Banned and Censored Episodes in Cartoons (and Why They Should Not Be Banned Permanently)

I like to take a moment to talk about banned and censored episodes.  The type of episode that were otherwise removed from its rotation due to what happened in real life like an earthquake or terrorist attack and such.  But since this is the American Cartoon Federation, I am, of course, referring to the episodes from cartoons that were banned or edited for content.  In the beginning, for the honor of those who were involved in real life issues, the networks that airs them either edited them or in the case of the Hub Network, remove it.  It was honorable and decent in the beginning and we hope one day that they will bring back the episode, knowing that the disaster in question has become a footnote in history, sealed up in every history book everywhere.  But in a world where political correctness has become the law of the land in all media, that is not entirely the case.  I know we got DVDs for the shows we like to watch and has all the episodes.  But the networks has a habit of getting all PC when it comes to cartoons, even those that are mature in nature.  It was honorable to remove them in the beginning to not hurt those victims, but by not putting those episodes back in the rotation, it has become stupid in nature because they only listen to the PC Police, with the censorship and all that.  Anyway,  the following list of episodes from cartoons that were either banned or edited:

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero - Cobra Quake

In this episode, the Joes had to stop Cobra from destroying Japan by disarming improvise explosives that Cobra placed around the country, which will explode, causing man-made earthquakes around the country, causing it to sink in the bottom of the Pacific.  There was no problem with this episode until the Hub Network removed it after the March 11th, 2011 Earthquake and Tsunami disaster that ravaged most of the country, so much it even caused severe damage to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant.  In the beginning, the Hub did it to honor and respect the Japanese people.  But it has since refused to air the episode back into its rotation and they've been doing it ever since, even if they stopped showing G.I. Joe altogether after Nikki Reed took over the Hub's programming format.  I like this episode, not because of the mature theme of the story, but because this is the episode that highlights Quick Kick and his impressions of Humphrey Bogart and Alfred Hitchcock.  He may not live up to Snake Eyes, but he is OK in my book.

Men in Black: The Series - The Neuralizer Syndrome

In this episode, after accidently wiping his memories clean, Agent J has to find a way to restore Agent K's memories.  This episode was banned because of one thing, 9/11.  That's right, it had the World Trade Center and the part with the aliens trying to rip it apart.  Since then, even when it was aired on the Hub, this is the only episode that wasn't in the rotation because of what happened on 9/11.  Now that One World Trade Center a.k.a. the Freedom Tower is near its completion, don't you think they should remove the ban on any of all shows and movies that have references to the World Trade Center in it. I think the time is now.

Batman Beyond - Bloodsport

OK, this one is a doozy.  In this episode, Terry (Future Batman) fights the Stalker, a game hunter with bionic implants.  When it was aired on the Hub, they didn't even show this episode at all.  The question is, why?  Why didn't they air it?  Was it the name of episode itself, or the part where Stalker kidnaps Terry's little brother, Matt?  With a wave of kidnappings and little kids disappearing on the rise,
it could be.  I am not sure.  If anyone has the answer of why this episode was banned on the Hub, tell me.  I ask the Hub once about this but they refuse to answer.

Batman: The Animated Series - Baby Doll

In this episode, Batman and Robin investigates the disappearance of actors playing a TV family, which were connected to the TV show called "Baby Doll."  For some reason, the episode was banned from future airings, not just by the little kids disappearing/kidnapping part as I stated before, but the character Baby Doll a.k.a. Mary Daal, is the cartoon equivalent to Gary Coleman, who, just like Baby Doll, had a condition that makes him not grow up.  How many more excuse they can come up with to ban episodes like this?

The next are the episodes that are banned and I will make this quick.

Gargoyles - Deadly Force: Edited because of guns. Stefan's Note: But that's not all. A whole slew of Gargoyles Eps were Censored. Worse yet, those Censored Episodes are the ones on the DVDs. Disney has Never released the Original Uncensored Episodes on DVD. We need to change this.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic - The Last Roundup: Two words, Derpy Hooves. LAME!! Stefan's Note: Actually the episode was Only banned in America according to my knowledge.

What Stefan's trying to say is that the episode was removed for awhile.  But when the episode came back, the scene with Derpy was edited because of the so-called Moral Guardians claim that Derpy was offensive to those who have disabilities.  All wrong on both ends.  I thought the cartoon itself was usually was tolerable towards everybody, even those with disabilities.  Leave it to the Moral Guardians to be the "Fly in the Ointment."  Animation is not safe from the FCC's wrath, even on Cable and/or Satellite providers.

Spider-Man (1994 cartoon): 9/11 and references of Princess Diana in a few episodes. Stefan's Note: Stupid!!!

Justice League Unlimited (Vortexx Version): NO...VIOLENCE...EVER!!! Stefan's Note: Ugh! We Seriously need another SatAM Block.

Agree on both ends, too.  But as long as the FCC makes these rules, they won't be any blocks with action cartoons unless someone defies them and the Moral Guardians that supports them.  Let's keep hoping.


The point is, editing and banning certain episodes from cartoons won't make the world better.  It is just a matter of time until someone decides to put them back.  Until that day comes, at least we got the DVDs.  But still, banning and editing cartoons, to me, is a serious offense against not just the kids, but also to nature itself.  We don't our kids to believe that the world is all sugar-coated.  This is America, we are entitled to our freedom and our rights and banning episodes in cartoons or cartoons in general isn't one of them.  Until next time.  Godspeed, my friends.