No guns in new Looney Tunes? | Weapon rules in your comics

[Freemints30]

Dude never use "sjw". All I think of when I hear it is no bullshit cheering Texas banning arther(free speech advocate my ass) and one angry manchild twitter meltdown. I got out of this anit-sjw cult and I cringe every time I hear it.

Now back to this gun banning. This isn't new, yugi-oh had to make all their guns invisible when it was dub for the US and a pokemon episode was banned because it had a gun. All in the early 2000 and 90's

And no it isn't politics it parents who have too much free time. Only now during quarantine they realize loony tunes had guns. They also probably hate the cartoon violence so...

As for me my setting is in England and every thing I make is fantasy to I mostly use fantasy weapons. so there. Really I don't care

[K-Rexo_Deactivated]

Instead blame whiney parents.

I agree with that. Parents need to monitor what children watch and learn their behaviors. They can't just have companies censoring things left and right.

I mean it's an American cartoon, which is where I'm from, and we are currently going through a really heavy time regarding gun violence and regulation--so their decision to take the guns out was actually to avoid politics, really, rather than make a political statement.

As an American also, I see that there are protests and shootings happening in most places. Them backing out to avoid politics is somehow the right move. They're just trying to provide escapism to people tired of stuff in the outside world.

[rajillustration]

They're just trying to provide escapism to people tired of stuff in the outside world.

It's not escapism if scares the hell out of kids. A lot of kids nowadays are not comfortable with guns anymore, they are very afraid of school shootings.

[ar-ninetysix]

Hmm, yeah, don't just shoot em, you gotta slice and dice em! Hack em open, boiiiiii- Violence is violence, no matter what you use, so I don't get why this change sounded reasonable in any way lol

[K-Rexo_Deactivated]

Dude never use "sjw". All I think of when I hear it is no bullshit cheering Texas banning arther(free speech advocate my ass) and one angry manchild twitter meltdown. I got out of this anit-sjw cult and I cringe every time I hear it.

Ah, I see. I wouldn't consider using that term next time. Heck, I'll probably edit that thing out of the OP right now. Forgive me.

[thedude3445]

Cartoons censor WAY less nowadays than they used to and it's amazing what they can get away with now. Back when Looney Tunes was first broadcast on TV they were taking entire chunks out of each short to fit the censorship guidelines, something unthinkable today in the United States.

Their reasoning behind removing the guns is something I honestly appreciate. This isn't a strict revival of the old stuff; this is bringing the characters and humor into 2020, and 2020 is just not a time when guns are okay to portray in a silly way anymore. Not since Columbine really has it been particularly funny to show gun violence, and in the past few years it's become an even more prevalent issue. After the school shootings in Sandy Hook and Parkland, it's no longer a concern of "Will parents approve?" but instead "Will we trigger PTSD attacks in some of the children watching this who have gone through gun violence?"

As dumb as it is to say now, maybe gun violence can come back years from now as an acceptable form of "escapism" once there aren't dozens of mass shootings every year, but I am perfectly fine with them being out for now, because there are way more creative ways to obliterate cartoon characters than shooting them.

[Freemints30]

Interesting analysis and perspective. Where I grew up gun violence is pretty much non-existent, so some one making joke of "i;m gonna shoot you for that" it would be absurd. However in a place where that is a likely possibility it's less funny. Really when there was a shoot out(illegal fire arms and drugs related) near my previous work place it was so surreal, like that doesn't even happen.

Unfortunately with the US a school shooting seems way too common. So it seems to be more a value dissonance. Maybe once its not a regular occurrence broadcasts can bring them back. Really I believe we can find the original online

[thedude3445]

They aren't censoring the originals cartoons, so I think it's OK if the new ones are different. There's already dozens (hundreds?) of other Elmer Fudd cartoons where he shoots characters after all.

[NickRowler]

Only now during quarantine they realize loony tunes had guns.

This is also not true. I have seen people blame current 2020 events, be it BLM protests or quarantine, on why they are removed. However people forget that animation projects will take at least a year before the first episode airs. And for some shows, writing and planning could add another year or two on top of that.

[Random_Guy]

Enigma dropping in with his own opinion! Opinion!

You need to remember the current state of gun violence in America. A cartoon needs to provide a sense of escapism, and it can’t do that by showing off the guns that have people so afraid.

Normally I’d disagree with the change, but the change is warranted.

[Iris-Grimoire]

Thedude's point is a very good one. Also, while the US is having school shootings more and more frequently, the rest of the world also has problems with that depending on the region at even worse frequency.

To be honest though, I think they ran their course with gun gags anyway. Oh, it makes a hole in the character, or it gets clogged and explodes, or the bullets look like beans and a bean gag happens. Giving him new weapons actually makes for more fun variety in the slapstick.

