Yahoo! News Story - Smoking cuts for classic cartoons

[Traf]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060821/tv_nm/tom_dc

This is stupid. :mad:

[Super Leviathan]

I know that Disney loves (or at least loved) to edit their classic cartoons for smoking (when the Disney Channel actually showed old cartoons they edited lots of smoking scenes out, and airbrushed Goofy and Pecos Bill's cigarettes in the DVD releases of Saludos Amigos and Melody Time) because, well, they're Disney. But i was honestly not expecting THIS.

At a time when we can't even get 100% uncut Tom and JErry DVd's, this is disheartening.

[Rolling Cloud]

Turner to ax smoking scenes from cartoons

Cable network to remove decades-old sequences after viewer complaint

LONDON - Turner Broadcasting is scouring more than 1,500 classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including old favorites Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to edit out scenes that glamorize smoking.
The review was 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, part of Turner Broadcasting which itself belongs to Time Warner Inc.
“We are going through the entire catalogue,” Yinka Akindele, spokeswoman for Turner in Europe, said on Monday.

“This is a voluntary step we’ve taken in light of the changing times,” she said, adding the painstaking review had been prompted by the Ofcom complaint.
The regulator’s latest news bulletin stated that a viewer, who was not identified, had complained about two smoking scenes on Tom and Jerry, saying they “were 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, glamorized or where it might encourage imitation,” Ofcom said, adding that “Texas Tom” was one such example.

Akindele said cartoons would only be modified “where smoking could be deemed to be cool or glamorized”, and that scenes where a villain was featured with a cigarette or cigar would 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 could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ofcom said it recognized smoking was more generally accepted when cartoons were produced in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, but argued that the threshold for including such scenes when the audience was predominately young should be high.
About 56 percent of Boomerang’s audience is aged four to 14 years old.
Early reaction to the review on Web logs broadly attacked Turner’s decision.
“Have to dig out all those photos and films of (Winston) Churchill and airbrush out the cigars,” said a message posted on the “Organ Grinder” forum on the Guardian newspaper’s Web site.
The review was not the first time a famous cartoon character was forced to give up smoking.
Belgian cartoonist Maurice de Bevere replaced his most popular creation Lucky Luke’s ubiquitous cigarette with a blade of grass, winning him an award from the World Health Organization in 1988.
Copyright 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14452732/?GT1=8404

[PowerZord]

Why they must insist on editing cartoons decades old, which reflect the views of those days? People just complain about the smallest stuff. What's next?

[MagemanSP]

BTW, I don't advocate smoking or anything, but if I ever make any kind of popular cartoon or comic or something, I'll be sure to have a character that smokes all the time just to piss people off.

[straw_hat]

Is it mandatory for every adult to look down on the intelligence of children? I'd say I was an average kid growing up and I never thought about smoking just because I saw a cartoon character lighting up a cigar. It's just common sense in this day and age that smoking is not the sort of thing any one should start doing but people do it any way because they have a choice.

If there are kids who become impressionable because of what they see on tv then they just need to be sat down and told the truth. It's as easy as that and it would keep others from wasting huge amounts of time sorting through and editing hundreds of animated shorts and pissing off older animation fans. Of course this is a classic example of one ignorant person complaining and the media buckling under to protect themselves.

[Ickis]

Man, this sounds like something that would happen in the states but Europe? I thought they didn't ever complain about smoking. :confused:

[Kolbar]

The two similar threads have been merged.

[Sketch]

This is sad... is it just for Europe or is it for other countries too?

[Mugen]

This is sad... is it just for Europe or is it for other countries too?

Just you wait, guns in classic toons are next.

I think it's Europe.

[Jave]

Everytime something like this happens, it reflects at least one parent that's too lazy to educate their kids him/herself.

FACT.

P.S. Guys, please don't talk about potential edits. PLEASE.

[tb4000]

I thought people started smoking in Europe at 5 years old. Go figure.

[Chris Wood]

I think it's inappropriate the way that mean cat is always chasing the mouse around. Why can't they be friends?

[RedNinja84]

It really is dumb to judge a cartoon decade's old. Back in the forties and fifties every star on radio and tv smoked or was sponsered by ciggerates. I mean Winston was a major sponser of the Flintstones. One Goofy cartoon was him trying to quit smoking. Im not a smoker and I think it's a nasty habit to edit it out of older cartoons is just dumb.

