The Hunter's Trilogy (Shoot to Kill, Censor to Annoy)

Similar to the FAQ/Q&A about The Censored Eleven (and “Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule”) and the Banned Bugs Bunny 12 from June Bugs 2001, the following is a special Censored Cartoons Blog entry that explores three or more Warner Bros. cartoons that have had similar edits to them. As mentioned on the “Under Construction” post, these are the “special” episodes/installments rather than the usual ones that cover one short and were created because exploring the cartoons one at a time can be tedious and, if a Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies short has a common edit with another or is part of a trilogy or tetralogy (NOT “quadrilogy,” damn it!) that has had all or most of their shorts edited, then why not explore that?

Director: Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles M. Jones”)

Summary: For people who remember this from childhood, these cartoons need no introduction. For the unfortunate few and counting who haven’t seen these, all three of them have the same story: it’s duck hunting season. Daffy tries to get out of it by claiming it’s rabbit season and setting Bugs up to get shot by Elmer Fudd. Through wordplay, emotional trickery, and pronoun trouble (which, thanks to traditional gender norms being turned on their head, means something else entirely these days), Daffy ends up bearing the brunt of the gun-flavored slapstick in all three shorts. For a full look at the Hunter’s Trilogy and how they are considered iconic in the world of classic American animation, check out these videos from the YouTube channel, Anthony’s Animation Talk (or really, any animation video essay...or regular, written/typed essay...or audio DVD commentary):

Rabbit Fire

Rabbit Seasoning

Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

The Channel(s): CBS, ABC, The WB, both the FOX and syndicated version of Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, and Nickelodeon (“Rabbit Fire” only)

Part(s) Edited: Daffy getting shot, of course. That would be the easy way to put it and, yes, I wish I could just leave it at that, but there are exceptions/nuances that explain a bit more.

The ABC and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends version replaced the scenes of Daffy getting shot with freeze-framed shots of Bugs (mostly), though the approximation I did for “Rabbit Fire” didn’t do that much. I’m assuming the freeze-framed shots of Bugs were more for “Rabbit Seasoning,” because that’s the one I remember being edited like that on ABC.

CBS and The WB, in contrast, cut all scenes of Elmer shooting Daffy point-blank in the face (and possibly, but most definitely, Daffy getting shot while staring down the barrel of Elmer’s rifle [the “no more bullets” gag] on “Rabbit Fire” and Daffy getting shot by a circle of hunters at the end of “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!”), which made “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” kinda choppy and somewhat incoherent. Coincidentally, early ABC versions also cut “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” the same way it was done on CBS and The WB as they didn’t have the technology back then to replace problematic footage with benign, alternate footage. As obvious as the alternate footage looks, straught-up cutting it, as you’ll see in the re-enactment videos I did, is worse (the cartoon runs shorter when Daffy getting shot is cut, as opposed to going to a freeze-framed shot to make it look like the gunfire is happening off-screen). The old ABC version also cut Daffy warming himself over a fire using the "Duck Season" signs as kindling (I...don't know the rationale behind that. It could be an edit because the censors don't want kids to play with fire [edits to get rid of dangerous, imitable behavior were common on 1990s American TV], but the viewer doesn't see Daffy actually burn the signs on-screen) and Elmer shoving his gun in the back of Bugs' head after Bugs makes that comment about how he never knew that molasses runs in January. I don't know if the new ABC edited version still edited those scenes or reinstated them, but still cut Daffy getting shot, but I'm going to assume that's what happened until someone out there says otherwise.

Then there’s the Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon version. “Rabbit Seasoning” and “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” were left uncut, though I’m going to assume that they didn’t air much as Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon didn’t air the popular shorts much; just the second- to fourth-tier fare that’s either considered more appealing to the more serious fans or are examples that not every Looney Tunes cartoon is a classic.

How It Plays Edited/Video Comparison: I’m going to let the videos speak for themselves. For convenience, I'm grouping the videos by title:

Rabbit Fire

ABC and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends version:

CBS and WB version:

Compare and Contrast -- Uncut vs. Nickelodeon version:

Rabbit Seasoning

ABC and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends version:

CBS and WB version:

Duck! Rabbit, Duck!

Old ABC version (where most of the shooting scenes are cut completely):

New ABC version and Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends version (where shooting scenes are replaced with freeze-framed shots of Bugs):

CBS and WB version (same as old ABC version, but with more scenes left in):

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: Well, as a Looney Tunes fan, I can say that the fact that the shooting edits are obvious and that merely editing them out of a cartoon isn’t going to fix any issues America has with guns. All these censors are doing is ruining good entertainment, which can drive someone into a shooting spree if they’re mentally deranged enough. However, I’ve only seen “Rabbit Seasoning” edited on ABC and the alternate footage cuts, while obvious, doesn’t shock and appall me the same way “Hare Trimmed”’s edits do or how Cartoon Network suddenly editing “For Scent-imental Reasons” after showing it uncut shocks and appalls me. I guess it’s because I saw “Rabbit Seasoning” uncut elsewhere (mostly on video) and the other two cartoons I saw uncut on Cartoon Network as a teenager. Your experience may vary.

Availability Uncut: The trio is considered one of Warner Bros.’s most iconic cartoons in the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies filmography, so it’s not hard to find it uncut and uncensored anywhere. For a full list, click on one of the three links below:

Rabbit Fire Availability

Rabbit Seasoning Availability

Duck! Rabbit, Duck! Availability

‘Til next time…

Porky's Duck Hunt (House of End Cards)

 

Director: Tex Avery (credited as “Fred Avery”)

Summary: Inspired by reading a book, Porky decides to go duck-hunting…and encounters a crazy duck (daffy, if you will) that proves hard to take down. Oh, and there’s a strange interlude involving drunken fish singing Moonlight Bay.

The Channel(s): Various, mostly unnamed syndication and international versions, though Nickelodeon did air a redrawn version that had the cut described below.

