Mr. Magoo Censored on Boomerang! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

RTususian · 10-22-2003, 09:49 PM

I have been keeping a tally of the Mr. Magoo cartoons that have been showing on Boomerang since they started them on September 1 and have found that they have completely deleted Charlie, Magoo's Chinese houseboy! He appears NOWHERE in ANY of the cartoons they have shown.

In case some of you don't know, Magoo used to have a Chinese houseboy on his show and I was especially interested in seeing if Boomerang was going to include him in their broadcasts, but I see they have deleted him! Mr. Magoo began in the movies with dozens of cartoons from 1949-59, then went to TV in 1960 with 130 five-minute cartoons.

According to my tally, Boomerang has only shown 92 of those cartoons and has repeated many of them already. In fact I have stopped taping Mr. Magoo because they are just repeating shows now. Also the little segments in between the cartoons are repeated pretty often, more than the 5 minute cartoons, which i think is because Charlie probably appeared in some of those segments so Boomerang just repeated other segments that did not include him.

Has anyone else noticed this??

Brian Damage · 10-24-2003, 04:24 PM

I haven't noticed it, but it doesn't shock me. I remember in the 80's my local network aired Magoo and Charlie's voice was dubbed over the original one. I think that stinks.

RTususian · 10-24-2003, 04:31 PM

More than 10 years ago my local WNEW-TV NY station (now a Fox affiliate) began showing the 1960 Dick Tracy cartoon. I taped all of them at that time and was surprised when they did NOT censor any of the ethnic characters, there was an oriental character Joe Ju-Jitsu and a Mexican character as well, but none of these characters were deleted, which I found pretty daring.

Expectedly, though, after several weeks there was an article in The Tv section saying that the station got numerous complaints about the ethnic stereotyping so the whole show, as I recall, was cancelled.

Oh well at least I got my taping in.

Brian Damage · 10-25-2003, 11:54 AM

It really is a shame.

EricIdlefan · 10-29-2003, 10:48 PM

Guess they don't want people ringing up the network like a Christmas tree and complaining about stereotypes. That, of course, is my opinion!!

buddy the puppy · 10-30-2003, 12:24 AM

You know what is REALLY a shame? The shame is where years ago a caucasian cartoonist or writer was allowed to add those negative stereotypes into a cartoon aimed at CHILDREN without consequence...

You know what else is a shame? That back then most people didn't see the wrong in having a cartoon character drawn up to be a goofy, slant eyed chinaman servant.

What also sucks is that most of us collectors aren't racist and JUST WANT UNEDITED CARTOONS!! Myself included.

You see if those racist idiots never included that type of ignorant trash, we would have COMPLETE cartoons!

RTususian · 10-30-2003, 05:38 AM

I always believe that whatever was created years ago should be shown unedited and uncensored. This also includes some of the Warner Bros. cartoons that you NEVER see on TV, like the ones featuring Inki the small black boy. His character is never shown on TV along with Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pepe LePew, Tweety and Sylvester, etc.

I also believe all of the Little rascals Comedies should be shown uncut and uncensored, despite the racism (which was OK at the time...ethnic humor was very popular at the turn of the 20th century), but at least we have those on video and DVD collections.

On the other hand, it would be wrong nowadays to have new racist material made, but anything that was created in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, etc should be shown with the understanding of the time it was produced.

Leonard Maltin made this point on one of the Cabin Fever Our Gang tapes that had 4 Little rascals episodes that are almost never shown on TV, such as the episode with Stepin Fetchit from 1930. A mature person should be able to watch these keeping in mind the times in which they were made.

EricIdlefan · 10-30-2003, 09:24 PM

Back then, making fun of stereotypes like African Americans, Arabs, Asians, Hispanics, Jews, Armish, seemed a no harm and/or foul but now you have to be very careful of what, how, who, & when to say things to people or else they could be very, very offended.

RTususian · 10-30-2003, 09:36 PM

Yep, that's one of the complaints modern comedians have...because of political correctness, they feel strait-jacketed because they're not allowed to say certain things.

Comedy is based on a large part on stereotypes, like the dumb blonde, or the absent minded professor. The exaggerated stereotypes are a kind of shorthand so your audience understands right away what the situation is. For years in the movies and comic strips and radio programs we had the Italian grocer, the Chinese laundryman, The Jewish banker/accountant, and in pre-code Hollywood (pre-1934) you had the gay floral designer/interior decorator/dept store floorwalker. Not to mention the "lazy and shiftless" black worker.

TV comedy now is based more on characters rather than on situations, for instance I Love Lucy was based on funny situations that lucy got herself into, if it was airing today you would probably have a lot more episodes like "Lucy's Inferiority Complex" where she doesn't think she can do anything right.

I am a white male so I don't know how i would react if I was black and saw Stepin Fetchit in a movie. However I am gay and I find the pre-code portrayals of gay and lesbian people fascinating. Some gay people are offended by them but I find them interesting, esp since gays were thrown back in the closet in film after the Hays code came along in July 1934.

buddy the puppy · 10-31-2003, 12:32 AM

I am a white male and as I said in my last post these cartoons we are speaking of were aimed towards C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N. Some of us are seeing this from an adult perspective where in those days cartoons were made mainly for kids.