In my universe (Splitting Image doesn't have gunpowder for unrelated reasons, and projectiles are more like arrows or spells for convenience), I try to keep it to "stylish" use of firearms at the most. Never liked modern guns, still don't, and I'd rather have weaponry that compliments a character design rather than one-size-fits-all. Very few characters in my projects use guns at all, and the ones that do usually have muskets, flintlocks, blunderbusses or other things that I can give magical rounds to for flashy displays, that are still not efficient enough to be overpowered. Rule of cool, even before it gets into personal issues.

On the personal issue side, there's lore compliments to show that the universe's education system teaches a permanent barrier spell very early on everyone's life, and that invisible barrier can deflect gunshots at least once(and as a bonus, prevents characters from being killed instantly, so even the godlike characters have to put in effort). I never liked the trope where a non-magical character pulls a pistol and just ends the conflict and it kinda reinforces why I don't like 'em.

[Darth_Biomech]

My comic has several pages with panels showing guns. I find this shit stupid and in the same vein of "oh no, our baby boy saw A BOOB, he suffered irreversible trauma that'll make him a pervert in the future! It's time to file a complaint against the network for this scandalous showcase of this vile sinful human feature!". Somehow, the previous century of guns display on TV, cartoons, and cinema didn't cause civilization to collapse.

[Random_Guy]

Somehow, the previous century of guns display on TV, cartoons, and cinema didn't cause civilization to collapse.

Eh... given the state of things today we might be getting to that collapse but your point still stands. (That’s a joke.)
Just look at 4kids Yu-Gi-Oh! as a solid example.

[Kelheor]

Yeah, we have 3/4 of a Wendigo short story where rangers are shooting first wendigo and then another ranger with a gun, so... Guns do exist, people do use them, dynamite is definitely not better than guns in children's/any media, so why the hypocrisy.

[Random_Guy]

Cause before certain current events, guns and dynamites were seen as the same tools for comedic violence. Now gun violence has become fresh in the general public's mind, and dynamite is still a comedic tool.

It's stupid, and hypocritical, but true.

[Kelheor]

Well the US failing to regulate guns IRL and banning them in cartoons if amazing as always then ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[Random_Guy]

Didn't say it wasn't f#ckin' stupid.
I live here and even I know it's some real nonsense.

[liamhernandezlucas]

I think it depends a lot on authorial intent. I think portraying guns in media is fine, it's how they are portrayed or used that makes a lot of the difference. For instance, Japan doesn't have a lot of shoot outs but they have a huge amount of guns in their children's media (notably often regarded as under Parental Guidance). The guns are usually only portrayed in certain contexts.

-as weapons of war and violence, which is unpleasant
-as absurdist power fantasies (because untrained people are unlikely to hold a gun in public), usually only used against monsters and zombies.
-as a hobby for people under very strict rules (strict shooting range rules)
-as tools for the police/military to threaten criminals (though not expecting to take the shot)
-as something really bad people use to do really bad things, because they're straight up mobsters or cultists

The same goes for most of Europe.

In an American context, this stops working mostly due to the common nature of guns. An assault rifle is no longer equivalent to a murderunicorn, it's something you could run into at any time.

Nobody should force the creators to make a decision one way or the other, but it's completely understandable if they just don't feel like portraying guns because they can't think of a way to make it fun and tasteful.

As for weapon rules in comics, I think it varies depending on genre. Guns are a tool of either sports (sharpshooting, paintball...), violence or intimidation. As long as sports are portrayed with the right care, and violence and intimidation are portrayed in either an undesirable or completely absurd light, then I'm fine with it.

[TAMAnnoying]

It’s cause guns are too hard to draw with their baby hands. They have to do something easier.

In all seriousness this goes on all the time, the right complained about Their Christian sensibilities ten years ago and now the left is complaining about their own sensibilities. I don’t play the team Edward/team Jacob game and just do my own thing. In the end they’re both bad choices and just different colored Karen. the angry mobs are not people you wanna have a cup of tea with.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

I'm not really a Looney Tunes fan, but from what I've seen of the cartoons, it's not like they revolve around guns, so I don't see what the harm is in deciding they don't want to show them anymore. =/

Elmer Fudd's shorts may suffer, but there are other ways to catch rabbits besides using guns. And if they really aren't creative enough to think of any, they could just...not...use the character in their series....

Basically, I don't think it's a big deal. '____'

As for my own comics, I tend to make like early 00's cartoons and draw 'fantasy guns': y'know, they look like guns but slightly different so they're not real guns, and they don't even really shoot bullets, just weird little nondescript flash things. They're practically lasers!

I don't do this for censorship purposes, though; I do it because I hate weapon design and I'd rather make up a vague facsimile than actually study the construction of an IRL gun. 6v6;;;

I do have a recent comic though where I really just don't think they belong...even though I have like 16 different bodyguard characters, I don't want to show any contemporary weapons, especially not in use. It just doesn't seem to fit the tone of the story. ¯_(ツ)_/¯