Lain

News about cartoons happen all the time. Got any cartoon news to share or that you have found?

I came across while making my rounds in dailyrotten.com

'Tom and Jerry' smoking scenes snuffed out
Turner Broadcasting is scouring more than 1,500 classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including old favourites Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to edit out scenes that glamorise smoking.

The review has been triggered by a complaint to British media regulator Ofcom by one viewer who took offence to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel.

The channel is part of Turner Broadcasting, which itself belongs to Time Warner.

"We are going through the entire catalogue," Yinka Akindele, a spokeswoman for Turner in Europe, said.

"This is a voluntary step we've taken in light of the changing times."

She says the review has been prompted by the Ofcom complaint.

The regulator's latest news bulletin states that a viewer, who is not identified, has complained about two smoking scenes on Tom and Jerry.

The viewer says the scenes are "not appropriate in a cartoon aimed at children".

In the first, Texas Tom, the hapless cat Tom tries to impress a feline female by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand.

In the second, Tennis Chumps, Tom's opponent in a match smokes a large cigar.

"The licensee has ... proposed editing any scenes or references in the series where smoking appeared to be condoned, acceptable, glamorised or where it might encourage imitation," Ofcom said, adding that Texas Tom was one such example.

Changing times

Ms Akindele says cartoons will only be modified "where smoking could be deemed to be cool or glamorised", and that scenes where a villain is featured with a cigarette or cigar will not necessarily be cut.

"These are historic cartoons, they were made well over 50 years ago in a different time and different place," she added.

"Our audience is children and we don't want to be irresponsible."

Turner Broadcasting in the United States could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ofcom says it recognises smoking was more generally accepted when cartoons were produced in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

But it argues the threshold for including such scenes when the audience is predominantly young should be high.

- Reuters

Article from this link

Great...not only they complain about the "excessive" violence in those cartoons and not only we have those banned cartoons, but those cartoons back then were not meant for children.

But it's just me. What's your two cents on this?

vc318

Great thread idea, angel!

Editing classic cartoons? Um, I don't know. Originally they were never intended for kids (like the older cartoons such as Looney Tunes & Tom and Jerry) but I know that over time they obviously have. But all the little humor like the Road Runner dropping and anvil on Wile E. Coyote and Tom and Jerry getting into their great mischiefs - those are freakin' classics! You can't edit those! That takes away from what they were. Even as Tom and Jerry got older, it stared to get boring because they were more about being buds helping others out. Yes, a great message but... NOT THEM! That's like making Bugs out to be a kind character not stirring up a little trouble. That would be boring. Let them screw up their own cartoons but leave the classics alone!

Lain

And they're making a big deal because only one person got offended.

Somebody made a good point in the commonts section:

PBS did it to Cookie Monster. It could happen

ETA: In response to the article, I've written my rants on my LJ and the News Board.

Lain

Imagi Animation Studios to Make "Astro Boy" Movie
By Ace the Bathound
09-14-2006, 4:17 PM

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Superhero Hype! is reporting that Imagi Animation Studios has optioned the rights to Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy, with an eye towards making a new CGI-animated feature film tentatively targeted for release in 2009. Imagi is currently at work on TMNT and Gatchaman feature films.

From: here

News doesn't come easy, I tell you that

Lain

From: this link

Joe Barbera dies
The legendary Joe Barbera, one half of famous cartoon pioneers Hanna Barbera,
has died of natural causes. He was 95.

Barbera, together with the late Bill Hanna, created enduring characters like Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones, Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, and Huckleberry Hound.

"From the stone age to the space age and from prime-time to Saturday mornings, syndication and cable, the characters he created with his late partner, William Hanna, are not only animated superstars, but also a very beloved part of American pop culture. While he will be missed by his family and friends, Joe will live on through his work," Warner Bros. chairman Barry Meyer said in a statement.



For those of you who don't know, some of the cartoons he's known for all the following:

The Jetsons
The Flinstones
Scooby Doo Where Are You?
Yogi Bear
...and many more.

MalloryKeaton

RIP. I really enjoyed the Hanna Barbara cartoons.

Hot Rod

Very sad to hear about Joe Barbara`s recent passing. He and William Hanna definitely made Saturday mornings enjoyable. RIP to them both and thanks for all the great cartoons.

Lain

The Cartoon Porn Shop Janitor — Carol Burnett vs. Family Guy
By Destiny
June 11th, 2007

A porn shop in a cartoon just triggered a lawsuit.

In the Family Guy episode “Peterotica,” Peter and his friends go to the local adult bookstore. What happens next was apparently determined by the following sequence of events.

1. Family Guy asks Carol Burnett if they can use the theme to her 1970s variety show.

2. Carol Burnett says no.

3. They draw her into the cartoon as the adult bookstore’s cleaning woman.

And then comes #4 — Carol Burnett sues them.

The Fox Network has expressed surprise, since she appears in the cartoon for only four seconds, but Burnett’s lawsuit reportedly claimed violations of copyright and trademark law, plus a misappropriation of her name and likeness. This weekend a judge revealed what happens in step 5: Carol Burnett loses that lawsuit. According to news reports, a judge signed a ruling Friday that while the the Family Guy episode may offend her — the First Amendment allows parodies. (After all, her original variety show was famous for its own parodies.)

