No matter whether you’re an adult or a kid, you probably have your own list of favorite cartoons. Unfortunately, some kids’ shows are banned in several countries.
13. Winnie the Pooh
Banned in: China.
Reason: The resemblance between the main character and China’s president.
Measures: The cartoon and the series are banned on TV in this country.
It started with innocent pictures that depicted a comparison of the bear with Chinese President Xi Jinping. This cute honey-addicted animal has much in common with China’s leader, and Chinese users say they even have similar character traits.
12. Peppa Pig
Banned in: Australia.
Reason: Teaches children not to be afraid of dangerous insects.
Measures: Episodes are banned on TV throughout the country.
This cute cartoon was banned after an episode where the pigs started to live with a spider. This episode teaches the world to be friendly to bugs, but for Australia, where more than 10,000 species of spiders (some poisonous) live, such advice is pretty dangerous. That’s why Australians are against any friendship with 8-legged creatures.
11. Pokemon
Banned in: Japan, Turkey, and the Arab League.
Reason: Harmful to kids’ health.
Measures: An episode is banned on TV.
In one episode, there was a strange explosion accompanied by bright blue and red flashes with a frequency of 12 Hz. As a result, kids later started to complain about their health. Some of the symptoms were partial vision loss, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. More than 600 kids were hospitalized. The episode was banned on TV, and this incident was called “Pokemon Shock.”
10. SpongeBob
Banned in: The USA, Russia, Europe, Australia, and later in more than 120 countries.
Reason: Violence and foul language.
Measures: Certain episodes are banned in many countries. An episode with a suicide was taken off the air.
Cartoons are supposed to be educational and should popularize positive and kind traits of character. Each Bikini Bottom hero has their own negative feature. What is more, they aren’t even punished for them. Many countries don’t want their future generations to behave like this.
9. TaleSpin
Banned in: First in the USA and Japan, and later throughout the world.
Reason: False views on laws and propaganda of stereotypes about Asian countries.
Measures: An episode is banned throughout the world. A second episode is banned in Japan and was temporarily banned in the USA.
In one episode, Baloo had to transport a box with a gift that was a bomb. The bear got away with it just because he didn’t know what was in there. So kids are taught the opposite of the phrase “ignorance of the law is no excuse.“
The second controversial episode — ”Last Horizons” — was temporarily taken off the air. According to the plot, warlike pandas exploit Baloo to determine the location of a lost city for further attack. Many people noticed the analogy with real historical events.
8. Tom and Jerry
Banned in: Throughout the world.
Reason: Smoking, alcohol, harmful substance abuse, and violence.
Measures: Some episodes were banned, scenes were deleted, and characters were replaced.
During a 50-year broadcast, many offensive scenes were deleted, re-dubbed, or even taken off the air as they showed specific American life in the 1940s.
But many people think that the main problem of this cartoon is unpunished violence.Tom is being punished for his naughtiness, and Jerry isn’t forbidden to mock the cat. And the mouse receives no negative attitude from the audience as it’s supposed to be a positive character.
7. The Simpsons
Banned in: First in the USA and Brazil, and later throughout the world.
Reason: Violence, humiliation of family values, disorderly behavior, and insulting public figures and countries.
Measures: Some episodes were taken off the air in different countries.
There are still lots of arguments in the USA about this provocative cartoon because of the decay of family values and inadequate examples of kids’ behavior (for example, Bart Simpson).
Rio’s tourism department found one of the episodes too offensive and threatened to sue the cartoon’s creators. According to the plot, the characters go to a Brazilian city that is depicted as a jungle with jumping monkeys. This episode is still banned in Brazil.
Though the cartoon struggles for freedom of expression, the authors are rather polite toward some countries. Homer doesn’t drink beer and eats no bacon in UAE broadcasts. Moreover, Vatican City considers the series to be “realistic and smart.”
6. Beavis and Butt-Head
Banned in: Throughout the world.
Reason: Disorderly behavior and the tendency to threaten people with bodily harm after watching this cartoon.
Measures: One episode is banned throughout the world.
The series showed nothing useful at all, but one episode went too far. The “Comedians” episode showed how funny it was to set different things on fire. As a result, one 5-year-old boy from the US, trying to have fun like the cartoon’s characters, burned his house with his sister inside.
5. Looney Tunes
Banned in: Throughout the world.
Reason: Alcohol consumption.
Measures: An episode was taken off the air.
This episode, called “One beer,” is quite old. The characters want to steal a bottle of beer and drink it all. What did the creators want to show to their young audience? It’s still a mystery to us. Nevertheless, the episode was banned on TV, but it was left on DVD. Such dual measures.
4. Gravity Falls
Banned in: Russia.
Reason: Bad habits, violence, and pornography propaganda.
Measures: Some scenes were eliminated, and some words were replaced.
You can watch this cartoon in Russia, but it’s a shortened version. The jokes here are not so vulgar, and the age recommendation is 12+. For example, in the second episode, Dipper lies down on Wendy’s bra. The girl is 15 years old. Audiences found this scene too frank. But its elimination didn’t affect the plot.
3. The Adventures of Lolo the Penguin
Banned in: The USA.
Reason: The plot and characters contradict the audience’s mindset.
Measures: Elimination of some scenes, characters’ reactions replaced, partial replacing of some phrases, and plot changes.
Be sure that Americans have the opportunity to watch this cartoon…but with major changes. 3 episodes were combined into one cartoon with an illogical plot.
All unpleasant and sad scenes were deleted. Even the scene with Lolo’s dad’s death, which reflect the unique hero’s character, were removed by the cartoonists. In the scene where the penguin teacher falls down in front of his pupils, their calm reaction was replaced with a hilarious laugh.
2. Cartoons where Donald Duck appears
Banned in: Finland.
Reason: Pornography and popularizing false values.
Measures: All cartoons where this character appears were banned in this country.
Starting from the 1970s, comics with this funny Disney duck began to disappear. It happened because Donald didn’t want to wear pants. The Helsinki Commission for Youth Affairs claims that these cartoons neglect family values, threaten morality, and popularize an abnormal obsession with money.
1. Shrek 2
Banned in: Israel.
Reason: Sexual hints and insulting public figures.
Measures: This cartoon was prohibited in all cinemas in the country.
In one scandalous scene in the original movie, the heroes say “to bobbit,“ meaning that they want to cut off one character’s biological organs. This verb appeared after an accident in John Bobbit’s family where John’s wife cut off his…let’s say ”manhood.”
The dubbing authors decided to replace this moment with a joke about a famous Israeli singer with a really high voice. Of course, David D’Or, the singer, didn’t like this joke and sued the cartoon’s authors.
