Sneaking past regulations against SEX in Cartoons?????

[JTolliver]

Over the last few days I watched some episodes of the new Ninja Turtles and was privy to some acts of animated violence that probably would not have been allowed if the animators had'nt used some clever tricks to cheat the system.

eg:

-Raphael used his sais to rip himself out of the stomach of a giant cockroach that had swallowed him, complete with yellow blood splatter. However because the blood is yellow and not red it probably doesn't really register with anybody as "blood", and thanks to quick cutting and obscure angles there is never actually a definitive shot of Raphael ripping through the roach's stomach but it's still bleedingly obvious to anyone watching that it happened.

-Bishop, whilst fighting Splinter, got himself impaled on a meathook, hanging from the cieling, straight through the chest, but again there is never a definitive shot of the hook piercing Bishop's flesh and his blood is pale green and only a few seconds later he is no longer hanging from the hook but escaping up a man hole.

-Splinter fired a volley of arrows at Shredder which stuck through his arms, legs and torso, pinning him to the wall, however Shredder's "body", as it happens is a robotic harness which means the arrows were piercing metal not flesh.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that animators have mastered tricks to sneak around violence so when do you think they'll attempt to sneak around SEX,

perhaps they could learn something from Steve Englehart, in one of his "Batman: Detective Comics" stories from the 70's he was able to establish a genuinely sexual relationship between Bruce Wayne and Silver St.Cloud using tricky, implicit dialogue:

Bruce: (On the phone to Silver) Silver? hi, this is Bruce! listen, I have to cancel out on tonight! I'm going into graytowers--ah you've heard of it?, no, nothing major! just some tests!

Silver: (lounging in bed) Well, after the other night, darling, I'd hoped you'd at least be suffering exhaustion!, I know I am!

Tricky, no???

[The Penguin]

This topic appears to have very little to do directly with DC Animation so it should be better-suited for our friends at The Toon Zone. DCAF posters can still follow this thread from the redirect on that board.

Thread moved.

[Peter Paltridge]

Batman Beyond already did what you're talking about. The scene where Commissioner Barbara Gordon reveals to Terry her relationship with Bruce was pretty surprising.

Terry: "So, you were his friend, right?"
Barbara smiles.
Terry: "Girlfriend?"
Barbara smiles wickedly.
Terry: "Whoa."

One step beyond girlfriend would have been live-in mistress, something you definately couldn't mention on Kids WB even then.

[Nin-Nin69]

Well I've seen more cartoons get away with sexual references if the plot is about puberty. No matter who the target auidence or what company makes it. From Pepper Ann to American Dad I've seen some things that would've been cut from the drawing board before they aired.

In other words it's some how ok use pillow talk and be more open about sex if you're going through "changes". Yet if it's any other day when perverts run free that would be considered offensive and vile.

[Hordesman]

Batman Beyond already did what you're talking about. The scene where Commissioner Barbara Gordon reveals to Terry her relationship with Bruce was pretty surprising.

Terry: "So, you were his friend, right?"
Barbara smiles.
Terry: "Girlfriend?"
Barbara smiles wickedly.
Terry: "Whoa."

One step beyond girlfriend would have been live-in mistress, something you definately couldn't mention on Kids WB even then.

I remember hearing how "see you at breakfast" between Fox and Xanatos' engagement and wedding was supposedly this big risque line...

Speaking of foxes... Anyone seen this French CGI movie called Story of Renart? It looks like a pastel video game, leans towards Shrek-type humor (the ending is the cast lip-synching to Kung-Fu Fighting) and has a scene where the villain's wife is trying the seduce the (also-married) hero.

[Gokou Ruri]

"Nice dress"
"You didn't miss it last night"

[JTolliver]

Yeah I remember that whole Bruce/Babs thing from BB and I hated it, Batman's sidekicks are meant to be like his children, the mention of Babs having an affair with Bruce made Batman look like a dirty old man

[Draven]

Over the last few days I watched some episodes of the new Ninja Turtles and was privy to some acts of animated violence that probably would not have been allowed if the animators had'nt used some clever tricks to cheat the system.

eg:

-Raphael used his sais to rip himself out of the stomach of a giant cockroach that had swallowed him, complete with yellow blood splatter. However because the blood is yellow and not red it probably doesn't really register with anybody as "blood", and thanks to quick cutting and obscure angles there is never actually a definitive shot of Raphael ripping through the roach's stomach but it's still bleedingly obvious to anyone watching that it happened.

Major character is posed an immediate threat by a temporary enemy, enemy is disposed of. No big deal to the viewer regardless of wheater or not it was bleeding. He could have wished it away with the same results.

-Bishop, whilst fighting Splinter, got himself impaled on a meathook, hanging from the cieling, straight through the chest, but again there is never a definitive shot of the hook piercing Bishop's flesh and his blood is pale green and only a few seconds later he is no longer hanging from the hook but escaping up a man hole.

Major character is posed an immediate threat by a majorly unliked major villan. Villan is temporarly incapistated. Villan is able to flee, so no harm, no foul.

-Splinter fired a volley of arrows at Shredder which stuck through his arms, legs and torso, pinning him to the wall, however Shredder's "body", as it happens is a robotic harness which means the arrows were piercing metal not flesh.

