Tom & Jerry 80th anniversary

[A Hat Like That]

This is an interesting pictorial blog depicting T & J's moments that are now deemed unnacceptable.

https://izismile.com/2010/03/12/political_correctness_has_changed_tom_amp_jerry_59_pics.html

Tom breaths cigar smoke in Jerry's face causing Jerry to have a blackface then heats a tray under his feet to make him dance.

bleak.

[Satchmo Distel]

Not sure if this happened with T&J, but there were several films of that era that had different versions for the Jim Crow south than the north, although IIRC this was usually by cutting out any positive depictions of black characters from southern prints.

Billie Holiday's only film role was playing a maid ('New Orleans", 1947) but you could imagine black and white audiences reading the film totally differently.

A big T&J memory I have is Tom (voiced by Ira "Buck" Woods) doing a cover of "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby" by Louis Jordan in "Solid Serenade" (1946):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYkJ0M1bUIU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_Serenade

Woods was uncredited in this and almost all his movies:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0940526/

Billie Holiday's only film role was playing a maid ('New Orleans", 1947) but you could imagine black and white audiences reading the film totally differently.

[kalowski]

You're always going on about Billie Holiday. Let it go, Satchmo, you're never going to meet her.   

[idunnosomename]

the blackface gags really aren't funny. i wonder what they saw in them back in the day. it's also amazing how quickly they started erasing them, albeit with an "indian" headdress which isn't that much better

[Billy]

There's the infamous 'His Mouse Friday' which features a blackface Jerry disguised as a cannibal, shouting "In de pot! In de pot, dere!" to Tom.

I never saw it on Cartoon Network, but somewhat astonishingly it appeared on an official Tom & Jerry VHS released in 2002, albeit with huge sections muted whenever Jerry "spoke". This resulted in a very surreal cartoon of mouths moving in utter silence for no explained reason for long periods of time, making me wonder if other purchasers of the tape thought the sound was faulty or it was just some surreal silent experiment MGM tried out at the time.

[Petey Pate]

I'm fairly certain that His Mouse Friday aired on Cartoon Network in the UK. As I recall, the only thing edited was the final scene where Jerry is chased by the smaller cannibal, where they zoomed in on Jerry so that the cannibal appears out of the frame.

Generally the cartoons were less edited here than they were on American TV. I remember being surprised when I found out that numerous WB cartoons I had seen on British TV were considered 'banned' in the US, these were mainly ones with Native American caricatures that presumably British TV schedulers didn't think would cause any offense.

[SavageHedgehog]

Yes it aired on Cartoon Network here, I only saw it the once though. Think it was fully uncut though can't swear to it; believe the UK DVD uses the no dialogue version, but US DVD keeps the dialogue in but zooms in at the end. Quite why that zoom ever came about is a real head scratcher; what mind that thinks the majority of it is OK but gets to that and gets to that goes "hmm, bit much this, better edit this".

The dialogue-free version of His Mouse Friday was also on this 90s UK/US VHS release, which bafflingly even used it as the inspiration for its (admittedly slightly sanitised) cover.



The only one I know I never saw on Cartoon Network was Casanova Cat, which was also tastefully omitted from the US DVD releases (but is on the UK sets, which supposedly have a lot of cuts).

[Thomas]

At school, whenever it rained at playtime, the teachers would plonk us down in front of the boxy TV and lodge a ratty old Tom and Jerry VHS into it. There was one where everything went ice. Classic. Nice and sparkly.

Was there a suicide one where Tom lies down on a railway line?

[SavageHedgehog]

Yes. It's called Blue Cat Blues. It's not the "shocking final episode!" as claimed by Internet myth c.2015 though.

[Lisa Jesusandmarychain]

Yes. It's called Blue Cat Blues. It's not the "shocking final episode!" as claimed by Internet myth c.2015 though.

Referenced on the first page of this thread. An astonishingly cruel cartoon, but it's nice to see that Jerry actually saves Tom from a suicide attempt, as that clip demonstrates. Are kids supposed to be laughing at Tom and Jerry sat in hopeless despair in that final shot?

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I remember one where a little girl treats Tom like a baby, putting a frilly baby bonnet on him and pushing him round in a pram.  There's an extended sequence when he gets away from the pram and other cats locally bully him in elaborate ways like stretching his whiskers then playing a double bass tune on them.  The little girl slaps his rump and physically abuses him after she catches him. I found this one laugh-out-loud funny as a child.  Looking back, it was quite sadistic.

