Cartoon Censorship: Why, where, when and how?

Some people may think when reading that title: isn't censorship for adult stuff only? What does censorship have to do with cartoons? The truth is that many of the cartoons that are being aired on Arab channels are indeed censored. Some of them are obviously censored, where one could easily notice that there some scenes that were cut. Others, are more subtly cut so kids will hopefully not notice that there are some missing parts.

Censorship itself as a term, apart from cartoons, is debatable. Some think that it should not exist, while others believe it should exist to an extent. Others think that there should be no censorship at all, and leaving the choice to viewers to watch what they want to watch and ignore what does not agree with their ideas or interests. But cartoon censorship is different from any other kind of censorship, for two main reasons. First of all, cartoons are thought of as "for-kids" material, so many people may never think that cartoons can be subject to that process. Secondly, many (or most of) cartoon viewers are children. So, what you censor so that a kid doesn't see is definitely different than what you'd censor for an adult not to see. The fact that many cartoons have mixed audiences poses a big problem here, because in many cases, you're not sure: who's really watching the show? Is it children, teens, adults or a mix of all these demographic groups?

Let's take the first question: why do censorship for cartoons? The obvious answer is "because kids watch them", but I believe that the more realistic answer is not that kids watch cartoons, but because are being influenced by cartoons (especially their favorite shows) in their behaviors and ideas. On one side, I believe censorship is a good sign because this means censors have come to realize that cartoons do influence kids and that they're not just nice shows, but rather teachers in many cases who tell the child how to act, think and sometimes even how to dress. So, if you ask me, I believe censorship as a general procedure, is right. But that's on the general level. This doesn't mean that I agree with all kinds of censorships of course. By the way, at first, I was totally against cartoon censorship. I used to believe that when a kid watches a cartoon and finds a scene is being suddenly cut, this will trigger many questions in his mind and drive him to think about what's being censored rather than concentrating in the show. But when I did some internet research, I came to understand how cartoons really influence kids. The more that influence, the more attention that should be paid to these shows.

This leads us to the second question: where to do censorships? This is also very debatable. Although I believe cartoon censorship is a must in some cases that I'll be telling you later, I believe that cartoon censorship should not be practiced everywhere. Take the Shrek movie for example. It was shown on MBC 2 movie channel (which is for adults) and on MBC 3 (which is for kids). On both channels, the movie was censored in the same way. The same scenes were cut from both versions. This does not make sense to me, because how do you expect the audience of a kids channel to be the same as that of a movie channel? When you omit some kissing scenes from the kids' version, this may make sense, but omitting them from the adults' version is unexplainable because MBC 2 does not omit kissing senses in regular movies. Is it just laziness from the censors to use 2 versions for the same movie? Maybe yes and maybe no. A more practical solution is to place cartoons that are not suitable for all kids at night, where younger kids may not be awake. For example, Cartoon Network TV shows a cut-version of Dragon Ball Z, a Japanese anime in the morning, and at night, they air the un-cut version.




The most debatable question, however, is when to censor: in other words: what to censor. Personally, I believe cartoons should be slightly censored in very few cases, when there's really some explicit or obviously suggesting scene in a cartoon. Otherwise, there should be no censorship. Let's first look at MBC 3 and Space Toon TV, which are two of the most popular Arab cartoon TV stations in the Arab world. What MBC 3 censors is not what Space Toon censors, although both belong to the Arab world, which supposedly has a common set of beliefs.

Space Toon is more of a harsh censor: it cuts any scenes that contains a girl wearing a short skirt over the knee, or any open dress. It also cuts all kissing scenes, and almost any scene in which there is a short physical distance between a male and a female character. Batman is almost one of the most heavily censored cartoons on Space Toon. The strange thing is that while Space Toon seems to care very much about the moral side, it does NOT censor violent scenes or bad language. Strange, isn’t it? But it's true. Believe it or not, while in some European countries, there have been many calls for censoring violent cartoon shows, such as Dragon Ball Z, Space Toon rarely cuts violence and blood scenes. So, it seems that censorship, according to Space Toon censors, is "cutting immoral (sexual) scenes only). But is violence moral? That's another question. MBC3, on the other hand, is more lenient, when it comes to cartoon censorship. It keeps the violent scenes, does not censor short or open skirts/dresses, but omits only the love or kissing scenes.

