laugh4me
11-12-2001, 01:10 PM
I just saw an article about how the Art Institute of Pittsburgh had a four-day animation conference which included some animators discussing how cartoon should handle the post 9-11 world.
Basically they are afraid to do anything bold at all and consider the content of "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" a "mistake" they want to avoid repeating... They believe if they make fun of bin laden, kids will apply it to all Middel Easterners etc... :rolleyes:
Here's the article taken from here (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/story_21783.asp)
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Cartoonists reluctant to show violence
AP - A group of American animators have voiced their concern for the cartoon industry, following the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks upon the US entertainment and arts industry.
They attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's four-day animation conference where they discussed how their industry might respond in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Not only are producers more sensitive when it comes to portraying acts of violence, they're also feeling the financial pains of an economic slowdown, said Chris Christman, an animator who worked for Warner Brothers' "Osmosis Jones."
When America went to war in World War II, even Bugs Bunny went along.
In 1944, Warner Brothers sent the wisecracking rabbit to a Pacific island to fight the Japanese in a short film titled, "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips."
The cartoon's title and content make people blush now, but creators could easily make the same mistakes now that the United States is battling terrorist networks in Afghanistan, animation historian and journalist John Culhane said.
"When the Second World War came, they went to caricaturing whole groups and the result was it might have been uplifting to some people, but it wasn't uplifting to other people," Culhane said. The Bugs Bunny cartoon "characterized all Japanese as slant-eyed, bucktoothed, treacherous people."
Culhane moderated a round-table discussion Friday featuring animators of some of America's most beloved feature-length movies, television shows and video games.
But like during World War II, Americans need a diversion, said Brian Mitchell, who's worked for Universal Studios, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers. Mitchell thinks animators and producers have a patriotic duty to make the public feel better.
"Humor and comedy can be a good thing, an empowering thing," Mitchell said. "Think about (Osama) bin Laden. Here's this horrible person, a mass murderer. We can empower ourselves by making fun of him."
But animators, directors and producers need to be cautious about depicting current events and patriotic sentiments in cartoons, Christman said.
Although animators might think they are creating caricatures of terrorists, children often don't understand the difference between bin Laden and other people of Middle Eastern descent.
"Our industry is classically known for sprinting ahead and not thinking about things," Christman said.
The cartoon industry isn't always sensitive to different nationalities and races in peace time, let alone war time, Culhane said, citing a song in the Disney film "Aladdin."
"There is a line in a song that says, 'Arabian nights, Arabian nights, where they cut off your head if they don't like your face. It's barbaric. But hey, it's home.' Arab Americans rightly responded immediately," Culhane said. "What if the song had said, 'Jewish nights, Jewish nights'?"
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One final comment/opinion ;) - At the end here they hold up the lyrics of "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin as an example of a recent mistake - but they get the lyrics wrong in more than onc place.
They complain "what if it was "Jewish nights, Jewish nights"? - well, first of all it depends on who was making the film and the rest of the context - but if Woody Allen or Mel Brooks were involved, it wouldn't cause any consternation... and putting that aside and overloking the fact that there never was a phrase which repeated "Arabian Nights" like that in the song...
He comes across to me as ignorant That expression wasn't an issue and apparently he's never heard of this but there *is* a good reason to use the phrase "Arabian Nights" which doesn't apply to other groups.
This is because the story of Aladdin is one of a several famous Arabian stories collectively called "Arabian Nights".
So the expression is not offensive, applies perfectly for historical and literary reasons and is a bit of a pun to boot...
So to those in that roundtable I say - c'mon you guys, take some chances and quit obcessing over political correctness issues. And BTW, get your facts straight when you feign indignance over these offenses... ;)
Basically they are afraid to do anything bold at all and consider the content of "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" a "mistake" they want to avoid repeating... They believe if they make fun of bin laden, kids will apply it to all Middel Easterners etc... :rolleyes:
Here's the article taken from here (http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/story_21783.asp)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cartoonists reluctant to show violence
AP - A group of American animators have voiced their concern for the cartoon industry, following the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks upon the US entertainment and arts industry.
They attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh's four-day animation conference where they discussed how their industry might respond in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Not only are producers more sensitive when it comes to portraying acts of violence, they're also feeling the financial pains of an economic slowdown, said Chris Christman, an animator who worked for Warner Brothers' "Osmosis Jones."
When America went to war in World War II, even Bugs Bunny went along.
In 1944, Warner Brothers sent the wisecracking rabbit to a Pacific island to fight the Japanese in a short film titled, "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips."
The cartoon's title and content make people blush now, but creators could easily make the same mistakes now that the United States is battling terrorist networks in Afghanistan, animation historian and journalist John Culhane said.
"When the Second World War came, they went to caricaturing whole groups and the result was it might have been uplifting to some people, but it wasn't uplifting to other people," Culhane said. The Bugs Bunny cartoon "characterized all Japanese as slant-eyed, bucktoothed, treacherous people."
Culhane moderated a round-table discussion Friday featuring animators of some of America's most beloved feature-length movies, television shows and video games.
But like during World War II, Americans need a diversion, said Brian Mitchell, who's worked for Universal Studios, Hanna-Barbera and Warner Brothers. Mitchell thinks animators and producers have a patriotic duty to make the public feel better.
"Humor and comedy can be a good thing, an empowering thing," Mitchell said. "Think about (Osama) bin Laden. Here's this horrible person, a mass murderer. We can empower ourselves by making fun of him."
But animators, directors and producers need to be cautious about depicting current events and patriotic sentiments in cartoons, Christman said.
Although animators might think they are creating caricatures of terrorists, children often don't understand the difference between bin Laden and other people of Middle Eastern descent.
"Our industry is classically known for sprinting ahead and not thinking about things," Christman said.
The cartoon industry isn't always sensitive to different nationalities and races in peace time, let alone war time, Culhane said, citing a song in the Disney film "Aladdin."
"There is a line in a song that says, 'Arabian nights, Arabian nights, where they cut off your head if they don't like your face. It's barbaric. But hey, it's home.' Arab Americans rightly responded immediately," Culhane said. "What if the song had said, 'Jewish nights, Jewish nights'?"
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One final comment/opinion ;) - At the end here they hold up the lyrics of "Arabian Nights" from Aladdin as an example of a recent mistake - but they get the lyrics wrong in more than onc place.
They complain "what if it was "Jewish nights, Jewish nights"? - well, first of all it depends on who was making the film and the rest of the context - but if Woody Allen or Mel Brooks were involved, it wouldn't cause any consternation... and putting that aside and overloking the fact that there never was a phrase which repeated "Arabian Nights" like that in the song...
He comes across to me as ignorant That expression wasn't an issue and apparently he's never heard of this but there *is* a good reason to use the phrase "Arabian Nights" which doesn't apply to other groups.
This is because the story of Aladdin is one of a several famous Arabian stories collectively called "Arabian Nights".
So the expression is not offensive, applies perfectly for historical and literary reasons and is a bit of a pun to boot...
So to those in that roundtable I say - c'mon you guys, take some chances and quit obcessing over political correctness issues. And BTW, get your facts straight when you feign indignance over these offenses... ;)