Part(s) Edited: After the cartoon ends with Porky getting punched in the face by his upstairs neighbor who got shot in the ass for the second time, the original end card had “That’s All Folks!” already written out while Daffy jumps, bounces, and dances around the letters. Sunset Productions back in 1955 cut that because Warner Bros. initially didn’t want to be associated with television. Most redrawn versions (particularly the Nickelodeon version that aired when Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon was a daytime show and all of their black and white shorts -- just the Porky ones, as the Bosko and Buddy shorts were phased out -- had to be colorized) also have this edit, but their versions either replace the end card with the “That’s All Folks!” concentric circle card or the abstract WB end card from the post-1964 cartoons. Nickelodeon definitely did the latter, while the former was seen more on international cuts, specifically on an Italian VHS version of Bugs Bunny’s 50th Birthday Collection.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: Not much, though, if I had to pick, just the fact that it’s considered a censorship cut. Censorship cuts are the ones that remove content that’s considered harmful or offensive by polite, corporate society (violence, sex, drug abuse, actions that can easily be imitated by impressionable viewers, anything that fans the flames of racial, ethnic, sexual, or gender-specific hate, whether it’s serious or in jest; anything that could cause undue distress to sensitive viewers, anything advocating antisocial or self-destructive behavior, etc). There’s nothing objectionable about this, except for the fact that Warner Bros once objected to being associated with television, and the fact that it’s included as a censorship cut on the old Censored Cartoons Page, the Looney Tunes Fandom Wiki, and this very blog is a worrying sign that people don’t know what words mean. I’m only including it here to show you just how ridiculous it is. Is it really censorship if the scene itself is innocuous? The answer is, “No. Then it’s just a cut for time or for some kind of legal issue involving copyright, in which case, it’s a syndication cut.”

And if you’re playing at home, no, Porky shooting his upstairs neighbor in the butt twice wasn’t cut, nor was the sequence with the drunken fish, not even on channels that have a history of editing irresponsible gunplay and/or drunken behavior (so…Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and maybe Nickelodeon, but I can see Nickelodeon only editing the gun parts).

It should also be of note that some redrawn versions (and the computer-colorized version that I'm so sure aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang outside of Late Night Black and White) do exist with the original end card, but cut the part where a cross-eyed hunter and his equally crossed shotgun shoots down two planes while aiming for a duck and the end where Porky stutters that he has no more bullets in his rifle. It's from a Brazilian channel called SBT.

How It Plays Edited/Video Comparison: Since the audio hasn’t been altered (just the video), it does come off as weird, but it’s not anything to freak out over…unless you’re a purist who advocates for uncut and uncensored entertainment (which I can get behind). As for the edits done on SBT...cutting the cross-eyed hunter part doesn’t make or break the short, but it does look obvious because a fake fade-out was used (and I've seen enough edited Warner Bros. cartoons on TV in the 1990s and early 2000s to know that a fake fade-out to the next scene usually means something was cut). The end with Porky stuttering that he doesn’t have any more bullets...yeah, audio edits are hit or miss (with more misses than hits, though the misses usually become hits due to how laughably bad they are. If you’re like me, you remember when most edited-for-TV movies hired replacement voice actors to bowdlerize lines that had swearing, crude, sexually suggestive comments; or were just generally offensive for one reason or another. Most of those lines have become memes. These days, you can easily mute the line, cut or shorten the scene with the offending line, use an alternate take that was done while the film was being produced, or use A.I. dubbing, the last of which is still in its experimental phase, but, give it time, and it will catch on) and this one was a miss.

As always, here’s the video:

Availability Uncut: It was shown uncut on the “Daffy Duck: The Nuttiness Continues” 24 Karat Golden Jubilee VHS and Beta collection back in 1985, though that version had “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” dubbed over the original opening theme and was time-compressed. The actual version where all parts are intact, it’s in black and white, it’s not sped up, and the original music is on the track can be found on either the Essential Daffy Duck DVD (disc one) or the Porky Pig 101 DVD (disc 2), and will be included in the upcoming Looney Tunes Collector’s Vault Blu-ray. It was on Max/HBO Max, but, for reasons unknown, all of the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts have been removed. Here’s hoping it’s only temporary.

‘Til next time…

Thought I’d do something different, since this is the first cartoon that pairs Porky and Daffy, the first time Daffy is shown as actually living up to his name, and the first time Mel Blanc voices Porky, since Joe Dougherty was let go due to not being able to control his actual stutter during recording.

Porky's Romance (Dog-Gone Love)

 

Director: Frank Tashlin (credited as “Frank Tash”)

Summary: In this, the debut of Porky Pig’s shallow love interest, Petunia Pig (who isn’t as nice and bland as later incarnations), and the final cartoon with Joe Dougherty as the voice of Porky (who was let go because Dougherty’s actual stutter was slowing down voice recording. It’s the opposite of what we have now, where producers will cast an actual stutterer because one who can fake a stutter is considered “ableist.” What a world!), Porky comes over to try and win Petunia’s hand in marriage, but it becomes clear that she only wants him because he bought chocolates and flowers. When Porky attempts suicide over being rejected and used, the hanging goes pear-shape and Porky sees what life would be like if he did marry Petunia.

The Channel(s): The WB

Part(s) Edited: Surprisingly, Porky’s botched suicide wasn’t cut, nor was Porky and Petunia going straight to the Honeymoon Hotel, kissing, and turning off the lights (the shorthand way of showing sex on a wedding night in Hays Code-censored movies. They probably still do it today, but only as a joke or if something is meant to be PG instead of PG-13 [which sadly seems to be as far as most creatives are willing to go. I want my R, NC-17, and unrated entertainment that’s not confined to HBO and premium cable. And maybe G-rated stuff, since that's not as common as it used to be]), Petunia feeding chocolates to her dog (which is extremely dangerous to do), or Petunia beating Porky with a rolling pin (classic female-on-male domestic abuse schtick. It’s a total double standard that “You Beat Your Wife” gets censored on The WB, but not that part).

Nah, fam. What got cut was the very end, where, after Petunia wakes Porky up from his suicide attempt and agrees to marry him after turning him down, Porky (thinking back to the nightmare where his blushing bride becomes a slovenly, unashamed housewife who feeds chocolate to her dog and nags Porky about the housework and childcare) decides, “Screw that!” and bolts, but not before coming back to retrieve the box of chocolate and give Petunia’s dog a well-deserved kick in the ass. The WB didn’t appreciate Porky kicking the dog, so it was cut.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: Nothing, except for the whole double standard about how “Wideo Wabbit”’s “You Beat Your Wife” part was censored, yet Petunia whaling on Porky with a rolling pin was uncut. That’s more a Tumblr argument and I was only into Tumblr to find like-minded people who want to be better fiction writers and thought Cartoon Network’s Time Squad (from 2001) was rife with homosexual innuendo and jokes more suited for Adult Swim rather than daytime Cartoon Network (which it is. Rob Paulsen’s podcast episodes with Mark Hamill and Pamela Segall-Adlon say so and co-creator Carlos Ramos [who has his own Tumblr filled with weird art and answers to fan questions] agrees).