Carol Burnett is a pioneer in celebrity lawsuits. In 1981 she surprised legal observers with a successful lawsuit against the National Enquirer over a report that implied she’d been drunk in a restaurant with Henry Kissinger. (“In a Washington restaurant, a boisterous Carol Burnett had a loud argument… But Carol really raised eyebrows when she accidentally knocked a glass of wine over one diner and started giggling instead of apologizing…”) She may have been vindicated over that slight to her public image, but as a public figure she’s also fair game for ridicule. And thanks to Family Guy, an animated likeness of the 74-year-old comedienne can be glimpsed in some very unsavory company.

Like most Family Guy episodes, this one was a series of loosely-connected jokes, but this time they were tied together by the theme of adult books. Peter’s disappointment at the adult bookstore’s offerings drives him to write his own porn novels. (Including Angela’s Asses, Shaved New World, and Harry Potter and the Half Black Chick.)

Ironically, in this episode of the cartoon, it’s the Family Guy himself who is eventually sued — though for different reasons. Peter’s own erotic novels are so steamy that they prompt one driver to remove his shirt while driving. (He’d been listening to the book on tape version of Peter’s adult book, The Hot Chick Who Was Italian. Or Maybe Some Kind of Spanish.) This scene may include another dig at Carol Burnett, since the tape version of that book is being read by a regular guest on the Carol Burnett Show — Betty White.

His career ends after the disgruntled motorist’s lawsuit — and he also gets a surprise visit from… Betty White.

Perhaps foreshadowing the legal showdowns to come, she tells him, “I just got a subpoena for an erotic novel, and I’m looking for the son of a bitch responsible.”
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Source: Link

Link to the said clip: Link

Lain

For those who are interested in controversial cartoons, specifically the Censored Eleven and who rely on YouTube to check them out, you might want to read this:

Source: [Link]

wanderer78

I watched so many Tom and Jerry's when I was a kid. I never smoked. BTW, I always thought Shaggy and Scooby overate for other reasons if you know what I mean. I mean isn't that what everyone thinks? I'm surprised it hasn't been pulled or edited for those reasons.

Lain

Yeah, the constant eating of Scooby and Shaggy. Gee, if they taught Cookie Monster a lesson on eating more veggies, maybe they should have cut down on those two eating habits

Although I heard in the new Scooby Doo series, Casey Kasem (the one that does the voice of Shaggy from both versions) had asked for Shaggy's character to cut back on the eating.

Tom and Jerry, yeah, they had some controversial stuff. Have you ever seen the Mammy character?

Veiled Vesta

Youtube is always taking down videos here and there but I know as long as there are rogue user accounts out there, the controversial cartoons will keep getting posted and reposted. For every video taken down, two more will pop up!

vc318

^ That's so true and I think You Tube knows it. I'm not clear on why they're shutting down the cartoons - is it that they think it's offensive or due to licensing? If they're doing it because they think it's offensive, then half the stuff on the Internet would be taken down in general!

Lain

Heh, I looked up some of those cartoons on YouTube. This is the list of the Censored Eleven

1. Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931, directed by Rudolph Ising)
2. Sunday Go to Meetin' Time (1936, directed by Friz Freleng)
3. Clean Pastures (1937, directed by Freleng)
4. Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937, directed by Tex Avery)
5. Jungle Jitters (1938, directed by Freleng)
6. The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938, directed by Avery)
7. All This and Rabbit Stew (1941, directed by Avery)
8. Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943, directed by Robert Clampett)
9. Tin Pan Alley Cats (1943, directed by Clampett)
10. Angel Puss (1944, directed by Chuck Jones)
11. Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (1944, directed by Freleng)

*copied from Wikipedia. These were either cartoons from Merrie Melodies or Looney Tunes.

Of all those on the list, these are the ones not available on YouTube.

+Sunday Go to Meetin' Time
+Clean Pastures
+Uncle Tom's Bungalow
+The Isle of Pingo Pongo
+Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (which has been put up on YouTube but taken out...again).
+Tin Pan Alley Cats
+Angel Puss
+Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears

Lain

Source: Link

'SpongeBob fanatics' hunted over vandalism
10-foot tall image of cartoon character painted on historic building in Colo.
The Associated Press
updated 10:00 p.m. HT, Fri., May. 9, 2008

MONUMENT, Colo. - The U.S. Forest Service is looking for "SpongeBob fanatics" who painted the cartoon character on the chimney of a historic building.

The 10-foot tall painting of Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants is on a cabin in the Pike National Forest that used to be the Forest Service's tree nursery until it was abandoned in the 1930s. Forest Service law enforcement officer Tom Healy says the incident is part of an increase in vandalism in the area.

Officials say whoever painted the cartoon on the chimney brought four colors of paint and that it was a time-consuming venture.

Healy says it will cost several thousand dollars to wipe the animated yellow sea sponge's image from the site.


Wow...that's all I can say