They have names like “Jungle Jitters,” “Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarves,” and “All This and Rabbit Stew (see left),” and feature cartoon images of blacks that would get an animator at the Disney Channel fired before you could say “Sambo” if he or she tried to produce them now. But these Warner Bros. shorts were made in the 30s and 40s and a part of a group of cartoons dubbed the Censored 11. None of us are supposed to be able to see them (hence, the Censored 11). Yet, many of them can be found on YouTube. What gives?
According to the New York Times, reps from Warner Bros. are sending out cease and desists as fast as they can, but it’s really hard to keep a video off of the internet once it’s already gone up. Does it matter, though? How harmful are these old, racist images in a modern world?
Pretty harmful, says the NAACP, which protested “Coal Black” before it was released in 1943. Richard McIntire, the director of communications for the N.A.A.C.P., says “the cartoons are despicable. We encourage the films’ owners to maintain them as they are — that is, locked away in their vaults.” Disney has also joined Warner Bros. in censoring racially questionable material from its past. Despite requests, the company has refused to re-release the plantation-themed musical, Song of the South.
I’m not entirely convinced that these cartoons should be locked away for good. As hard as some of these videos can be to watch, they are fascinating from a historical standpoint. Michael Barrier, and animation and comic book expert, told the New York Times that the cartoons should be “presented in an informed way for an intelligent, adult audience.” Unfortunately, much of the YouTube-viewing audience is neither intelligent nor mature. Many of the people who commented on the videos vehemently denied any racist undertones in the cartoons and found them to be hilariously funny. These dummies definitely add heft to the censorship argument.
Editor
I agree Lauren..
I find them fascinating…I love old/historical artefact’s etc
After reading Heart Of Darkness & Lord Of the Flies…I stopped relating racist scripture as such to me personally..
Art is life. You can’t censor it-unless you’re really religious…in which case I’m not AT ALL..
I personally don’t think these cartoons are a lot less different than todays baffonery that we see in music videos and black sketch comedy. only this time, we know what we are doing and because we are getting paid, it’s…ok….
go ahead and watch that good ol Bamboozled…
Damn modern day COONS!
These cartoons are a part of history whether we like it or not. The inform us of a worldview that has, thankfully, largely faded from our consciousness. For most young people today to even fully grasp racial meaning would require some research. It wasn’t until college that someone pointed out the crows in the movie “Dumbo” were racial cariacatures, and I immediately understood, but I had never made the connection on my own.
I counseled at a highly diverse youth arts camp. Part of the experience was attending a local silent film series. One of the films chosen had a brief blackface sequence. We knew we were exposing them to some touchy material, so we had an open discussion beforehand with the students, 15-17 years old, and they for the most part handled it very maturely. We talked about the history of blackface and minstrelsy in American culture, and mediated a discussion that went on for quite a while. When they watched the film they went in ready to make an informed judgement, and had learned something important in the process. Cloaking these images in mystery and censorship brings out their danger without helping us understand the ideas that created them. I can’t help but think those kids were better served by honesty.
Rant is right. Art is life and history and sometimes pain. To censor anything opens up Pandora’s box.
I think they should be censored. These are being presented on YouTube, not in a history class. Children may see them and not understand them to be racist. Racist people will enjoy them and add them to their collections. Yes they should be censored if they are not presented in the proper context.
HUuummM, I remember seeing this cartoon back in 1975 when I was 10years old, Back then I just thought it was a funny cartoon that featured my favorite rabbit bugs bunny, After seeing it today with the race issues that we face today, I no its Racist and was made by a racist and should be removed…..
History can’t be denied. These are a part of Americana and must be preserved. It must also be noted that this is not how it should be done now, just as slavery is wrong, genocide is wrong, abortion is wrong, or any other political hotbed is wrong.