Toon Zone Talkback - "Censored 11" Playing Hide and Seek on YouTube

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Kasim

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This is the talkback thread for "Censored 11" Playing Hide and Seek on YouTube.

Hopefully WB gets the hint that the reason people keep uploading them on various sites is because they aren't being made available (legally, that is). Yes, there will always be people who upload items that are easily available on DVD, but I'd be willing to bet the rate would go way down.
 
WB takes down the shorts for one reason only: to hide the existence of these shorts.

You see, some ten-year-old could come across these cartoons when searching up something. WB doesn't want today's generation knowing about these "shameful" cartoons (though I'm 13, and by way of Wikipedia, know about these shorts).
 
WB is a corporation and public awareness is a liability. Disney's a little more open with their vaults in what time physical DVDs has left, but in time digital distribution will allow studios to release their full libraries in some type of subscription program. And the likes of Coal Black will be part of a package aimed at adults, focusing on film and racial history.
 
I'm suprised we're discussing matters like this, to be honest. I would love it WB released the "Censored 11" in DVD format, I don't care if it Digitally Remastered or not... I just want to see them legally, and not resort to site like YT.
 
i am also surprised because this SITE has a STRICT no You Tube Policy...... but i guess if it gets what they want then it is fine






i no nothing is posted but to look at thing posted in hood light is against the spirt of the rule
 
Nothing about this story surprises me. WB doesn't want to release the shorts because of how racist they are, animation afficionados want to see them so they distribute them illegally, WB retaliates against the copyright violation.

Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. If they were released officially, wouldn't that take away half the fun of them being "the censored eleven"? Bootleggers should just take this as an invitation to be more sneaky about how they distribute the cartoons. I'm sure WB doesn't even really care, as long as they're not easily available.

All I'm really concerned about is that full cartoon series with a lot of good non-racist content, such as Popeye, are allowed to be released in their entirety even though some episodes may contain racial stereotyping. But I really don't need a DVD-quality version of Coal Black.

Also, from a more practical business standpoint... the simple truth is it makes sense to tick off a few hundred blogging nerds instead of risking tons of negative publicity at the hands of vocal minority leaders. That's almost enough to make me want them to release them out of spite, to annoy the complainers who will say "OMG they're racists now", but it's more trouble than it's worth.


What the heck is "hood light"???

In any event, this is a significant news story in the history of cartoons, even if it's a predictable one.
 
Actually, in light of some of the recent Looney Tunes Golden Collections, I think it's safe to say that Warner Bros. is loosening up with the release of politically incorrect cartoons - all the cartoons released on DVD so far have been completely uncensored, including blackface gags and ethnic stereotypes, and the special features have done the same (and some of the From the Vault features from World War II, i.e. the Private Snafu and Seaman Hook cartoons, are among the most racially insensitive things ever made). Even the documentaries have made mention of such cartoons as "Tin Pan Alley Cats" and "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs".

I think Warner Bros. has been testing the waters a lot lately regarding this kind of material, and with the last three Golden Collections, it's become apparent that this stuff is entirely releasable without an uproar. The sixth Golden Collection is due out this fall, and it's highly believed that it'll contain a disc dedicated to the work of Tex Avery (this being the 100th anniversary of his birth and everything). Avery did a lot of racial humor in his shorts, some of which are part of the Censored 11 ("The Isle of Pingo Pongo", "All This and Rabbit Stew", etc.), and I wouldn't be surprised if those cartoons are included, if not at least mentioned, regardless of their status in today's society.

With people like Jerry Beck and Greg Ford and Michael Barrier and others working on these releases and making sure that the entire studio's history is represented, I have faith in the notion that we'll see the Censored 11 on a legitimate DVD someday.
 
While I would very much like these on DVD, particularly because the bootlegs of these cartoons are pretty terrible quality, I'm not THAT desperate. At least at this point, since WB still has over 1,000 of other cartoons it can release.

I do think that All This and Rabbit Stew could likely be included in a future set out of sheer desperation for unreleased Bugs Bunny cartoons. If any of these were to be released, they should be released outside of the main line-up and be added as special features, as to provide appropriate education and historical context as to why they are what they are.
 
I just wanted to clarify this, since it seems that there's still plenty of misunderstandings about our YouTube policy...

It's common knowledge that a lot of YouTube videos subvert copyright. Reporting that this happens as part of a news story is not against the rules, especially as it relates to these "censored" shorts. In this case, the fact that the copyright is being subverted and the reasons why they're only available illegally is, in itself, the news. The situation where people make mash-up videos and post them on YouTube or that Viacom is suing YouTube over infringement is another case where the existence of the videos is, in itself, the news. The Viacom story, in particular, might inadvertently alert people to search for videos that subvert copyright if they didn't think to do so before, but we really can't do much about that without ignoring one of the bigger stories in the News.

However, as a matter of policy, we do not allow linking to videos on YouTube that subvert copyright, and it is our official stance that we do not endorse the subversion of copyright via YouTube or any other video sharing service. There are lots of companies who sweep the forums quietly and we cannot be seen as encouraging the subversion of copyright through inaction.

Talking about the fact that the WB is playing a perpetual game of catchup with these censored short films is fine. Linking to one is not. It's a fine line to walk. It'd be supremely easy for us to just censor out any link to YouTube the same way we censor out profanity if we had a strict "No YouTube" rule. However, there are plenty of legal usages for YouTube and other video sharing sites, and we don't want to block those.

Mods and staff are not exempt from following these rules, either.

-- Ed
 
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