The most screwed up thing is that the generation which is cutting up all the classic ‘toons is the generation that first grew up watching them!

just another example of some stupid snatch with nothing better to do—- it’s a CARTOON for cryin’ out loud—- censorship plain and simple—- get a life and stay out of mine

And while they’re at it, maybe they should get rid of all the anvil throwing and other slapstick violence, because that just sets bad examples. Oh, wait, also censor out Spike the talking dog, before the kids go crazy and want to have meaningful conversations with their pets.

It’s a cartoon people, tell your kid about the dangers of smoking and that T&J is a very old cartoon from times that many people didn’t know any better. If (s)he is so easily impressionable, (s)he’ll buckle under peer pressure in high school anyway and start lighting up then…

I wholeheartedly concur! It’s terrible what ideas are implanted in childrens’ heads through cartoons. Kids are so stupid, and parents have absolutely no influence compared to the mighty power of cartoons to shape behaviour. Therefore, animated shorts MUST be censored.

Why, if the wise people at Turner had been at work when I was younger, I might not have suffered brain damage from running off the roof to see if my rapidly pumping legs would hold me in one place in midair, and I might not have split my sister’s head open with that axe… It looked like so much fun when the cartoon mouse did it!

Sorry, anon. This the wrong idea.

The right idea is to use the cartoons as teaching/learning tools. Sit with the kids, point out how silly and dangerous the habit is, and have a Q&A with the kids until they themselves ridicule the cartoon characters.

Using revisionist tactics on either history or art is an ignorant coward’s way of dealing with complicated or uncomfortable topics.

Unfortunately the world is full of ignorant cowards.

This is the right idea.  The inclusion of smoking in the cartoons was an unfortunate error; it made smoking seem like a natural part of life, as did candy cigarettes.  Someone watching cartoons should not be able to discover that smoking ever existed.  It is best if the content owners do the editing.  The content is free expression; the belated editing is likewise free expression, under updated voluntary guidelines of self-restraint. There might have been payments for product placement just like in the movies; it is good to undo such corruption.  It just should have happened with less fanfare or hint of self-congratulation.