Twelve Missing Hares

The Twelve Missing Hares is an unofficial term that refers to twelve Bugs Bunny cartoons that was pulled from airing on Cartoon Network's June Bugs marathon in 2001 due to ethnic stereotyping that would be deemed offensive to contemporary audiences. The origin of the term comes from an unaired ToonHeads episode that was originally intended to air during the marathon, but was pulled.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHNTv3oQoE8
After Cartoon Network acquired the shorts in ABC's The Bugs Bunny Show package in September 2000, the network now had access to the complete Warner Bros. cartoon library. To celebrate, the network announced a marathon containing all of the more than 160 cartoons Bugs Bunny starred in, from "Porky's Hare Hunt" all the way to "From Hare to Eternity" (the most recent Bugs Bunny cartoon released at the time).https://www.awn.com/news/cartoon-networks-upcoming-bugs-bunny-celebration-largest-television-history The more politically incorrect entries were scheduled to air during the overnight hours, when children would likely be asleep.
==List==
The cartoons that were banned from the marathon included:
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==ToonHeads episode==
The ToonHeads episode related to these cartoons was scheduled to air either during the marathon (presumably at the same late hours the banned shorts were to air), before the marathon, or afterward. However, due to ethnic stereotyping deemed offensive, it was pulled upon backlash from executives at AOL Time Warner. Unlike other ToonHeads episodes, the episode does not feature any shorts as a whole, but just clips of the cartoons. The documentary episode describes the reasons for why the shorts were withheld, primarily due to the changing social atmosphere compared to when the cartoons first released. The episode concludes with a statement that "Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network are well aware of [their] responsibility to the audience of parents, children, and cartoon buffs", and that "Cartoon Network will not permit negative stereotypes and offensive images to air on the network."
Although the episode had finished production, the episode would be lost until it was publicly uploaded by Jerico Dvorak with permission from Jerry Beck on 26 August 2022. It is one of the only two ToonHeads episodes that finished production but was unaired, the other being "The Best of the Worst Cartoons Ever" that was also uploaded the same day.
==Critical reaction ==
Reactions towards the ban of the twelve cartoons has been mixed. Critics of the ban has stated that removing these twelve cartoons was censoring the existence of the shorts, stating that the marathon was intended to be aimed for historical completion over entertainment purposes.https://www.awn.com/animationworld/june-bugged-cartoon-networks-controversy Animation historian Jerry Beck stated in an interview that "these [cartoons] are important historical documents, and they're being terribly abused... adults should be able to see this work."https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/03/weekinreview/ideas-trends-rascal-or-racist-censoring-a-rabbit.html Some also criticized the hypocrisy of banning cartoons of these stereotypes when several others featuring similar stereotypes of different races were allowed to be aired uncensored, such as, "A-Lad-In His Lamp", and "Rebel Rabbit", among others. Veteran director Chuck Jones was critical on network treatment of the shorts, stating that "networks were lousy editors and lousy child psychologists" in regards to censorship of several shorts.
Despite the criticism, some have defended Cartoon Network's decision to ban the cartoons, stating the channel was intended to entertain and that negative stereotypes to minority groups were deemed offensive.https://nypost.com/2001/05/30/big-bad-bugs-wascaly-wabbit-a-wacist/
==Airtime and availability==
===Previous airings===
Some of the shorts had aired previously prior to the June Bugs marathon, primarily on non-Turner networks:
*"A Feather in His Hare" aired periodically on Cartoon Network's anthology shows such as Bugs and Daffy and The Acme Hour, but the short was pulled from rotation shortly before the marathon.
*"Mississippi Hare" and "Frigid Hare" would both air with edits as part of The Bugs Bunny Show.
*"Which Is Witch" was formerly part of the normal rotation of cartoons included on The Bugs Bunny Show, on Nickelodeon, and had aired on the pervious June Bugs marathon. However, the short was almost always censored in some way when aired on both networks.
*"Bushy Hare" and "Horse Hare" was part of the normal rotation on Nickelodeon with edits, with the former airing as part of the pervious June Bugs marathon.
===During the marathon===
Despite what the press, news, and Cartoon Network themselves have said about the pulled cartoons, "What's Cookin' Doc?" surprisingly aired completely uncensored. However it only aired once at 3:00am and didn't rerun after all the shorts played in order.
=== Later airings===
Cartoon Network would later levy some of the banned cartoons and air them on the network after the marathon. "Frigid Hare" was first aired on the network the following year, with scenes censored to remove Bugs calling the hunter an "Eskimo pie-head". "What's Cookin' Doc?" aired as part of The Bob Clampett Show. However, in recent years, these cartoons has since been removed from rotation on Warner owned networks, primarily due to lesser airtime for Looney Tunes programming on both Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
"What's Cookin' Doc", "Frigid Hare", and "Bushy Hare" all have aired on MeTV and MeTV Toons without edits. As of currently, the nine remaining members of the Twelve Missing Hares have yet to be aired on contemporary television.
===Home media availability===
Nearly all members of the Twelve Missing Hares that are part of the Associated Artists Productions package have been made available on the LaserDisc set The Golden Age of Looney Tunes. However, due to The Japanese American Citizens League criticizing the inclusion of "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" on the LaserDisc set, the LaserDiscs and VHSes containing the cartoon was recalled, with later pressings replacing the cartoon with "Racketeer Rabbit", being the only double dip on the aforementioned set. Due to its inclusion in the Censored Eleven, "All This and Rabbit Stew" was never released onto official home media.
"Frigid Hare", "Herr Meets Hare", and "Mississippi Hare" were later released restored on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set. "Bushy Hare" would be restored for the Looney Tunes Super Stars' Bugs Bunny: Hare Extraordinaire DVD, "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt" would be restored for the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection DVD set, and "What's Cookin' Doc?" would be restored for the Bugs Bunny 80th Anniversary Collection Blu-ray set.
"All This and Rabbit Stew" was originally intended to be released in a DVD containing all of the Censored Eleven cartoons, but such DVD set has been indefinitely delayed. As of currently, "All This and Rabbit Stew", "Any Bonds Today?", "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips", "A Feather in His Hare", "Which is Witch", and "Horse Hare" are the only members of the group to not have known restorations, with "All This and Rabbit Stew" and "Which is Witch" also not available on any official home media (although "Which is Witch" was planned to have appeared on the Hare Exraordinaire DVD)http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/history/history4.htm.
==See also==
*Censored Eleven
==References==
Category:Lists