November 24, 2007

Merrie Melodies insulted Inuit

Frigid HareFrigid Hare is a 1948 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short, released in 1949, and was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.

Synopsis

While traveling to Miami Beach for an overdue vacation from Warner Brothers, Bugs Bunny mistakenly ends up at the South Pole, having yet again missed the left turn at Albuquerque. While there, he meets a young penguin being pursued by an Eskimo hunter.

Censorship

On the syndicated Merrie Melodies show, Bugs calling the Inuit hunter an "Eskimo pie-head" was muted out.

This cartoon was initially banned from airing on the 2001 installment of Cartoon Network's June Bugs due to the stereotypical portrayal of the Inuit (Eskimo) hunter.
Comment:  "Frigid Hare" stereotypes the Inuit as follows:

  • The hunter is located at the "South Pole." Implication: The Inuit live anywhere that's remote and cold. South Pole...North Pole...it doesn't matter which.

  • The hunter speaks gibberish.

  • The hunter has large lips like a stereotypical African.

  • The hunter uses a harpoon to hunt a land-based animal.

  • There are no other Inuit people in sight, no signs of culture or activity--not even a stereotypical igloo. Implication: The Inuit are savage and uncivilized, akin to predatory animals.

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