How It Plays Edited/Video Comparison: 

The ending is abrupt, but not annoyingly so. Ending it with Porky running away after retrieving his chocolates (or even with Porky running off and leaving Petunia and the chocolates behind) is more believable story-wise, as it shows that Petunia only liked Porky because he had chocolates for her and the dream showed what would happen if Porky did marry Petunia and she continued her chocolate eating. Either taking the chocolates away from her or leaving her with them is a final “Screw you!” to her and everything she stands for when it comes to shy men (or anthropomorphic pigs) trying to pour their hearts out to high-maintenance women (or high-maintenance, anthropomorphic sows in this case, since a sow is a female pig, but that word can be used like “bitch” or “cow” to be a derogatory term for a woman, whether deserved or not) who just aren’t feeling it.

Availability Uncut: Your choice: The Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume 3 DVD set (on the third disc with optional commentary by Mark Kausler) or the Porky Pig 101 DVD (disc 2)

‘Til next time…

Porky's Road Race (Putting the "Race" in "Racial Stereotyping")

NOTE: Because most of the celebrities identified here will be unfamiliar to most readers, I have provided links to their Wikipedia pages as a diving board for the inevitable fall down the rabbit hole of old-school Hollywood trivia and history.

Director: Frank Tashlin (credited as “Frank Tash”)

Summary: Porky competes in a celebrity-studded car race, where the favorite to win is Borax Karoff (Boris Karloff). Can Porky beat him and win the $2 million dollar prize (which comes to $1.63 after something called a “less tax”. And don’t get me started on what those figures would be when adjusted for current inflation…)?

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang

Part(s) Edited: Just one, and it’s a very fleeting cut, whether you’ve seen this edited or not. The redrawn- and computer-colorized versions shown on all three channels (though Cartoon Network once had an uncut computer-colorized version, as seen in this picture: 

The station identification bug doesn’t lie, and it doesn’t look like it was PhotoShopped or was created with A.I., since PhotoShop would be too obvious and A.I. as we know it now wasn’t around when this aired on Cartoon Network between 1992 and the early 2000s) edited the scene at the beginning of the race where all the drivers speed off was cut to remove the part where a vehicle driven by Stepin Fetchit trails behind them on a racecar called, “The Knee Action Special,” which is a bike meets an Olympic-style luge (not bad for those who want to take it easy and help the environment, but really not appropriate for a race that favors fast cars).

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: Nothing. The edit is seamless and a throwaway joke like that doesn’t add much to the story…unless, of course, you’re a purist who hates it when television censors anything it airs, from classic cartoon shorts to contemporary movies and TV show reruns. The scene is only there because the cartoon is about celebrity caricatures of the era in a road race, from the comedy stars like Edna May Oliver, W.C. Fields, and Charlie Chaplin to the more serious stars, like Boris Karloff, Greta Garbo, and John Barrymore (yes, he is related to Drew Barrymore). Stepin Fetchit would definitely be in the comedy section, as that kind of racial humor was popular in its day. If I have one complaint about the edit, it’s that Cartoon Network and Boomerang should have cut W.C. Fields using booze to jump-start Edna May Oliver’s car, since Cartoon Network does have a history of editing out alcohol references, though, compared to editing out outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes, editing for alcohol references is a tad more inconsistent.

How It Plays Edited/Video Comparison: Right here, now without watermarks!

Availability Uncut: Your choice: the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume three DVD set (which is the start of the classic cartoon DVDs having warnings about some of the shorts containing content now considered “politically incorrect” or “problematic” due to outdated racial and ethnic caricatures) or the Porky Pig 101 DVD set (using the same copy from the former DVD set). Will it ever see a remastered for Blu-ray, streaming, or digital download version? Maybe, but not likely.

‘Til next time…

Under Construction

With the viewing success of “Joined at the Hypocrisy: A June Bugs Special in April” (currently at 21, though it’s a long way from reaching the inexplicable success of my post for “I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song,” which, last I checked, was at 96) and promises of re-creating the blog (which includes better software -- video and word processing, mostly -- in creating it and finding new ways to get the blog noticed), “Drawn and Quartered” is going on hiatus…again. This one won’t be as long (I’m taking May off and some of June, but I’d rather take May off so I can be fresh for June. Think of this show as a summer TV show that airs when all the fall and spring shows go on break), but it will be a long wait before a new installment comes out.

Future Installments

The episodes scheduled to appear (in order of how they were released in 1937) will be:

Regular Episodes

Porky’s Road Race (Putting the “Race” in “Racial Stereotypes”)

Porky’s Romance (Dog-Gone Love)

Porky’s Duck Hunt (House of End Cards)

Porky’s Railroad (Re-Drawn Together)

Speaking of the Weather (An Old Buddy [Cartoon] of Mine)

Rover’s Rival (Washed-Up Antiques Roadshow)

The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Not Kid-ding Around)

Porky’s Hero Agency (No Re-Guard for Consistency)

September in the Rain (No Plot? Plenty of Problems!)

Special Episodes

Shoot to Kill, Censor to Annoy - A look at how Chuck Jones’ iconic trilogy of Bugs and Daffy arguing over which hunting season it is and Elmer getting caught up in it (“Rabbit Fire,” “Rabbit Seasoning,” and “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!”) has been edited on a lot of American TV channels in the 1980s and 1990s. I look forward to this one, since those cartoons are well-known and a generation that most likely grew up seeing them uncut and uncensored (thanks to Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and MeTV not editing for violence and the cartoons being readily available on DVD and streaming) probably don’t know that older generations who saw this on television were forced to see edited versions of it on channels that don’t even air Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts anymore.

Have You Seen This Scene?: A look at several cartoons that have parts cut, but the parts cut were done either before theatrical release or when it was reissued, what the parts could be (if possible), and if any of the scenes have been restored. For a refreshing change of pace, “Red Hot Riding Hood” (an MGM short that technically counts as a Warner Bros cartoon because WB Discovery now owns MGM cartoons and Tex Avery was a director for both WB and MGM) will be included.

A Pig Boy and His Scaredy Cat: A look at how “Scaredy Cat,” “Claws for Alarm,” and “Jumpin’ Jupiter!” -- three Chuck Jones-directed cartoons centered on Porky and Sylvester the cat going on horror-themed vacations -- were cut on American TV. This might be released during Memorial Day weekend, but I really want to do this in June, which is when vacation time really begins to rear its head, thanks to kids going on summer break from school.