It's not just what to censor, it's also how you do it. While MBC3 usually cuts the whole scene, Space Toon has created a new way of censorship that is very much debatable. Space Toon does NOT cut the scene. Instead, it either slows the visual tape until the inappropriate shot passes, while keeping the sound tape as it is, or it does a bolder thing. It changes the entire story plot, so that characters appear to be talking about something totally different than the original dialogue. Take Slam Dunk, a popular anime, for example. While the anime hero has a girl friend in the show and they're in love, the Arabic version calls them just colleagues and does not translate any love words, but substitutes them by other topics. So, instead of the anime character to say 'I like that girl', the Arabic version may say ' she's a kind hearted girl, or a good student' or any silly stuff. Some story events are totally changed. Instead of a character that is alcoholic for instance, they say he's ill or tired. I am against this kind of censorship. Either you cut it all together or you don't show it at the first place, but this kind of censorship underestimates kids and treats them like fools. Believe me, kids know everything and the sad fact is that: while they may not see it in cartoons, they may see it else where. Welcome to the Internet age!

Check out this website, for an online petition against Space Toon and the censorship that it carries out:
http://www.petitiononline.com/stc123/petition.html

Cartoons as Marketing Tools

One day, I was sitting there watching the Pokemon cartoon. For those who don't know what Pokemon is, Pokemon is an anime about a young boy named Ash who begins his journey to collect all kinds of Pokemon. Pokemon means 'Pocket monsters". Throughout the show, Ash and his friends try to collect all Pokemon. I was sitting there enjoying the show, when a question pooped up in my mind: when the producers of the show were working on Pokemon, did they know that many products will be made based on that cartoon? I mean, did the show succeed and then many products were made based on its characters? Or was the show specifically made for commercial reasons, to launch related products in a later phase after kids are fully attached to the show?




Can cartoons be a marketing tool? Can cartoon characters like Mickey and Donald act as sales characters selling different products? The idea of marketing to children has been always interesting to me. In fact, I noticed that in many marketing textbooks, there's always a special section dedicated to children marketing, as if the child is a very different kind of consumer, with specific strategies that have to be directed to him, in order to make him desire a certain product. This led me to conduct an extensive research project about that topic. But don't think I have that leisure time to do researches. This project was a university assignment of course!

When I started searching about the relationship between cartoon characters and products that use them to make kids buy them, I found out that there are three ways in which cartoons can be used as marketing tools. I am interested in the third way, but let me tell you the three. By the way, this is not a scientific conclusion. I categorized them that way, maybe other researchers see them differently.

The first way by which companies can use cartoons to market their product is to actually create special cartoon characters specifically for their products. These characters will be associated with the product and endorse it in any form of promotional material: whether ads, posters, or any other form of promotion. Take Nesquik for example. Instead of using any well known cartoon character, Nesquik created the Nesquik bunny. You can only see him in Nesquik related promotions and not in any cartoon show.




The second method is to choose a cartoon character that has become so popular. Then, you go and take a license from its producers to use that character in your marketing efforts to market your company's products. This is the most common form of cartoon marketing. Food companies, such as Keloggs, heavily use this method. Once a cartoon show is popular and successful, they use it on the cereal's cover.



But what really triggers me is the third way of using cartoons for marketing: when you make a cartoon show and while you are making it you know that it's not just a cartoon but a whole line of products that will be launched shortly after the program starts its airing on TV. Pokemon is one example. How would you explain that Nintendo, the famous game boy company, is one of the show's producers? Not only Pokemon, there are other cartoons that have a whole product line sold in most toy stores. Beyblade (see picture), Let's Go (Sabek and Lahek), and Super Sonnic Spinner are all applicable examples.




I'll tell you the procedure: First, they start with an idea, say a young boy who likes to travel and play sports and stuff. This idea is then tailored and modified because it has to include something 'collectable' that children can buy once they see the show. It is this word "collection" that sums the whole thing up. Any commercial show that is mainly done for commercial purposes and not just to entertain kids, has to include something (or things) that the child will want to collect, otherwise, his friends will call him a loser! These shows enforce a kind of "love of possession" among kids and I am not exaggerating when I use this term.

I'll prove it to you. First of all, the slogan of the Pokemon series is "collect them all', and them refers to the Pokemon related products, especially card games and action figures. Today there are hundreds of Pokemon related products, ranging from simple books to card games, T shirts, action figures..etc. At a certain time, there was a real Pokemon "frenzy". Kids were mad about the show and they went crazy, trying to collect almost anything that has the Pokemon logo. This 'collect them all' idea made Saudi Arabia actually ban the Pokemon show, not because it's immoral but because they believed that it controlled kids' minds and kind of hypnotized them to buy any Pokemon product they find at the toy store.

Lately, I have been noticing a new phenomenon. If you are a heavy viewer of Space Toon TV, as I am, you'll notice that the channel, though it's a cartoon channel, yet it has a clearly commercial tone. I believe that their criteria when choosing the cartoons they air is not just whether they are moral and stuff, but whether they hold any marketing opportunity. For example, every summer season, the channel airs new cartoon shows. 60% of these shows have lots of related products that the channel starts to advertise simultaneously with the launch of the show. Inside a Beyblade show for example, you'd find lots of Beyblade related toy ads. One of the channel's owners (or shareholders) is a toy company that takes licenses to distribute these cartoon related toys in the Middle East. That of course explains it. If the channel can air cartoons that have related products, this will being lots of profit!

Is this ethical? I have been always asking myself that question. Probably, I'll never decide, because on one side: I think that it's any company's right to make a profit from selling a cartoon related character. But on the other side, I think that there is some manipulation (or call it exploitation) that is taking place here. I mean it's unethical to tell the kid in the ad that if you don't own the whole set, you'll be a loser and seem out-dated because all your friends will have the toys and you'll be left behind. Yet someone would say that parents have a role here to control their kids' purchases, but tell you what: it's mostly kids who influence their parents and not vice versa. Kids have a nagging power where they cry, shout and throw themselves on the ground if you don’t buy them what they want. So, it's the parent who pays but it's usually the child who makes the purchase decision.

In search for an Arab cartoon "hero"

About ten years ago, when one would ask himself about the Arab cartoons that he knew of, he would probably say: none. In the last couple of years, there were some attempts to create Arab cartoon characters that address Arab children in specific.

Today, we do have Arab cartoon characters. Cairo Cartoon Studio, supervised by late Dr. Mona Abou El Nasr, can be considered as a pioneer in the Arab cartoon industry. It created cartoons such as Kani & Mani, Sindbad and Bakkar. Other Egyptian studios created other cartoons such as Hanadi, M5, and several others. There were also few attempts on a regional scale, with some cartoon attempts in Saudi Arabia.



We do have Arab cartoon characters, but do we have Arab cartoon heroes? What's the difference, you may ask. I believe that a cartoon hero is very much different from a regular cartoon character. Your definition of a hero may be different, but I believe that a real cartoon hero is someone that a kid not only likes to watch, but likes to imitate, or model his/her behavior according to the actions of that cartoon character.

A true cartoon hero is also characterized by loyalty. If kids love that hero, they may stay following its cartoon show, and sometimes even buying any related product to that character. A true cartoon hero is widely popular, not only in a city, but on a wider scale. For example, Superman, Batman, Spiderman are international characters that are known everywhere.




Let's try to apply these 3 characters on our Arab cartoon characters. Let's take the relatively most popular Egyptian cartoon character, Bakkar. Bakkar is a Nubian boy, living in Aswan, with his mother and little goat Rashida. Bakkar has lots of friends and goes on many adventures. He is a sensitive and kind-hearted kid who is talented in drawing. Bakkar has been there for more than 7 years. It is aired every Ramdan. The show is usually a 30-epsiode, with each episode lasting for about 15 minutes. Today, Bakkar is probably the only Egyptian (and Arab) cartoon character that is being regarded as a cartoon hero.

