Bad Cartoons Make Bad Citizens

Tech Central Station ^ | 5/27/04 | Doug Kern

[metesky]

No Bugs, but Daffy The Commando

[Moleman]

I loved seeing Daffy get his beak blown off...

Your dispicable...

[tiamat]

LOL!

With all of that it's a wonder you still have a brain! ;-)

I liked Scooby and Pink Panther....

[TheBigB]

Who sez I do? :^)

[tiamat]

I'm telling.

Race was missing a bet when he didn't just break that nasty little critter's neck and turned him into a delicious stir-fry...You don't have to tell Johnny and Hadji what happened...

"Bandit? Haven't seen him! Here! Try this! It's Korean, you'll like it"

[tiamat]

"I'm telling" SHOULD have been:

"I'm telling ya, Race was missing a bet...."

[weegee]

The first Federal inquiry into "violent media" that I am aware of was from Presidential/VP hopeful Senator Estes Keffauver. He was a Senator from Tennessee (who ruined fellow senator Albert Gore Senior's shot at ever getting the nomination).

Keffauver held hearings on juvenile delinquency and one of the biggest things to come out of those hearings was a witchhunt against comic books. Completely castrated and retarded the form for at least a decade (although some would say that it took 30 years to recover).

Dr. Frederic Wertham's book, Seduction Of The Innocent alleged everything from Batman & Robin having homosexual relations to drawings hiding hidden drawings of naked women (the muscle shading on a man's shoulder reportedly was "actually" a woman's crotch).

Few stood up to shout down this movement. Walt Kelly Did. Bill Gaines from EC comics did (Mad was soon the only publication he had left).

The "Comics Code Authority" was created and newsstands refused to carry any comics that did not have the code seal on the cover (even though some publishers had banded together with their own seal earlier). Dell was probably the largest publisher that did not try to get Code approval. The comics code was completely arbitrary (the word Weird could not be in the title of a comic, knocking down 2 of Bill Gaines' comics: Weird Science, and Weird Fantasy).

I think that Al Gore Jr. learned from Al Gore Sr.'s missed moment. He and his wife spearheaded the mid-80s PMRC music hearings in the Senate. They still were clueless. When John Denver spoke out against this waste of government time/money/resources/constitutional rights, one of the people on the panel said "but I like your music."

[tiamat]

You can still type!

So you must have SOMETHING!

[weegee]

Turner's company briefly released a pristine copy of Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips to laserdisc. Cartoon historian Jerry Beck compiled the collection (he also wrote the book that gives the synopsis/credits to every Looney Tune and Merry Melodie).

Laser disc was a niche market item (I think that some of these boxed sets had less than 1,000 copies). Because it was a niche market item, a lot of things happened with corporate consent but that still placed them under the radar of the mainstream media.

Even still, the boxed set that contained that Bugs cartoon was re-issued without that short (I have the original release).

There was a full side of "politically incorrect" cartoons in a couple of the boxed sets (a disc held an hour on a side so that would be 1-hour of rare cartoons, 7 or 8 shorts per boxed set).

Now that the MGM library (which Turner owned) is merged back with the Warner Brothers library it is easier to do a full release of shorts but there are some titles I just don't EVER see them releasing.

The Private Snafu wartime WB cartoons are public domain (having been drawn for the US government) and have been compiled on a top notch DVD. They are drawn by the same staff, written by Dr. Seuss, and geared for a distinctly adult audience (in ways that would never have gotten past the Hayes office).

I also recently got the wartime Disney cartoons on DVD (this set got postponed twice and I was worried that it would get issued briefly before being recalled).

[Jhensy]

My peak kiddie viewing years were 1969-73. Here's how I'd rank 'em in playground popularity (not just cartoons):

1. Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes
2. Johnny Quest
3. Little Rascals
4. Lost in Space
5. Lancelot Link
6. Flintstones
7. Speed Racer
8. Rocky & Bullwinkle
9. Fat Albert
10. Popeye (the old B&W ones)

[tiamat]

Fun thread ping!

[jjm2111]

MEGATRON LIVES!

[weegee]

That's because Doug Wildey did the character designs for JQ.

Cartoonist Alex Toth also did a lot for HB in the 1960s.

The animation may have been limited but they still had "character".

I think JQ had a higher budget; it was a prime-time show.

They've just released a bunch of episodes to DVD but I am waiting for the price to drop (looking for a good deal).

[jjm2111]

Tell us about yourself Race!

[jjm2111]

"I never realized Cobra was al Qaeda!"

Actually, Al Qaeda is really Cobra. Co-bra!!!!!!!!!

[Charles Martel]

No contest. Racer X.

BigB: You choose "Interpol Agent 9" over one of the CIA's best? Globalist! ;-)

BTW, if you ever see the episode of Dexter's Laboratory titled: "Mock Five", you will split your sides laughing.

A bit more on the original JQ that I thought was interesting:

According to the FAQ page at www.originalJQ.com, the show's end credit sequence hints at the show's origin. In the end credits one sees a dark-haired boy who runs from African natives, who then jumps into what looks like the Quest jet. That dark haired boy was never seen before or again.

That animation was used only to pitch an idea that was never made. It was intended to be a series based on the old radio show, Jack Armstrong: The All-American Boy. That old radio show had Armstrong, in his radio incarnation a college-age young man, travelling throughout the world with two younger kids. Hanna-Barbara could never reach an agreement with the owners of the Armstrong character, and the animation was re-used for the end title sequence.

Why was there such a problem? Like many early radio shows, the Jack Armstrong character was owned by its sponsor. It is apparently still owned by General Mills, as Armstrong was the pitchman for their Wheaties cereal. Oddly enough, Jack Armstrong got to television much later, but in a much stranger form; he was parodied on a weekly basis by Jonathan Winters on his TV variety show in the mid-70's.

Frankly, General Mills would have done better by going with Hanna-Barbera; Jonathan Winters was lame satire.

[tiamat]

Is that your puppy?


I like dogs if they don't yap...

[RightWingAtheist]

Oh man, I just realized that I had the most DEPRIVED childhood imaginable. On Saturday mornings, I had to endure Turbo Teen, Carebears, Snorks, the Monchichis, and, so help me, RUBIK THE AMAZING CUBE, with the guy who played Horseshack on Welcome Back Kotter voicing the titular character. At least Muppet Babies was good.

[4mycountry]

And now you're a Viking Kittie who likes MST3000.

You are so bad. :)

[RightWingAtheist]

The libs want cartoons like this for boys: