Is Peggy Charren the most hated person in animation history?

[Anthony C.]

I love animation and I like to look back on its history and over the past couple of months I've researched the history of the censorship of cartoons in the 70's and 80's and I realized that Peggy Charren was the one who spearheaded the movement. After reading a couple of articles and interviews on the subject, I began to ask myself: is Miss Charren the most hated woman in the history of the medium. Seriously when I read the articles and the interviews I soon realized that nobody said a nice thing about her and a few, like Paul Dini and Buzz Dixon, expressed outright hatred towards the woman.

So I gotta ask everybody: has there ever been any person more hated in this field than Peggy Charren? Is it even close?

[HG Revolution]

So I gotta ask everybody: has there ever been any person more hated in this field than Peggy Charren? Is it even close?

Alfred Kahn
Fred Calvert
Jamie Kelner

That's all I can think of for animation industry supervillains/ex-supervillains.

[Leviathan]

Alfred Kahn
Fred Calvert
Jamie Kelner

That's all I can think of for animation industry supervillains/ex-supervillains.

Don't have a clue on who Alfred Kahn is, so no comment.
Fred Calvert was the guy who was chosen to finish The Thief and the Cobbler after Richard Williams was fired from it, right?
If that's the guy, sure it's unfortunate that Williams was kicked off his own film, but Calvert isn't any more worthy of the animation fan supervillian title than Bob Camp is for finishing it.
If i'm not mistaken, Jamie Kelner was that WB executive who made sweeping changes which led to the cancellation/retinkering of certain beloved Silver Age WB shows. Sure, that was also unfortunate, but Kelner seems like another business-as-usual executive who frequently gets a bad rap (kinda like Michael Eisner, but with less notoreity) .

Most of the people who are loathed by the animation industry are people that do things that are bad, but really don't deserve the animosity directed towards them. Peggy Charren is an exception though.

[Simon Trent]

I barely have any idea who Peggy Charren is. I'm really surprised that the opinions of one person were allowed to take dominion over an entire industry, though.

[Tommy Lawson]

I barely have any idea who Peggy Charren is. I'm really surprised that the opinions of one person were allowed to take dominion over an entire industry, though.
Allow me to help you out with that. These couple of articles will help you understand who she is.

Article 1 (http://home.hiwaay.net/%7Ejmcmulle/400kidtv99.htm)
Article 2
(http://wps.ablongman.com/ab_vivian_2003_update/0,5424,351501-,00.html)
If you ask me, Peggy Charren was to kids television back then what Jack Thompson is to video games now - one of its most obvious, most vocal critics. Peggy Charren's biggest legacy was probably that of the Children's Television Act of 1990, which when further strengthened in the mid-1990s, led to the 3-hour educational and informational mandate among all broadcasters. It really is the only reason Saturday morning cartoons still exist among broadcasters, since all the profitable cartoons and kids shows have long since moved to cable. Ironically, here is how she reacted to the news Fox Kids was dropping its weekday block in 2001:

Article 3 (http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=2717038&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=422128&rfi=6)

Interestingly enough, with the rise of broadcast signals being transmitted digitally, the FCC has ruled that for each additional channel that a station broadcasts 24-7, 3 more hours of E/I programming are required on top of the 3 on the main channel. That means a station with 5 additional digital broadcast channels would have to broadcast an additional 15 hours of E/I programming per week. In my area, those extra digital channels are used for weather and traffic info by the stations for example.

Article 4 (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000627246)


Don't have a clue on who Alfred Kahn is, so no comment.
President of 4Kids Entertainment. That should help you out a lot understanding what he is responsible for.

[Beat]

I'd rate Khan slighly below Haim Saban on the hatred meter, because Saban didn't limit his butchery to just the animated medium, but instead tried to take any foreign material and cut it up to resemble what he wanted.

Charren is probably worse than Saban though. Saban was a buisnessman, trying to make money. Charren was just an offended mom.