Additional Changes

I’ll also be re-making the videos showing how the uncut cartoon being discussed plays vs. the edited version, as I finally have a version of Filmora Wondershare that doesn’t leave watermarks on the exported video. There are currently talks about making future “Drawn and Quartered” installments video blogs with no written entries (as the written entries will be in the video), but nothing is set in stone as of yet.

Please enjoy the time off and I will see you when everything is polished and ready.

‘Til next time:

Joined at the Hypocrisy: A June Bugs Special in April

NOTE: Parts of this blog have been generated with the use of an A.I. writing program (in this case, it was Google’s Gemini. I was going to use Claude or ChatGPT, but I haven’t used Gemini much). It was done as an experiment to see if I can use A.I. as a way to draft my works and make blog writing quicker and more efficient. It did succeed, but I felt I could have prompted it more to make it read like something I’d write.

Anyway, don’t be upset or mad at me that I “sold out.” I did tell you on that Censored Eleven FAQ that I would be using A.I. writing tools both in blogging and, when I finally get to it, in my fiction writing. I’d rather embrace anything that can help me write while it’s still available rather than close my ears, scream, “La-la-la-la-la-la-la, I can’t hear you!” and pray that it goes away. That’s not how the world works…most of the time. Besides, at the end of the day, I can always edit and revise it to my liking, which is perfectly ethical and legal.

The Drawn and Quartered entry for “Porky’s Road Race” (not “Porky the Wrestler.” That’s part of another blog entry) will not be seen today, so that this blogger can bring you a special post that can’t wait another two months.

A Brief History

For those who watched Cartoon Network as a child (either en lieu of or combined with Nickelodeon, The Disney Channel/Toon Disney, and regular network television), June Bugs was that one time of year when the network was nothing but Bugs Bunny shorts, from the prototypical Bugs as seen on “Hare-um Scare-um” and “Porky’s Hare Hunt” to his more defined personality, as seen on “A Wild Hare,” the Hunter’s Trilogy (“Rabbit Fire,” “Rabbit Seasoning,” and “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!”), and the Wagnerian “What’s Opera Doc”.

What made the marathon interesting was its often eclectic selection, which was built over its nine-year run on Cartoon Network from 1993 to 2002, followed by a two-year stint from 2004 to 2006 on Cartoon Network’s sister channel, Boomerang. The early days (1993 to 1996) were mostly the pre-1948 Bugs Bunny shorts. With that limited selection, June Bugs only lasted a day.

1997 saw more post-1948 shorts, but, thanks to ABC and Nickelodeon airing most of them on their Looney Tunes compilation shows (The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show on ABC and Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon on…Nickelodeon. Duh), it still wasn’t all of them in the eyes of a hardcore fan. Nevertheless, the marathon was now two days long instead of one, and this year was the premiere of a previously-unseen, modern-day short called “(Blooper) Bunny,” where viewers get to see the behind-the-scenes gaffes, arguments, and embarrassing blunders that went into making Bugs Bunny’s 51st-and-a-half anniversary in 1991. If you had a VCR and clean tape at the ready and either could program its timer (or sacrifice your sleep cycle for cartoony goodness), then you could still have a good weekend binge-watching in the pre-streaming era.

1999 and 2000 saw more changes to the June Bugs marathon. 1999 was a This is Your Life-style marathon, showing Bugs’ life as a cartoon character through different themes. One hour, you had Bugs cartoons that are fairy tale parodies, another you had Bugs cartoons where his enemy is Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam, and another, you had how Bugs was directed under different directors. The 1999 June Bugs also saw the premiere of such shorts as “Porky's Hare Hunt,” “Long-Haired Hare,” “The Hasty Hare,” “Mad as a Mars Hare,” “Water, Water Every Hare,” “Bunny Hugged,” and “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” after airing on ABC and Nickelodeon throughout the 1980s and 1990s (with “Long-Haired Hare” and “Duck! Rabbit! Duck!” shown edited on ABC).

In comparison, 2000 saw more premieres of Bugs Bunny (and, in the case of “Patient Porky,” proto-Bugs Bunny) shorts. You didn’t just get the Saturday morning staples; you also got the deep cuts that hardcore fans know about and, in a lot of cases, don’t see much airtime, such as “Which is Witch” from 1949 and “Bushy Hare” from 1950.

This brings us to the 2001 June Bugs, the one that was touted to contain every Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made in celebration of Cartoon Network having exclusive rights to the Looney Tunes cartoons after years of them being scattered on other networks and in syndication. That’s 177 Bugs Bunny (including proto-Bugs Bunny) shorts in all. Twelve of those ended up being pulled at the last minute for outdated and racially insensitive content, leading to outcry from classic animation fans and critics who feel that the more politically incorrect cartoons should have been left to air as-is or, at least, with a warning about the content so viewers can either see whether the warning is justified or not. An effort was made to have Cartoon Network show the 12 racially insensitive Bugs shorts in a historical context, thanks to the anthology show, ToonHeads, but that episode (and one about the worst cartoons ever made from Ruby-Spears, Hanna-Barbera, and Filmation) never aired. It can be found online, thanks to the work of lost media finders and classic cartoon enthusiasts, like Jerico Dvorak.

So, what exactly are the 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that are too offensive to air?

The 12 Missing Hares

1) 

Director: Friz Freleng

Summary: While reading “The Song of Hiawatha” (written by the same man who wrote “The Village Blacksmith”), Bugs finds that the poem has come to life when a Elmer Fudd-looking Native American hunter goes after him.

Reason Why It Was Banned: Native American stereotypes

Does It Deserve It: Not really. Outside of Bugs dancing around the pole and whooping after tying up Hiawatha, there’s nothing all that offensive about it. It’s the typical Bugs vs. Elmer type of conflict, only Elmer is a Native American. If anything, most of these Bugs vs. an ethnic/racial stereotype shorts show that Bugs is an equal opportunity offender.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: Yes, actually. I remember seeing it on TBS and TNT as a kid back when those channels showed pre-1948 Warner Bros shorts before dumping them all on Cartoon Network (so, before October 1992) and Cartoon Network back in the early 2000s did air it on a Thanksgiving Day morning installment of The Acme Hour. That’s probably more problematic than the short itself, so I don’t know what the programmers were thinking.

Is It Available on Official Release: Yes again. According to the Looney Tunes Fandom wiki, it was available on 8 millimeter reel, has two Super 8 releases, was on a VHS called Bugs Bunny Cartoon Festival: Little Red Riding Rabbit, was on volume two of the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc collection, is a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Maltese Falcon, starring Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor; is on another DVD called Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection, is on the DVD and Blu-ray version of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection (volume 3), and was streaming on HBO Max in 2020 until it got removed for showing outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes.

