4 Famous Children's Cartoons That Were Pulled, Edited, or Hard to Find

For many years, children's television was must-see viewing. Young audiences would settle in for long stretches of cartoons, while ABC, CBS, NBC, and later cable channels vied for their attention. Beneath the bright, sugary entertainment, though, there was a complicated mix of advertisers, network rules, toy makers, parent groups, and creators pushing boundaries.

That sometimes led to major clashes. One cartoon was pulled only days before its U.S. debut. Another had an episode shelved for more than ten years. A few seconds from a different show sparked a national drug uproar. And one of the most popular cartoons of the 1980s is still surprisingly hard to watch legally because of how it reused material from other movies and TV programs. Here are four classic children's cartoons that ran into serious trouble on or off the air.

These cases also show that “banned cartoon” can mean very different things. Garbage Pail Kids was withdrawn before its American premiere. Nickelodeon refused to air one infamous Ren & Stimpy episode. CBS physically cut a few seconds from Mighty Mouse. Muppet Babies was never banned, but its unusual production approach helped make a full modern release difficult. Before streaming and instant digital access, a network's decision could make a cartoon, an episode, or even a few seconds of animation extremely hard to see again.