[Gokou Ruri]

Alfred Kahn really only applies to anime fans, not animation in general.. because he gave helped give us the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

[Hordesman]

Alfred Kahn really only applies to anime fans, not animation in general.. because he gave helped give us the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.

And Fast Forward. :sweat:

[Matt Hazuda]

Charren sounds like one of those busybody moms who think they know what's best for everyone and probably had a henpecked husband who she nags to death and he ends up starving cause she's too busy doing her silly little hobby rather than being in the kitchen where she belongs :p

[Jeff Harris]

Peggy Charren was the epitome of the "soccer mom" mentality back in the day. It's because of her methods and her now-defunct organization ACT (Action for Children's Television) that made the 1970s, for the most part, the most forgettable era in animation (aside from Scooby-Doo [which began in 1969], Schoolhouse Rock, and Fat Albert [a pair of edutainment programs], can you name five non-syndicated animated series from September 1970 to September 1980 that you have fond memories of?).

Of course, she was bush league compared to the Parents' Television Council. The Children's Television Act of 1990 wasn't set out to "ruin" the industry, but rather set up somewhat reasonable guidelines (no specified limit of educational/informational programming for children as long as they aired within the "Safe Harbor" period [between 7 AM and 10 PM], less time for self-promotional ads [i.e. no Power Rangers toy ads during Power Rangers and 30 minutes after it airs], limited commerical time per hour of children's programming [hey, who doesn't like less commericals], and the fact that there has to be a scheduled children's programming slot on every broadcast network per week).

It's the later years (just as the PTC became more influential in the light of the political shift in Washington in 1994) after it was passed that the CTA got ridiculous and ruined Saturday mornings (and in effect both the Kids' WB and Fox Kids). Plus, a lot of these politicians wanted to get rid of PBS by forcing MORE educational programming on broadcast television to say that PBS isn't needed, thus, the much-loathed three-hour E/I minimum that killed Saturday mornings on broadcast television. By then, Ms. Charren was no longer a part of the scene as ACT was disbanded in 1992. Plus, and this is probably the most ironic point I'll make, Ms. Charren is a critic of censorship in the medium and continues to be.

I wouldn't call her the devil and scourge of the animation industry, more or less a lesser being who spat on the ground and left when it was seen.

Jamie Kellner was the most hated person in the animation from the time he cancelled nearly every comedic Warner Bros. Animation production at one swoop to his dependence on faddish programming making 4Kids Entertainment a household word to his utter destruction of Cartoon Network (his legacy continues in the management he helped place in the network to this day). Of course, he was a capitalist trying to make a buck, and there's nothing wrong with that. It's just the way that he did it seems so . . . off.

Of course, he's the reason there's no WCW, which is a reason why wrestling fans don't like him. Oh, and he's the reason there's no more UPN and The WB, since he cancelled The WB's biggest show ever, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. If he kept it at The WB, it could have aired another three, four years top, but the show became intertwined in chaos that culimated in the destruction of the network that cancelled it (The WB) and the network that later got it with many strings attached (UPN).

I dunno. Kellner did more damage to the animation industry (at least Warner Bros' part in the industry) than Peggy Charren ever did.

[Anthony C.]

Plus, and this is probably the most ironic point I'll make, Ms. Charren is a critic of censorship in the medium and continues to be.


Wait a second Jeff, this is the pot calling the kettle black moment if I've ever seen one! I mean I've read stories and listened to interviews from members in the animation industry and what she and her crew was doing WAS CENSORSHIP. I mean come on, what do you call:

-telling and bullying networks that animated shows couldn't show violence and "anti-social behavior" ?
-leaving no other option for viewers to only watch "pro-social" cartoons that fits into her parameters?

That's censorship right there! Its one thing to be a censor and admit to it, its another thing to be a damn hypocrite about your methods? And another thing: PTC were copying tactics that SHE used to bully the networks to show only "wholesome" entertainment.