Yeah, and?

I suppose what I'm getting at is that animators have mastered tricks to sneak around violence so when do you think they'll attempt to sneak around SEX,

Why would they? The most I can possibly imagine is some flirty exchanges between some characters, but nothing too bad.

perhaps they could learn something from Steve Englehart, in one of his "Batman: Detective Comics" stories from the 70's he was able to establish a genuinely sexual relationship between Bruce Wayne and Silver St.Cloud using tricky, implicit dialogue:

Bruce: (On the phone to Silver) Silver? hi, this is Bruce! listen, I have to cancel out on tonight! I'm going into graytowers--ah you've heard of it?, no, nothing major! just some tests!

Silver: (lounging in bed) Well, after the other night, darling, I'd hoped you'd at least be suffering exhaustion!, I know I am!

Well, I can understand how you drew this conclusion, but they could be talking about a night of club hopping, or binge drinking, or being in the mosh pit at the Ministry concert. And she just slept in.

Now we all love our visual clues, but that's all they are.

Relax, and enjoy the show. If everything was My Little Pony, and Chrissy Cutebutton songs nothing would ever be cool. We would be living in Light Haven, and life would really SUCK.

[JTolliver]

I think you misinterpreted what I was saying Draven,

I was basically saying if creators can find MORE ways to cheat the system so as to include MORE cool violence in their shows then why can't they find MORE ways to cheat the system so as to include MORE cool sexual material,

I wasn't saying that they should tone down the material but rather find ways to sneak more of it past the censors, for our viewing pleasure

[CyberCubed]

JLU has a LOT of sexual innuedo. Most of it is all the GL and Shayera/Vixen stuff. But then there's also the Flash stuff, and other instances of sexual innuedo throughout the season such as lesbian jokes and the like.

[Anthonynotes]

Well, I can understand how you drew this conclusion, but they could be talking about a night of club hopping, or binge drinking, or being in the mosh pit at the Ministry concert. And she just slept in.

Please----that classic run of Batman stories was written in the 70's. Try "a night at the discotech and partying backstage with the Earth-One Gloria Gaynor/the Sex Pistols" or something. ;-)

[The Weed Of Cri]

Sex references in prime-time cartoons are rampant; nothing subtle or innuendo-laden about them. It stems from Hollywood's apparent belief that nothing in the world is funnier than talking about sex and their habit of making their shows for the lowest common denominator (i.e.: people who think nothing in the world is funnier than talking about sex). The references are more noteworthy (and a lot more subtle) when they pop up in cartoons that are aimed at young viewers where they are, at least technically, forbidden. As several other posters have noted, Justice League, JLU and Batman Beyond have had their share. (My favorite was Terry McGinnis's misunderstanding of Amanda Waller's remark about Batman leaving his DNA "all over town"). I've also caught a few in Disney's Gargoyles, Exo-Squad, and even Robotech.

[Golgo13]

There was that one episode of Superman TAS where Livewire and Parasite team up. There were plenty of hints at rape with Parasite constantly wanting to absorb Livewire's power. I think there were a few lines that were something like "no means no." Also, the priceless line with Superman appears completely covered in plastic: "The boy scout brought protection."

There was one time something like this was spotted and cut from a cartoon. In Rocko's Modern Life, there is an episode where Rocko and Heffer need a room for the night and they go to a hotel that charges by the hour.
Rocko: We'd like a room please.
Manager: For how long?
Rocko: Um...the whole night?
Manager: WHOOOOO!

[Draven]

I think you misinterpreted what I was saying Draven,

I was basically saying if creators can find MORE ways to cheat the system so as to include MORE cool violence in their shows then why can't they find MORE ways to cheat the system so as to include MORE cool sexual material,

I wasn't saying that they should tone down the material but rather find ways to sneak more of it past the censors, for our viewing pleasure

My appoligies. And I totally agree. Now, cable channels can obviously get away with more. But with the networks, it's harder.

But check out this little bit from last week's Mew Mew power.

When asked if Bridget's crush is cute, she points out that everybody's defenition of cute is diffrent.

Each girl pictures what she thinks is cute...

Renee pictures a mystery man in the shadows, Kiki pictures a monkey-like boy, Zoey pictures Mark, and Corina pictures Renee.

Now for the strange part: 4kids altered the scene to BE this way....before and after shots of what Corina pictures.



The dancer she pictures in the original verson is a dude....or is it? HUZZAH!

[Conekiller]

I was jsut thinking of a similar scene in Robotech's first season (better known as Macross) where Roy Fokker is flirting with Claudia about comming over to her quarters after his mission for a Pinapple salad, after she hangs up with his, she sits coyly sipping her tea/coffee and thinks to herself "and if we're lucky....staying for breakfast"

Shame he died.

[Elven Moon]

There's this scene in "Helga On The Couch" (Hey Arnold) where Helga tells her therapist of the kinds of things she does to express her love for Arnold. One of things she mentions is actually rather risque, sort of like a voodoo thing but I can't remember what she called it, only the term isn't that well-known so the creator/writers got away with it