Censorship of Tom and Jerry
Script error: No such module "AfC submission catcheck". The original Tom and Jerry shorts has been heavily censored on television airings. The edits are usually made to make changes/remove any scene that may be deemed inappropriate for younger viewers. The edits are usually made to remove racial stereotypes. UK airings remove characters smoking tobacco, but keep the racial stereotypes intact. Blackface gags are usually the main target for American television. The following cartoons have been edited/censored.
Puss Gets The Boot (1940) Current airings on television have Mammy Two Shoes' voice redubbed. In addition, the redubbed version changes the script "You're goin' out! O-W-T out!" so that she spells it correctly.
Fraidy Cat (1942) Each of Mammy's appearances were removed on current airings.
Dog Trouble (1942) TNT airings removed the scene of Mammy kicking Spike out of the house.
Puss n' Toots (1942) The scene where a record disc lands on Tom's head, making him look Chinese, followed by Jerry doing an oriental dance to the music, was removed on current airings. Some local stations edited the beginning to remove all scenes featuring Mammy.
The Lonesome Mouse (1943) This cartoon has rarely aired on television due to a scene featuring Jerry using black paint to make a painting of Tom's head look like Adolf Hitler. When it does air, the scene in question is cut.
The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943) Airings on Cartoon Network between its launch in 1992 to mid 2001 edited the exploding teapot scene to remove Tom in blackface from the blast. Since late 2001, this cartoon airs unedited.
Mouse Trouble (1944) Some local stations deleted the entire scene where Tom hides in a package addressed to Jerry, followed by Jerry sticking pins into it and sawing it in half, looking inside, and nervously displaying a sign reading "Is there a doctor in the house?"
The Mouse Comes To Dinner (1945) Current airings delete the entire beginning with Mammy preparing dinner and Jerry sneaking around the table dressed as an Indian chief. It now abruptly begins with Tom coming out of the plant. Prior to the recent edited version, Thea Vidale‘s redub aired on Cartoon Network in the 1990s. Some of the home video releases and broadcast airings cut out the scene where Tom lights up a white cigarette.
Mouse In Manhattan (1945) Jerry getting his head stuck in a bottle of shoe polish is shortened in current airings. In the original, he popped out in blackface. It accidentally aired uncensored a few times in the 2010s, however.
Flirty Birdy (1945) The eagle throwing Tom down a clothesline, and the latter ends up resembling an Indian chief afterwards, is cut from current airings.
The Milky Waif (1946) Current airings and all DVD releases remove the entire scene where Jerry and Nibbles disguise themselves as a black woman and child to escape from Tom. It abruptly goes from Nibbles spitting milk in Tom's face to Tom slamming into a frying pan. Some locations outside North America removes Jerry’s massive roar near the end for being too intimidating.
Trap Happy (1946) Some local stations remove the scene of Butch accidentally chopping Tom's tail off with an axe.
Part Time Pal (1947) Mammy's voice is redubbed in current airings. Additionally, her line "Well, slap my face if this ain't a mess!" was changed to "Well, I'll be darned! This is quite a mess!" For unknown reasons, Tom's drunken rendition of "One For The Money" before splashing Mammy with water is cut from current broadcasts as well.
A Mouse In The House (1947) Withdrawn from Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to resulted racial abuse involving Mammy Two-Shoes getting spanked by Tom and Butch repeatedly at the end. Prior to its withdrawal, the scene with Tom and Butch scorched from an explosion in the oven was cut and Mammy was redubbed.
Kitty Foiled (1948) The scene where Jerry and the canary disguise themselves as Indians to escape Tom was cut from current airings. In UK and Asia Pacific airings the scene Cuckoo points the gun at Tom after the bear rug scene is cut.
The Truce Hurts (1948) Current airings removed the dark mud splashed on Spike, Tom, and Jerry.
Old Rockin' Chair Tom (1948) Mammy's voice is redubbed in current airings. Also, her line "Take care of poor ol' Uncle Tom." was simply shortened to "Take care of poor ol' Tom."
Professor Tom (1948) The scene Tom inhales a cigar and repeatedly blows the smoke into Jerry's mousehole is cut in Boomerang UK airings, due to the United Kingdom's ban on TV show characters smoking. The scene where Tom spanks Topsy for tripping him is also cut due to corporal punishment is a criminal offense in many countries.
Mouse Cleaning (1948) This cartoon rarely airs on television and has been banned from DVDs due to the ending involving a blackface Tom impersonating a black man (complete with stereotypical voice) to elude Mammy after the coal spill. When it did air, the scene suddenly went from the coal spill subsiding to Mammy yelling "THOMAS!!" A version that aired on CBS in the 1960s reanimated the scene so that Tom sneaked away quicker and didn't say anything. Further to that existent, the coal coverage on Tom was edited to make the character look non-racial.
The Little Orphan (1949) The candle burning up Tom's fur so that he becomes a blackface caricature, followed by a bottle of champagne being launched into his head, is edited on just about every airing. Current broadcasts and DVD masters simply remove the burning, then cut to Nibbles setting off the bottle, then cut to his and Jerry's reactions. CBS aired a version in the 1960s that kept the blackface, but reanimated the scene so that Tom keeps his Indian headdress to make the gag a bit cleaner.
Heavenly Puss (1949) Banned in Brazil and Middle East due to Tom dreams of facing the damnation in Hell.
Jerry's Diary (1949) On current airings, the clip from "The Yankee Doodle Mouse" is edited to remove Tom in blackface from an exploding teapot.
Tennis Chumps (1949) Some local stations removed the exploding birdie turning Butch into a blackface ballerina. Oddly, channels like Cartoon Network and Boomerang aired this uncut.
Saturday Evening Puss (1950) Versions aired on television from the 1960s onwards reanimated Mammy into an unnamed white woman with a new voice provided by June Foray. The same version also mutes out Jerry's barely audible dialogue when he complains to Tom about the noise.
Texas Tom (1950) Sequences where Tom smokes the cigarette are removed from reruns of the UK versions of Cartoon Network and Boomerang due to the smoking ban.
Safety Second (1950) On current airings, the ending with Jerry blowing into a noisemaker, only for it to blow up due to a firecracker in it, fades out early to remove Jerry in blackface glaring at Nibbles.
Casanova Cat (1951) Current airings and DVD releases omit the entire sequence where Tom forces Jerry into performing a blackface tap dance for Toodles.
His Mouse Friday (1951) Rarely airs on television due to prominent black stereotyping. Edited versions exist on home media, which mute out the natives' and the blackface Jerry's dialogue, and zoomed in on Jerry at the end, so that the child native (with a much thicker lip) would not be seen.
The Two Mouseketeers (1952) Some local stations edited out the implied execution of Tom at the end.
Little Runaway (1952) The baby seal throwing Tom into a bird bath, which overturns the basin and lands on Tom to make him look like a Chinese caricature, is cut from current airings.
Two Little Indians (1953) Rarely airs on television due to prominent Native American stereotyping.
Life With Tom (1953) The clip from "The Little Orphan" was edited to removed Tom's blackface look after the candle burns his fur.
Blue Cat Blues (1956) Rarely airs on television and is exempt from many home releases due to topical references to suicide, depression, and alcoholism.
Feedin' The Kiddie (1957) Like its original counterpart "The Little Orphan", the blackface scene was edited on television airings.
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