Looney Tunes - "The Censored Eleven"

SilentMage

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A serious discussion, guys, given the subject matter presented here. Hopefully it's not too hot to get locked right of the gate.

Has anyone watched any of the infamous "Censored Eleven" Looney Tune/Merrie Melodies episodes? After I learned about them about six months ago my curiosity drove me to find them, though any decent-quality cuts of the episodes were extremely hard to find. I did succeed in finding a half-decent compilation, however, and watched a few of the episodes from end-to-end.

I'll reference one that I think is probably the "least" offensive: "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs".

I definitely understand why the powers at Time Warner wanted to erase these episodes from history, but if these are so bad, why weren't episodes like "Herr Meets Hare" and "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" given the same treatment? I suppose it could be the culture that we live in today where racial jokes and slurs about the Japanese and Germans are "more tolerable" than those aimed at people of color, but what would that say about us?

As a lover of history I feel the Censored Eleven, as terrible as they are, shouldn't be forgotten and should be preserved for future generations to be able to watch if they wanted. My reasoning for this is to help others understand the kind of era these cartoons originated from (most were made during World War II) and what was considered acceptable culturally during that time. By understanding this, we can better appreciate how far we've come since and why things need to continue to change for the betterment of man.

What are your thoughts about these lost episodes? Should they be forgotten like so many works of media over the past decades or do they deserve a place in the annals of media history?

~SilentMage
 
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