2) 

Director: Tex Avery (uncredited, as this was released when he quit Warner Bros. over the ending to “The Heckling Hare”)

Summary: Basically, this is “A Wild Hare” if Elmer Fudd was a slow-talking, kind of dim black caricature that was prevalent at the time.

Reason Why It Was Banned: African-American stereotypes.

Does It Deserve It: It does, despite The Hick Critic actually liking it for the comedy and only criticizing it for the ending where Bugs competes with the black hunter in a craps game and steals all his clothes…and the fig leaf on his crotch.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: This is a Censored Eleven cartoon. It had no chance.

Is It Available on Official Release: Yes and no. There were plans to officially release the Censored Eleven on Blu-ray, but Warners got cold feet and shut it down. The documentary, “King Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution” from volume 2 (which is very hard to find. I’ve checked. The DVD version is more available) of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Blu-ray does have clips of it, but most scenes shown either just show Bugs or are cropped so we don’t see the black hunter. However, all is not lost. This is a public domain cartoon (been there since 1969), so you can find it on most public domain cartoon compilation home media and video sites that will allow this, despite being racially insensitive.

3) 

a.k.a “Any Bonds Today?”

Director: Bob Clampett (uncredited)

Summary: A short, WWII propaganda piece where Bugs (joined by Elmer and Porky) sing for war bond donations.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The WWII propaganda makes it more a historical curiosity than an actual cartoon with a plot. Plus, there’s that Al Jolson blackface part in the middle of the song.

Does It Deserve It: Possibly. The blackface part is probably what most people would complain about, especially since 4chan actually used that part as a meme back in 2012.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: Actually, yes. Back in 2000, Cartoon Network had a special episode of their animation history show, ToonHeads, showcasing Warner Bros. Studios’ rare and obscure works, such as the pitch pilot, “Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid”; a lost organ sing-along series called “Crying for the Carolines,” home movies showing what it was like to work at Termite Terrace under Leon Schlesinger, cartoons Warner Bros. made as informative and entertaining shorts for the military during World War II, 1950s commercials featuring the Looney Tunes characters, and a failed pilot called Philbert. The version Cartoon Network showed edited the blackface part with a creative and strategically-placed page-turning effect, making it look like the part was cut for time and not content. Why they couldn’t do that for June Bugs 2001 is a mystery to me. Maybe Cartoon Network also didn’t like that it was short (it could have been filler for either the top or bottom of the hour).

Anyway, here’s a compare/contrast video. It’s a bit too big to fit on the blog, so you’re going to have to click here.

Is It Available on Official Release: Unless you count its appearance on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes (volume 4) laserdisc set (where it’s uncut and uncensored) and on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume one DVD set as part of the ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons special (where it’s still shown edited as it was when it aired on TV), no, there’s no official release as of yet (and probably never will be, unless Warner Bros. decides that it’s time). However, much like “All This and Rabbit Stew,” this is a public domain short (not because the copyright lapsed, but because it never had one to begin with, as it was commissioned by the United States Treasury Department to be a propaganda film) and can be found online or in gray-market home media releases.

4) 

Director: Bob Clampett

Summary: Upset over getting snubbed at the Oscars, Bugs shows a demo reel of his best work, which happens to be a clip from Friz Freleng’s “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt.”

Reason Why It Was Banned: The clip from “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt” is the main reason, though some will tell you the “Stag Reel” joke (implying that either Bugs starred in 1940s pornography or has a personal collection in the days before X-rated bookstores in the city, beaded-off sections of normal, family-friendly video stores in the suburbs, scrambled cable, and sketchy streaming) and the booby prize Oscar acting stereotypically gay also are good reasons.

Does It Deserve It: Hell no. Cartoon Network has aired worse inappropriate content than this…mostly from their original programming.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It did. I have vague memories of seeing this on TNT as a kid and Cartoon Network did air it as part of The Bob Clampett Show. Both times were uncut and uncensored. In fact, this is the first Looney Tunes short to air when MeTV Toons premiered on June 25th, 2024, and, as far as I know, it wasn’t cut for time or content.

Is It Available on Official Release: Yes, it is. The Looney Tunes Fandom wiki has a full list, so I’m just going to name off the more recent releases:

• The DVD and Blu-ray releases of Captain of the Clouds, starring James Cagney, Dennis Morgan, and Brenda Marshall.
• The Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD set.
• The Bugs Bunny: Superstar DVD version (which is a new, yet unrestored transfer. Volume 4 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection also has it, but that’s an older transfer from the laserdisc and VHS versions of Bugs Bunny: Superstar)
• Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Blu-ray set (restored and remastered for HD viewing)

5) 

Director: Friz Freleng (credited as “I. Freleng”)

Summary: Stranded in a barrel on the Pacific Ocean, Bugs washes up on an island full of WWII-era  Japanese soldiers (and one sumo wrestler) out to get him.

Reason Why It Was Banned:  Come on! As if the title itself shouldn’t tip you off…unless you really don’t know of how anti-Japanese America was during World War II. Everyone wants to talk and obsess about Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, but this gets swept under the rug out of shame. If that doesn’t rattle you, then Bugs using such slurs as “Japs,” “monkey face,” “bow legs,” and “slant eyes” so casually and as he hands out booby-trapped ice cream bars should.

Does It Deserve It: Yeah. While not as outrageously cruel as “Tokio Jokio,” it will come as a shock that a Bugs Bunny cartoon like this exists, especially those who are used to the post-WWII fare. At the same time, though, this is one of those shorts that should be seen more as a product of its time and used in any and all school reports on World War II, how entertainment of the time was affected by it, and how we perceived our enemies. You have my personal guarantee that, if you get in trouble for trying to spread discrimination and racial hatred just because you were spitting uncomfortable historical facts (and not actually trying to spread discrimination and racial hatred), then you’ve done a good job, but I’m not personally responsible for you getting in trouble for it, as you chose to take my advice. A lot of people today seem to forget that they have a choice in everything they do.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It aired in clips on the ToonHeads special about World War II-era cartoons, and Saturday Night Live’s TV Funhouse cartoon, “The X-Presidents,” showed a spoof of WWII-era anti-Japanese cartoons that mixed “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” with “Tokio Jokio” on the season 28 (2002-2003) episode hosted by Queen Latifah with musical guest Ms. Dynamite. Those are the recent sightings of this short. In the late 1980s into the 1990s, TBS and TNT showed this, possibly uncut and uncensored. It was last seen as a full short on an installment show called Tom and Jerry’s Funhouse in 1991.