[PeppeRaskell1]

Please, Dear God, don't let them do that here at Boomerang US. The classic 'toons are unwatchable enough as it is without THIS!

[G1Ravage]

Only takes one....

[Antiyonder]

And yet the parents who are complaining about the cartoon smoking are smoking themselves.

[magicdog]

Is it mandatory for every adult to look down on the intelligence of children?

Only the politically correct ones.

I hate this - it's bad enough the cartoons are edited out for so called violence and "racist" connotations (which I don't buy - sine many adults and senior citizens saw those catoons over the decades and they all didn't turn out to be serial killers.... who smoke!). Meanwhile we get dumbed down cartoons which liberally use potty humor to ge the funny across (and fails).


For the record, those cartoons weren't initally meant for kids per se. They were aimed at adults (although kids enjoyed them later over the years). Many toons of tht era had jokes that went over kid's heads.

The article mentions one complaint - ever notice it's always ONE person who seems to have a problem? I don't see people protesting in the streets about this .

I think it's inappropriate the way that mean cat is always chasing the mouse around. Why can't they be friends?

You're kidding right? Thought so.



People just complain about the smallest stuff. What's next?


Shaggy's & Scooby's eating habits. The caloric intake would just make the number of overweight kids skyrocket!!!;)


Speaking of censorship - anyone know about where to find uncut cartoons from the earlier eras? Even though they have racist smokers who are very violent??:D

[PeppeRaskell1]

Woke up a little early this morning and found out about it on Channel 2 AM News. Haven't been able to go back to sleep since.

I also read the article at MSNBC.com and put in my vote on the subject in their poll. (I voted "No"--as did 83% of the people who took it.)

I predict that editing out smoking in classic cartoons is going to be verrrrry unhealthy for Turner. (And maybe for that one complainer as well...)

[New Noise™]

This is the biggest BS I've heard in a long time. I wish I could march over to that guy, and yell in his face. What a jerk, what a jerk. Ruining classic cartoons like this, wow...

[Wanted]

At least they already put "Texas Tom" and all of The Flintstones (pending next month) on DVD.

Goes to show America's not uptight about everything... at least we don't have to see these: http://g-images.amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-video/misc/pg-rating-27x21.gif completely awful things stamped on every single DVD release.

[Cogliostro]

I find it rather funny that they are more worried that a young kid is going to go out of his/her way to find a cig, light it and start smoking because they see it in Tom and Jerry or any of the other cartoons but could careless (which they shouldn't be worried about either smoking or violence) about it being more likely that a child/kid will see Jerry pick up a hammer and hit Tom with it and laugh and then later on come across a hammer or something and pick it up and innocently hit someone (not causing any harm other then some slight pain) and laugh. In short in my opinion a child/kid is more then likely going to duplicate the hitting and chasing that occurs in many Hanna Barbera cartoons then getting ahold of mommy/daddys smokes and lighting up. Also highly doubt older kids like pre-teens and teens while be influenced by Tom and Jerry to start smoking, seriously now.

*Takes long drag on cig and exhalues* Yep that's right I'm smoking like that cool cat Tom who made it look sooooo cool, how could I NOT start smoking.

....yes that was sarcasim.

:yawn:

[BlackoutCreature]

Alright, ill play devil's advocate. Im against censorship, but im also against smoking. I feel that as long as they offer the unedited versions of these cartoons in some form (DVD releases?), then i dont have a problem with them editing the cartoons for television broadcast.

[josie]

And yet the parents who are complaining about the cartoon smoking are smoking themselves.

That is so true. I've seen a report about this on CNN, and they interviewed some parents about this and some of them said that they are smokers but they support this desicion. What a bunch of hypocrites, I just can't believe it, why don't they quit smoking if they care so much. In the end the presenter said that Turner will edit only 2 scenes, but I'm not sure if that's 100% true.

[SAMaine]

You know... I've never seen a cartoon that had smoking that didn't involve comupance to the smoker. Hell, two cartoon standards, which I won't name for obvious reasons, involve the antagonist smoking and paying for it comedically.

[Bubblegum Girl]

Geez, messing with the classics, that's just wrong. I saw those cartoons with the guns & cigarettes when I was younger and I didn't end up smoking or messing around with some gun. I turn out completely fine. Maybe a little anti-social, but not some courrpted youth.