Let's take the first characteristic of a cartoon hero: modeling behaviors according to the hero's actions. Let that be the first criteria. Do kids tend to imitate Bakkar? Do they see him as a role model to follow? The answer, I believe, is a big NO. Kids today tend to look up to actors, football players and singers but definitely not to Bakkar. Even if they imitate a cartoon character, they imitate a character that they feel challenging to them. Some of my friends told me that their young brothers laugh at Bakkar. Of course, Bakkar's show producers were not hoping for the show to be a comedy one, but I believe Bakkar as a cartoon character has a serious communication problem with kids. The show treats them as if they were the same kids of the 1950s or 1960s: kids who have to drink milk before they sleep, do their homework and obey what Mummy is saying otherwise there will be no sweets and they will be grounded. Come on, kids today are not kids anymore. We are in the internet age, and they know everything. They want a cartoon character that challenges them, not act as a third-grade teacher who tells them to do their homework on time. Bakkar has really good concepts, but it says it so directly, that it sometimes seems silly and naïve. Kids will never imitate someone they don't believe that he is with to look up to. For Bakkar, I believe they underestimate the character and not the opposite.

A hero also has loyalty. Are children loyal to Bakkar? Do they care to watch him every Ramadan? At this point, I believe that there is some loyalty for Bakkar. I know kids who care to watch it every Ramadan. But loyalty alone does not make a real hero to me, because you have to ask the kid: why do you care to see Bakkar? Is it because of a habit that you do every Ramadan? Or because you really like Bakkar and wait for his annual adventures? Or because it's the almost only Arab cartoon aired on Egyptian TV in Ramadan? Or do you care to watch it to laugh at the silly goat and the over-childish plots in the show?

Popularity is also an important feature of a real cartoon hero. Ask any child in any country about Captain Maged, Mazinger, Batman, Mickey Mouse and Donald duck, Tom and Jerry, they will very likely tell you a lot of them. Bakkar of course is not required (nor intended) to be an international character because it is an Arabic-speaking character. I heard that Chinese Television bought the episodes and aired the episodes, but let's take a narrower scope: the Arab world. Is Bakkar known all over the Arab world? I really don't know the answer, but what I am sure of, is that even if it is known all over the Arab world, it is not as popular as foreign cartoons.

What does Bakkar, or any other Arab cartoon character need to become a true cartoon hero. Well, that's a difficult question, but if you ask me I think there are three key requirements: excellent production, excellent technicalities (story writing and artwork), but the third element is the most important. The producers of the show have to research their children audiences and see who they are addressing. They need to respect children's intelligence and address them in a way that makes them feel challenged not underestimated. I think that it really hurts the child when he feels that he's being viewed as a kid who is not yet old enough to think and decide for himself. When a cartoon show gives him that feeling, he does the simplest authority he has: he switches the channel right way!

Ideologies in American cartoons

If you ask me about the thing that American animators do best, I'll tell you that they really know how to use cartoons to convey ideologies. I believe that what distinguishes American cartoons from other cartoons is not the vibrant animation or interesting story plots. I think that their skill (you may call it talent) in mixing an engaging story plot with an ideology, that they want to convey, is what makes American cartoons really stand out.

Let me explain. First, let's agree that by 'ideology', we do not mean negative ideas only. Lots of American cartoons may have ideas that we as Arabs agree or disagree about. But what I mean is that every American cartoon has an idea to convey. Of course, you'd say that any cartoon has a goal. That's right, but the skill is not in just having an ideology or a goal: it's how you convey it.

Take Aladdin for example. Aladdin is a very famous Disney animation movie. It was used to enforce the stereotype that many Americans have about Arabs: that they are a bunch of barbarians living in the desert with their camels and sheep. Aladdin was one of the few times that Disney used a dark-skinned hero for one of its movies (see below). But when you see the movie, you'd find it really entertaining and you may not even notice the subtle messages in it.



Batman is another example. In such shows, the idea of "America saves the world" is being put into every episode. Of course, Batman is an American guy (Bruce Wayne) who saves his country and never gets defeated. Superman seems to work on a larger scale. He saves the world against aliens and evil creatures. You might say: they're just simple cartoons, but just take a deeper look at them, and you'll find that they all tend to enforce the image of the "American hero" that the world would suffer without.



