The top 10 Banned Cartoons

DriDDeRz · Jan 19, 2009

Top 10 Banned Cartoons

Cartoons are usually thought of as wholesome kiddy fare... as if!

Not only have controversial adult cartoons such as The Simpsons and South Park been crossing lines for years, but even made-for-children series like SpongeBob SquarePants have enraged people (seems there's nothing more offensive than a giggling sponge...).

But some cartoons have gone too far, been deemed inappropriate for viewers' delicate sensibilities and forbidden from ever going to broadcast. Whether they've been banned because a whole country hates them, banned because of over-the-top violence or shocking racism, and banned because they literally threatened the lives of the people who watched them, these cartoons are too hot for TV.

If you can't even handle the fact that Donald Duck doesn't wear pants, you're not going to like this gallery of the top 10 banned cartoons... otherwise, read on!.

10. SpongeBob SquarePants
Banned because...: China is apparently no fan of Spongebob's absorbent yellow porous-ness. He was booted out of prime time in 2006, but not because a particularly aggressive censor objected to the content of his show — rather, it was due to an edict which declared that only locally-made cartoons could be broadcast between 5pm and 8pm.

It gets weirder... In 2005 US religious groups threatened to take down the show, arguing that the cheerful sponge was a gay icon who promoted alternative lifestyles to children.

9. Tiny Toon Adventures
Banned because...: This Looney Tunes spin-off earned a rep for its cutting humour (for a kids' show, anyway), but it was finally deemed to have crossed a line in the banned episode 'One Beer'. It depicted cutesy characters Buster, Plucky and Hamton drinking (gasp!), stealing a police car (wait, it gets worse), and then crashing off a mountain and dying. (Click here to judge the segment for yourself.)

It gets weirder... It wasn't the content of the episode itself that was apparently so objectionable — it was feared that the overly melodramatic plot would turn the serious issue of peer pressure and drinking into a big joke.

8. Beavis and Butthead
Banned because...: In 1993, an episode titled 'Comedians' aired that depicted the two sniggering idiots burning down a comedy club. A month later a five-year-old boy was allegedly inspired by the cartoon to set his bed on fire, resulting in the death of his baby sister. MTV quickly pulled the episode, and while it eventually returned to the airwaves, its content was heavily edited to remove all the references to pyromania.

It gets weirder... In the wake of the Columbine massacre, two episodes that depicted Beavis and Butthead shooting guns were briefly outlawed in the US.

7. Family Guy
Banned because...: The season four episode 'When You Wish Upon a Weinstein' pokes fun at Judaism, with neighbourhood dunderhead Peter Griffin deciding he wants to convert his son because Jews are apparently richer and more successful people. Concerned that the Jewish jokes might be interpreted as anti-Semitism (despite the fact that the episode was written and performed by Jewish entertainers), US network Fox banned the episode for two years.

It gets weirder... Family Guy has reportedly been completely banned in a plethora of countries, including Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Iran, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, the Philippines and Egypt. (Phew!)

6. The Simpsons
Banned because...: British channel Sky One flat-out refused to air the season nine episode 'The Cartridge Family' (the one where Homer buys a gun), while Russia banned the show outright in 2008 because it supposedly "promotes violence and cruelty, pornography, anti-social behaviour, abounds with scenes of mayhem, the infliction of physical and ethical suffering, and [is] aimed at invoking fear, panic and terror in children". And you thought it was just a funny cartoon...

It gets weirder... Venezuela also banned the yellow-skinned family in 2008 because President Hugo Chavez deemed it "unsuitable for children"... but replaced it with the completely wholesome, child-appropriate series Baywatch.

5. Popetown
Banned because...: It's not difficult to see why this cartoon kicked up a stink. It depicted the Pope as an infantile idiot, and other high-ranking Catholics as corrupt and sexually deviant. Yikes. Predictably, the series, which included the voice talents of Ruby Wax, Jerry Hall and Little Britain's Matt Lucas, was attacked by Roman Catholics and quickly banned soon after it premiered in Britain in 2005.

It gets weirder... Not only was Popetown deemed too hot for American TV (can you imagine the storm it would have caused?), it's apparently so offensive that it's not even available there on DVD.