[RAINMAN]

I say they all ruined the animation world and sat morinings. Sure they show up at different times but their reasones were almost the same. Their just like viallins from comics. When the joker not around to cause trouble, then two face or riddler is.

[Shredder565]

I'd rate Khan slighly below Haim Saban on the hatred meter, because Saban didn't limit his butchery to just the animated medium, but instead tried to take any foreign material and cut it up to resemble what he wanted.

Charren is probably worse than Saban though. Saban was a buisnessman, trying to make money. Charren was just an offended mom.

Don't underestimate the power of a soccer mom! :lol::raven:

Seriously, at least Haim Saban did give us one GOOD thing before he went mad with power. The Inspector Gadget theme.

[Sirkenz17]

Jamie Kellner gave us at least one good thing in Batman Beyond (well, at least the first season).

[Fifi Fanatic]

This raises the question: Was Peggy the original soccer mom?

As an actual child of the 70's, I can say that I witnessed the results of her work firsthand. It was like night and day between the Bugs, Daffy, and Tom & Jerry I saw on weekday afternoons and the stuff that came on Saturday morning. Even as a kid, I thought "This is garbage!" ....even if I didn't know at the time who was responsible for it. :p

I don't know if Peggy is THE most hated ever, but she sure started us down the path to where we are now. Thanks a lot, Peggy! :mad:

And you can well imagine what I think of Darth Kelner. :D

[Jeff Harris]

Wait a second Jeff, this is the pot calling the kettle black moment if I've ever seen one! I mean I've read stories and listened to interviews from members in the animation industry and what she and her crew was doing WAS CENSORSHIP. I mean come on, what do you call:

-telling and bullying networks that animated shows couldn't show violence and "anti-social behavior" ?
-leaving no other option for viewers to only watch "pro-social" cartoons that fits into her parameters?

That's censorship right there! Its one thing to be a censor and admit to it, its another thing to be a damn hypocrite about your methods? And another thing: PTC were copying tactics that SHE used to bully the networks to show only "wholesome" entertainment.I never said she wasn't a hypocrite. In fact, I think she's just epitomizing the changing environment around her.

Did she go 8-bit bananas with the mandates she and ACT were pushing? Hell yeah! Did these mandates create a rather bland industry for a good decade before syndicated fare took over the minds of the populace? Again, yes. The New Tom and Jerry Show from Hanna-Barbera, which could have been a GREAT show if it wasn't for CBS, the strictest network at the time, is a great example of that. Does she feel remorse for the actions that she did? Probably not. I think that Peggy Charren and the Action for Children's Television were the most debilitating force the entertainment industry has ever seen.

However, people change. I'm not saying that she has changed all of her views, but over the years, Ms. Charren might, repeat, MIGHT have seen some of the errors of her ways. By witnessing the advent of ACT-inspired organizations like the PTC and the American Family Association and their somewhat extremist agendas, perhaps Ms. Charren has found it in herself to see the other side of the argument and realize there is a place for mindless entertainment. I mean, the whole purpose of ACT was to make television smarter, not blander. Creators who were used to making crazy, insane programming were exposed as no-talent hacks. Hanna-Barbera, sad to say, was exposed as a one-trick pony as a result of ACT, as every other cartoon they made between 1970 and 1980 was a show that was either a ripoff of Scooby-Doo or connected to it somehow.

Meanwhile, perhaps the most innovative programs of the time were indeed educational and pro-social ones. This is the time that shows like Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Zoom, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, and Schoolhouse Rock grew into prominance within the culture of our country. Would they be made without the insistance of Peggy Charren? Probably not.

Ms. Charren's an older woman now, almost 80. Maybe she's trying to get into heaven or something and trying to atone for what she has done. Or maybe she realized that the industry has become smarter and started presenting more intelligent shows than mindless mess (guess she's not looking at 4Kids TV, eh?). Still, the damage to her reputation within the animation industry has been done, a damage that could never be repaired.

