Top 10 Banned Kids TV Shows
#10: “Scooby-Doo” franchise (1969-)
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Chinese children may be able to eat Scooby snacks, but they can’t watch the Scooby gang cruise around in the Mystery Machine. In 2008, the Chinese government banned numerous cartoons, including a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. “Scooby-Doo” and “SpongeBob SquarePants” were taken off the air in an effort to promote local Chinese cartoons. While it’s admirable that the Chinese government wants to support their local artists, their exact reasoning for the restrictions was never made clear. If a show as innocent as “Scooby- Doo” is banned, just how innocent are Chinese cartoons?
#9: “The Loud House” (2016-)
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Being the middle child is not easy. It’s especially difficult when you’re the middle child and the only son among 11 children. “The Loud House” has been a hit since it first aired on Nickelodeon due to this premise. It’s also been hailed for featuring the first married gay couple in a Nicktoon. However, Howard and Harold have not been embraced everywhere. The series was banned in Kenya by the Kenya Film Classification Board for “disturbing content glorifying homosexual behavior.” Kenya isn’t the only country to have had concerns about the show. In the U.S., the One Million Moms division of the American Family Association called for the couple to be removed from the series.
#8: “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” (1993-95)
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Mostly remembered for being oh so 90s and oh so campy, “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” was surprisingly controversial. During its run, multiple complaints regarding the show’s violence were submitted in the U.S., Canada, and New Zealand. Yet that’s not why the series was initially banned in Malaysia. The Malaysian government thought that the word “morphin” sounded a bit too much like “morphine,” and that a series for children should not be associated with that drug. Eventually, the phrase “mighty morphin” was censored. Since it wasn’t the content of the series but just the phrase “mighty morphin” that bothered the censors, the 2017 film, simply titled “Power Rangers,” was deemed acceptable.
#7: “Cow and Chicken” (1997-99)
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Who knew that as siblings with human parents, a cow and a chicken can get into so much trouble? Cartoon Network’s “Cow and Chicken,” which aired in the late 90s, ended up banned in India. The series was known for its gutsy and adult humor, including a problematic episode featuring a group of female bikers that some thought went too far. But the ban in India came about for a totally different reason. Many Indians are Hindus, and a key belief in Hinduism is that cows are a sacred animal. Since Cow was stripped of any dignity she once had, the show was seen as offensive.
#6: “Malcolm in the Middle” (2000-06)
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Before he was the one running the streets of Albuquerque, Bryan Cranston starred as the oddball, loving father of the title character on “Malcolm in the Middle.” The series was hailed as being ahead of its time, with many bits that are now common in most sitcoms, such as cold opens, breaking the fourth wall, and fast editing. But the content of the show made it too far ahead of its time in Malaysia. The comedy was banned because the government felt it contained “violent and sexual content for school age children” and “offensive depictions of anti-social behavior.”
#5: “Winnie-the-Pooh” franchise (1966-)
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It’s hard to imagine this willy nilly silly old bear offending anyone, but Winnie-the-Pooh has managed to get himself banned in China. Pooh and his pals' TV shows and movies are not welcome there, but his books and his two themed rides at Disneyland Shanghai are. So what exactly did Pooh do? He’s actually become a symbol of anti-communist resistance as a series of memes began in 2013 comparing China’s leader, Xi Jinping to the tubby little cubby. Jinping did not like how the Pooh memes questioned his authority. We assume this means that the next “Winnie the Pooh” film will not involve The Great Wall of China.
#4: “Hey Arnold!” (1996-2004)
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“Move it, Football Head” may have been the exact words the Kenya Film Classification Board said when they first watched the beloved Nicktoon, “Hey Arnold!” While most of us remember “Hey Arnold!” for its diverse cast and heartfelt plots, the show never aired in Kenya. It was banned for two reasons: the inclusion of a quote-unquote “LGBT agenda,” and because Arnold’s grandfather’s head looks very phallic. You heard that last part right. In one episode, Kenyan officials complained when his grandfather stood next to a poster that said, “Try my sausage,” believing that this was too sexual for children. And here we are thinking that the show’s biggest controversy was the revelation that it doesn’t take place in New York City.
#3: “Peppa Pig” (2004-)
Just because UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson loves “Peppa Pig” doesn’t mean that everyone does. Much like Winnie-the-Pooh, Peppa Pig has been banned in China because she is seen as a way to rebel against the government there. A number of tattoos featuring Peppa as well as adult images flooded Douyin, a popular Chinese social media site. While the series isn’t completely banned in Australia, one episode is. In the season one episode, “Mister Skinnylegs,” Peppa befriends spiders. While this is fine and dandy in merry old England, getting close to spiders is far more dangerous because, like many animals in Australia, there are many spiders that can kill you.
#2: “Steven Universe” (2013-19)
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The creators of “Steven Universe” truly believe that love is love. The groundbreaking series included the first same sex marriage proposal to be shown in a cartoon. Not everyone loved how inclusive the universe of “Steven Universe” is. Just as they had with previous shows, the Kenya Film Classification Board banned “Steven Universe” for “gloryifing homosexual behavior.” There was no way for the series to be censored, as the writers specifically incorporated the LGBTQ+ relationships and characters in a way that censoring them would lead to confusion. Hopefully one day the Kenyan government will change their mind and reverse this decision.
#1: “Pokémon” (1997-)
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Surprisingly, Saudi Arabia did not ban ““Pokémon” because certain episodes apparently caused seizures. No, it’s because Pikachu and his fellow pocket monsters promote evolution and gambling, which the Saudi Arabian government stated is not allowed in the Qu’ran. Since Saudi Arabia’s laws go hand-in-hand with those written in the Muslim holy text, “Pokémon” ended up getting the boot. Turkey later banned the show for a very different reason. After parents claimed that the series caused their children to engage in dangerous behavior, the Turkish government did not want more children to risk hurting themselves, so the series was taken off the air.