Sexuality is another ideology conveyed in cartoons. Take a look at Batman for example. Isn't it supposed to be for kids? Well, how do you explain a 3 minute scene in one of the episodes, where Harley Quinn, one of the evil characters, actually seduces the Joker in a really explicit scene that I could not believe my eyes when I saw. The problem is not in the sexual hints, the problem is where they are placed. In Japan, there are special adult anime that is basically sexual and immoral. But to include such hints in a popular cartoon show that kids of all ages watch, is definitely another issue.

But again, American animators are not that bad. I mean, there are many positive ideologies that are included in American cartoons. Take Happy Feet, the 2006 Oscar Winning Best Animated Feature movie. It's about a penguin who is different from all his peers. While all his friends and family like to sing, he likes to dance. Happy Feet's main message is how to accept and tolerate others who are different from us. It says that being different doesn't mean being inferior. Did it say these messages directly? Of course not and I believe that if it had done, it would have never won the Oscar.




Even movies, such as Shrek, that have lots of sexual hints, do contain very deep and positive messages. The fact that Princess Fiona sees the beauty inside Sherk who is an ogre, is a very good message. It tells kids never to judge someone from the outside, and that real beauty lies within a person.



Americans have this talent of working on many levels simultaneously. On one level, they are just doing nice cartoons with vibrant animation, engaging story, nice characters, glamorous colors, great music..etc. On another level, they are including whatever ideologies they want to convey in a way that is barely noticed.

Closely related to this issue is subliminal advertising in cartoons, especially American ones, where there are ads that are not noticed being put inside the cartoon. But what I am more interested in is the ideologies in such cartoons. Ideologies are more subtle and you can never touch them. A product is visible, so it's easier to include in a show, even if subtly. But an ideology requires more effort because you can never see it but rather sense it.

For American animators, it's important that you convey your ideology, but that doesn't mean that you have to say it out loud. Consequently, you'll find many interpretations of American cartoons. While someone would see Shrek as innocent humor, other people may see it as explicit. This debate means that American cartoons are definitely more than just nice characters that kids love. They deserve a much closer and analytical look. This does not mean that we keep criticizing cartoons and making things complex. But simply, whenever you are watching a cartoon, tell yourself: It's a nice show, but is that all, or does it want to say more?

Japanese Cartoons: are they second class cartoons?

Maybe you are not familiar with the term "anime". It's a term that's being used to describe Japanese cartoons. In Egypt, we call it cartoons or animation, just like any other foreign cartoon. But worldwide, Japanese cartoons have been called anime, maybe to distinguish them from any other cartoon and maybe anime is just a simple abbreviation of the word animation, without any purposes of making Japanese cartoons special in any sense. But are Japanese anime really special?

Well, since I don't expect everyone reading this blog to be a cartoon expert, let me give you short tips on how you can identify a Japanese cartoon. Usually, anime characters have very wide eyes. Of course, there's a special style of drawing from one anime to another, but generally anime have common guidelines concerning their animation styles. Sharp features for the characters, vibrant colors, and many visual details are all common guidelines. Also, anime series are usually long, ranging from 52 to even 100 episodes. They are divided into seasons.

Anime are not very popular in Egypt. If you ask yourself of the anime you are familiar with, you'd probably just recall Captain Maged or Mazinger, who is the most popular anime in Egypt so far. When I visited Vienna, they had special stories that sell anime stuff. In Egypt, not much anime is popular.





The problem is not just that anime are not very popular here. I feel that there's a kind of stereotype about Japanese cartoons, that they are all violent, and low-quality. Lately, I was reading an Egyptian magazine, and a media specialist said that the Arab world is one of the greatest consumers of anime, mainly because they are much cheaper to buy than American ones and that they are consequently of lower quality, which makes them 'trash' or second class cartoons.
Well, I disagree with that. Let me tell you why. I believe anime has its pros and cons, but you can't really set them as lower quality cartoons. Generally, anime revolves around a number of themes. There's the robot/space theme (anime occurring in space, where there are lots of space battles and stuff), the comedy theme (caricature-like drawing, with a funny characters), the sentimental/human theme (more directed towards teenagers and adults, involving realistic romance or tragedy stories). There's also the hero/fight theme (superheroes, like Mazinger and stuff), and there's the sports theme (here comes Captain Maged!). What a variety, I must say. So, if anime are really of low quality, isn't this variety something difficult to maintain. The fact that there are so many themes means that there are lots of writers working on anime and lots of efforts being put into them.

