anti smoke people have gone too far.

[bigtuna]

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe...eut/index.html

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Turner Broadcasting is scouring more than 1,500 classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons, including old favorites Tom and Jerry, The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo, to edit out scenes that glamorize smoking.

The review was triggered by a complaint to British media regulator Ofcom by one viewer who took offence to two episodes of Tom and Jerry shown on the Boomerang channel, part of Turner Broadcasting which itself belongs to Time Warner Inc.

"We are going through the entire catalogue," Yinka Akindele, spokeswoman for Turner in Europe, said on Monday.

"This is a voluntary step we've taken in light of the changing times," she said, adding the painstaking review had been prompted by the Ofcom complaint.

The regulator's latest news bulletin stated that a viewer, who was not identified, had complained about two smoking scenes on Tom and Jerry, saying they "were not appropriate in a cartoon aimed at children."

In the first, "Texas Tom", the hapless cat Tom tries to impress a feline female by rolling a cigarette, lighting it and smoking it with one hand. In the second, "Tennis Chumps", Tom's opponent in a match smokes a large cigar.

"The licensee has ... proposed editing any scenes or references in the series where smoking appeared to be condoned, acceptable, glamorized or where it might encourage imitation," Ofcom said, adding that "Texas Tom" was one such example.

Akindele said cartoons would only be modified "where smoking could be deemed to be cool or glamorized", and that scenes where a villain was featured with a cigarette or cigar would not necessarily be cut.

"These are historic cartoons, they were made well over 50 years ago in a different time and different place," she added. "Our audience is children and we don't want to be irresponsible."

Turner Broadcasting in the United States could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ofcom said it recognized smoking was more generally accepted when cartoons were produced in the 1940s, '50s and '60s, but argued that the threshold for including such scenes when the audience was predominately young should be high.

About 56 percent of Boomerang's audience is aged four to 14 years old.

Early reaction to the review on Web logs broadly attacked Turner's decision.

"Have to dig out all those photos and films of [Winston] Churchill and airbrush out the cigars," said a message posted on the "Organ Grinder" forum on the Guardian newspaper's Web site.

The review was not the first time a famous cartoon character was forced to give up smoking.

Belgian cartoonist Maurice de Bevere replaced his most popular creation Lucky Luke's ubiquitous cigarette with a blade of grass, winning him an award from the World Health Organization in 1988.

What's next? Banning the violence? It's okay to see two cartoons beating the hell out of each other, but if one of them smokes a cigarette they're suddenly corrupting our youth. Lame.

[Big Isy]

Thi is sooooooo turning into that one simpsons episode where Itchy an Scratchy are heavily edited. Stop it. You're ruining my childhood memories

I don't watch those shows anyways.

[Felron]

Originally Posted by bigtuna

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe...eut/index.html




What's next? Banning the violence? It's okay to see two cartoons beating the hell out of each other, but if one of them smokes a cigarette they're suddenly corrupting our youth. Lame.

That kind of would currupt youth. Children immitate authority figures, idols, people they respect, look up to, and adore. I think it's fine if some scenes are removed because they glorify smoking.

However, I don't like the idea of not being able to get my hands on un-cut episodes. Like, removing them completely, from the DVDs and everything, would be really lame.

[Dr.Snow]

If kids are going to do everything they see a cat do, we should probably cut off their tongues.

That way they don't lick insecticide off their leg or something.

[Master Cola]

Originally Posted by Dr.Snow

If kids are going to do everything they see a cat do, we should probably cut off their tongues.

That way they don't lick insecticide off their leg or something.

A cat is not a figure kids would most likely imitate and, even if they did, there is no "hidden dangers" in acting like a cat, well nothing horrible. Smoking has these dangers and kids who see it on tv are likely gonna wanna use them. I saw some of the Pee Wee Herman shows that they reintroduced to Adult Swim and I was shocked that smoking was there.

You can't blame a child for emulation, for a while in thier life that is all they know.

[Dr.Snow]

I'm just saying, people that go around stealing cars aren't doing it because they saw Yogi Bear stealing picnic baskets. Children are influenced by entertainment, sure, but it's not the strongest influence in their lives. The same people that blame GTA for violence and degradation of women are the same people that blame cartoons for smoking. They're idiots who have nothing better to do with their lives than tell you how you should be living yours.

I have nothing but contempt for these people.

Adults have the right and responsibility to make their own decisions as far as their own lives are concerned. We don't have the right or responsibilty to make sure that other people are living their lives the way that we think is right, because you can sure as hell bet you'd be pissed if someone else was making you do something that you didn't want to do. Why should you get to force other people to do something they don't want to do?

Then, as far as kids go, they're the responsibility of their parents. The parents have the right and responsibility to raise their children as they see fit, other people don't need to get involved. The idea that raising a child takes a village is moronic, it just takes good parents. Orphans being raised by a village, fine. You want to invite a village to care of your kids, that's fine too. But, I don't want a village showing up on my doorstep uninvited to help raise my kids.

Don't waste my time with child-proof windows, locks, and medicine bottles. Don't tell me what I can watch on television, buy in stores, or look at on the internet in my free time. If you don't want to be exposed, that's your choice. If you don't want your kids exposed, that's probably a good idea, but it's your job to keep your kids away from "bad things" rather than taking the "bad things" away from everyone.

I don't dress in drag because I saw Bugs Bunny doing it, I do it because it feels good.

[Northernlion]

Did....did you just argue against child-proof medicine bottles?

[aNaRCHyintheUK]

Thumbs DOWN!

[Dr.Snow]

I have a problem with it being the standard.

Child-proof medicine bottles should be an option, that way you can save people without kids a whole lot of trouble. Just look at old people, all the medicine they have to take to stay alive has child-proof caps on them just in case. I don't have kids, there aren't any that come to visit, so explain why my medicine should be child-proof. It's a waste of time and effort.

That's why I get my perscriptions filled at Tom Thumb (Safeway), they give you the option of child-proof tops or regular.

[Ken Carlo]

because it's not only child proof, it's too-drunk-to-realize-that-mixing-eight-of-these-blue-things-with-that-vodka-is-going-to-make-me-vomit-my-small-intestine-proof.

[Northernlion]

Opening a child-proof bottle is not "a whole lot of trouble".

[Master Cola]

I have no argument with you Snow if you can't waste two seconds for child proof medicine. If you don't want child proof medicine caps, don't buy them if it is really that much of a hassle for you. But they will remain standard because most people have kids and most people want them to be safe in as many ways as possible.

I'm a level 35 arrow liner-upper.

The GTA argument doesn't work here because kids are influenced but, the ones that "emulate" GTA know better than the kids likely watching those old cartoons.

[ladylove]

What I don't like is people holding shows/cartoons/movies/books to TODAY'S standards.

I think it's great that kids today have better health role models than kids of 40 or 50 years ago.

That doesn't give anyone the right to deface classic television or cinema for the sake of having it live up to today's standards. It's like the Three Stooges having their 1930's work blurred out during eyepoke scenes because today's kids might get the wrong impression. EDUCATE THEM.

You have to explain to kids that back then, a lot of people smoked. And that a lot of people got sick because of smoking. It takes all of two seconds to prepare your kids ahead of time before they see something you might find objectionable.

I love old movies (in case you haven't noticed). These cartoons were made by people who have probably long since passed on. They don't deserve to have their work vandalized because people today find it "wrong".

[Northernlion]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=hx0lrxqMI3I