Banned Cartoons – Too Rude for TV (Mighty Mouse) - jomama123

Mighty Mouse

Ren and Stimpy wasn’t John K’s first network television censorship battle. In 1987, Ralph Bakshi hired Kricfalusi as supervising director for “Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures”, a revival of the Paul Terry classic fifties cartoon series. The show was a strange mash-up of scenes from old Mighty Mouse cartoons and new John K-created scenes, all reconfigured into new demented storylines. It first appeared on the Cartoon Network and was then picked up by CBS. That’s when Kricfalusi’s troubles began.

Reverend Donald Wildmon

It was the Mighty Mouse episode “The Littlest Tramp” that raised the ire of Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, the founder and chairman of the American Family Association, a media watchdog group that had 3 million members at its peak. In particular, Wildmon objected to a scene where Mighty Mouse reached into his pocket and snorted a white powder that was in his hand, thus charging his superpowers. The Reverend charged that the show was promoting cocaine usage. John K and Bakshi claimed that Mighty Mouse was sniffing crushed flowers.

CBS folded and cancelled the series.

Here’s the episode on YouTube. You be the judge.

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