Toonami Producer on Editing Process

Bonker writes "Anime News Network is featuring an interview with Jason Demarco, senior writer and producer for Cartoon Network's 'Toonami' block. Mr. Demarco explains why and how the editing process for several anime shown on Toonami, Midnight Run, and Adult Swim happen, as well as the pressure they're under to produce a product acceptable not only to fans but to parents as well. " Gives an interesting perspective on what CN goes through to get certain anime on US TV. I've said it before, but I'd still love a Toonami channel that didn't need to edit (or maybe just less). I watch more Toonami then any channel.

Subtitles?

[Anonymous Coward]

It'd be really nice to have a Toonami channel that had only subbed anime (for those of us who don't prefer dubs). It'd certainly save me money, as I waste my money on tons of DVDs.

We love you CmdrTaco!

[micromoog]

Tonami Producer on Editing Process

It's good to see our subscription dollars hard at work, with CmdrTaco always finding new and more obvious ways to misspell the headlines.

BUY DVD

[Wuss912]

juat buy DVD thats Unedited.
and higher quality

New Cartoon Network Channels...

[Eddy Johnson]

A friend and I were just discussing Cartoon Network's current juggling act of all the material everyone wants to see, especially us not getting our fix of old-school cartoons. They should split into three different channels:

TOONAMI: The current anime lineup, as well as stuff for "more mature audiences" later for the hardcore adult animers (or some undersexed, anime-hooked nerds like those who will read this reply, and therefore will mod it down, wrecking my karma. Meanies.)

CARTOON CARTOON: Move all those goddamn annoying "Cartoon Cartoons" to this network. You know, stuff like Cow and Chicken and Sheep in the Big City. Some of it is good, but a select minority. Most of it is trash, but it brings in ratings from the little ones.

OLD SCHOOL CARTOON NETWORK: My favorite. Scooby-Doo (all sans Scrappy), Hong Kong Phooey, Superfriends, Wacky Racers, Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Pink Panther, Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, and all the good old stuff that I miss.

Divide and conquer, Cartoon Network, by heeding the call of the wild Eddy Johnson!

Why Evangelion will never be on Toonami...

[EvilBuu]

From the article:

"Any direct references to religion, especially juxtaposed with violence, sexuality or hypocrisy, is not allowed. ... Anime is often full of stereotypes surrounding race and religion that non-otaku will not understand and will take offense to. ... People in America generally don't want that kind of thing in their cartoons, however you and I may feel about it."

Maybe if Americans had the chance to see cartoons with that kind of thing, they'd change their minds. Of course this is probably a mixed blessing, as Evangelion is already incomprehensible enough without TV-Y7 editing...

Re:New Cartoon Network Channels...

[Arrian]

That would be a good idea. It would put the animation meant for little kids on a separate channel from the anime stuff making it more reasonable to do a lot less editing. They wouldn't have to worry about when little joey sneaks downstairs at night and hits the channel he usually watches "Courage the Cowardly Dog" on and instead gets Faye of "Cowboy Bebop'leaning over a table ripping some guy's shirt off because she thinks he has a tattoo of a snake. I have a feeling that's a significant part of why CN keeps editing their late nite blocks. After all, it's still a child-centric network.

Whether this is economically feasable, however, is another story.

bah

[nomadic]

What I don't understand is how a network show on primetime like NYPD Blue can show real life nudity, but a cable show on at 11 pm can't show cartoonish nudity.

Just makes no sense.

Part of the problem...

[thesolo]

A large part of the problem is that the shows on Toonami were originally made for an older age group than the group they are marketed for here in the US.

Take for example a popular Toonami show, Dragonball Z. When it was originally aired in Japan back in the early 90s, it was primarily for 13 & 14 year olds. But here in the US, it's marketed towards 9 & 10 year olds. So, the cartoon has to be largely censored to meet the new age group. Indeed, when DBZ is aired on the international channel in Japanese, it is rated for 14+, IIRC. (P.S., its been a few years since I've seen that show on TV, so if any of this has changed, correct me!)

