Buddy's Theatre (Banned From Re-Release)

Director: Ben Hardaway

Summary: In essence, this is a toned-down version of "Bosko's Picture Show." We have Buddy as the projectionist at a movie theater (Bosko, in the former cartoon, was the organist back when movie theaters actually had sing-along segments as part of the coming attractions and B-level entertainment [the cartoons, the live-action shorts, the second-run movies, etc] before the feature presentation), a lot of newsreel gags (also from "Bosko's Picture Show"), the hero's girlfriend starring in a movie, and the hero trying to save her by messing with the film (and pissing off anyone who paid top nickel to see it). There are no jokes about Hitler trying to kill Jimmy Durante because Durante had that long nose stereotypically associated with Jewish people, Buddy doesn't call the villain (who is an escaped gorilla rather than the mustache-twirling, Snidely Whiplash type associated with the romantic melodramas of the time) a "dirty fawk," and there's no running gag involving the original four Marx Brothers chasing after dogs and singing "Daisy" while riding a four-man tandem bike.

The Channel: Nickelodeon (Nick@Nite version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon)

Part(s) Edited: According to the Looney Tunes Fandom wiki, there's supposed to be a scene featuring African natives running towards the audience (I'm assuming as part of the "Coming Attractions" string of gags), which was recycled from "Buddy of the Apes", which was on Nickelodeon's list of Warner Bros. cartoons they weren't allowed to show on Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon. It makes sense why Nickelodeon would cut that part.

How It Plays Edited: To be honest, the edit is seamlessly done. If there's something obviously missing, then I haven't picked up on it, because I currently can't find the uncut version. If anyone out there has it or knows where I can find it, then I will be forever grateful. To get the search started, I'm going to upload the edited version of this short (actual edited version. I didn't alter this in any way) on the blog so anyone out there has a good starting point in their search:

Availability Uncut: As of this writing (in 2024), there's no release of an uncut, uncensored, remastered, and restored version (and, if Buddy truly is one of the least-loved Warner Bros. characters due to being bland and boring and not because of outdated racial/ethnic stereotypes or, in the case of Pepe Le Pew, making fun of sexual harassment, why would there be demand for it, outside of the need for completion?), but I do have faith that an uncut version will resurface. My guess? It'll probably happen when this short enters the public domain.

EDIT: Thanks to Anthony's Animation Talk review for this cartoon, I found out where exactly the African native scene was supposed to be in the fabled uncut version (which isn't a fable, but adding "fabled" to it does give it a bit of mystery). After the joke about Mausoleum (Mussolini) drafting literal toddlers as soldiers for his fascist army (with one asking him in gibberish to either leave the army or go to the bathroom, I don't know), there's a newsreel story about Liverpill (Liverpool), England seeing economic recovery as shoppers are flocking to early dollar day sales in the city's stores, then we cut to the recycled scene from "Buddy of the Apes" (and later, a colorized version shown on Frank Tashlin's "Speaking of the Weather") of the angry natives running towards the camera. Like I said: Nickelodeon did a fine job of seamlessly cutting it, but since the scene was part of a string of gags that had no bearing in the plot, there wasn't much the audience was missing, especially since the joke does feel kind of dated to start with. 

Click here to see the version shown (in clips) on Anthony's Animation Talk.

Rhythm in the Bow (The Quartet Offensive, or Hobo Sweet Hobo)

Director: Ben Hardaway

Summary: Lots of musical gags involving Great Depression-era hobos and the trains on which they hitch rides...at least until the lead hobo who can play the fiddle gets kicked off the train and wanders the countryside, where an angry dog goes after him.

The Channel: unnamed syndication and Nickelodeon (Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon, Nick@Nite edition) [Allegedly]

Part(s) Edited: Now, we come to the part of the job I love when it comes to blogging about censored cartoons: discovering and debunking claims. Yeah, I may have done it before with past cartoons, but this one is special, because Nickelodeon actually aired this one uncut.

According to the Looney Tunes wiki, Nickelodeon once ran this (either after it aired uncut or before. It's currently unknown) with a cut to the part where the four hobos singing the title song go through a tunnel and come out in blackface. It also aired edited on syndicated TV versions that most likely aired as filler on unnamed and long-gone local stations, but it's the Nickelodeon version that gets me, because, while looking for an uncut version to do my compare/contrast videos, I found a version from an airing of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon that was uncut and uncensored, well, except for this opening card seen here:

How It Plays Edited/Video Comparison: Because I love you (and want to show you evidence that this did air uncut on Nickelodeon), I'm going to show you the full cartoon (click here) and the compare/contrast video (seen below):

What Wasn't Cut That Should Have Been Cut: Some of the dangerous behavior involving trains, particularly the hobo skating behind the moving train. Oh, wait. It was the 1990s and concerns over people getting killed by trains (either because of suicide or just being careless) wasn't a thing yet. Yeah, that can stay.

Availability Uncut: As of 2024, this doesn't have an official home media or streaming release, which is odd, because, outside of the blackface part, there's nothing really offensive about it. Archive.org has the Nickelodeon uncut version...for now, anyway.