Do you think my dad watched or even COLLECTED cartoons???
No I think not. Did any of your parents???

But we are living in a different day and time. We at this forum are adults who love and collect cartoons. Some would say we should not even be looking at cartoons in our adulthood but I guess that's a different topic all together.

And yes we may find it fascinating at how different races were depicted in the old days.

But is an 8 year old going to be fascinated when he sees an old WB cartoon with a black person acting like a monkey or an ignorant shiffless servant?? Does an 8 year old even know what fascinating means? No. They are gonna see that and get the wrong idea about certain classmates.

If cartoons made light of homosexuality in the 20's I don't think it would be right for some 11 or 12 year old today who may have homosexual feelings....to feel bad when watching a Magoo cartoon rerun with his gay male butler who instead chose to wear a maid's outfit because the straight animators and writers thought it was funny.

We can't just assume only OUR ADULT EYES are watching Boomerang ot The Little Rascals reruns. My daughter loves Boomerang and The Little Rascals.
We can't just go ahead and assume that. We may take these stereotypes with a grain of salt. But remember, are brains and opinions are fully matured....not that 8 year old.

RTususian · 10-31-2003, 12:15 PM

I disagree that cartoons were always made for children....they were made for everyone of all ages, especially theatrical cartoons. The animators were smart enough to include stuff to appeal to children while at the same time have elements in them that would appeal to adults.

The Betty Boop cartoons especially the pre-code ones are a good example of that. And before Disney cartoons got a makeover, the early ones had a lot of adult elements in them. And not to mention the Warner Brothers cartoons, there is a lot of stuff in there for kids and adults.

I would agree though that a lot of 50s and 60s TV cartoons were geared mostly towards children and adults would find a lot of them pretty boring, but there are lots of adults out there who collect on cartoons, esp ones they remember wathing as children. There are multiple DVD volume sets out there of all types of cartoons, and they aren't all in the 2.99 bargain bin either. Last year I bought the 4 DVD set of Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse for over $40.

And we used to see tons of times when Bugs Bunny used a firecracker or cannon or gun to blow away his enemies, but we don't really worry about our children imitating him, do we? I think kids are more mature than you give them credit for.

10-22-2003, 09:49 PM	#1
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	Mr. Magoo Censored on Boomerang! I have been keeping a tally of the Mr. Magoo cartoons that have been showing on Boomerang since they started them on September 1 and have found that they have completely deleted Charlie, Magoo's Chinese houseboy! He appears NOWHERE in ANY of the cartoons they have shown. In case some of you don't know, Magoo used to have a Chinese houseboy on his show and I was especially interested in seeing if Boomerang was going to include him in their broadcasts, but I see they have deleted him! Mr. Magoo began in the movies with dozens of cartoons from 1949-59, then went to TV in 1960 with 130 five-minute cartoons. According to my tally, Boomerang has only shown 92 of those cartoons and has repeated many of them already. In fact I have stopped taping Mr. Magoo because they are just repeating shows now. Also the little segments in between the cartoons are repeated pretty often, more than the 5 minute cartoons, which i think is because Charlie probably appeared in some of those segments so Boomerang just repeated other segments that did not include him. Has anyone else noticed this??

10-24-2003, 04:31 PM	#3
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	1960 Dick Tracy Too! More than 10 years ago my local WNEW-TV NY station (now a Fox affiliate) began showing the 1960 Dick Tracy cartoon. I taped all of them at that time and was surprised when they did NOT censor any of the ethnic characters, there was an oriental character Joe Ju-Jitsu and a Mexican character as well, but none of these characters were deleted, which I found pretty daring. Expectedly, though, after several weeks there was an article in The Tv section saying that the station got numerous complaints about the ethnic stereotyping so the whole show, as I recall, was cancelled. Oh well at least I got my taping in.

10-29-2003, 10:48 PM	#5
EricIdlefan June Bug & School's Out Forum Addict Join Date: Oct 12, 2003 Location: East TN Posts: 68,236	Guess they don't want people ringing up the network like a Christmas tree and complaining about stereotypes. That, of course, is my opinion!!
	__________________ June Bug & Summer is Here 2026!

10-30-2003, 12:24 AM	#6
buddy the puppy Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 14, 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57	You know what is REALLY a shame? The shame is where years ago a caucasian cartoonist or writer was allowed to add those negative stereotypes into a cartoon aimed at CHILDREN without consequence... You know what else is a shame? That back then most people didn't see the wrong in having a cartoon character drawn up to be a goofy, slant eyed chinaman servant. What also sucks is that most of us collectors aren't racist and JUST WANT UNEDITED CARTOONS!! Myself included. You see if those racist idiots never included that type of ignorant trash, we would have COMPLETE cartoons!
	__________________ Buddy

10-30-2003, 05:38 AM	#7
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	Uncensored Cartoons I always believe that whatever was created years ago should be shown unedited and uncensored. This also includes some of the Warner Bros. cartoons that you NEVER see on TV, like the ones featuring Inki the small black boy. His character is never shown on TV along with Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Pepe LePew, Tweety and Sylvester, etc. I also believe all of the Little rascals Comedies should be shown uncut and uncensored, despite the racism (which was OK at the time...ethnic humor was very popular at the turn of the 20th century), but at least we have those on video and DVD collections. On the other hand, it would be wrong nowadays to have new racist material made, but anything that was created in the 1920s, 30s, 40s, etc should be shown with the understanding of the time it was produced. Leonard Maltin made this point on one of the Cabin Fever Our Gang tapes that had 4 Little rascals episodes that are almost never shown on TV, such as the episode with Stepin Fetchit from 1930. A mature person should be able to watch these keeping in mind the times in which they were made.