4. South Park
Banned because...: South Park is no stranger to controversy, but only a handful of episodes have ever been banned. SBS "deferred" the 2005 episode 'Bloody Mary', which depicted a menstruating Virgin Mary (and you thought Popetown was rude), after complaints from Catholics (the episode eventually premiered in Australia on The Comedy Channel); and in 2002 British network Sky One banned the episode 'Jared Has Aides' because it depicts innocent schoolboy Butters at the receiving end of a merciless beating from his parents.

It gets weirder... Russia might soon kill Kenny: in late 2008 Moscow prosecutors launched proceedings to have the cartoon completely banned in the country.

3. Ren & Stimpy
Banned because...: This surreal and disturbing cartoon about a psychotic Chihuahua and a dimwitted cat stoked frequent controversy in the early '90s due to its gross-out humour and violent, tasteless plots. But the show finally went too far in the episode 'Man's Best Friend', which depicted Ren brutally beating recurring character George Liquor with an oar. (Click here to watch the controversial scene. Warning — not for the faint-hearted!) Nickelodeon banned the instalment, which didn't air on US screens for more than 10 years.

It gets weirder... Not only was the episode too naughty for TV, it was deemed so terrible that Nickelodeon fired Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi for making what was ostensibly a kid's cartoon too "frightening [and] dramatic".

2. Looney Tunes
Banned because...: The over-the-top violence isn't the worst thing about Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, folks. Several instalments have been officially banned because they include content deemed unacceptably racist; among them is 'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips', a 1944 outing which depicts the wascally wabbit taunting and imitating a stereotypically Japanese solider at the height of WWII. (Click here to watch the offending cartoon.)

It gets weirder... Wondering whatever happened to Speedy Gonzales? The light-footed mouse was briefly banned from the States's Cartoon Network in 1999, reportedly because of his stereotypical Mexican demeanour. But in 2002 the League of United Latin American Citizens rallied to resurrect Speedy, arguing that he's a positive "cultural icon".

And at Number ONE

1. Pokemon
Banned because...: In 1997, Japanese television broadcast an instalment of the popular Pokemon anime titled 'Electric Soldier Porygon'. The result? More than 600 children in hospital, thanks to a scene featuring rapid flashing which triggered seizures. (Click here to check it out, but do not watch it if you're seizure-prone! Seriously — it's intense.) After the incident made international headlines, the episode was banned from airing anywhere else in the world, ever.

It gets weirder...: A couple of other Pokemon eps were also banned outside Japan, including one where a male character seemingly has a Pamela-esque boob job to compete in a seaside beauty pageant. Um.

I must say, i find it weird for countries to bann Cartoon shows, i miss beavis and butthead :rofl3:

Zigurd · Jan 19, 2009

Shit, Ren and Stimpy was amazing.

El Freako · Jan 19, 2009

None of this shit is as fucked up as Salad Fingers.

JS316 · Jan 19, 2009

Salad Fingers gives me the shits

PrinceVegeta · Jan 19, 2009

Pokemon FTW!

MrChewiebitums · Jan 19, 2009

JS316 said:
Salad Fingers gives me the shits

you can say that again

tim290280 · Jan 20, 2009

Where is Felix the Cat??

DriDDeRz · Jan 20, 2009

PrinceVegeta said:
Pokemon FTW!

did you catch'em all? :keke:

i never got to watch all of season one :tear:

tim290280 said:
Where is Felix the Cat??

not sure

, i didnt think felic the cat was bad? then again i never really got to watch it.

Tho Salad fingers was creepy but yet awesome :turborun:

German_Joe · Jan 20, 2009

DriDDeRz said:
did you catch'em all?
i never got to watch all of season one

not sure , i didnt think felic the cat was bad? then again i never really got to watch it.

Tho Salad fingers was creepy but yet awesome

Seriously Felix that cat was downright fucked up, like an acid trip :drool:

Rocky · Jan 21, 2009

Ren & Stimpy rules.

MuscleMecca Crew

Hypocrisy86 · Jan 21, 2009

I use to love watching Ren and Stimpy when i was little..

akafuqin · Jan 21, 2009

Damn the memories of Ren and Stimpy and waking up before 7 in the morning to watch Pokemon...

Happy happy, joy joy!

CombBoy · Jan 23, 2009

Dragon Ball Z, FTW! What happened to that one? Bloody good violence :headbang:

The top 10 Banned Cartoons

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