The Twelve Missing Hares
| WARNING! This article contains content that may not be seen as age appropriate or upsetting for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. |
| The Twelve Missing Hares | |
|---|---|
| File:.png | |
| Premiere date | Unaired |
| Run time | 22:10 |
| Starring | George A. Klein |
| Writer(s) | Jerry Beck George A. Klein |
| Director(s) | George A. Klein |
| Episode navigation | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| Title card | |
| File:ToonHeads 609 title card.png | |
The Twelve Missing Hares is an episode of ToonHeads that was originally going to air as the ninth episode of season five, and the sixty-eighth in total. The special was originally planned for 2001 release, as part of Cartoon Network's June Bugs marathon, but due to an executive backlash from AOL Time Warner over its racially insensitive content, it was pulled from its proposed air date.
Narrated by George A. Klein, the episode would've covered the 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that feature racial stereotypes and discusses why these cartoons are wrong today.
Detailed summary
Memorable quotes
Narrator: Bugs Bunny was born in the summer of 1940, a time in America where was still formally segregated, a time before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, before President Truman desegregated the military, before the federal government integrated the nation's public schools. And while animated cartoons have generally been considered timeless, evergreen entertainment for all ages, the twelve Bugs Bunny cartoons withheld from programming reflect views we, as a nation, no longer tolerate.
Narrator: These films have been withdrawn from our programming library out of concern of all and for the greater good. But film history and Bugs Bunny's complete story cannot be ignored. We cannot erase the past or sweep it under the rug. These twelve cartoons should not be judged by today's standards. Many of these cartoons were embarrassing and painful to the minorities they ridiculed at the time, but we have since grown as a nation, and our consciousness has been raised.
Characters
In order of appearance: | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Organizations
Locations
Objects
Vehicles
Crew credits
- Executive producers: Keith Crofford, Mike Lazzo
- Production manager: Vishal Roney
- Historical consultant: Dr. Robin Chandler; African American Studies Dept., Northeastern University
- Editorial facility: Lab 601 Digital Post, Inc.
- Editor: Jay Hunt
- Audio facility: 11th Street Post
- Audio engineer: Tom Race
- Graphics: Phil Danserau, Bob Woodhead
- Still photography: Woolsey Ackerman
Release
- Never aired
Behind the scenes
- With permission from Jerry Beck, who originally worked on the special, it was posted online nearly twenty years later on August 26th, 2022.
- The special was also never fully finished, with some sound effects and music being missing.
- Leslie Fram was named in the credits, but didn't provide the narration of this episode. George A. Klein provided the narration as a temporary track.
- Among the 12 main cartoons featured featured in the episode were:
- All the cartoons featured are in clips instead of their full length.
- Similarly, all 12 of the aforementioned Bugs Bunny shorts were going to air individually as part of the June Bugs marathon that same year, but pulled due to the executive backlash as stated above. These shorts also go by the unofficial term, the "Twelve Missing Hares", after the ToonHeads episode of which they were planned to appear.
- Reactions towards the banning of these shorts were mixed. Critics of the ban stated that their removal was a form of censorship for their existence, claiming that the June Bugs marathon was intended to aim for historical completion over entertainment purposes.[1] In response to the censorship, Jerry Beck stated in an interview, "these [cartoons] are important historical documents, and they're being terribly abused... adults should be able to see this work."[2] Chuck Jones, the veteran director for some of the shorts, was highly critical of the decision and claimed that "networks were lousy editors and lousy child psychologists" in regards to the censorship of several shorts.[2] Despite the criticism, some have defended Cartoon Network's decision to the banning, stating that the channel was intended for entertainment, and that negative stereotypes to minority groups were deemed offensive.[3]
- One of the cartoons featured in the episode, All This and Rabbit Stew, is also a part of the Censored Eleven, a label given to eleven individual cartoons that were barred from airing for similar content.
- Ironically, Fresh Hare did manage to air on Cartoon Network, albeit edited to omit the ending where Bugs, Elmer and the Canadian Mountie firing squad sing "Campdown Races" while donning blackface.
Errors
Home availability
- Not available due to the aforementioned racial stereotypes.
References
- ↑ Goodman, Martin (June 11, 2001). "June Bugged: Cartoon Network's Controversy". Animation News Network. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leland John (June 3, 2001). "Ideas & Trends; Rascal or Racist? Censoring a Rabbit". The New York Times. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
- ↑ Smith, Austin (May 30, 2025). "BIG BAD BUGS – WASCALY WABBIT A WACIST?" New York Post. Retrieved February 16, 2025.
