Does this mean we get Speedy back?

[J Lee]

This story was on the net this morning about Ted Turner and AOL Time Warner planning to part ways at the end of the year.

Since Ted allegedly was the one who banned all the Speedy cartoons (along with all cartoons featuring Indians) maybe the people at CN will be able to relax a bit without having to worry about a real-life Looney Tune breathing down their necks...

Turner won't renew AOL Time Warner contract (http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011005/n05178902_1.html)

[lislebartman]

I wouldn't hold your breath if I were you...to coin a phrase.

From what I can tell, it seems as though Turner may be a presence, he really doesn't have much power over the networks he once controlled. Take a look at the newly re-designed CNN Headline News.

AOL/Time-Warner are fully in command and their programming directors follow corporate rules, just like any other company. I really don't think Turner has anything to do with it anymore...

[Argus Sventon]

I thought since the Speedy cartoons weren't Turner's to begin with, he wouldn't have a say in the matter.

[J Lee]

I beleve Matthew (or someone) said he got a response from CN about a year ago on why the increase in cartoon bans, and Turner's named cropped up as the culprit. He has had access to the post-48 WB toons since the 1996 merger.

[all41]

Corporate culture. Turner has hired like-minded PC Nazi's like himself who think "Captain Planet" and censoring WB toons is the way to save the world.

He's a nut and I'm glad he's gonna be out of work but his influence will live on at the Clinton News Network (CNN) and affiliated cable stations.

As Dante said, "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here"

[Matthew Hunter]

I think Ted Turner's a Jack*****, not just for censoring cartoons or being a PC Nazi, but he just ticks me off for being Ted Turner. Period. Anyway, I don't know if we'll get Speedy back really, Turner may have already done his damage. As I understand it it was his initial idea to remove the films, but as he got cut off by Warner/AOL, the films got tied up in the mix of being redubbed for foreign release or something, and the studio figured that Turner may have been right and just decided to withhold them forever, figuring they wouldn't be missed anyway. I DO know that some of the CN programmers are our friends, and they know about our complaints. Having Turner gone is certainly a step in the right direction, but this entire business merger is such a maze of different branches, who knows if a request for Speedy prints by Cartoon Network would ever see the light of day in the Warner branch in California in charge of shipping them, or if anyone at CN would have the time or patience to see that through...we all know how long it took just for them to air those cartoons from Nickelodeon alone, even without the Speedy's. I'd say this news is good, but it may take a long time to do anything for Speedy Gonzales films.
-Matthew