Animators, like elephants, never forget.

[Leviathan]

President of 4Kids Entertainment. That should help you out a lot understanding what he is responsible for.

OK, now the name came back to me. Still, that makes Fred Calvert's inclusion in HG's juxtaposition more confusing, as comparing a guy who had a feature film project thrown in his lap to controversial executives strikes me as a bit unfair. If anything, the execs who took "TatC" from Williams and handed it to Calvert in the first place are the real "supervillians" or should be considered such

[Jeff Harris]

Jamie Kellner gave us at least one good thing in Batman Beyond (well, at least the first season).Yeah, but he was also responsible for the countless, pointless edits in Return of the Joker because he wanted THAT to be more "kid-friendly."


As an actual child of the 70's, I can say that I witnessed the results of her work firsthand. It was like night and day between the Bugs, Daffy, and Tom & Jerry I saw on weekday afternoons and the stuff that came on Saturday morning. Even as a kid, I thought "This is garbage!" ....even if I didn't know at the time who was responsible for it.I wasn't a child of the 70s (I was only around for two years), but the first half of the 80s was exactly like that. Looney Tunes, MGM, and Popeye every afternoon around these parts was the polar opposite of what was seen on Saturday mornings. The Looney Tunes I saw on WYAH were a LOT different that The Bugs Bunny-Road Runner Show I saw on CBS. There was something "off" about them, but my fragile little mind at the time didn't fully comprehend it. Then in the second half of the decade, the syndicated fare grew. USA Cartoon Express chugged its way into my life weeknights at 6 PM introducing me to Hanna-Barbera that wasn't The Flintstones or Scooby-Doo. Meanwhile, Saturday mornings tried to compete with syndication with mixed results. Some succeeded while others fell flat on their face.

I wanted to know why the stuff on WYAH and WTVZ was so much better than what was on ABC, NBC, and CBS. So, like the little nerd I am now, I went to the library, looking for Saturday morning cartoons. I found a book, Saturday Morning TV, that pinpointed the name of who was responsible . . . Peggy Charren. I looked through microfiche for anything about her and I found a lot (okay, not a lot, this was the 80s, and the internet wasn't readily availiable at our library at the time, and the computers were all Apple II with actual floppy discs that were really floppy). I grew to despise her, everybody like her (around the same time, I was watching reports about Tipper Gore starting up an antimusic agenda or something like that), and everything she represented immensely. The rest is history.

[Pc-Famicom64]

I can give you one guy alot of people hate, Glen Kennedy (yet his dad is John F. Kennedy, alot of pepole do hate Glen Kennedy).

P.S: E.T for the Atari 2600 did more damage to the industry then what Peggy Charren did to the industry.

[Classic Speedy]

I can give you one guy alot of people hate, Glen Kennedy (yet his dad is John F. Kennedy, alot of pepole do hate Glen Kennedy). I don't hate the MAN, I just hate some of the output that took place at Kennedy Cartoons (moreso in the Tiny Toons days). I actually appreciate how he tried to bring back the rubbery Clampett-style animation, even if it wasn't always successful in execution.

[Pc-Famicom64]

I don't hate the MAN, I just hate some of the output that took place at Kennedy Cartoons (moreso in the Tiny Toons days). I actually appreciate how he tried to bring back the rubbery Clampett-style animation, even if it wasn't always successful in execution.I don't hate him ether, in fact Kennedy's works is better then Encore's works IMO.

[HG Revolution]

OK, now the name came back to me. Still, that makes Fred Calvert's inclusion in HG's juxtaposition more confusing, as comparing a guy who had a feature film project thrown in his lap to controversial executives strikes me as a bit unfair. If anything, the execs who took "TatC" from Williams and handed it to Calvert in the first place are the real "supervillians" or should be considered such

Well, I didn't really mean Calvert so much as the execs who mangled that movie. I think the whole mess with that film's production was probably an influential force in WB's current lack of direction in their theatrical animation (the poor ad campaign for The Iron Giant, overly test-grouped films like Polar Express and Ant Bully, etc.).

