Difference between revisions of "Censored Eleven"
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Revision as of 15:20, 14 December 2020
The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies produced and released by Warner Bros that banned and withheld from syndication by United Artist in 1968. This 11 cartoons withheld from aired on TV because the use of ethnic stereotypes in the cartoons, specifically African stereotypes, was deemed too offensive for contemporary audiences. Hence The Censored Eleven haven't aired on TV since 1968, however the clips spread online giving today's audiences experience on how cringe racist stereotypes towards dark-skinned people back then.
About the Cartoons
A 1941 episode called “All this and Rabbit Stew” showed Bugs Bunny hunted by a dim-witted, black gambler (later reimagined as Elmer Fudd). In 1943, “Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs” directed by Bob Clampett parodied Disney’s Snow White with an all-black cast. (Innovative despite its ambiguous content, the cartoon was named one of the 50 Greatest of All Time in 1994 based on votes from more than 1000 animation-industry professionals.) And 1944’s “Goldilocks and the Jivin’ Bears” likewise repopulates the popular story with an all-black cast, turning the Three Bears into jazz musicians, with many characters drawn in blackface style. It makes South Park look positively sensitive. [1]
Hittin’ the Trail, the only one on the list that is black-and-white, features three obvious caricatures playing a folk song on a showboat on a river and features a dog named Uncle Tom. Sunday Go to Meetin’ Time is primarily set around a church to jazz music, and the gags include the dandy, mammy, and pickaninny, and the language mimics how Blacks were seen as how they talked. Uncle Tom’s Bungalow is a parody short of the famed novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe and making jokes around the issue of slavery was an instant red flag. [2]
Clean Pastures directed by Friz Freleng was nearly banned at its time of release—not for race, but for religious reasons (the Hays Office thought people at the time would be offended that black people are depicted as heavenly creatures and even The Devil wants to get into Heaven) and for glamorizing vices (gambling, sex (the showgirls dancing to "Sweet Georgia Brown"), swing-dancing, and booze)[3].
The List
These 11 shorts were released from 1931 to 1944 Full list of The Censored Eleven:
# | Title | Year | Director | Series |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Hittin' The Trail For Hallelujah Land | 1931 | Rudolf Ising | Merrie Melodies |
2. | Sunday Go to Meetin' Time | 1936 | Friz Freleng | |
3. | Clean Pastures | 1937 | ||
4. | Uncle Tom's Bungalow | Tex Avery | ||
5. | Jungle Jitters | 1938 | Friz Freleng | |
6. | The Isle of Pingo Pongo | 1938 | Tex Avery | |
7. | All This and Rabbit Stew | 1941 | ||
8. | Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs | 1943 | Bob Clampett | |
9. | Tin Pan Alley Cats | |||
10. | Angel Puss | 1944 | Chuck Jones | Looney Tunes |
11. | Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears | 1944 | Friz Freleng | Merrie Melodies |
Race Controversy
Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs is one of the "Censored Eleven": 11 Schlesinger/Warner Bros. cartoons produced at the height of the Golden Age of Hollywood animation based on its unflattering and stereotypical use of darky iconography. Because it was produced in America during World War II, there is also anti-Japanese sentiment: the firm "Murder Inc." advertises that it does not charge to kill "Japs"
In summary many jokes in the shorts poke fun at black people, depicting them with enormous lips, lazy or dimwitted behavior, and jive talk. Scenes of them eating watermelons, stealing chickens, being scared of ghosts, obsessed with throwing dice, and other such stereotypes are also rampant. Expect some imagery set in the days of slavery to turn up or jokes where their skin color turns out to be just black paint. Though a lot if it thrives on stereotypes that were typical of the time, this imagery was also seen in many live-action films of that time period, including works with actual Afro-American actors and musicians (including Louis Armstrong, Stepin Fetchit, Hattie McDaniel, Josephine Baker)[4]. In some cases, these jokes were meant as parodies to modern audiences, but people might find it offensive especially to related race although it never directly mentioned of course.
Official Release
As public awareness became higher in 20th century The Censored Eleven gained more attentions to their existence that lead to various animation discussion over all the web eventually lead to an article in The New York Times [5]. Consequently in February 2010 as part of a press release for the first annual TCM Classic Film Festival it was announced that the Censored Eleven were to receive a special screening sourced from restored 35mm film prints. This special presentation was put together by George Feltenstein, vice president of Warner Bros classic film catalog. On April 24, 2010, a total of eight of the Censored Eleven were screened at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood (Jungle Jitters, Rabbit Stew, and Angel Puss being the three left out). According to animation historian Jerry Beck, this event was a way for Warner Bros. to test the waters for a possible DVD release of these controversial films possibly through the Warner Archives collection. [6]
And shortly after those screenings, at the New York Comic Con in October 2010, Warner Bros announced that all the 11 cartoons had been completely restored, the studio planned to release them in a special exclusive completely uncut DVD multi-disc set, along with other controversial cartoons somewhere around 2011. However, no further news of a DVD release has surfaced since. In 2016, Jerry Beck stated that the transfers had been done, but the DVD has been delayed indefinitely due to declining sales of previous Looney Tunes Platinum Collection releases. [7]. In 2018, according to a user on Shadow and Act who spoke to Beck, he stated that that plans to release the cartoons have been scrapped due to changing cultural sensitivities as well as the low demand of classic cartoon DVDs.
References
- ↑ https://entertainment.time.com/2010/04/27/top-10-controversial-cartoons/slide/the-censored-eleven/
- ↑ https://insessionfilm.com/op-eds-the-censored-eleven-cartoons-too-offensive-to-show/
- ↑ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven
- ↑ https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/CensoredEleven
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/business/media/28cartoon.html
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censored_Eleven
- ↑ https://animesuperhero.com/forums/threads/wb-censored-eleven-dvd.5311761/