Censorship project - Danielle Barberio

 Danielle Barberio 

Professor Hammond 

Visual literacy 

25 November 2021

The Tiny Toons episode called “One Beer” aired in 1991, only once. It was quickly banned in 1995 when many parents complained about underage drinking being in a kid's TV show. The legal drinking age was 21 during this time and people believed a kid's show should not be showcasing underage drinking, even if it was meant to show how to drink responsibly and not drink and drive. Parents were able to get this banned after the episode became quite controversial. In this episode, Buster asks Plucky and Hamton what they'd like to drink. They notice a bottle of beer in the fridge, and Buster thinks they should drink it. Hamton says it's not like Buster to do that, but Buster tells them that today they're going to show the viewers the evils of alcohol. They go to the park and Buster opens the beer bottle and dares Plucky and Hamton to drink it. Quickly after they begin drinking they become very drunk and are burping non-stop and scaring girls away with their breath and actions. Still drunk, Buster, Plucky, and Hamton go to a donut shop and Plucky notices a police car with the keys still in the ignition. They decide to steal the car and go for a joyride. They take the police car and go to the top of Death Mountain, where there is a “Danger road out ahead" sign. They crash through the sign and drive off Death Mountain, where the car dives straight to the bottom, and lands in a graveyard, where they die and their souls go to heaven. As the cartoon ends, Buster, Plucky, and Hamton take off their angel costumes and hope that kids get the message that drinking is uncool. The only public response that was made was Fox Kids banning this episode due to Buster peer pressuring Plucky and Hamton into drinking and then convincing them to drive drunk. This results in falling off of a cliff, which leads to their “death”. The ban was successfully carried out and the episode never aired again on television and to this day will never air. The ban is still in effect, however, viewers can watch this episode on streaming platforms such as Youtube. I personally agree and disagree with this ban. I feel as though a kids’ show should not be showcasing underage drinking, however, I also believe that it is smart to show kids the bad effects of alcohol at a young age so they will not drink until they are older. This episode might have been a little too intense for kids at the time and when they fall off of the cliff this could have been terrifying for younger viewers. I think it was smart for parents to get the episode banned, but I also like how you can still watch the episode on Youtube if you please.