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Cartoons Were Wild

TV & Film Film History

Podgo 18 episodes Sep 21, 2026

The podcast examines animated children's shows and episodes that are questionable, obscure, or surprisingly dark. Each episode analyzes what makes these cartoons unusual and how they got made or aired. It looks at the strange creative choices, content, and context behind animated kids' media.

Episodes

The Night Mighty Mouse Snorted Cocaine on CBS Sep 21, 2026 13:40 In 1987, Reverend Donald Wildmon accused Ralph Bakshi's new Mighty Mouse cartoon of showing the superhero snorting cocaine in a flower-sniffing scene. What followed was a media firestorm, boycotts, Congressional testimony, and CBS executives forced to defend a cartoon mouse on national television. The full story is more insane than you remember.

Saturday Morning Savagery: CBS vs ABC's Censorship War of the 80s Sep 6, 2026 14:00 While CBS hired consultants to sanitize every punch and implement strict 'pro-social' guidelines, ABC let their animators run wild with violence, innuendo, and chaos. The result? Two completely different Saturday morning experiences that defined a generation—and a corporate war that changed children's television forever.

5 Cartoon Voice Actors Who Went Completely Off-Script and Made It to Air Aug 21, 2026 16:25 Some of animation's most iconic moments were never in the script. From Robin Williams turning Aladdin recording sessions into comedy chaos to a Looney Tunes legend ad-libbing while drunk, these voice actors broke all the rules—and created cartoon history. We're counting down five times the 'wrong' take became the right one.

The Animator Who Fistfought Walt Disney and Won Aug 6, 2026 13:18 Art Babbitt created one of Disney's most beloved characters, then became Walt's greatest enemy. This is the story of the legendary animator who punched his way into animation history, led a labor revolution that changed Hollywood forever, and got blacklisted by the man whose empire he helped build. The fight in the parking lot was just the beginning.

Disney vs Warner Bros: The Forbidden Cartoons Vault Battle Jul 17, 2026 14:21 While Disney locked away their racist 'Censored Eleven' cartoons and pretended they never existed, Warner Bros put them on DVD with historical context warnings. We're diving into the wildly different philosophies behind these decisions and what happened when both studios tried to erase—or preserve—their most problematic animation history.

5 Cartoon Scenes That Somehow Made It Past Censors Jun 9, 2026 14:28 From sexual innuendos in Animaniacs to genuine nightmare fuel in Courage the Cowardly Dog, some cartoon moments make you wonder if anyone was watching the final cut. We're counting down five scenes that left parents jaw-dropped and censors scrambling—after they'd already aired to millions of kids.

The Ren & Stimpy Production Hell That Broke Nickelodeon May 24, 2026 12:26 In 1991, Nickelodeon let a basement animation studio run by an obsessive perfectionist create the most disgusting cartoon ever aired on children's television. Within two years, that relationship would explode in missed deadlines, on-set chaos, and a firing that shocked the animation industry. This is the wild story of how Ren & Stimpy became both a phenomenon and a cautionary