Oh, and while we're at it, the execs at Miramax, though they've done great things for live-action, are pretty clueless with animation given how their animation release track is utter crap except for Mononoke, a film that they failed to market and thus seriously impedimented future Miyazaki film's stateside success (there's still a chance of redemption for the studio if Rennaisance turns out as good as it looks). Oh, and who was in charge of the hackwork that was Warriors of the Wind?

[Leviathan]

Well, I didn't really mean Calvert so much as the execs who mangled that movie. I think the whole mess with that film's production was probably an influential force in WB's current lack of direction in their theatrical animation (the poor ad campaign for The Iron Giant, overly test-grouped films like Polar Express and Ant Bully, etc.).

Oh, and while we're at it, the execs at Miramax, though they've done great things for live-action, are pretty clueless with animation given how their animation release track is utter crap except for Mononoke, a film that they failed to market and thus seriously impedimented future Miyazaki film's stateside success (there's still a chance of redemption for the studio if Rennaisance turns out as good as it looks). Oh, and who was in charge of the hackwork that was Warriors of the Wind?

Points well understood, HG.

I believe New World Pictures did Warriors (and idstuributed it for TV and home video).

[Leviathan]

P.S: E.T for the Atari 2600 did more damage to the industry then what Peggy Charren did to the industry.

But the thing is, the damage and resulting "Video Game Crash" caused by that E.T. game lasted only a couple of years before Nintendo entered the console market and reinvigorated the industry, which caused the crash to be reduced to an obscure chapter of video game history, whereas the Damage caused by Peggy Charren and ACT was not only much longer-lasting, shades of it are still with us today.

A better comparison would be the "Violent video Game" controversy which would give us not only a Peggy Charren analogue (Joe Lieberman), but the scenario's been going on since the Clinton Administration, and still has lots of adverse effect on the industry.

[The Weed Of Cri]

Comics books had Fredrick Wertham, pop music had Tipper Gore, and cartoons had Peggy Charren. I grew up in the era during the apex of her influence and, if she ain't the animation fan's Public Enemy #1, she damn well oughta be.

The Crimes of Peggy Charren:
--While she is not the first "soccer mom" (they called 'em "concerned citizens" back in the day) to complain about the content of cartoons, she was the first to start a grassroots campaign to fight it, the first to take her case to the halls of government, the first to get the ear of a sitting President (Jimmy Carter, once again demonstrating why he was THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY), and the first to prove that change could be forced on a media industry purely through the use of negative publicity.
--Her success is a direct ancestor to the period outbreaks of similar watchdog groups that pop up every now and then to try to "clean up" the entertainment industry. Tipper Gore's crusade, the Parents' Television Council, and even the V-Chip can all be seen as the illegitimate offspring of what she started decades ago.
--She browbeat the innumerable media outlets into homogenizing the animation industry to serve an audience of six-year-olds, stifling decades of creativity, with repercussions that are still felt today.
--She forced the advent of educational/instructional strictures on programming, a boondoggle that serves no one. By doing so, she actually increased the use of television as an electronic babysitter, one of the things she claimed to decry.
--She nearly killed the influx of anime to American shores (Many of the shows that were subject to her most strident condemnation were the early Japanese imports like Speed Racer and Marine Boy).

There are other crimes that can be laid at her doorstop, but this is the general crux of the damage this woman has done in her self-righteousness. A pox on her, I say.

[stephane dumas]

-also thanks to her, NBC killed their cartoon line-up for NBC Saturday news and various Saved by the Bell "spin-offs" like California dream and all.

