The Boob Tubi

Hey, I got another announcement that I forgot to post:

As of August 15th, the streaming channel Tubi (formerly Tubi TV) has the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons on them. 

Not all of them, though. The ones with really heavy racial and ethnic stereotypes (including the World War II cartoons, some of the banned Bugs Bunny 12 ["Bushy Hare," Frigid Hare," and "What's Cookin', Doc?" are on Tubi] and The Censored Eleven) aren’t on there, and you can forget about seeing any Bosko or Buddy shorts, but Tubi has a healthy mix of the Warner Bros shorts you grew up watching (whether on TV, videotape, DVD, or Internet), as well as some you’ve probably never seen before, or haven’t seen in ages. Speaking of problematic WB shorts, all 17 Pepe Le Pew cartoons are included (for anyone besides me who cares about that. I have the Pepe Le Pew Zee Best of Zee Best DVD from the short-lived Looney Tunes Super Stars DVD collection, so, either way, I have what I want, but I know there are people out there who would rather stream than buy DVDs). If there are any cuts or alterations noticed in the shorts, I will report it, though that doesn't seem likely that they'd put edited cartoons on there; just ban the ones that may be considered offensive**.

And the best part: Tubi is free, so you can watch Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies without doling out cash each month (HBO Max’s monthly price isn’t that bad, but they did screw up in uploading and taking down a lot of the shorts, and then, one day, in 2025, they disappeared). On top of that, they show the cartoons in threes, just like the days when network TV and some basic cable channels aired three shorts to fill a 30-minute (discounting commercials) slot (I know there were cartoon compilation shows that aired for an hour -- sometimes longer, if it was Cartoon Network’s early 2000s version of The Looney Tunes Show where it wasn’t a sitcom -- but I’m not including that). 

So, if you have the time and Tubi is available in your area, check it out.

**EDIT: Turns out I was wrong about Tubi uploading edited versions of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (but hey, it'll make for great fodder in my later entries):

• "Believe or Else" (1939/Tex Avery) is still cut to remove the "Berth of a Baby" joke because the scene had two stereotypically black train porters (though other outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes are seen in other shorts. "Ceiling Hero" has the Chinese face airplane scene that Cartoon Network once cut, and "The Sheepish Wolf" has the scene of the Eddie "Rochester" Anderson-sounding black sheep warning the sheepdog of the wolf that was cut from Cartoon Network and Boomerang, but not MeTV).
• The version of "Farm Frolics" (1941/Bob Clampett) on Tubi is the Blue Ribbon reissue that cut a scene where a grasshopper chewing tobacco refuses to do it because the Hays Code had rules against showing spitting.
• The Tubi version of "Hare-Um Scare-Um" is the old TV and home media version where the short ends after the Egghead-looking hunter is surrounded by the proto-Bugs Bunny's family after he foolishly tells the rabbit that he can whip him and his entire family.

Trailer of Tears (YouTube, Me, and Everyone Else We Know)

Hurray! It’s another one of my brief announcement posts that have nothing to do with going over cartoon cuts.

This one is a blog trailer I made for YouTube (hey, if they can make book trailers, then blog ones can be made too) about “Drawn and Quartered,” set to The Bugs Bunny Show’s famous “This Is It” theme song. I’m sticking it on here because I can’t trust YouTube not to take it down for copyright, whether or not it deserves it (if it does get taken down, then I have a safe second home for it here). Plus, I think I can trust the few readers I have here to find a way to download the video (or share the blog page) and pass it along to others so they can see the blog too (make it “go viral”).

Here’s the video. Enjoy and tell everyone you know about it. 

More entries will come soon. I’m currently working on the special episode about the Porky/Sylvester horror vacation cartoons that Chuck Jones directed in 1948, 1954, and 1955.

EDIT: I had to replace the video with one that wasn't obviously made for YouTube. Instead of the "Click on the link in the description" ending, it just says to visit the website. That's the only change made to it.

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

 

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

Summary: Your typical “midnight in the store” cartoon. This one is in a grocery store on a rainy night where the products and their label mascots come to life and do bits and musical numbers (some of which are recycled from other shorts, since Freleng did do that). It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s played straight, and while not that many people like it, I think it’s fine for what it is.

The Channel(s): TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and on DVD.

Part(s) Edited: All the black caricatures are cut from this short, though the 1995 Turner dubbed version at least left in the Al Jolson “Dream of Wheat” (Cream of Wheat) mascot serenading the Aunt Emma (Aunt Jemima, now known as “Pearl Milling,” which yeah, does sound like the name of a U.S. Southern black woman and “Aunt Jemima” could have been her nickname when she became known for her pancakes or what her white slave owners called her) mascot with the title song. I’ve never seen that version; I’ve seen the version where every black caricature is cut and the cartoon, which already has a 5-minute, 47-second runtime, now runs at 3 minutes and 32 seconds (or 4 minutes and 36 seconds, if it’s the version where the Al Jolson/Aunt Emma part was left in, but not the performance of “Nagasaki” at the end).

