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Warner Bros. cartoons about Germany, Japan and Italy...

Widebrim

I'll Lock Up
Yeah, Tokio Jokio. Quite racist and demeaning. Incredible how it was tolerated then, but those certainly were different times. (Mussolini actually seems to come out the best, although that's not saying much.) For even more unflattering portrayals of Japenese troops, look out for Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips. Bugs, posing as a Good Humor-type Man, actually says to a Japanese soldier, "There you go, slant eyes!" I'm glad that these aren't seen much these days.
 

Lincsong

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I've got to scan some of the pictures I have from a book I bought in 1990 titled; "World War II in Cartooons" There's some excellent depictions of cartoons from both sides.
 

Lincsong

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Sefton said:
Funny enough (or not) these same cartoons used to be shown on local TV when I was a kid. Thanks to Youtube they live again...

Heck, before KTVU 2 in Oakland became affiliated with FOX Network in 1987 they used to show any film uncut, unedited and uncensored. I remember them broadcasting History of the World Part I complete with profanity.
 

p51

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Well behind the front lines!
I knew a guy who worked for WB animation in the 80s, he showed me tape he'd smuggled out of the studio of some the far more racist toons they made before WW2. One was called something like "Cole Black and the Seven Midgets" or something like that, with an all-black cast. Prince Charming was "Prince Chawmin," with a zoot suit and dice for teeth. There's NO darned way you'd ever get away with showing that now. I see the Bugs Bunny look in urban clothing and I think to myself, "If only these guys knew how their grandparents were mocked by the people who created those characters..."
 

Sleepy LaGoon

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"Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs," and it is considered by most animation critics to be a Bob Clampett masterpiece. One of the Warner Brothers "Censored Eleven" cartoons that will probably never be released again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUpJ5a968u0

p51 said:
I knew a guy who worked for WB animation in the 80s, he showed me tape he'd smuggled out of the studio of some the far more racist toons they made before WW2. One was called something like "Cole Black and the Seven Midgets" or something like that, with an all-black cast. Prince Charming was "Prince Chawmin," with a zoot suit and dice for teeth. There's NO darned way you'd ever get away with showing that now. I see the Bugs Bunny look in urban clothing and I think to myself, "If only these guys knew how their grandparents were mocked by the people who created those characters..."
 
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For those of you old enough to recall the Little Rascals or as they are called Hal Roaches Our Gang Comedies had a number of stories that had sections removed at some point when broadcast on tv as "ethnic humor" that had fallen out of favor.

The Log Cabin VHS tapes include a few of these which have sort of a disclaimer from Lenard Maltin before viewing to let you know how much times have changed. As an aside the kids that made up the little rascals were very friendly with all the members. (Weezer's parents would not let him play with the others for some reason.) BUT Spanky wrote about how much the gang loved Buckwheat and would go to his house to play and that they really enjoyed his mom's cooking too. Another aside Stymie's bowler hat was a gift from Laurel & Hardy.
 

Lincsong

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p51 said:
I knew a guy who worked for WB animation in the 80s, he showed me tape he'd smuggled out of the studio of some the far more racist toons they made before WW2. One was called something like "Cole Black and the Seven Midgets" or something like that, with an all-black cast. Prince Charming was "Prince Chawmin," with a zoot suit and dice for teeth. There's NO darned way you'd ever get away with showing that now. I see the Bugs Bunny look in urban clothing and I think to myself, "If only these guys knew how their grandparents were mocked by the people who created those characters..."

Not to stray too far off topic, but in the latest movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, they're hip hop rappers. So what has really changed?
 

MisterCairo

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Gads Hill, Ontario
Is it true that the Looney Toons released on DVD have a disclaimer narrated by Whoopie Goldberg, and that you CANNOT skip it? These are the "regular" cartoons that you'd see on Saturday morning (back in the day when cartoons were shown on regular tv stations - hmmmm - tv station - heard that expression lately?).
 

Sleepy LaGoon

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Cedar Rapids, IA
I think that it's only Volume 3 of the "Golden Collection" that has the Whoopie Goldberg disclaimer - at the beginning of every disc before the main menu! And you are correct: it cannot be skipped over (but it can be fast-forwarded). I believe the remaining sets just have a written disclaimer, even though I think some of them have even more potentially offensive cartoons, including Volume 6 which has the WWII stuff. Vol. 6 also has the 1931 B&W "You Don't Know What You're Doin'!" which contains a bootleg hootch-induced hallucination sequence that is a most incredible bit of animation.

MisterCairo said:
Is it true that the Looney Toons released on DVD have a disclaimer narrated by Whoopie Goldberg, and that you CANNOT skip it? These are the "regular" cartoons that you'd see on Saturday morning (back in the day when cartoons were shown on regular tv stations - hmmmm - tv station - heard that expression lately?).
 

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