Most parents today are now scared of what their kids watch on TV so they try to protect them with all this censorship. But kids are going start learning about guns, drugs, sex, and smoking when they start middle school...:shrug:

Yet once again, censorship has ruined even more cartoons now its the classical ones. :mad:

[Jave]

In the end the presenter said that Turner will edit only 2 scenes, but I'm not sure if that's 100% true.It was those two scenes who tipped the censors off. They're going through the ENTIRE cartoon library looking for smokers.

[Conan-san]

HAHAHAH! Next thing you know, some stupid UK company will ruin it's chances by editing a program that's already edited Ahhahahaha-

-oh, wait a monment.

[Uncle_Lina]

This is really stupid, I guess it's okay editing out black steriotypes from the 30s or 40s (That is black characters with big lips or something) from old Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes cartoons. Kids are likely to see cigarettes everywhere, like if they went to the store they would find cigarettes, or if they were outside playing they're might be a person smoking, and their PARENTS might smoke too! Don't they also put warnings on the boxes now anyway? I doubt kids would want to smoke something that they knows damages their lungs.
PS: When the hell did Scooby-Doo feature smoking?

[Jyose]

It's pretty obvious that Scooby and SHaggy smoke weed.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Texas Tom is one of my favorite cartoons ever, and that cigarette gag was funny. Too bad they had to mess it up. People need to realize that not everything needs to reflect the standards of the day. Heck, Texas Tom is a western, so it's not incredibly out of place to see a cowboy rolling a cigarette.

I think HB has already changed Shaggy and Scooby's eating habits. In some of the cartoons I've watched they seem to be vegetarians now. Wikipedia said this is because Shaggy's meat eating ways pissed off Casey Kasem.

[PeppeRaskell1]

I happened to read something interesting at TV Party.com about Shari Lewis, the late puppeteer. She was the hostess for a New York TV show back in the 1950's, and she was fired when she objected to the violence and racial stereotypes on the cartoons that were shown on her show.

Yes, that Shari Lewis. The "mom" of Charlie Horse and Lamb Chop.

[Uncle_Lina]

It's pretty obvious that Scooby and SHaggy smoke weed. I just expected they really enjoyed food, or were really hungry when I was a kid, all the kids that watch it will probably expect that.

But what next? Will most Elmer Fudd or Yosemitie Sam cartoons be banned/poory edited because they use guns which children probably can't even get a hold of anyway? Or maybe they'll ban the cartoons where Bugs Bunny dresses in drag to fool Elmer Fudd.

In many childrens films like Madagascar or Shrek which have G/U ratings ratings, there is more adult referances than there is in childrens TV shows, like when the Lion in Madagascar went on an LSD style drug trip after being hit by a tranquiliser, this would never happen on Cartoon Network or something. Why are TV censors more strict?

[Tak Mazé]

Figures that it'd be the British who go and complain about this. I doubt they realise that childrens programming just over the channel contains partial nudity and the live action slaughtering of animals (I've just come back from a trip to Spain. That's some good TV right there :P)

[NickMB]

Man, this sounds like something that would happen in the states but Europe? I thought they didn't ever complain about smoking. :confused:

actually, Italy has always edited smoking out of cartoons. Lupin and Jigen don't smoke in Italy. They have toothpicks with mysterious smoke coming out of them :p

[Meeko]

I don't support smoking or anything, but this is just stupid and honestly, is insulting to the kids that watch it. They're more likely to start smoking if someone they know is doing it, not because they saw it on TV and thought it looked cool.

My youngest sister saw me watching uncut One Piece the other day, and she saw Sanji lighting up and gasped (she'd only seen the lolipop version before) and she just asked me "Is Sanji really smoking?" So I told her Yep. And she looked really concerned and said "But, won't he get cancer if he does that?" I was quite surprised with her answer and just talked to her about it.

[WadeWilson]

Everytime something like this happens, it reflects at least one parent that's too lazy to educate their kids him/herself.

FACT.

P.S. Guys, please don't talk about potential edits. PLEASE.

Agreed. I was watching an episode of Mindy and Buttons on the Animaniacs DVD the other day, and this reflected perfectly most of todays parents. The kid gets lost, and the parents find her and then blame the dog. "Bad Buttons, we trusted you to look after Mindy and you let us down!" Then they reprimand the DOG. Lady, you're telling a dog to watch your child and then you blame the dog and tell it that its stupid? She also didn't even realize that the kid was gone after leaving it in the yard and watching TV, where she saw Mindy. Someone needs to learn parenting. And this is the same scenario. ONE irresponsible parent doesn't want to have to watch what their kid watches, so instead of telling their kid its a cartoon and smoking is bad (most people know this anyways), they complain thus resulting in another edited cartoon and another lame cartoon about teenagers in a mall made.