[ajsmith2]

I remember one where a little girl treats Tom like a baby, putting a frilly baby bonnet on him and pushing him round in a pram.  There's an extended sequence when he gets away from the pram and other cats locally bully him in elaborate ways like stretching his whiskers then playing a double bass tune on them.  The little girl slaps his rump and physically abuses him after she catches him. I found this one laugh-out-loud funny as a child.  Looking back, it was quite sadistic.

Fucking really depressed me that cartoon when I saw it way back when. There's something really horrible and cosmically unfair about the way Tom is abused from like 3 different factions while being dressed as a baby. It's more like a masochist's humiliation fantasy than the jolly japes it's sold as.

Just checked and it was the 12th cartoon ever made, Baby Puss: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry_filmography

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

The Mammy Two-Shoes eps were definitely shown on Cartoon Network in the 00s with original voice acting.

My faves are the ones that start with Tom treating Jerry like a real cat would treat a mouse - letting him go, pouncing on him again, dangling him by his tail etc. Justifies the inevitable beatings.

EDIT: ooh a bunch of these are on Boomerang *downloads*

[kalowski]

I have every episode of the Hannah Barbera, Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones period. Many have not been censored but a couple have.

[Chriddof]

The Mammy Two-Shoes eps were definitely shown on Cartoon Network in the 00s with original voice acting.

Don't quote me on this, but I seem to recall that both the original voice acting ones and the re-dubbed ones were shown all mixed together during that time.

The only thing that bothered me about the re-dubbed ones was the much higher sound quality of the 90s (?) re-recordings. For ages you've got fuzzy saturated analogue 16mm sound, and then suddenly you hear "THOMAS!!!" in pin-sharp digital clarity.

[Mantis Toboggan]

Long shot...does anyone know if the old episodes are on any streaming platforms. I'm in Australia so that might make a difference. I recall watching a few episodes years ago and appreciating them so much more as an adult. Genuinely laugh out loud stuff. I never see them on TV these days.

[Endicott]

They're on youtube. For example

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDyf6PAvFf0

[Satchmo Distel]

When the BBC showed T&J in the mid-70s, I don't think any attempt was made to censor the racism. Likewise with Merrie Melodies on ITV. But this was the same era as 'Curry and Chips' and 'Mind Your Language' so should we be surprised?

I'm not sure when this changed on UK TV.

[non capisco]

I was a ten year old animation nerd in 1989 and can confirm that the BBC were still showing incredibly racist cartoons, including some of the Turner 'Censored Eleven' like the Merrie Melodies 'Clean Pastures' , 'Jungle Jitters' and very possibly (brace yourself) 'Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarves' , as late as that. Early to mid 30s Warner Bros cartoons seemed obsessed with the idea that all black people across the board love gambling with dice.

[Petey Pate]

I'm pretty sure there was an episode of Tony Robinson's Stay Tooned in the 90s which included the censored 11 cartoon Tin Pan Alley Cats, although it was acknowledged as being politically incorrect and not just randomly shown without warning.

Did the BBC ever show any of the MGM Happy Harmonies with Bosko (after he was redesigned as a young black boy)? I have vague recollections of seeing Chuck Jones' Inki cartoons, which while not exactly PC were fairly tame for their time.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Now seems like a good time to point out that Cartoon Network aired Dragonball Z in the late 90s-early 00s featuring the original Mr. Popo complete with coal black skin and huge red lips.

[kalowski]

My Tom & Jerry collection
Hope I've done this right.

[Chriddof]

Looks like it! Thanks very much for this.

[kalowski]

Just watched Texas Tom. Incredible stuff. The invention in the gags is unbelievably good. The cigarette scene is marvellous.

[marquis_de_sad]

Just watched Texas Tom. Incredible stuff. The invention in the gags is unbelievably good. The cigarette scene is marvellous.

The immortal commentary.

[Norton Canes]

At school, whenever it rained at playtime, the teachers would plonk us down in front of the boxy TV and lodge a ratty old Tom and Jerry VHS into it. There was one where everything went ice. Classic. Nice and sparkly

Mice Follies, I love that one.