Saturday, March 30, 2002

Speedy Gonzales, RIP

The Cartoon Network hath decreed that Speedy Gonzales is unacceptable for TV. That's funny - one of the cartoons in the series won an Academy Award in 1956.

Who's next? I just happened to flip channels and saw Quick Draw McGraw with his sidekick Baba Looey. Uh oh, Baba Looey has a stereotypical Mexican accent. I wasn't much of a "Qveekstraw" fan anyway, although I nearly brained a relative once playing "El Kabong".

Oh well, it was just another Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Hanna-Barbera did some terrific work, but most of it was before they formed their company.

I understand that Popeye is having a hard time nowadays too - too politically incorrect. Could it have been titles like "You're a Sap, Mr. Jap"?
In what some critics have called the most racist cartoon ever made, Popeye single-handedly defeats a Japanese submarine manned by "slant-eyed, buck toothed, yellow skinned Japansies" as Popeye calls them. It's 'V' for victory during World War II as the soundtrack blurts out the snappy theme song. The final scene has the sinking enemy submarine going down the drain with the sound effect of a toilet flushing! Lots of racial stereotypes in this cartoon and you'll soon see why this one doesn't get shown on TV. Still a great cartoon, though, if you can handle the stereotypes.
Maybe generations to come will see protests against Marvin the Martian.

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