Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Tweety Bird was colored yellow because censors felt the original pink made the bird look nude. Betty Boop's dress was lengthened so that her garter didn't show. And in recent years, a segment of Mighty Mouse was dropped after protest groups claimed the mouse was actually sniffing cocaine, not flower petals. These changes and many others like them have been demanded by official censors or organized groups before the cartoons could be shown in theaters or on television.

How the slightly risque gags in some silent cartoons were replaced by rigid standards in the sound film era is the first misadventure covered in this history of censorship in the animation industry. The perpetuation of racial stereotypes in many early cartoons is examined, as are the studios' efforts to stop producing such animation. This is followed by a look at many of the uncensored cartoons, such as Lenny Bruce's Thank You Mask Man and Ralph Bakshi's Fritz the Cat. The censorship of television cartoons is next covered, from the changes made in theatrical releases shown on television to the different standards that apply to small screen animation. The final chapter discusses the many animators who were blacklisted from the industry in the 1950s for alleged sympathies to the Communist Party.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. 1)
• Introduction (p. 5)
• 1. Censorship of Theatrical Animation (p. 9)
• 2. Racism and Resistance: Stereotypes in Animation (p. 49)
• 3. Uncensored Animation (p. 77)
• 4. Censoring Animation on Television (p. 121)
• 5. Blacklisted Animators (p. 155)
• 6. Conclusion (p. 193)
• Notes (p. 197)
• Bibliography (p. 215)
• Index (p. 221)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Covering cow udders with dresses, lowering Betty Boop's hemline, and recoloring Tweety's body so he did not appear nude--these are among the animation censors' more ridiculous moments. Less amusing is other (often irrational) censoring behavior brought about by film and government censorship codes; self-restraint by producers, distributors, and exhibitors/outlets; pressure groups from both the left and the right; and blacklisting for political beliefs. Cohen (San Francisco State Univ.) brings all of this together in a book that begins with risque gags of silent era cartoons and proceeds through the industry code's restrictions from 1934-68 to attempts to block out racial stereotyping. The author devotes chapters to the problems that even uncensored cartoons--such as Ralph Bakshi's "Fritz the Cat" and Lenny Bruce's "Thank You Mask Man"--faced, television censorship, and the blacklisting of many cartoonists during the McCarthy era. Combining his interview notes with archival evidence, Cohen reveals much information never before published, at the same time avoiding the tendency to sensationalize. Rich in anecdotal and first-person accounts and written in a scholarly, well-documented (yet interesting) fashion, this is a pioneering effort that will stand the test of time. Recommended highly for all types of audiences. J. A. Lent Temple University