itch In Time", "Fresh Hare", "Hare Ribbin'") would be unedited on some showings and edited on others.

The one that sticks out in my mind is a version of "Fresh Hare" I saw on one of the Turner networks (I am thinking TBS). The minstrel show ending was covered up with repeated footage of Bugs dancing (after Fudd had asked him if he had any last requests). The minstrel show audio played as normal. I was thinking- "WHAT the heck was that!?"

One I never saw uncut on TV was "Tortoise Wins By a Hare". I never saw the full ending until I rented the BUGS! videotape. It caught me totally by surprise!


-Jon

[Cartman]

I was watching a Donald Duck and Goofy cartoon called CRAZY WITH THE HEAT. I used to own a video that contained an uncut copy of this short. When I saw it on the Disney Channel, I noticed that the part where the Arab punches Donald in the eye was deleted.

Another example would be the Mickey and Minnie cartoon THE NIFTY NINETIES. When Mickey and Minnie enter a vaudeville show, a lantern show called "Father Dear Father" comes on. For those of you who haven't seen this short (or at least its uncensored version), the "Father Dear Father" segment was about a poor girl who tries to get her drunk father to come home from the bar to help take care of her little brother who is very sick.
Anyway, when I saw this cartoon on DC, that "Father Dear Father" segment was censored. At first I thought it was just deleted for time, but now I know it was definitely because of the drunkeness, given Disney's PCness.

[Brandon Pierce]

My first encounter with cartoon censoring was when Nick ran The Scarlett Pumpernickel. When they showed the hallway pasted over the scene with Daffy finishing the story, I was thinking, "What the HECK?!" At first I thought something was wrong with the station, until later when I crashed into Jon's Censored Page...

[alstin]

noticed the AWFUL edit in "What Price Fleedom"??? It is one of the worst edit jobs I've ever seen!!! It jumps from the seen where the dog is chasing Homer (the flea) to the scene where he saves his old dog. It makes absolutely no sense!!! :mad: It is also noticeable that the dog is on top of a bomb with a noose around his neck!!! I hate that!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Mike]

Originally posted by Vdubdavid
Here's an interesting question. When was the first time you fell into the horrible world that is cartoon censorship? I think my first time was a long time ago when I noticed something was missing from "The Big Snooze" (Bugs taking the sleeping pills.)

Well, like others have said, I probably saw a lot of edits on ABC that I didn't know until later were actually edits (like the missing dynamite-as-pen scene from "Long-Haired Hare"). But the first edit that I remember seeing and saying to myself, "Hey, that was edited!" came in 1990, when the syndicated Merrie Melodies show edited the end of "Ballot Box Bunny." I grew up in the '80s seeing that cartoon unedited on local television many, many times, so I knew exactly what was being cut out.

Mike,
who has to say that the subject line for this thread makes it sound like it's going to be about something that probably shouldn't be discussed in TTTP.....;)

[J Lee]

Re: "Long Haired Hare": Here's the really strange thing -- the dynamite with the pen scene was edited out by ABC over 40 years ago. They never aired it either on the prime-time or Saturday morning "Bugs Bunny Show" and CBS followed suit when it acquired the cartoons in hte mid-1960s. It wasn't until the Golden Jubilee tapes came out in 1985 that anyone got to see the scene on their home TV, and outside of some anger by Frankie or Perry that they weren't "it" I can't figure out any reason why that scene was cut.

[chuckamuck43]

Like most of you, I first noticed the censors butchery as a kid watching the Saturday morning "Bugs and (insert name here)" versions on ABC.

The things I remember missing most were the shotgun blasts to Daffy's head in Jones' hunting trilogy, the electric streetcar finale in Canary Row, all the gunplay in Hillbilly Hare, and some of the stuff in Hare-Less Wolf.

And yes, kids know when the rhythm and flow of a cartoon is interrupted by ridiculous edits.

