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Question: Why were animators so perverted in the early/mid-1900s!?
Well, first there's Disney - I won't go too much into depth, but for those who don't know, there are a handful of quick scenes where some subliminal messages are displayed!. I'm not condemning/supporting them, I'm simply stating what I know!.
also - while on a Youtube video splurge, I came across old Betty Boop cartoons - there's one in particular where a narrator highlights certain times where animators/writers felt the need to make betty more "enticing" or "appealing" to the adults watching the shows, such as hiding images or quickly flashing body parts!.!.!.
Wow, and I thought everyone was so conservative in the 1930s!.!.!.
Can anyone give me some info!? Like - Why have certain (not all, I am NOT generalizing - I have a lot of respect/admiration for artists) animators felt the need to "hide" what is usually censored in their artwork!? And during the '30s!? That was when my grandparents were alive!!!Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
it has always been "cool" to hide things in art that "the man" would never have allowed and wouldn't know was there!. when i was in high school, our school allowed a very talented artist in my class to paint a very large mural on a wall in the foreign language hallway!. it was a beautiful scene, but all i really remember about it now is that it was this big deal among the students that he had hidden a picture of batman, a naked woman's torso and chest, and something else in the very elaborate scene!. couldn't even really tell you what he painted because it was such a big thing that he got away with it cuz none of the adults caught it!. it's like signing your name in a unique way!.
in the 30's porn was still not really "appropriate" for the average man to look at or possess, so some artists felt like they were doin the average married man a favor by hiding those kinds of things in the cartoons!. they could see these things under the guise of watching toons with the kids!. not to mention, cartoons are not always designed for children!. case in point: anime!. cartoons are adult things in japan, not something kids watch on saturday morning!. just because we are watching them now and looking at them like "if they're animated they must be appropriate for children" doesn't mean that's how they were intended!. however, you should be a little encouraged that children have been ingrained with the premise that XXX means poison, no coincidence i'm sure that this is the symbol for pornography!.
and by the way, wasn't this around the time of prohibition and flappers and all that!? none of this was conservative by any means, there was just a much more clear line drawn between "regular" people and the people "from the wrong side of the tracks" than there is today so that might make it seem like it was more conservative back then!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Actually censorship didn't really take a foot hold universally until the early 1950's!.During the formation of the MPAA (motion picture association of america) rating system *e!.g!. G,PG,PG13,R,NC17,X,XX,XXX,XXXX!.* put in place for movie categorization and to let parents know just what to expect from the ratings!.Just so you know we were not that conservative during those times!.It wasn't till the early "50's that a kiss on screen was only allowed to last 5!.2 seconds the early days of cinema it could last a grand total of 5!.9 minutes!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Reaction to the Hays (Production) Code and the National League of Decency which suppressed free expression, it is not correct to think of the world as conservative in the 30s!. Betty resembled a flapper, slightly risqué but a pale comparison of the genuine article, always pursued by lecherous old men she managed to remain chaste!. In the 1920s the world were recovering from the First World War and the millions dead of Spanish Flu, in America Prohibition produced and underground society of hedonists!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
They were just trying to have a little fun, and in such a conservative society, the only way they were going to get away with it was to sneak it into cartoons!.Www@QuestionHome@Com