Peggy Charren, the Ralph Nader of animation.:mad:

[Anthonynotes]

>>(Jimmy Carter, once again demonstrating why he was THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY)<<

Guess I'll have to agree to disagree on this one (Richard Nixon? Herbert Hoover?)... :-p

Re: what killed Saturday mornings:

While bland output certainly did damage, I still say there's various reasons for why Saturday mornings went the way of the dodo... copying-and-pasting a previous list of reasons why:

>>
1. Technology. Between the Internet, cable, VCRs and DVDs, computer and video games, mp3 players, cell phones, etc., there's a *lot* more distractions now for kids than in the past. VCRs and DVDs in particular mean not having to get up at Saturday mornings to watch TV anymore.

2. The rise of cable TV programming in the 90's as a major broadcast TV competitor. No need to wait until Saturdays to watch first-run cartoons---there's whole *networks* devoted to them now.

3. The increased emphasis in the 90's on news programming (which is a local station's most profitable source of income) and first-run syndicated adult programming ("Elimidate", "Judge <whoever>", infomercials, whatever) eliminating or vastly reducing kids' programming. Of course, even if stations *want* to run cartoons, they might not be able to, because of...

4. The various media mergers of the 90's (CBS merging with Viacom, Time-Warner merging with Ted Turner, etc.) leading to homogenization of and a limited variety of programming (only Disney-made shows on ABC, etc., special exclusive one-studio deals like all-DIC on CBS, no old shows being syndicated because, say, Time-Warner only wants "The Jetsons" to air on CN/Boomerang/other networks they own, etc.). Accompanying this is the death of many independent stations (which were a key source of kids' programming in the past) thanks to the rise of the WB/UPN (now the CW), Pax (now "i"), home shopping channels, Telemundo, what-have-you.

Those are IMO the main four reasons for Saturday mornings becoming dead; factors like anime, the E/I requirement, etc. are merely after-the-fact aspects----by the time the three-hour requirement, the "Poke-onslaught", etc. came to the fore in the latter 90's, Saturday mornings were already pretty much dead...<<

-B.

[Nobuyuki sama]

I can give you one guy alot of people hate, Glen Kennedy (yet his dad is John F. Kennedy, alot of pepole do hate Glen Kennedy).
We should note, for accuracy's sake, that his dad is not THAT John Kennedy. ;)

[RAINMAN]

>>(Jimmy Carter, once again demonstrating why he was THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY)<<

Guess I'll have to agree to disagree on this one (Richard Nixon? Herbert Hoover?)... :-p

Re: what killed Saturday mornings:

While bland output certainly did damage, I still say there's various reasons for why Saturday mornings went the way of the dodo... copying-and-pasting a previous list of reasons why:

>>
1. Technology. Between the Internet, cable, VCRs and DVDs, computer and video games, mp3 players, cell phones, etc., there's a *lot* more distractions now for kids than in the past. VCRs and DVDs in particular mean not having to get up at Saturday mornings to watch TV anymore.

2. The rise of cable TV programming in the 90's as a major broadcast TV competitor. No need to wait until Saturdays to watch first-run cartoons---there's whole *networks* devoted to them now.

3. The increased emphasis in the 90's on news programming (which is a local station's most profitable source of income) and first-run syndicated adult programming ("Elimidate", "Judge <whoever>", infomercials, whatever) eliminating or vastly reducing kids' programming. Of course, even if stations *want* to run cartoons, they might not be able to, because of...

4. The various media mergers of the 90's (CBS merging with Viacom, Time-Warner merging with Ted Turner, etc.) leading to homogenization of and a limited variety of programming (only Disney-made shows on ABC, etc., special exclusive one-studio deals like all-DIC on CBS, no old shows being syndicated because, say, Time-Warner only wants "The Jetsons" to air on CN/Boomerang/other networks they own, etc.). Accompanying this is the death of many independent stations (which were a key source of kids' programming in the past) thanks to the rise of the WB/UPN (now the CW), Pax (now "i"), home shopping channels, Telemundo, what-have-you.