Is It Available on Official Release: It was (emphasis on “was”). The Golden Age of Looney Tunes VHS and laserdisc set (first volume, side seven of the laserdisc and the seventh volume on the VHS version) actually released the cartoon as part of its “Bugs Bunny By Each Director” compilation, but Japanese advocacy/anti-discrimination/anti-defamation groups protested over it. The VHSes and laserdiscs that had “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” on it were recalled and newer releases at the time replaced that cartoon with 1946’s “Racketeer Rabbit”.

6) 

Director: Friz Freleng (credited as “I. Freleng”)

Summary: Speaking of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, we have this cartoon, where Bugs makes his first wrong turn at Albuquerque and ends up in Germany’s Black Forest (das Schwarzwald) where Hermann Göring (Hitler’s second-in-command) is out hunting and needs something to hunt.

Some Fun Facts:

This short has an early, more comedic version of the Brunhilde entrance sequence from Chuck Jones’ “What’s Opera, Doc?” Considering that Michael Maltese -- Chuck Jones’ main writer -- also wrote this, I’m not surprised (I was when I first saw this, but that was because I didn’t think Bugs entering the scene on a horse as a Brunhilde had a precedent).

This was shown to German prisoners of war, one of which (Hans Goebler) didn’t like it.

This cartoon and “Draftee Daffy” are considered the last WWII propaganda shorts made by Warner Bros., though there are references to limits on unnecessary traveling on “The Unruly Hare” and “Nasty Quacks,” both of which were released after World War II.

Reason Why It Was Banned: Same as “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” only replace “Imperial Japanese” with “Nazi Germans”.

Does It Deserve It: Not as much as “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips.” Yes, it is a World War II cartoon. Yes, it does have Nazis, Adolf Hitler, and a little bit of Josef Stalin in it, which can be considered problematic for those who know their history (but tell that to the people today who don’t and don’t want to). However, this was released when Germany was losing badly, Hitler’s regime was on its last legs (he would commit suicide a few months after this came out in theaters), and World War II would be over in a few months with a victory for the Allied forces. As far as World War II-era ridiculing and demonizing of our enemies goes, this is fairly light.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It did. Not often, but it did air and always with someone explaining the historical context behind it. Like “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” it aired on Cartoon Network’s ToonHeads special about World War II-era cartoons, though “Herr Meets Hare” aired uncut and uncensored, as opposed to being in clips. It was also on the Turner Classic Movies animation history show, Cartoon Alley.

Is It Available on Official Release: Yeah, and unlike “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” there were no protests or recalls (the 1991 VHS “Bugs Bunny: Hollywood Legend” didn’t include it, despite listing it as being one of the featured cartoons, but that was a mastering error, not cold feet due to possible controversy. The error has since been fixed). Coincidentally, the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc set (volume three) does include this, but if you want more recent releases, there’s the final volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (on the second disc, which is all about World War II-era and post-WWII propaganda shorts) and as a special feature on the DVD versions of Hollywood Canteen (a musical movie that has too many then-famous stars to mention) and a three-movie DVD collection called “Warner Bros. and the Homefront.”

7) 

Director: Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles M. Jones”)

Summary: Just like “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt” (minus the Oscar nomination), Bugs Bunny squares off against a Native American hunter, only this one is more of a bespectacled nerd than an Elmer Fudd-esque idiot.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The Native American stereotypes.

Does It Deserve It: On the one hand, it’s not as offensive as “Horse Hare.” On the other hand, there’s a lot of stereotypical Native American broken English, as seen in this picture…

 

…and the part where Bugs clubs the Native American hunter and props him up outside the teepee barbershop like a cigar store Indian might not be considered “in good taste.” But I did find it funny as a kid and now.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: How else do you think I saw it as a mid-1980s-born, 1990s/early 2000s-raised kid? TBS, TNT (the channel I definitely remember seeing this on), and Cartoon Network in the 1990s were a gold mine of cartoons that weren’t overly un-PC (meaning no Censored Eleven shorts or any of the really heavy WWII cartoons, unless you count “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” on Tom and Jerry Funhouse), but aired anyway, so long as no one complained.

Is It Available on Official Release: Its most recent home media release was on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc (volume 3, side 10, “Politically Incorrect”) back in 1992. It has aired on television sporadically through the early 1990s, but pretty much has disappeared somewhere between 1993 and 1995, maybe earlier than that. Unless you can find it on websites willing to break copyright law just to get the hidden gems of the Warner Bros animated filmography to the masses, you’re going to have to wait until Warner Bros grows a pair and releases the politically incorrect Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies on DVD, Blu-ray, and maybe 4K if they feel like it.

8) 

Director: Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles M. Jones”)

Summary: Thanks to some cotton-picking slaves, Bugs finds himself on a riverboat, and comes face-to-face with Colonel Shuffle, Chuck Jones’ short-lived version of Friz Freleng’s Yosemite Sam, only here, "Sam" is a Southern gentleman and not a raucous, hot-tempered cowboy.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The references to black slavery and the antebellum Southern U.S. (Bugs gets mistaken for cotton by slaves working in a cotton field and singing “Dixie”, Colonel Shuffle is in blackface from an exploding cigar [though that blackface does not look like the offensive kind. The lips aren’t colored white or red], and Bugs tricks Colonel Shuffle into falling off the boat by advertising for a show called Uncle Tom’s Cabinet). There’s also use of the word “jackass,” but Cartoon Network actually let that swear word slide on “Falling Hare” and “A Tale of Two Mice.”

Does It Deserve It: Well, yes, because a lot of people are sensitive about that subject in America. However, the DVD audio commentary for this by Eric Goldberg (who is a Warner Bros cartoon fan, despite mostly working on Disney animation projects, proving that you can like both for entertainment and artistic reasons) does explain that, while the subject matter may be offensive, Jones does manage to make it tasteful (I’m guessing because “Angel Puss” was met with the same kind of disgust and ire back in 1944 that it does in this day and age? Who knows?). The slaves’ faces aren’t shown, so you don’t have to worry about exaggerated lips or unfortunate resemblances to Stepin Fetchit and I mentioned the blackface from the cigar doesn’t have colored lips to complete the look. About the only offensive things would be the slaves singing “Dixie” and the “Uncle Tom’s Cabinet” parts, but, if Cartoon Network can show their version of 1956’s “Wideo Wabbit” where the unfortunately-named You Bet Your Life spoof You Beat Your Wife is digitally altered with all verbal references cut and muted, then “Mississippi Hare” could have squeaked by with similar cuts.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It did, but not on Cartoon Network. I have vague memories of seeing this on Nickelodeon uncut and uncensored (and most likely pulled from rotation due to parental complaints or the network realizing how problematic it is), but the old Censored Cartoons Page states that ABC and WB aired it with parts cut, as these videos will demonstrate:

Uncut vs. ABC’s edited version:

Uncut vs. The WB’s version:

Is It Available on Official Release: Yes. Its earliest release was on a 1984 VHS called The Looney Tunes Video Show (volume 9; it was only available in countries that transfer their television and video feeds through PAL rather than NTSC or SECAM, so it wasn’t a Canadian or United States release). Its most recent release is the Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny Golden Carrot Collection, which, actually, is the same copy from the fourth volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. I recommend that version because it has audio commentary by Eric Goldberg, who, as I said before, loves the cartoon, but understands that it has a lot of problematic historical content that prevents it from being more well-known as an example of how Chuck Jones directed his Bugs Bunny cartoons.

9) 

Director: Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles M. Jones”)

Summary: Bugs’ second wrong turn at Albuquerque (and first one under Chuck Jones) sees him at the North Pole, where he must save a penguin (which are South Pole animals, and it’s the same penguin from “8 Ball Bunny,” which came after this) from getting killed by an Inuit (the proper term for an Alaskan Native. “Eskimo” is outdated) hunter.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The Inuit/Alaskan Native hunter, even though the worst Bugs does to him is slap him with a fish, call him a “baboon” and an “Eskimo Pie-head,” and let the Inuit hunter land on the water spout of a passing whale.

Does It Deserve It: No. There’s nothing there that feels like it would be offensive…besides the “Eskimo Pie-head” line.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: Yes, it did. I remember Nickelodeon airing it uncut (but only once or twice before pulling it), Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends when it was syndicated on local FOX affiliates ran this with light cuts, Cartoon Network and Boomerang showed this in memory of Chuck Jones (also with light cuts) on February 22nd, 2002 and on occasion after that before the Warner Bros cartoons were pulled again. Currently, MeTV airs it uncut, though it’s on rare occasions and not during Toon In With Me.

Here’s a video showing how Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends, and a 1965 airing of The Bugs Bunny Show cut this short:

Is It Available on Official Release: Yes again. While it’s mostly seen on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection (volume one) and any and all repackaged versions of it, it is on three UK-based video collections and a laserdisc dedicated to Warner Bros cartoons associated with traveling and visiting other countries.

10) 

Director: Friz Freleng (credited as “I. Freleng”)

Summary: In an African jungle, a witch doctor named I.C. Spots is short on rabbit for his latest potion, so he goes out looking for one. At the same time, Bugs finds himself at the corner of Huba-Huba and Kuka-Munga and literally flips himself to see where he’ll go next. Sure enough, he picks Kuka-Munga and runs afoul of Dr. Spots.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The strange non-white natives (pretty sure they’re supposed to be from the Zulu tribe, but they don’t look it).

Does It Deserve It: I…guess so, but only because the cartoon is painfully average, compared to the other cartoons that came out in 1949. Then again, worse cartoons than this have aired on American television (and released on official and unofficial home media) and 1949 was more of Chuck Jones’ year than it was Friz Freleng (despite “High-Diving Hare” being his best work that year for Bugs and Yosemite Sam), Robert McKimson (despite “Rebel Rabbit” being his best Bugs Bunny short that year), or Arthur Davis (especially Davis, since this was his last year as director, with “Bowery Bugs” as his best and only Bugs Bunny cartoon).

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It did, if you can believe it. CBS in the 1980s aired it as part of The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show and cut the part where Dr. I.C. Spots forces Bugs into his hut, then locks him in his cauldron with a pressure cooker lid, where Bugs screams for help as he’s nearly being boiled alive (this was also the version that aired on Cartoon Network in Japan. I don’t know if Japan had the same rules against showing characters in distress as CBS did in the 1980s or if this was the only copy they could find). Nickelodeon also aired this in the early 1990s (maybe also the late 1980s when Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon was a Nick at Nite show instead of a daytime kids’ show? It has the feel of that kind of cartoon). Their version left in the cauldron part, but cut Bugs using plates and a spring to pose as a native as he flees Dr. Spots.

As always, here’s a video re-enactment (forgive some of the small, grammatical errors on the title cards. I did this in a hurry):

Is It Available on Official Release: It came close to being released on the “Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire” volume of the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD collection, but, Warner Home Video executives withdrew it while the collection was being planned out (which is a shame, because I would love to see this remastered on DVD). As of this writing, it hasn’t been released anywhere, which surprises me, because you’d think this at least would have been part of a 1990s VHS or laserdisc collection in America or was only available on home media releases in other countries where stereotypical depictions of other races and ethnicities that aren’t theirs are more-or-less allowed.

11) 

Director: Robert McKimson

Summary: Helping an Italian balloon salesman in the park and an off-screen mix-up with a stork (who’s actually sober here) sends Bugs on an unplanned trip to Australia, where a mother kangaroo and an Aboriginie (who actually looks somewhere between Southern Italian and Middle Eastern [I want to say Lebanese, since he kind of looks like current (as of this writing) Saturday Night Live cast member, Emil Wakim]) both go after Bugs for different reasons.

Reason Why It Was Banned: The Aboriginie hunter, of course. However, I don’t understand why America would care about the stereotypical/inaccurate portrayal of an Australian indigenous person…unless June Bugs was going to be a global event, which, yeah, would explain why most of the banned Bugs Bunny 12 would be pulled. When you consider that there are Bugs Bunny cartoons that had worse racial content and were allowed to air (like “Southern Fried Rabbit,” which was shown, but had parts cut to remove any black slavery references or references to the Confederate flag or “A-Lad-In a Lamp,” which had a lot of stereotypical depictions of Middle Easterners), you have to wonder why this one stuck in Time-Warner AOL’s collective craw.

