Editing Mighty Mouse (section)

==Controversy==
[[File:Mighty Mouse - The Littlest Tramp.png|right|thumb|Stills from the ''Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures'' episode "The Littlest Tramp". Top left: the flower is crushed by the rich man. Top right: Mighty Mouse receives the remains of the flower, which falls apart in his hand. Bottom left: Mighty Mouse thinks fondly of the girl, and brings out what's left of the flower. Bottom right: Mighty Mouse smells the flower, inhaling it in the process.]]

In 1988, ''Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures'' was the subject of media controversy when one scene was interpreted as a depiction of [[cocaine]] use. In the episode "The Littlest Tramp" a poor mouse girl attempts to sell flowers, and is repeatedly harassed by a rich man who crushes her flowers.<ref>{{cite news|title=Did Mighty Mouse Snort or Just Sniff the Flowers?|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8j5TAAAAIBAJ&pg=5837,3789168&dq|access-date=May 7, 2012|newspaper=The Deseret News|date=June 10, 1988|page=A3}}</ref> She runs out of flowers and makes new ones from sundry items she finds, such as tomato slices, but the man crushes these too.<ref name=ToledoBlade>{{cite news|title=Minister says cocaine made mouse mighty|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DFFPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2198,2938995|access-date=May 7, 2012|newspaper=Toledo Blade|date=June 10, 1988|agency=Associated Press|page=1}}</ref> Mighty Mouse attempts to purchase the flowers with his chunk of cheese, and to avenge the girl, but she gives Mighty Mouse the crushed flowers and insists that others need help more than she does. After successfully saving several different characters, he is reminded of the girl, and attempts to smell the flowers she gave him (now a pink powder), inhaling them in the process. He then finds the man that has been harassing the girl, and spanks him. The girl is sympathetic to the man, and he is so moved that the two are married.

A family in [[Kentucky]] saw the episode and reportedly interpreted the scene as Mighty Mouse snorting cocaine. The family called the [[American Family Association]] in [[Tupelo, Mississippi]]. The group demanded Bakshi be removed from production of the series.<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news|title=Mighty Mouse Flying High On Flowers?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/26/nyregion/mighty-mouse-flying-high-on-flowers.html|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=May 7, 2012|first=Craig|last=Wolff|date=July 26, 1988}}</ref> Bakshi and CBS denied the allegations, Bakshi stating the whole incident "smacks of [[McCarthyism]]. I'm not going to get into who sniffs what. This is lunacy."<ref name=ToledoBlade /> To defuse the controversy, Bakshi agreed to cut the 3.5 seconds from the episode. Rev. [[Donald Wildmon]] claimed that the editing was a "de facto admission" of cocaine use, though Bakshi maintained that the episode was "totally innocent".<ref>{{cite news|title=Mighty Mouse's flowers clipped|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eShUAAAAIBAJ&pg=3344,6988718|access-date=May 7, 2012|newspaper=Boca Raton News|date=July 26, 1988|agency=Associated Press|page=2A}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|It's because of [[Fritz the Cat (film)|Fritz]] that they're going after Mighty Mouse. I grew up in [[Brownsville, Brooklyn|Brownsville]] in Brooklyn and attended High School for Industrial Arts. I remember teachers who quit. Because of McCarthyism they weren't able to teach what they wanted. This is the same thing. Mighty Mouse was happy after smelling the flowers because it helped him remember the little girl who sold it to him fondly. But even if you're right, their accusations become part of the air we breathe. That's why I cut the scene. I can't have children wondering if Mighty Mouse is using cocaine.|Ralph Bakshi| ''The [[New York Times]]''}}