Those are IMO the main four reasons for Saturday mornings becoming dead; factors like anime, the E/I requirement, etc. are merely after-the-fact aspects----by the time the three-hour requirement, the "Poke-onslaught", etc. came to the fore in the latter 90's, Saturday mornings were already pretty much dead...<<

-B.


What about too many sat toons base off live atcion movies/comedy shows/ musical artists/ sports stars or annoying child stars?

[Conan-san]

I'd rate Khan slighly below Haim Saban on the hatred meter, because Saban didn't limit his butchery to just the animated medium, but instead tried to take any foreign material and cut it up to resemble what he wanted.

Charren is probably worse than Saban though. Saban was a buisnessman, trying to make money. Charren was just an offended mom. To be honest, after Betleborgs matalix, Saban layed off the stupid big time.

Tamers was the peak of this "Lets do things sensible" idea

[Jeff Harris]

What about too many sat toons base off live action movies/comedy shows/musical artists/sports stars or annoying child stars?Well . . . that's been a part of the industry since the second full decade of Saturday morning television (the 60s). I mean, there were cartoons based on the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, The Beatles, Muhummad Ali, The Nitwits (the perverted old man and bookish characters from Laugh-In played by Artie Johnson and Ruth Buzzi), The Jackson 5ive, The Brady Bunch, and countless others. They were just part of the norm for Saturday morning cartoons since at least the mid-60s that continued until the absolute end of broadcast Saturday mornings.

[Prism]

Heck cartoons based off of celebrities dates at least as far back as the 30's probably even late 20's. And Peggy Charren may currently be the most hated in animation history but Al Khan's catching up fast in the ranking!

[Simon Trent]

Allow me to help you out with that. These couple of articles will help you understand who she is.

So, wait, Peggy Charen was the person responsible for allowing animators to get away with churning out endless amounts of sappy, lukewarm programming?

[Pc-Famicom64]

We should note, for accuracy's sake, that his dad is not THAT John F. Kennedy. ;)Are you sure about that?

[Mr. Manager]

Are you sure about that?Dude, check any site about John F. Kennedy that has a list of his children. Glen Kennedy won't be on there. In fact, Google it right now. Check Wikipedia. Something. Please. Think before you post.

[Pc-Famicom64]

Dude, check any site about John F. Kennedy that has a list of his children. Glen Kennedy won't be on there. In fact, Google it right now. Check Wikipedia. Something. Please. Think before you post.Oh, thats for that. :anime:

[judyindisguise]

I'll bet she's kept quiet because she's afraid to stand up to media giants like Nickelodeon.

[Anthony C.]

Comics books had Fredrick Wertham, pop music had Tipper Gore, and cartoons had Peggy Charren. I grew up in the era during the apex of her influence and, if she ain't the animation fan's Public Enemy #1, she damn well oughta be.

The Crimes of Peggy Charren:
--While she is not the first "soccer mom" (they called 'em "concerned citizens" back in the day) to complain about the content of cartoons, she was the first to start a grassroots campaign to fight it, the first to take her case to the halls of government, the first to get the ear of a sitting President (Jimmy Carter, once again demonstrating why he was THE WORST PRESIDENT OF THE 20TH CENTURY), and the first to prove that change could be forced on a media industry purely through the use of negative publicity.
--Her success is a direct ancestor to the period outbreaks of similar watchdog groups that pop up every now and then to try to "clean up" the entertainment industry. Tipper Gore's crusade, the Parents' Television Council, and even the V-Chip can all be seen as the illegitimate offspring of what she started decades ago.
--She browbeat the innumerable media outlets into homogenizing the animation industry to serve an audience of six-year-olds, stifling decades of creativity, with repercussions that are still felt today.
--She forced the advent of educational/instructional strictures on programming, a boondoggle that serves no one. By doing so, she actually increased the use of television as an electronic babysitter, one of the things she claimed to decry.
--She nearly killed the influx of anime to American shores (Many of the shows that were subject to her most strident condemnation were the early Japanese imports like Speed Racer and Marine Boy).