Accusing anime of being of low quality is mainly not because they are of low quality, but we, Arabs, really do buy low quality anime and ignore much of the anime that is really great! We focus on cartoons like Captain Maged and Grandizer that are 25 years old, and we ignore anime like "Romeo Blue Skies".



This is one of the anime that made me cry one day. It's a very touching one, about the life of chimney workers and how they suffer from hunger and oppression. We also tend to associate anime with violence mainly because all what we see are anime with superheroes fighting and shouting, but these are only some of the anime themes and not all of them. I admit that maybe 60% or more of the anime are like that, but what about the other 40%?

I think that one of the main pros of anime is the storyline (or story plot). These guys write as if they are writing to adults. They never underestimate kids' minds. They respect kids' mentalities and offer rich stories and believe me I think these stories can be turned into novels. The great artwork in anime is a great plus, though some anime are not that artistically made.

What I don't like about anime is the exaggeration in it. Even when making a sentimental anime, with no heroes flying or Captain Maged taking one hour to reach the goal, I believe much of anime creators exaggerate in their character's reactions. They overdo many things. If it's a sentimental anime, you'd find lots of crying and tragedies, if it's a comedy one, you may find the show irritating because it's full of laughs without a real story you could follow sometimes. Also, anime have very long series. It's good to find out that your favorite anime has a lot of episodes, but sometimes you’re dying to know how the story will end, but you'll have to wait for 100 more episodes to come.

But if you ask me, I believe that anime are really worth watching. I mean try to think of anime as a diverse thing and don't limit yourself to the silly cartoons that we see on Egyptian TV. Watch Space Toon TV for example, or any Arab Channel, you'd definitely find a great variety of anime that will keep you attached to them. If you disagree with me, I'd be happy to hear your opinion. I am an anime-fan but not an anime-fanatic!

Welcome to Animation & Beyond

Hi. Welcome to my blog. First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am Mina Nagy, an Egyptian 21-year old student who will be graduating this semester from the faculty of Mass Communication at Misr International University in Cairo.
I am sure you're saying at the back of your mind now: "What does a 21 year old guy have to do with cartoons? Aren't they supposed to be for 'kids'?"
Well, I tell you what: that's the reason why I made this blog. I adore cartoons and I believe that they are not just for kids. In fact, I believe that cartoons are more than just 'animation'. Every cartoon has a concept or even an ideology behind it. Even the very childish cartoons have a purpose. So, I think people should never underestimate cartoons and view them as something trivial and childish.
I have always loved to watch cartoons since I was a little kid. When I was four, my Mom and Dad took me to meet the headmaster of the school that I was about to join. When he asked me what I wanted to become when I grow up, I told him that I would like to "become like Uncle Scrooge, to fill trucks with gold". Guess what? I was accepted and joined the school because of that answer. Cartoons continued with me even in my university life. I conducted two extensive research studies about cartoons and their effects on children.
I made this blog not because I am a big cartoon fan or just someone who likes to watch cartoons. Many of us watch cartoons or pass by them. But few people look beyond these nice looking characters on the screen. This blog does not just offer pictures, screensavers, or video clips of nice cartoons and stuff. I mean I would love to do that but I believe that there are many websites that offer cool cartoon stuff. So, I think I should use this space to offer something new, or at least different, plus I don't want you to waste your time reading a routine blog.
This blog discusses what's behind cartoons: their content, effect, ideas conveyed in them..etc. Does this seem complex? Well, I think that if you read some of my posts here and start to look at cartoons with a different eye, then I could say that my blog made a difference. On my blog, you'll find posts about American, Japanese and even Arab cartoons. I am really waiting for your comments and opinions. How do you view cartoons? Do you think I am exaggerating and overdoing it? Or do you think I am somehow right? After all, cartoons are a form of art and everyone can see art differently. But even though we may have different opinions, it's always nice to discuss them together.
Welcome to Animation & Beyond! Please stop by every now and then, if you can and check some of the posts here. I hope you find it interesting and worth a couple of minutes from your time!