I'll never forget the first time my daughter (who was raised on the Blue Golden Jubilee videos) watched the Saturday morning show and I heard the outraged cry of the cartoon purist - "HEY! That's not how it ENDS!?!!"

RJFW

[Thad Komorowski]

Well, the first time I became aware of cartoon censorship was back in the mid-1990s. The first one I noticed was "Fresh Hare". I noticed that the CN copy ended quicker than my copy on the BUGS VS. ELMER. I always thought Bugs and Elmer were dressed as the Chipmunks! LOL

I also recall renting the H&K video tape years and years ago, when CASPER & FRIENDS were on TV, and I noticed that the cartoons had totally different voices! :eek:

-Thad:D

[TServo2049]

I first noticed that WB cartoons were being edited on TV when I rented the Golden Jubilee LT/MM videos, and noticed that the Hunter's Trilogy toons actually SHOWED Daffy getting blasted in the face, as opposed to the cutaways on Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends.

[Captain Caps]

I was about to mention "Magical Maestro". The blackface gag just fit in so well with the rhythm of the cartoon. Censoring it disrupted the flow.

For me, it's the fact that I never saw D*sney's "Hockey Homicide" after the early 90s...at least in its original version. Then again, the last time I saw the D*sney Channel in my home, it had gone to pot anyway.

Darn, I miss the DTV (D*sney Music Television) segments...and the 80s D*sney Specials...and "Kids Incorporated". Hey, I even saw "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie" and "The Looney, Looney, Looney Bugs Bunny Movie" on D*sney Channel as well. All gone...swallowed up by the mid-to-late-90s.:(

Sincerely,

John "Captain Caps" Kilduff

[comicfan]

The first cartoon I remember knowing was censored[without reading that it was] was a Disney short that I think was called "Donald's Camera".
The short centers around Donald buying a camera[suprise!] and going to the woods to take some nature snapshots. Donald runs into trouble with a disagreeable woodpecker, and various gags ensue. Near the end, the woodpecker crushes Donald's camera with a tree. Furious, Donald runs offscreen only to return loaded down with weapons-guns, traps, etc. The final shot of the cartoon has Donald hunting the woodpecker into the night.
I first saw this cartoon in the '80's, but when I saw it in the 90's, the final scenes had been cut. The short ends with Donald running offscreen, fading out before he returns with his weaponry.

[Pietro]

I first became aware of censorship of the classics was when I saw ABC's showing of "Pre-Hysterical Hare." It was edited so much that there was hardly plot, it made the cartoon seem very dumb and short. The second time I noticed censorship was when I received my copy of "Shokus Cartoon Collection Vol. 7." I noticed that the print of "Unruly Hare" was missing the scene where Bugs shows Elmer the women.

-Pietro:D

[Mibbitmaker]

I had seen the LT/MMs uncut growing up in the '60s/'70s, though none of the pre-1948 ones except the re-drawns. So it was obvious when I saw cartoons edited to ribbons in the mid-'80s(even before seeing my first pre-'48s in the later '80s). Furthermore, it was in the NEWS back at that time; part of the whole anti-TV violence thing. I even drew an editorial cartoon(unpublished) on the topic at the time. It showed network hatchetmen(literally) violently chopping up film - because they opposed violence!

I always assumed the scene cut from Long Haired Hare was cut because the references to Frankie and Perry and bobbysoxers were too dated. A stupid reason to cut stuff! Wartime Popeyes seen in the early '70s never hurt ME!

[J Lee]

Datedness might have been the reason ABC chose to edit out the bobbysoxer scene from "Long Haired Hare," though when "The Bugs Bunny Show" debuted Frankie (Sinatra) was once again extremely popular (and getting ready to do a movie for Warners and start his own record label for them) while Perry (Como) was making it big on TV with his own variety show (though it was on NBC).

Plus the scene ABC never cut was in "Frigid Hare" where Bugs figures out he won't have to come back from vacation until July, 1953. If any scene figured to be edited for being dated, that one would.