10-24-2003, 04:24 PM	#2
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	I haven't noticed it, but it doesn't shock me. I remember in the 80's my local network aired Magoo and Charlie's voice was dubbed over the original one. I think that stinks.

10-25-2003, 11:54 AM	#4
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	It really is a shame.

10-30-2003, 09:24 PM	#8
EricIdlefan June Bug & School's Out Forum Addict Join Date: Oct 12, 2003 Location: East TN Posts: 68,236	Back then, making fun of stereotypes like African Americans, Arabs, Asians, Hispanics, Jews, Armish, seemed a no harm and/or foul but now you have to be very careful of what, how, who, & when to say things to people or else they could be very, very offended.

10-30-2003, 09:36 PM	#9
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	Ethnic & Other Humor Yep, that's one of the complaints modern comedians have...because of political correctness, they feel strait-jacketed because they're not allowed to say certain things. Comedy is based on a large part on stereotypes, like the dumb blonde, or the absent minded professor. The exaggerated stereotypes are a kind of shorthand so your audience understands right away what the situation is. For years in the movies and comic strips and radio programs we had the Italian grocer, the Chinese laundryman, The Jewish banker/accountant, and in pre-code Hollywood (pre-1934) you had the gay floral designer/interior decorator/dept store floorwalker. Not to mention the "lazy and shiftless" black worker. TV comedy now is based more on characters rather than on situations, for instance I Love Lucy was based on funny situations that lucy got herself into, if it was airing today you would probably have a lot more episodes like "Lucy's Inferiority Complex" where she doesn't think she can do anything right. I am a white male so I don't know how i would react if I was black and saw Stepin Fetchit in a movie. However I am gay and I find the pre-code portrayals of gay and lesbian people fascinating. Some gay people are offended by them but I find them interesting, esp since gays were thrown back in the closet in film after the Hays code came along in July 1934.

10-31-2003, 12:32 AM	#10
buddy the puppy Member Occasional Poster Join Date: May 14, 2003 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 57	I am a white male and as I said in my last post these cartoons we are speaking of were aimed towards C-H-I-L-D-R-E-N. Some of us are seeing this from an adult perspective where in those days cartoons were made mainly for kids. Do you think my dad watched or even COLLECTED cartoons??? No I think not. Did any of your parents??? But we are living in a different day and time. We at this forum are adults who love and collect cartoons. Some would say we should not even be looking at cartoons in our adulthood but I guess that's a different topic all together. And yes we may find it fascinating at how different races were depicted in the old days. But is an 8 year old going to be fascinated when he sees an old WB cartoon with a black person acting like a monkey or an ignorant shiffless servant?? Does an 8 year old even know what fascinating means? No. They are gonna see that and get the wrong idea about certain classmates. If cartoons made light of homosexuality in the 20's I don't think it would be right for some 11 or 12 year old today who may have homosexual feelings....to feel bad when watching a Magoo cartoon rerun with his gay male butler who instead chose to wear a maid's outfit because the straight animators and writers thought it was funny. We can't just assume only OUR ADULT EYES are watching Boomerang ot The Little Rascals reruns. My daughter loves Boomerang and The Little Rascals. We can't just go ahead and assume that. We may take these stereotypes with a grain of salt. But remember, are brains and opinions are fully matured....not that 8 year old.

10-31-2003, 12:15 PM	#11
RTususian Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Jul 12, 2003 Posts: 96	Cartoons Are Only Made For Children? I disagree that cartoons were always made for children....they were made for everyone of all ages, especially theatrical cartoons. The animators were smart enough to include stuff to appeal to children while at the same time have elements in them that would appeal to adults. The Betty Boop cartoons especially the pre-code ones are a good example of that. And before Disney cartoons got a makeover, the early ones had a lot of adult elements in them. And not to mention the Warner Brothers cartoons, there is a lot of stuff in there for kids and adults. I would agree though that a lot of 50s and 60s TV cartoons were geared mostly towards children and adults would find a lot of them pretty boring, but there are lots of adults out there who collect on cartoons, esp ones they remember wathing as children. There are multiple DVD volume sets out there of all types of cartoons, and they aren't all in the 2.99 bargain bin either. Last year I bought the 4 DVD set of Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse for over $40. And we used to see tons of times when Bugs Bunny used a firecracker or cannon or gun to blow away his enemies, but we don't really worry about our children imitating him, do we? I think kids are more mature than you give them credit for.