Turner Broadcasting to cut smoking scenes from classic cartoons
#1
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Turner Broadcasting to cut smoking scenes from classic cartoons
'Tom & Jerry' Smoking Scenes to Be Cut
By Mike Collett-White
Reuters
LONDON (Aug. 21) - 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 offense to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel, a corporate sibling of Time Warner Inc.-owned Turner Broadcasting.
"We are going through the entire catalog," 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 in the United States 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.
By Mike Collett-White
Reuters
LONDON (Aug. 21) - 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 offense to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel, a corporate sibling of Time Warner Inc.-owned Turner Broadcasting.
"We are going through the entire catalog," 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 in the United States 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.
Here we go again with more politically correct bs censoring. Next, they are going to change the way Porky Pig speaks because some stuterrer is going to complain. And then Dumbo will learn to fly by magic, not by getting drunk.
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Originally Posted by LasVegasMichael
I relate this to be the same bullshit as colorizing classic movies, if not worse.
Next step: Ban all Roadrunner cartoons!!!
Grab 'em while you can...
#7
Moderator
Turner to ax smoking scenes from cartoons
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14452732/?GT1=8404
I never thought of it as glamorizing in any way.
This is sad.
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.
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.
This is sad.
#8
Moderator
Definitely not the first sign of doctoring photos/images by the anti-smoking movement.
In 1999, the post office released a stamp of Jackson Pollock. The most famous image of him was from Life magazine and it showed him smoking a cigarette. The post office used the photo but digitally removed the cigarette.
Disney is also a culprit of this. In their re-release of the 1948 film Melody Time they removed a cigarette from the character Pecos Bill (instead of a cigarette in his mouth, it now shows a gun by his mouth!)
Further examples of totalitarianism.
Sad indeed.
In 1999, the post office released a stamp of Jackson Pollock. The most famous image of him was from Life magazine and it showed him smoking a cigarette. The post office used the photo but digitally removed the cigarette.
Disney is also a culprit of this. In their re-release of the 1948 film Melody Time they removed a cigarette from the character Pecos Bill (instead of a cigarette in his mouth, it now shows a gun by his mouth!)
Further examples of totalitarianism.
Sad indeed.
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The following scenes should also be removed from children's programming:
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?
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Originally Posted by Groucho
This just in: from now on when any Turner network airs the Jim Carrey film The Mask, his new catch phrase will be "BRRRRRRRRRREATHIN'!"
#14
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
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.
What the hell?
#15
Moderator
Originally Posted by Charlie Goose
The following scenes should also be removed from children's programming:
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?
Last edited by Goldberg74; 08-22-06 at 03:16 PM.
#16
DVD Talk God
This type of thing use to make me a little angry, but I have Melody Time, and I had no problem with how the smoking was taken out. Didn't bother me a bit.
Spielberg took out the guns of the agents running after Eliot in ET. That didn't bother me either, personally. I would like to have the choice of which version to buy on DVD, but for TV shows, it is no big deal to me.
More racist parts have been edited out of Bugs Bunny cartoons for awhile, as have scenes where characters shoot themselves at the end.
Whenever I watch an older movie with my kids (even like Ghostbusters), my kids ask me why everyone smokes.
Spielberg took out the guns of the agents running after Eliot in ET. That didn't bother me either, personally. I would like to have the choice of which version to buy on DVD, but for TV shows, it is no big deal to me.
More racist parts have been edited out of Bugs Bunny cartoons for awhile, as have scenes where characters shoot themselves at the end.
Whenever I watch an older movie with my kids (even like Ghostbusters), my kids ask me why everyone smokes.
#18
DVD Talk Legend
If you import Melody Time from Region 2, the smoking is intact. That's what I did... now if you'll excuse me, I have to go buy a pack of Lucky Strikes for my 8-year-old.
#19
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Originally Posted by Charlie Goose
The following scenes should also be removed from children's programming:
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Won't someone please think of the children?
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Won't someone please think of the children?
I thought they were just replacing his food from cookies to veggies, but he was still gonna binge.
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#22
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It is funny how Turner can go ahead and present classic films on TCM with intelligent discourse, then turn around and fuck everyone who created and grew up with these cartoons. I hope people bootleg the hell out of the originals.
#23
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Originally Posted by Charlie Goose
The following scenes should also be removed from children's programming:
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Honestly, I watched these cartoons all the time when i was a kid and i didnt turn into some chain-smoking violence junkie.
Although i have to admit that Daffy getting shot in the face and his bill spinning around his head is pretty damn funny.
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Thank Gawd for that evil Anime.
#25
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Charlie Goose
The following scenes should also be removed from children's programming:
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?
Bugs Bunny tranvestitism
Porky Pig's stuttering
Daffy Duck's fits of anger
Tasmanian Devil's hyperactivity
Ogee trying to cross-breed with Magilla Gorilla
Cookie Monster's eating binges - EDIT: DONE!
Lady Elaine Fairchild's lesbianism
Won't someone please think of the children?