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: On the one hand, the cartoon was just a collection of musical numbers and light comedy bits, so complaining about how the edits ruined the cartoon is kinda stupid on my end (not as stupid as making an already short cartoon shorter, but that’s neither here nor there). On the other hand, it’s obvious that parts are cut because of the jump in music.

Video Comparison: Instead of doing one video showing the uncut vs. cut scenes, I’m showing the actual cartoon vs. the common edited version (Cartoon Network, Boomerang, TBS, TNT, and on DVD) and the 1995 Turner dubbed version (which probably aired on Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT back in the 1990s, though it could have been made for unnamed syndication and some home media releases):

Uncut Version:

Edited Version #1 (version where all black caricatures are cut)

Edited Version #2 (version where the Al Jolson/Aunt Emma part is uncut, but the ending isn't):

Availability Uncut: Yeah, about the only place this is available uncut is The Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser disc (volume 4, side 10). The DVD version of the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie, Carefree, has an edited version, though I don’t know which one (the one where all the black caricatures are cut or the one where at least the Al Jolson/Aunt Emma scene was uncut). It hasn’t been on television since…I wanna say, the early 2000s (last seen on Cartoon Network) because, even with the parts cut, it’s just filler. Be glad that the uncut laser disc version can be found on sites like archive.org.

‘Til next time…

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

 

Director: Bob Clampett (credited as “Robert Clampett”); Chuck Jones (credited as “Charles Jones” for animation)

Summary: Porky (depicted here as a child character) reads some Greek myths before bed and dreams that he runs a “Hero for Hire” agency who runs afoul of a man-hungry Medusa (the gorgon who turns men to stone with her cursed gaze) who works as a photographer and collects her rock-hard victims to use as statues.

The Channel(s): Cartoon Network (barring The Bob Clampett Show), Boomerang, MeTV, and MeTV Toons (surprisingly, not Nickelodeon)

Part(s) Edited: Two small parts for the same reason: The guard pulling Porky through the barred door window and putting him in line to be Medusa’s next victim, and the guard telling Porky that he’s next, with Porky backing away and imagining himself as a piggy bank. The alleged reason: either the guard is an outdated caricature of a black man or he's in blackface. I’m leaning hard towards the caricature claim, because there’s nothing that says that the guard is a white guy in questionable race make-up.

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: We’ll get to the “why this grinds my gears [if it ever did]” bit shortly. I just want to bring up this:

I don’t understand why the price for a “fair maiden” rescue is lower than one for slaying dragons (which I don’t even think was part of Greek mythology. Yeah, they had the hydra, which was a dragon-like creature with three heads, but not the kind of dragon you hear about in fairy tales and epic, medieval fantasies that try to be like J.R.R. Tolkein with varying degrees of success and failure) or a daring last-minute rescue (and why change the price from $25 to 3 for $10)? Are damsels (or maidens) in distress so common that you can get them for cheap?

And let’s see how much all those prices would be in 2025:

The $50.00 (in 1937 money) dragon slaying would be $1,120 today (this also applies to the “genuine Egyptian pyramid” that Medusa makes out of a group of men in a human pyramid), which, yeah, pricey, but is worth it, give how difficult slaying a dragon is. From the stories I’ve heard and seen, it’s a one-man operation and only the bravest and most valiant definitely need to be paid that for the work done. The $12 per dozen in 1937 would come to $268.00 today, which might not seem much, but if you slayed more than ten dozen, you could clean up ($268 x 120 [ten dozen] = $32,160).

Fifty cents (in 1937 money) for a “fair maiden/damsel in distress” rescue is $11.20 today. I…guess that’s an improvement, but it seems like there’s no good money in rescuing maidens and damsels, despite that that’s one of the best parts about myths, legends, pulp stories, and most action and fantasy movies and TV shows. You want women to be safe, don’t you? On the other hand, with the large amount of “fair maiden/damsel in distress” rescues priced at $11.20 in today’s money, you could clean up a decent amount. It’s not going to be on the same level as ten or more dozen dragons slain, but it’s still a good amount.

The old price for “thrilling, last-minute rescues” was $25 a pop in 1937. In today’s money, that’s $560.00. Not bad, but a bit too rich for most people’s blood, that will no doubt spill because they can’t afford it. The new price where it’s three rescues for $10.00 (1937 money) would be $224.00, which, yeah, is a better deal. I just hope Porky(karkus) has a good installment plan, especially for the dragon slaying.

The old man statue labeled an “antique” that’s priced at $60 billion in 1937 money would be around $1.34 trillion in 2025. You read that right: trillion. So saying that you’re worth more dead than alive isn’t just an expression.

The “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” statue that was $3.00 in 1937 is $67.20 today, though I thought it would be priced higher, since Three Stooges memorabilia would be more popular, especially if it’s the original trio of Moe, Larry, and Curly.