Its the same with everything. Parents don't want to have to pay any attention, so they get violent cartoons banned instead of talking to their kids. Or their kid hurts itself on a dangerous toy, hurts itself on a stove, or any other PREVENTABLE tragic event, and then they go and blame whoever made the product that hurt their child even though almost all the time, the parent isn't watching their kid because if they were it wouldn't have happened.

I remember a couple of months back, not the whole story for sure, but a little girl lost I believe a finger thanks to her parents irresponsibility. They left her in a room with a paper shredder on the floor, girl put her hand in it. Then they go and blame the paper shredding company saying their products are faulty. This kid was severely injured, and they can't even put blame on the right people which is themselves. Some products obviously should be kid safe because theres some things a kid can do within seconds of having your back turned. Toys SHOULD have ages on them, but if they say 10+** they should be allowed to have small parts. In the instance of toys parents shouldn't have to watch their kid all the time if the toy is for their age group. But, until parents stop being lazy, cartoons are going to keep being cut up and edited, products and companies blamed for parents mistakes, and toys made as kid friendly as possible.

** I use this example because Hasbro, owner of the Marvel Legends figures, have stated that they'll be removing individual finger articulation. If I remember correctly these figures have an age of 6+ or 10+ on them, and theres no need to remove small parts: 6 year olds don't eat toys.

[Captin "Hank" Murphy]

This is so typical of today's media buisness. When one whiney parent complains about one scene in a cartoon or their kid was dumb enough to reinact it(which of course the parent refuses any responsibility to the kid's dumbness to act it out), satellites are linking up, people in the pentagon are running everywhere, news stations are making reports about children's media is in a moral sewer, and ends up banning something that isn't that big of a deal.

[Anniemaniac]

This is stupid. I grew up watching Tom and Jerry. I saw the scenes where they smoked and my mum smoked so I had incredibly easy access to cigs if I wanted, yet I never smoked.

I dont see the point in this at all. I got more hassle in high school about smoking than I did from a cartoon. Do parents not realise this? That their child is gonna come face to face with smoking (and much more than that) in high school? Why bother complaining about tom and jerry. They'll have more to deal with when their kid starts high school.

And if parents really are that concerned that a cartoon is going to make their kids smoke, then a little bit of parental advice should discourage them. Just a few simple facts should be enough to scare them away from the idea.

[adoptedBatpuppy]

I think it's inappropriate the way that mean cat is always chasing the mouse around. Why can't they be friends?

Well, Cats and mice don't usually get along in real life, but this is a cartoon so in some episodes Tom and Jerry were really friendly towards each other!
:yawn:
In my opinion, smart kids would never smoke, drink, or copy what they see on T.V :sweat:
Furthermore, parents need to educate their kids, and not blame T.V, actors, cartoons and other things for that! :shrug:

[Antiyonder]

:yawn: In my opinion, smart kids would never smoke, drink, or copy what they see on T.V :sweat:
Furthermore, parents need to educate their kids, and not blame T.V, actors, cartoons and other things for that! :shrug:

Why, it's not like the parents brought their kid into the world. Oh wait they did, yeah with Great Parenthood Comes Great Responsibility.

Also, the reason the media repsonds, according to Family Guys "PTV", one angry call is really the reaction of billions.

[Nin-Nin69]

I guess nobody cares about film preservation. Everyone's is saying, "Hey lets keeping editing old cartoons to meet modern standards. lol." :shrug:

Why not just update every single cartoon to keep up with the times? We can dub over the names of presidents and movie stars and redraw them, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam have hammer guns, The Jetsons have the Internet and talk about terrorism in space, Scooby Doo becomes another Law and Order spinoff, Top Cat lives in a house that way we're not confused with the homeless, Yogi Bear is dressed in a 3 piece suit, throw in some Coke and Walmart subliminal ads, every Tex Avery cartoon is banned, paint out the twin towers, and Betty Boop has to wear even more layers of clothes while advertizing the South Beach Diet.

Then everything would be perfect. :yawn: