The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. UA owned the distribution rights to the Associated Artists Productions library at that time, and it determined that these eleven cartoons were too racist or offensive for contemporary audiences. Looney Tunes is a Warner Brothers cartoon series that preceded the Merrie Melodies series, and is both WBs first animated theatrical series and the second longest continuous animated series in any medium. ... Merrie Melodies end title Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. ... In the entertainment and news industries, syndication is a method of making content available to a range of outlets simultaneously. ... The United Artists Corporation (aka United Artists Associated, United Artists Pictures, and United Artists Films) was formed on February 5, 1919 by five Hollywood greats: Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, William S. Hart (who left soon after) and D. W. Griffith. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Associated Artists Productions was a distributor of theatrical features and short subjects for television founded in 1953 and headed by Elliott Hyman. ...

Many cartoons from previous decades are routinely censored on television, video, and DVD today. Usually, the only censorship deemed necessary is the cutting of the occasional racist joke or instance of graphic violence. For example, one classic cartoon gag is the transformation of characters to blackface after an explosion or an automobile backfire. Such small amounts of objectionable material only require relatively minor cuts in the cartoon to make it palatable to censors. However, in the Censored Eleven, racist themes are so essential to the cartoons that the copyright holders believe that no amount of selective editing can ever make them acceptable for distribution. Censorship is the use of governmental power to control speech and other forms of human expression. ... Video (from Latin, I see) is the technology of processing electronic signals for representing moving pictures. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for data storage, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... A black man drinks out of a water fountain designated for black people in 1939 at a streetcar terminal. ... Violence is the causing of, or acting with the intent to cause, injury to people or animals. ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ... The Tupolev Tu-22M (NATO reporting name Backfire) was a supersonic, swing-wing, long-range strategic bomber developed by the Soviet Union. ...

Of the cartoons included in the Censored Eleven, animation historians and film scholars are quickest to defend the ones directed by Bob Clampett, especially Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, which is frequently included on lists of the "greatest" cartoons ever made. In a Usenet message on the newsgroup rec.arts.animation writer and author Michelle Klein-Hass wrote: Robert Bob Clampett (May 8, 1913–May 4, 1984) was an animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. ... Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs lobby card. ... Usenet is a distributed Internet discussion system that evolved from a general purpose UUCP network of the same name. ... A newsgroup is a repository, usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from many users at different locations. ...

". . . some even look at Clampett's Jazz cartoons and cry racism when Clampett was incredibly ahead of his time and was a friend to many of the greats of the LA jazz scene. All of the faces you see in Tin Pan Alley Cats and Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarves are caricatures of real musicians he hung out with at the Central Avenue jazz and blues clubs of the '40s. He insisted that some of these musicians be in on the recording of the soundtracks for these two cartoons." -- message posted on February 24, 2002

When he obtained distribution rights to all pre-1948 Warner Bros. cartoons in 1986, Ted Turner vowed that he would not distribute or air any cartoons from the Censored Eleven. February 24 is the 55th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Warner Bros. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ted Turner Robert Edward Ted Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. ...

Since Time Warner bought back the cartoons in 1996, this policy has largely been upheld, but has also shown signs of weakening. A total of twelve Bugs Bunny films were not aired on Cartoon Network during its "June Bugs" marathon in 2001, for example, but in 2003, Warner Bros. began to release DVD collections of classic cartoons entitled Looney Tunes: The Golden Collection. While none of the shorts included on the disks are part of the Censored Eleven, many of them are routinely censored on television but were left uncut in this release. Time Warner Inc. ... 1996 is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Bugs Bunny on a United States stamp Bugs Bunny is a fictional street-smart gray rabbit appearing in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, and is one of the most recognizable characters, real or imaginary, in the world. ... The current Cartoon Network logo, was used in North America since June 14, 2004, in Latin America since January 1st, 2005, and in Europe since April 11, 2005. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Looney Tunes Golden Collection is a yearly series of four-disc DVD box sets from Warner Brothers Home Video, each containing about 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated shorts. ...

Despite the efforts of UA, Turner, and Time Warner, many of the Censored Eleven are available on bootleg or public domain video. As a noun, bootleg means the top part of a boot, the part that is around the leg instead of the foot. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

The cartoons in the Censored Eleven are:

• Hittin' the Trail to Hallelujah Land (1931)
• Sunday Go to Meetin' Time (1936)
• Clean Pastures (1937)
• Uncle Tom's Bungalow (1937)
• Jungle Jitters (1938)
• The Isle of Pingo Pongo (1938)
• All This and Rabbit Stew (1941)
• Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs (1943)
• Tin Pan Alley Cats (1943)
• Angel Puss (1944)
• Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears (1944)

Several more cartoons have been removed from circulation since this list was created, such as the Inki series of cartoons by Chuck Jones. Two cartoons directed by Tex Avery during his stint at MGM are often included in cartoon compilations that list the Censored Eleven: Uncle Tom's Cabana (1944) and Little Pygmy. 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1937 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... 1938 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs lobby card. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Inki is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ... Charles Martin Chuck Jones (September 21, 1912–February 22, 2002) was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most memorably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Brothers cartoon studio. ... Frederick Bean Tex Avery (February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an animator, cartoonist, and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during the Golden Age of Hollywood. ... MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External Links

The Censored Eleven at Golden Age Cartoons