Okay, the math and economics lesson is over for the day. Time for some film editing and criticism:

The first time the guard was cut looked painfully obvious, as there’s a jump in the audio track (at least from what I remember from seeing on Cartoon Network. I have vague memories of seeing it on Nickelodeon, but from what I could tell, the guard’s two appearances weren’t censored). Second edit…can’t really complain about it because of how seamless it is. It’s not on the edit approximation video, but the second edit was supposed to go from Medusa creating the Egyptian pyramid from a human pyramid to Porky walking in disguised as the Dick Powell statue, which Medusa immediately falls for.

Video Comparison:

Availability Uncut: For a mid Porky cartoon that was mostly shown on television (at least in my youth), this actually does have some good home media releases. In 1992, it was released (as a computer-colorized edition, which I assume is the copy that aired on such channels as Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and Nickelodeon when they turned Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon into a daytime show) on the VHS “Porky Pig: Days of Swine and Roses” as part of the Authentic and Original Looney Tunes Cartoons VHS collection (yeah, that title sounds very much like something from a gray market video distributor, where most, if not all, the cartoons are public domain -- at best. At worst, it sounds like a video collection series from Wish or Temu, but, in order to actually be like those, “Looney Tunes” has to be misspelled as “Loney Toons”). Two years later, “Porky’s Hero Agency” was released on the laser disc called “Wince upon a Time: Foolhardy Fairy Tales and Looney Legends” (a collection of Warner Bros cartoons that spoof fairy tales and mythical stories). Seven years after that, the short appeared on volume 9 of this British Looney Tunes video collection called, “The Looney Tunes Special Bumper Collection.” Today, the cartoon can be found, uncut, uncensored, and in its original black and white either as a special feature on the DVD version of the movie Marked Woman, starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart, or, if you’d rather buy cartoon compilation DVDs instead of old movies with the cartoon shorts that ran concurrent with them in theaters as special features, the Porky Pig 101 DVD set.

‘Til next time…

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

 

Director: Frank Tashlin

Summary: Forest animals (a lot of which are caricatures of singers, actors, and radio personalities of the time) participate in the Woodland Community Swing Variety Show on radio station KUKU.

The Channel(s): Cartoon Network

Part(s) Edited: During the performance of the title song, there’s a sequence where we pan across a row of animal-based caricatures of celebrities that were popular at the time of the cartoon’s release in theaters. When Cartoon Network aired this in the 1990s, they shortened the pan to remove the appearance of the blackfaced Al Jolson caricature named “Al Goatson: The Singing Kid” (“kid” as in “baby goat,” not “human child,” though, from what I’ve seen and experienced personally, one tends to act like the other).

What Grinds My Gears About the Edit: Like the previous entry, this doesn’t “grind my gears,” but it does make me question some things. Namely, “Why would Cartoon Network just cut the Al Jolson goat when you also had Fats Swallow, the bird/toad(?) caricature of Fats Waller, who was black and often caricatured on such Warner Bros. shorts as ‘Clean Pastures’ and ‘Tin Pan Alley Cats’? Wouldn’t it make more sense to just cut the entire pan across the celebrity animals, as cutting in the middle of a panning shot is jarring and will make even first-time viewers realize that something’s gone?”

On top of that, I had the good fortune not to see this edited. It was uncut on an early 2000s showing of The Acme Hour (a cartoon block that aired for one hour on weekdays and two hours on weekends that mixed Warner Bros cartoons with Fleischer Popeye shorts and both MGM cartoons [Tom and Jerry and the shorts directed by Tex Avery when he was fired from Termite Terrace] and had bumpers that showed POV shots of what it’s like to be on the business end of classic cartoon slapstick, such as getting hit in the face with a wooden plank, having a piano and an anvil fall on your head, skating on rocket-powered rollerskates, etc), but, sadly, only once. After that, the short was phased out and replaced with other cartoons. The Looney Tunes Fandom Wiki is where I heard that it was edited. While I do want to take that website’s word for it, I can’t really believe them 100% unless I have evidence like, say, a video clip of the cut scene, complete with Cartoon Network’s station identification bug. 

Since we don’t have one, I’ll just do an approximation edit.

Video Comparison: Hot, fresh, and rife with commentary from me. Not much, but it’s a start:

Availability Uncut: This one isn’t as widely available as it should be (should it be, though?). It was on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laser disc (volume 4, side five) and its most recent appearance is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume three (disc two, which features Warner Bros cartoons with celebrity caricatures and pop culture references of the day. Anyone who tells you The Simpsons and Family Guy are the only cartoons that are stuffed with pop culture references and celebrity caricatures hasn’t seen a Looney Tunes cartoon beyond what they remember, either vividly or vaguely, from childhood. It’s lousy with it, and Internet forums, wikis, and comments sections will be happy to guide you on what you missed…assuming you can put up with petty arguments and misinformation).

‘Til next time…