Another large part of the problem is the cultural background difference. In Japan, what gets aired for their younger children is far less censored for the same children here in the states. What happens is you wind up with matter being heavily censored in the import to the US. When Midnight Run used to air Gundam Wing, they would air the uncut version of the episode they played earlier that day. It's a shame every episode couldn't be aired like that, it was far more enjoyable.

Re:Part of the problem...

[The Bungi]

That's partly because of the endless marketing grab. 14-16 year olds don't buy toys and stickers and shit like that any more (well - most don't), nor do they badger their mommy to buy them a Dragonball Z beach towel and matching shampoo.

8-10 crowd however, does. Ergo, make the cartoon palatable to (them | their parents) and you have a winner in terms of scondary marketing, even though the edit might take away some of the cartoon's storytelling value.

Imagine what they would do to the first Heavy Metal movie if they had to market it to 9 year old kids.

Re:bah

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahhh yes. Another boob who thinks anything animated *must* be for children. It's that kind of closed mindedness which causes the US such troubles.

Tell me, please. What is it that you think makes anything with live visual actors more inherently valuable than something with animated actors? And why is something with special effects (like Terminator) any different from animated special effects? And what do visual effects have to do at all with content in a story? Do the visuals really have any effect on the value of the cultural criticism? The action? The expressive dialog?

Re:Typical Editing Practices

[Dexx]

I guess it is important that we sheild Junior from alcohol, but showing him acts of superhuman violence and fights that span several weeks worth of episodes is OK. That's something I've noticed a lot on TV. Violence is perfectly fine, but sex, religion, and politics are not to be discussed. And people blame videogames?

It's Simple, Really

[BlackGriffen]

For some odd reason, a lot of people in the U.S. think that cartoons are only for kids. Thus they assume that any cartoon should be suitable for junior, and get pissed when their presumption is wrong.

I've got a better question, why can't we show nudity? I'm not talking about sexual acts with nudity, I'm talking about plain old nudity. The U.S. really needs to get off it's damn hangups and realize that there isn't anything inherently dirty about the nude human body. If anything, the fear of nudity causes more problems than it could possibly be solving.

BlackGriffen

Re:Is there really that much anime?

[sketerpot]

I'm starting to get interested. I don't care if I never see a big Voltron-style robot again, but some of that other stuff could be pretty good.

As for the editing, I have an idealistic rant on that topic:

Why do we need editing at all for these things? What is wrong with seeing someone naked, or drinking alcohol, or swearing? As Bennett Haselton pointed out [peacefire.org], cuss words are just syllables. Bodies are just bodies. This insanity pervades society, and I'm sick of it! It isn't just just religious right wackos who sold their brains to God and think that the rest of us have sold our souls to the devil, it's common among just about everyone you walk up to, at least where I live. Kids in school will curse copiously at each other and call each other "gaywad!" and "jewish!", and it is overlooked. If one of them curses in front of an adult with a word like fuck, however, they'll be scolded in a burning fuse tone of voice. Why the hipocrisy?

Nudity is natural. A little artful nudity can add an excellent touch to something that would stand without it, as a rule. So why is it so near ubiquitously percieved in America as "harmful to children"? Why do films containing suggestive scenes like the one in Zorro actually carry warning labels?

I wish someone would come along and end our society's insanity. But most likely these things will be washed away by time. I await the future.

You know

[jayhawk88]

This is a pretty good interview, but the interviewer is really a bit too hung up on specific edits. I realize that's the whole point of their site, but damn. "Why did you paint a bathing suit on this woman here?" "What about the bathing suits under the towels in this episode?"

The interviewee made it pretty clear up front, I thought, that they've got guidelines to follow. It's clearly a decision made by the CN executives, and not this guy. Doesn't seem fair to make him defend himself repeatedly for it.

Re:Quick Summary

[Vermifax]

Probably the reason they aren't allowed to give it out, is if they 'slip' and allow something on the list through, the parents can throw the list back in their face.