Betty Cohen quits Cartoon Network!

[Patrick McCart]

http://www.cartoonresearch.com/news.html

[TServo2049]

Oh god. This is NOT good. Betty Cohen may have been around during the reign of the Cartoon Cartoons, but she did a good job. Who was president BEFORE Cohen? Was it Mike Lazzo, or was he C.E.O.?

[Nelson]

This could be a good or bad situation for us...The man (forgot his name) runs TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES, which means that channel he runs, shows offensive racial stereotypes films including: The Jazz Singer, The Singing Fool, Dixiana and many others.
The reason I say this ? there could be some chance that we could see some PIC cartoons on either TCM or CN in the future.

Hey! you may never know...

[Jack]

What if they took up TCM's policy of running all widescreen films in letterboxed format? I'd like that, I'm a widescreenaholic, can't stand pan and scan....



Jack:D

[happyheathen]

Who smells corporate politics here?

May - she loses the (hugely publisied) BBC 12 fight

June - she's out

If this is the reason, forget about pic 'toons - expect to see fewer, not more

[Mike]

I doubt it had much to do with the Censored June Bugs. Rather, it probably had to do with AOL Time Warner looking to cut costs. In addition to running CN, the new guy (I too forget his name) also runs TCM, TNT, and TBS.

I too am concerned as to what this means for CN. Hopefully good news for classic cartoon fans like ourselves. I hope this doesn't affect Adult Swim, as I have high hopes for that. Only time will tell, though.

Mike

[ChrisWinston]

Okay, so this new guy in charge of CN may or may not allow more cartoons to be shown the way we wanna seen them - complete & uncut. Does it matter much? Compared to getting these same cartoons released onto DVD complete & uncut, does it really matter much if they get shown complete & uncut on CN? What's more important? Scale of 1 to 10 I'd say DVD is about an 11 and CN about a 3. Anyone gunna write this new guy and ask him to start showing more unCENSORed cartoons? If so then hopefully you'd sit down and write twice as many letters to Warner Home Video so they can get their butt in gear and get going on something that needs to be done - Bugs Bunny on DVD complete & unCENSORED then move on to other main characters ultimately releasing all Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies complete & uncut onto DVD! Let's get that done, let people be able to have those cartoons then complaining about CN can stop because it won't really matter what those morons show or not.

[Patrick McCart]

There's no reason why WB would put the edited or computer colorized versions on DVD.

WB has released all their LT/MM tapes uncut along with Turner's LT/MM tapes being uncut too.

The computer colorized versions would look very poor in DVD format because of the higher resolution.

Also, I wouldn't really pressure WB too much since they're working on a lot of classics for DVD and would like to get it right the first time. I'd like to point out that WB is just getting around to releasing Citizen Kane on DVD by the end of the year. Also take note that Disney is just getting around to releasing cartoon compilations...the companies want to get the volumes right on the first try since few people would want to buy a "Golden Age Of Looney Tunes: Special Edition 2" like the Stanley Kubrick collection WB released.

[ChrisWinston]

Originally posted by Patrick McCart
There's no reason why WB would put the edited or computer colorized versions on DVD.

WB has released all their LT/MM tapes uncut along with Turner's LT/MM tapes being uncut too.

They may have released them uncut on VHS but they haven't released them all. I'm in the middle of some simple research about it. Maybe someone already has a list - how many cartoons have never seen the light of day on VHS or LD? A bunch and it would be a shame if many are forgotten.


Also, I wouldn't really pressure WB too much since they're working on a lot of classics for DVD and would like to get it right the first time. I'd like to point out that WB is just getting around to releasing Citizen Kane on DVD by the end of the year. Also take note that Disney is just getting around to releasing cartoon compilations...[/B]

You're right, to pressure WB wouldn't be good. I know that many of the "best" and most popular movies ever made may not be on DVD for years. That's a shame but that's the way it's going because DVD is still in it's infancy. As more and more players are bought, more movies and other stuff'll get released at an increased rate.

What would be good is for people to send a letter to WB Home Video simply to let them know what they would like to see put onto DVD i.e. the complete WB LT/MM collection uncut & uncensored. When the time comes for WB to start making DVDs filled with Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies, perhaps they ought to know that people would rather have a complete collection rather then compilations. It would make me rather angry if they decide some cartoons just aren't worth putting on DVD for whatever reasons. They can go ahead and make "best of" DVDs as long as they offer a complete collection for the collector. This is what they need to know. I feel like too many people just hope for it without writing a letter to be a part of it.

[Dave Mackey]

Oh god. This is NOT good. Betty Cohen may have been around during the reign of the Cartoon Cartoons, but she did a good job. Who was president BEFORE Cohen? Was it Mike Lazzo, or was he C.E.O.?

Betty Cohen has been the only president Cartoon Network has ever had. She was with the network in its developmental phase. That she was able to build this network as a major global brand speaks quite well of her talents. Say what you want about her banning those 11 Bugs cartoons, but I think she did a terrific job overall nurturing and building this network.

Dave

[Maxie Zeus]

Originally posted by Mike
I doubt it had much to do with the Censored June Bugs. Rather, it probably had to do with AOL Time Warner looking to cut costs. In addition to running CN, the new guy (I too forget his name) also runs TCM, TNT, and TBS.

3 paragraphs on this in today's Wall Street Journal. The relevant sentences: "The change comes amid pressure on AOL Time Warner divisions to cooperate with one another. Ms. Cohen, who led the launch of Cartoon Network in 1992, had a history of clashing with her current boss, Jamie Kellner, when he led the WB broadcast network. Mr. Kellner was named head of Turner Broadcasting in March."

Sounds more like personal politics than anything else. . . .