Amazon Prime announces racial and ethnic prejudice warning. Suprised?

[Billy F 1988]

Tom and Jerry. One of the greatest slapstick cartoon legends of all time crafted by the very hands of Hanna and Barbera now gets slapped with a digital backhand from Amazon Prime stating that certain episodes "may contain racial and ethnic prejudice". Sound off your frustration about this latest hullaballoo! I'm just beside myself right now.

[agentsteel53]

we must protect all people from all things at all times.

best not leave the house.

[Brandon]

Somewhere, somehow, something is always offensive to someone.

Fuck it and pass the cheesy poofs.  And while we're at it, let's barbecue the sacred cow, enjoy some pork, and enjoy the Tom and Jerry.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Tom and or Jerry may just get pissed off enough to go violent, look what happened to the lady superhero that used to be on Saturday morning after Shazaaaammmmm.  She is all over the news for acts of violence these days.

[Roadrunner75]

This isn't exactly new with Tom and Jerry DVD releases.  I have somewhere the Spotlight Collection DVDs for them that was released a few years ago, and I believe it had a warning on it then and some missing shorts. 

[agentsteel53]

let's barbecue the sacred cow, enjoy some pork

this must be the wonderful, magical animal that Homer was talking about ...

[Duke87]

All this is is legal CYA lest some busybody decide to sue because they let their kids watch Tom and Jerry not knowing it contained such offensive content.

It's as much a testament to stupidity as it is to oversensitivity.

I'm surprised there's no warning about how violent the show is.

[Laura]

All this is is legal CYA lest some busybody decide to sue because they let their kids watch Tom and Jerry not knowing it contained such offensive content.

It's as much a testament to stupidity as it is to oversensitivity.

I'm surprised there's no warning about how violent the show is.

Pretty much. At least they included the episodes. It's important not to censor the past so that we can learn from it and not repeat it ourselves.

[realjd]

I'd be pissed off if they removed them completely. Lots of those old cartoons though do make many racial jokes that could be considered offensive today so I have no problem with a brief warning. It's no different than the nudity/violence/language warnings before other content on TV.

[NE2]

Tom is a hep cat.

[Mr. Matté]

Hey, I have a better idea!

[PHLBOS]

look what happened to the lady superhero that used to be on Saturday morning after Shazaaaammmmm.  She is all over the news for acts of violence these days.

Sherman, set the WABAC Machine to 1975. 

[1995hoo]

I'd be pissed off if they removed them completely. Lots of those old cartoons though do make many racial jokes that could be considered offensive today so I have no problem with a brief warning. It's no different than the nudity/violence/language warnings before other content on TV.

I thought Warner Brothers handled it reasonably when they re-released some of the more "controversial" Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, such as "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips," although there are still some they've refused to re-release ("Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs" comes to mind). They put the following disclaimer on the DVD materials:

The cartoons you are about to see are products of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in the U.S society. These depictions were wrong then and they are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Bros. view of today's society, these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming that these prejudices never existed.

Now, if only Disney would finally re-release Song of the South. I have a copy on DVD (obtained abroad because the movie was released on home video elsewhere in the world, but not in the USA), but I'd like to have a better copy. I should ask my mom whether she still has our old copy of the Golden Books Uncle Remus Stories volume we used to re-read endlessly when we were kids.

[spooky]

Who cares if there's a disclaimer? Far better than editing them as has been the case on Cartoon Network broadcasts.

Now, if only Disney would finally re-release Song of the South. I have a copy on DVD (obtained abroad because the movie was released on home video elsewhere in the world, but not in the USA), but I'd like to have a better copy. I should ask my mom whether she still has our old copy of the Golden Books Uncle Remus Stories volume we used to re-read endlessly when we were kids.

It's funny that Disney refuses to re-release Song of the South, but has its characters all over one of the most popular Magic Kingdom rides.