Does It Deserve It: I’m on the fence about this one. Yeah, the primitive native angle might be offensive (especially the “Unga-bunga” part, which, from what I’ve been reading in YouTube comments, is most people’s favorite part), but this is on the light side of being racially/ethnically insensitive...unless you live in Australia and are put off by the harsh treatment of the natives.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: It did and, as of this writing, still does on occasion. I remember seeing this (uncut?!) on ABC (double ?!) as a kid, though the only parts that stood out from the haze of my childhood memories were “Nature Boy” (Bugs’ name for the Aboriginal native) trying to shoot Bugs with a red ball through a bamboo shoot, but Bugs gets the drop on him and blows it back in his mouth, causing Nature Boy to go green from sickness; the hole-in-the-ground stabbing part that was edited for sadistic violence (even though it was played for comedy) on Nickelodeon; and Nature Boy and Bugs fighting in the mother kangaroo’s pouch (which is actually a womb, complete with womb slime and wouldn’t fit anything or anyone else in there except other joeys, as seen on the Simpsons episode “Bart vs. Australia” and the cold open to the Family Guy episode “Screwed the Pooch”). On top of that, Cartoon Network did air “Bushy Hare” -- as part of the June Bugs from 2000 (“Which is Witch” is also in that same boat of airing on June Bugs 2000 before getting banned in 2001). I would ask how did Cartoon Network let that slip, but they’re notorious for that. Now, it airs on MeTV’s classic cartoon compilation show, Saturday Morning Cartoons (not the most imaginative name, but it does deliver what it promises) and joins “What’s Cookin’, Doc?” and “Frigid Hare” as the only Banned Bugs Bunny 12 shorts to air on MeTV.

Here's an approximation of how Nickelodeon edited this short. I am fully aware this is a copy from MeTV (that’s proof that it did air on that network uncut and uncensored):

Is It Available on Official Release: Prior to 2010, no. After 2010, it appeared on the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD collection (“Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire”) and all repackaged versions of it (“Looney Tunes Super Stars Three Pack” and “Looney Tunes Super Stars Family Multi-Feature,” both of which include the discs from the “Foghorn Leghorn and Friends: Barnyard Big Mouth” and “Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote: Supergenius Hijinks”), which is odd, because “Which Is Witch” also has non-white native stereotypes in it and that got banned. It also was on HBO Max (n.k.a “Max”), but only on the Latin American feed and only between the years 2021 and 2024.

12) 

Director: Friz Freleng (actually credited under that name)

Summary: In 1886, Bugs Bunny is assigned to watch Fort Lariat while his superior and his men are in training. The rest of the cartoon is Bugs fighting back against Native Americans led by redheaded, white man Yosemite Sam (called “Renegade Sam” here).

Reason Why It Was Banned: The Native American stereotypes, and they’re more problematic here than in the other cartoons on this list, with Yosemite Sam as a white man leading a tribe of Native Americans in attacking a fort probably the most problematic aspect of it. However, the chief does think he's a bumbling idiot, so...I guess it's not all glamorizing, just pointing out that something like this did happen in history (or how entertainment of the time interpreted this history).

Does It Deserve It: By the uptight, personal standards of American political correctness, it does…and, just like “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,” it’s not hard to see why. Bugs plugging Native Americans while singing “Ten Little Injuns” and cutting one tally mark down because “Dat one was a half-breed” (someone born from an interracial pairing, usually used for half-white European, half-Native American people, but it’s been used for other racial pairings pejoratively. The most popular: if you’re half-black and half-white) is really not something kids should see on (alleged) family-friendly viewings of the Looney Tunes cartoons.

Did It Air on TV Despite Being Banned: Not as much as the ones that were allowed to air, but it did see some airtime…with some edits done. Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny and Friends cut the entire “Ten Little Injuns” part while Nickelodeon left it in, but stopped at “Six little Injuns,” removing the infamous “half-breed” line and Bugs kicking a Native American warrior in the face from behind as he finishes his song. There is a recreated edit video I snagged from the Internet that shows that, ideally, the Nickelodeon edit should have just cut the short scene of Bugs cutting his tally mark in half while saying his “half-breed” line while keeping the rest of the sequence intact. Between you, me, and a coconut tree, I did picture that being the way Nickelodeon cut it and was disappointed when I saw another video (which I didn’t snag from the Internet) that showed that, no, that wasn’t the case. Oh, and Nickelodeon used clips of it for one of their promos for Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (the one where "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" is sampled as a 1990s rap remix. That's my favorite one...or, at least, the one I remember most from childhood).

Let’s go to the online video (not videotape, because this is 2025 and VCRs and VHSes aren’t sold much unless it’s eBay).

Is It Available on Official Release: Its only official releases are on a Super 8 and as part of the Looney Tunes Video Show VHS collection (the 12th volume, which isn’t even an American/NTSC release) from 1984. As of this writing, there's no restored and remastered version that I'm aware of, nor has it been released on any DVD or Blu-ray, which is a shame, because it easily could have been on the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Blu-ray (all of them could, since Warner Home Media sells the Looney Tunes cartoons to collectors and put warnings on it about the content that may be offensive to modern sensibilities, but is going to be shown uncut anyway for historical reasons). I don’t know where the video version I found online came from (it could have been from a rare, uncut TV viewing, but there are no station identification bugs on the side of the screen).

Conclusion

So, what have we learned from all of this? Well...

• We learned that American censorship is very hypocritical, with Cartoon Network being the perfect example of that. While these cartoons were pulled for content, others, like “Southern Fried Rabbit,” “Sahara Hare,” and “A-Lad-In A Lamp” were shown (with “Southern Fried Rabbit” edited for content. Why couldn’t the same have been done for “Mississippi Hare,” since there is proof that it can be done?). And that’s not getting into how some of the Banned Bugs Bunny 12/Twelve Missing Hares aired on other networks (some edited, some not) and even Cartoon Network aired some of them in the late 1990s up until the year 2000. The Looney Tunes Fandom wiki does hint that most of the blame is on AOL Time Warner getting cold feet because of how bad for business it would be and not Cartoon Network just following orders. That does kind of explain Cartoon Network’s censorial hypocrisy, but I prefer my take where they’re either idiots or making due with whatever copies they have (as revealed on the review/commentary for “Drip Along Daffy” and a random YouTube comment about the popular edited version of “Gonzales’ Tamales”).

• We learned that the Looney Tunes cartoons weren’t meant for children, a lesson I learned after watching the 1953 Pepe Le Pew cartoon “Wild Over You” (I guess I should be glad it wasn’t 1954’s “The Cats Bah.”), but I feel that other viewers can learn the same lesson with some Bugs Bunny cartoons, since Bugs is a more mainstream popular character while Pepe Le Pew is more cult popular (especially with the latter character being canceled).

• We learned about American TV cuts and where to find the missing and rarely-seen cartoons uncut and uncensored, which is a recurring lesson in this blog.

If you enjoyed this, tell your Looney Tunes-loving friends about it and I’ll continue to improve the blog (I already got a handle on the videos). ‘Til next time…