Smoking Ban For Tom & Jerry !!!!

[Prada's Meadow]

I found this article really interesting.
What do you think about the ban ?


Smoking ban for 'Tom and Jerry' in Britain

Mon Aug 21, 1:18 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - Smoking scenes in "Tom and Jerry" cartoons are now banned in Britain, following a viewer's complaint to the government agency that polices the airwaves.

In one episode of the classic US cartoon series, Tom is seen smoking a roll-up cigarette in a bid to impress a female cat. In another, Tom's opponent in a tennis match was seen smoking a large cigar.
Following an investigation prompted by the anonymous viewer's complaint, regulator Ofcom said Monday that children's TV channel Boomerang has agreed to edit out scenes deemed to glamorise or condone smoking.
"We note that, in 'Tom and Jerry', smoking usually appears in a stylised manner and is frequently not condoned," said Ofcom, recalling how the cartoons were made in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s when smoking was not so controversial.
"However, while we appreciate the historic integrity of the animation, the level of editorial justification required for the inclusion of smoking in such cartoons is necessarily high."

 

[christie]

LOL I guess I never paid attention to the smoking in the cartoons.

 

[caitlin1214]

I was watching this news special (I think it was ABC) on old cartoons and how, at the time, there were things put in there that were okay at the time but are really un P.C. now.

Remember the big debate about whether or not Disney should release Song of the South as part of their DVD collection?

The news program showed an original clip of Fantasia. It was the part with the female centaurs and there was this little goat like character that looked like it was obviously in blackface. This character was polishing the blue female centaur's hooves.

In the Three Little Pigs, the wolf disguises himself as a salesman to get into one of the pig's house. The wolf's disguise made him look too stereotypically Jewish. So much to the point that it was offensive.

I don't think those cuts of the cartoons should be shown to children. But things like that are important to cartoon historians. I really wish they wouldn't destroy those cuts.

Song of the South should be released as a DVD, but it shouldn't be geared towards children. (Or maybe there should be some commentary about it, or something).

 

[caitlin1214]

The news show found a clip of The Flinstones in an old Winston cigarette ad!
YouTube - The Flinstones... Smoking??


And I found the Fantasia clips. It wasn't a goat creature, but it still was offensive and that's why it was banned from the movie. (The first one was the one shown on the program. The other two I found on Youtube.)
YouTube - Sunflower clip banned from Disney's Fantasia part I
YouTube - Sunflower clip banned from Disney's Fantasia part II
YouTube - Sunflower clip banned from Disney's Fantasia part III


And I couldn't find Three Little Pigs one.

 

[svetty]

IMHO too many people nowadays try to find controversy in everything, those cartoons are part of history and i hope they will not get cut out and get lost somewhere. When i was little and watched Tom and Jerry it was my favorite cartoon and cigar smoking did not influence my choices in life. Too many things lately became Developmentally Inapproriate. I understand that there are certain cartoons and movies which shouldnt be shown to kids but those old ones are part of history and should be treasured more Just an opinion

 

[kathyrose]

It's like when they re-release ET or something. The FBI guys/cops were holding shotguns and they changed it to something else. Can't remember what.

 

[annanas]

umm yeah, ban smoking but violence and trying to kill each other is totally ok right?

 

[caitlin1214]

It's like when they re-release ET or something. The FBI guys/cops were holding shotguns and they changed it to something else. Can't remember what.

Walkie-talkies. (Yeah, I'm a dork. I looked it up.)

I found this in a USA Today article: For years, Spielberg has said he regretted putting guns in the movie. "It didn't make any difference what they were being chased with," Levy says. "They were being chased."

 

[caitlin1214]

umm yeah, ban smoking but violence and trying to kill each other is totally ok right?

As Sheila Broflovski would say: "Remember what the MPAA says; Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words!"


I love South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut because it was a commentary on the very subject of movie censorship!


Sheila Broflovski said that very thing in this movie. The ironic thing is, the movie is filled with both deplorable violence AND naughty words! In The Guinness Book Of World Records 2002 this film was said to have the most profanity used in an animated film. It contained a total of 399 swear words (the f-word was used 146 times). 199 offensive gestures and also contained 221 acts of violence.


The title alone is a penis reference! (Think about it: bigger, longer, uncut.)



It was said that Bigger Longer and Uncut wasn't even the original title. Trey Parker and Matt Stone said they wanted to call the movie South Park: All Hell Breaks Loose and that the MPAA wouldn't let them because there's a rule that all movie titles had to be G-rated. (Never mind Hellraiser, From Hell . . . ) A representative from the MPAA denied that ever happened.

 

[caitlin1214]

If they were to ban smoking in Tom and Jerry, maybe they shouldn't show Scooby Doo to children anymore. (It's SO obvious that Shaggy is a stoner!)

If they cut the smoking out I hope they do it in a way that doesn't ruin the cartoon. And if they don't cut it out, I think parents need to be involved enough to say something like, "Just because Jerry lights up a cigar doesn't mean it's okay to smoke" or something like that.

 

[Baby Boo]

i grew up watching tom and jerry all the time.. i never got affected by it..

neither did my bf and HE ALWAYS watched it...
the schooby doo comment is right. haha as a kid u dont even ntice... these are normal things why cut them