There are other crimes that can be laid at her doorstop, but this is the general crux of the damage this woman has done in her self-righteousness. A pox on her, I say.

I have to add on to your comments Weed, because I think that I can illustrate how much Peggy Charren boned this great art-form. Yeah Wertham was terrible and he did tremendous damage to comic books as an art-form; but by the 1970's comic books were beginning to come out of the restrictions. You had comics like Connan, Heavy Metal and X-men; all comics that delt with mature subject matter. By the 80's you had the works of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller, all writers who wrote for a mature audience. Today comic books are mostly for adults and I have to think of any comics that or for children. This is not the case with Animation.

With a few exceptions, cartoons still must cling to outdated ideas. Cartoons still can't show much in the way of explicit violence or comment on taboo subject matter and censorship still hounds the industry around every corner. Even as recently as five years ago cartoon characters would rarely use the word "death" or "kill". Most of this is a direct result of Peggy Charren's crusade. In my personal opinion she did alot to shackle progress in this medium and it has yet to fully recover.

[Antiyonder]

I have to add on to your comments Weed, because I think that I can illustrate how much Peggy Charren boned this great art-form. Yeah Wertham was terrible and he did tremendous damage to comic books as an art-form; but by the 1970's comic books were beginning to come out of the restrictions. You had comics like Connan, Heavy Metal and X-men; all comics that delt with mature subject matter. By the 80's you had the works of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller, all writers who wrote for a mature audience. Today comic books are mostly for adults and I have to think of any comics that or for children. This is not the case with Animation.

With a few exceptions, cartoons still must cling to outdated ideas. Cartoons still can't show much in the way of explicit violence or comment on taboo subject matter and censorship still hounds the industry around every corner. Even as recently as five years ago cartoon characters would rarely use the word "death" or "kill". Most of this is a direct result of Peggy Charren's crusade. In my personal opinion she did alot to shackle progress in this medium and it has yet to fully recover.

I just have to ask, do people like Peggy have it against the genre, or is it a case of growing up in a home with high work ethics?

[Dens Maris]

Peggy Charren sounds like a pretty rotten apple, but Jamie Kellner is one of the most infuriating human beings in the television industry. If I ever see the guy, he's getting a kick square in the nuts.

[Tommy Lawson]

It's time to start up Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine, and take a trip back to the year 1986, courtesy of this New York Times article (http://www.he-man.org/site_sects/archives/articles/article_07.shtml) from the He-man.org article archives.

Destination time: February 3, 1986
Present Time: September 22, 2006

The He-man.org archived article is really great IMO at giving you a sense of perspective as to what the animated syndication business in the 1980s was like. Note the irony of some of the statements made in politicians in the article, especially the one about that E/I programming requirements that back then they thought never would have passed Congress. Not three, but seven hours of E/I programming.

Charren's mentioned in this article, of course. The last paragraph is the most interesting IMO. I've begun to wonder what if she had succeeded and actually got shows like He-Man, She-Ra, Voltron, Transformers declared "30 minute toy commercials." How different would the 1990s have been? Could eventual 1990s shows like X-Men and the Power Rangers even come into existence in such a world? Would the migration of animation to cable channels have accelerated? I believe the individual stations would just list those 1980s shows as "infomercials" if they had to declare they were toy commercials.

[Shredder565]

Well, for the most part, He-Man WAS a glorified Toy Commercial...

Sure, some stories had heart and plot, 'Problem with Power', 'Visitors From Earth' 'Origin of the Scorceress', etc...

But others where truly toy driven..

'I better warm up the dragon walker....'
then cut to a 1 minute clip of the useless thing going .1 mph, when a snail could out run it. This was shown five times in an episode of the same clip with the vehicle just walking...