cannabisnews.com: Cartoons Show Smoking, Drink!





Cartoons Show Smoking, Drink!
Posted by FoM on March 19, 1999 at 08:39:22 PT
By The Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Is Dumbo the poster elephant for substance abuse? A new study suggests the animated film star -- who inadvertently swills champagne and ends up dreaming of pink elephants -- and his cartoon peers aren't the best role models for kids when it comes to drinking or smoking. 
The report, unveiled Thursday in New York at an American Medical Association conference in New York, says more than two-thirds of the 50 G-rated, animated films released by major studios during the past 60 years portray alcohol or tobacco use. Dr. Adam O. Goldstein, assistant professor of family medicine at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Medicine, said he began the study two years ago when he took his children to animated films and was struck by the amount of smoking. ``At first I just chalked it up to an oversight in editing and writing, but then I decided it was more than just coincidence,'' said Goldstein, an anti-smoking activist. The films studied were released between 1937 and 1997 by MGM/United Artists, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studies, Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. studios. Goldstein said 34 films contained at least one episode of tobacco or alcohol use. Seventy-six characters smoked for a total duration of more than 45 minutes, and 63 characters drank alcohol for 27 minutes, he said, with good and bad characters alike consuming the substances. Cigar and wine consumption were the most common, but cigarettes, pipes, beer, spirits and champagne were consumed as well. Characters who drank frequently got drunk, passed out, hiccuped, lost their balance or fell over, the study showed. ``To suggest that Disney films endorse or support the use of tobacco and alcohol is absurd,'' said Walt Disney Co. spokeswoman Claudia Peters. ``As filmmakers, we have voluntarily taken the position that smoking and drinking should not be shown in a children's film except in rare instances where it is relevant to an adult characterization or plot point.'' Kathy Merlock Jackson, a film historian and author of a book on the Disney company, said an animated character's occasional vice is nothing to be terribly alarmed over. ``Are kids being led astray because someone is smoking in a Disney film? I'm not sure we can go that far,'' said Jackson, chairwoman of the communications department at Virginia Wesleyan College. Goldstein's report will appear in next week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. 
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Comment #2 posted by Claire on June 14, 2000 at 21:47:21 PT:
DUMBO???!!!???
Here's what I think: You guys know how cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle are fun for kids, but still have meaning on an adult level? Well, I'm here to defend Dumbo...I'm 17, and only recently while babysitting a sweet 3 yr. old who shares my affinity for the elephant did i realize he was actually getting drunk...as a child, dumbo was my favorite (and still is, by the way) of all of the disney movies. I always just thought he fell asleep and dreamt about pink elephants...it's a joke meant for adults, based upon the saying that you see pink elephants or little green men from mars when you're drunk...it's made that way so parents and kids can watch it together and both be entertained...it's subtle enough that kids don't see it that way. Upon realizing what was happening onscreen, I asked Will, (the kid I babysit), if he knew why dumbo saw pink elephants. He answered just as I would have at his age..."Dumbo dreams them," he said. Maybe I'm too sentimental, but Dumbo is a movie that is near and dear to me..it's smart, and it doesn't give kids ideas...please don't over-react!!!
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Comment #1 posted by Claire on June 14, 2000 at 21:47:01 PT:
DUMBO???!!!???
Here's what I think: You guys know how cartoons like Rocky and Bullwinkle are fun for kids, but still have meaning on an adult level? Well, I'm here to defend Dumbo...I'm 17, and only recently while babysitting a sweet 3 yr. old who shares my affinity for the elephant did i realize he was actually getting drunk...as a child, dumbo was my favorite (and still is, by the way) of all of the disney movies. I always just thought he fell asleep and dreamt about pink elephants...it's a joke meant for adults, based upon the saying that you see pink elephants or little green men from mars when you're drunk...it's made that way so parents and kids can watch it together and both be entertained...it's subtle enough that kids don't see it that way. Upon realizing what was happening onscreen, I asked Will, (the kid I babysit), if he knew why dumbo saw pink elephants. He answered just as I would have at his age..."Dumbo dreams them," he said. Maybe I'm too sentimental, but Dumbo is a movie that is near and dear to me..it's smart, and it doesn't give kids ideas...please don't over-react!!!
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