Friday, June 5, 2009

"Racist" line of dialogue in Jonny Quest cartoon?




I was sort of "half watching" an episode of one of my favorite childhood cartoons, "Jonny Quest," on the Boomerang channel and was startled upright by a line of dialogue which seemed dramatically inappropriate by today's standards.

By way of explanation, "Jonny Quest" originally aired on ABC in 1964. So it's 45 years old now (amazingly). I first saw it as a kid in th 1970s, though, when it was re-run on a local tv station.

The episode I was watching is titled "Pursuit of the Po-Ho." In the episode, Race Bannon attempts to rescue Dr. Quest from a tribe of native head-hunters in South America by pretending to be their god of water, Akezio. When Race emerges from the river in this guise, he yells as the tribesmen in part, "Get a good look at Akezio, you heathen monkeys..."

"Heathen monkeys"? Whoa! Did he really just say that?!?

I thought that I must have mis-heard that line of dialogue. So I went back and watched this same segment in the DVD collection of all 21 episodes titled Jonny Quest - The Complete First Season
(which you can buy on Amazon by clicking on that title in red) which was officially released a few years back by Warner Bros. And in that version these offending words has been "silenced out" in the sound track. But, interestingly, they were retained in the closed captioning.

Is the logic there that the hearing impaired are less politically correct (or sensitive to racial and religious slander) than others?

13 comments:

  1. In "Toby Danger," a segment of the 1995 FREAKAZOID! first season that satirized JQ, the writers had the Race Bannon character, Dash O'Pepper, utter the "heathen monkeys" line. (Yes, the segment was inappropriate for Sat-AM TV. It also featured underaged Toby trying to sneak into a Las Vegas casino so that he could meet a Keno girl.)

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  2. just watched this on DVD, and came here to figure out what Race was saying. The times they are a changin'.

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  3. He also saya "savages" quite frequently in other episodes that have been washed since

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  4. Who cares liberal drunk

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  5. Self-righteous, race-baiting bitches.

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  6. How can you just omit a line like that as though it was never spoken? Okay so he called the Po-Hos "heathen monkeys" just blanking it out doesn't change anything,it only take away from a classic episode. Did the Po-Hos hold a protest outside Hannah Barbara demanding that they remove the offending line. Jonny Quest was created in a different era and it is what it is, there is a lot more racially charged scenes throughout the whole series,why single this one instance out? I'm bummed its not in the DVD collection not because I'm racist but because thats how I remember it; I don't even hate the Po-Hos...I think they are funny.

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    1. They are a real people. Not meant for your entertainment. You dumb bastard.

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    2. Blow yourself, DA

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  7. Just saw an episode of jonny quest and there was a chinese guy named charlie lol

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  8. That should not be said especially in a children's show!

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  9. Bunch a liberal cry-baby baw-bags.

    Here's a pro-tip: don't watch it if you're easily offended.

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    1. Agreed live the watching of the antiquated racist show to the "conservative" wackjobs you still wish it was the 50's.
      So typical

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  10. This is a pointless argument it was made in a different era when people have a dam about life Not a cartoon character saying a racist word Jesus yiur life must in dead be void of enjoyment of this ais all you can go on about

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