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Internet Culture

The ‘cancel a cartoon character’ game has endless possibilities

Pepe Le Pew is just the tip of the iceberg.

Photo of Siobhan Ball

Siobhan Ball

A minion action figure.

Following the recent discourse over Pepe Le Pew and Dr. Seuss’s books, people are now discussing what other cartoon characters to “cancel”.

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The hashtag #CancelACartoonCharacter was launched by Twitter account @AshGamesAcct in conjunction with @TheHashtagGame. While Pepe Le Pew features in a lot (like a lot) of tweets for perpetuating rape culture, there were some other standouts.

https://twitter.com/ProsciuttoJr/status/1369064296337059844
'#CancelACartoonCharacter Pepe Le Pew for repeated sexual harassment and being a general rapey bastard.' Picture of a black and white cat struggling to get away from Pepe le Pew, a cartoon skink
@JimboHar7_YK/Twitter
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#CancelACartoonCharacter that fuckin skunk
@LarkmanMusic

Some were more obvious than others, like King of the Hill‘s Dale Gribble and Looney Tunes‘ Yosemite Sam being obvious Proud Boys.

'#CancelACartoonCharacter Dale Gribble I'm 90% sure he stormed the Capital.: Dale Gribble wearing a buffalo skin hat with horns, a bare chest with a crescent moon bone necklace and red 'war paint' over his face, looking weirdly like the Q Anon Shaman
@LarkmanMusic
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'#CancelACartoonCharacter Turns out Yosemite Sam was one of tRump's Proud Boys!' Yosemite Sam, a short man with a big red moustache, wearing a confederate uniform next to a canon and the confederate flag
@BidenVaccine/Twitter
'Cancel Dale Gribble aka Rusty Shackleford. We all know he was a part of the storming of the Capitol building. #CancelACartoonCharacter' Dale Gribble, wearing an orange baseball hat and clenching his fist angrily
@BidenVaccine/Twitter

Johnny Bravo was also declared unfit for the MeToo era.

'This dude is lucky social media wasn't a thing back then 'cause he'd have been MeToo-ed so fast. #CancelACartoonCharacter' Johnny Bravo, blonde and in a black t-shirt, leans over a red head with her hand over her face and turned away from him
@ChristoCWC/Twitter
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'#CancelACartoonCharacter Can't forget the King of Harassment
@ChristoCWC/Twitter

Though as one commenter pointed out, that was pretty much the point of his show anyway.

Johnny Bravo is actually how you properly make a show about a misogynistic chad and do it right: Johnny CONSTANTLY got his ass kicked by the women he was hitting on, because they wanted nothing to do with his sexist ways. The show was basically saying 'do not be this guy'
@Cloperella1/Twitter

And, of course, Caillou, because parents will never miss an opportunity to talk about how much they (justifiably) hate him.

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https://twitter.com/Reelhousewife1/status/1369053206987243525
@Cloperella1/Twitter
I'd say Caillou, but thankfully that annoying little sh*t was already canceled. #CancelACartoonCharacter
@DiemmeBlack/Twitter
'#CancelACartoonCharacter Caillou’s whiney, bald head, unprovoked violence towards his sister, crybaby bitch ass' Caillou standing with his arms folded in front of a brightly coloured door
@DiemmeBlack/Twitter

But some suggestions were more surprising. SpongeBob SquarePants, for example, has some dark things going on with its wider cast if you stop to think about it. Someone should really have kept an eye on Mr. Krabs.

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'I'm pretty sure Mr. Krabs has broken several labor laws. Someone call OSHA rn #CancelACartoonCharacter' picture of Mr. Krabs, a red crab wearing a blue polo shirt and jeans
@damnduermo/Twitter
'#CancelACartoonCharacter Mr.Krab's restraunt is literally a crab-trap, and there are no other crabs in Bikini-Bottom. Put two and two together, and you'll see what I'm talking about; he's a fucking cannibal!' image of the Krusty Krab which is a restaurant made from a crab trap
@damnduermo/Twitter
'#CancelACartoonCharacter Eugene H. Krabs faces charges of Attempted Murder, Kidnap Counterfeiting Overworking Employees Kidnapping and Torturing of Jellyfish Embezzlement Impersonating a Police Officer Littering and Cannibalism' Mr Krabs rubbing his claws
@GojiraGekerinVA/Twitter

Plus Patrick Star was pretty suspicious, too. That “fishing license” needed to be looked at more closely.

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'#CancelACartoonCharacter Patrick Star has been confirmed to kill at least one person:' A fishing license showing Patrick Star in yellow waterproof get up holding a distressed purple fish in swim trunks upside down
@RegionRione/Twitter

Some accusations were made about the state of Mario’s plumbing license, and we all know that Phineas and Ferb never had a building permit.

https://twitter.com/BadBoxArtMarc/status/1369045622691667971
@RegionRione/Twitter
'these bitches never got a building permit #CancelACartoonCharacter' Phineas and Ferb stand in front of a fence, one has a rectangular head and green hair, the other has a triangular head and red hair
@wychetch/Twitter
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While Angelica from Rugrats was definitely the proto-Karen.

But, because this is the internet, some people took this way too seriously, raging back about “cancel culture” and how it’s all gone “too far.”

Cancel culture is something else. Not even Pepe le Pew is safe. Johnny Bravo is next. #PepeLePew #CancelACartoonCharacter #johnnybravo
@ActionJaxxon84/Twitter
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Don't #CancelACartoonCharacter I'd make a joke but cancelling has gone too far and I don't want to give anyone an idea.
@ActionJaxxon84/Twitter
#CancelACartoonCharacter You are aware that Cartoons are fictional yes? That means they are not real and you should not take offense by them. If you do take offense then you are just a special snowflake ain't ya?
@StarWolven1/Twitter

However, most people do get that it’s all just a joke, so hopefully they’ll be able to explain that to the distraught reactionaries crying over cartoon freedoms soon.

For all of those who don't know #CancelACartoonCharacter is really just a joke, just have fun with it, I honestly find some of these posts hilarious. Guys don't take everything seriously, just have fun and have a laugh.
@StarWolven1/Twitter
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