What's up, doc?
Less than two months ago, the AOL Time Warner-owned Cartoon Network kicked up controversy over its decision not to show 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons considered to be too racially and politically charged as part of an otherwise-complete Bugs Bunny marathon. Now, the cable network is preparing to show at least parts of most of these "banned Bugs" cartoons in two upcoming specials to be seen in the evening and aimed at adults.
The first of these specials, "The Wartime Cartoons,' premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. One cartoon cut from the "June Bugs" marathon, "Herr Meets Hare," is included in its entirety in "Wartime." Another, "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips," is shown in partial clips, along with the Popeye cartoon "Scrap the Japs."
"We were able to get away with showing these cartoons and clips because we're showing them in context," said Jerry Beck, co-writer of "Wartime" and author of a number of books about classic animation. "With all the attention given to Pearl Harbor now, you can see the kind of feelings that people had at the time after the bombing--I think that, and the way we explain different things like references to wartime rationing, made it possible to do this."
Indeed, "Wartime" goes to great lengths to decry racial stereotyping. "The cartoon medium allowed artists to caricature the enemy in outrageous ways. Stereotypes were established to quickly differentiate between the Allies and the Axis powers," the narrator states about halfway through "Wartime." Over scenes from "Tokio Jokio" showing buck-toothed, bespectacled Japanese soldiers, the narrator intones, "Japanese stereotypes were particularly cruel. In these uncensored scenes--the Japanese were not portrayed fairly or accurately."
It's harder to see why other cartoons were considered too controversial for daytime viewing. "Herr Meets Hare" is relatively innocuous, other than featuring a fat, bumbling Nazi and a brief appearance by a buffoonish Hitler at the end. But animation writers say Nazis have long been banned from kids' cartoons, even as villains.
"We only had to take out one line, that was Japanese related," Beck says of dealing with Cartoon Network brass. "In one scene in the Popeye cartoon 'Scrap the Japs,' Popeye says, 'I've never seen a Jap that wasn't yellow.' Other than that, the network was very supportive of the entire show."
