D'oh! China Bans Bart from Prime Time

By Josh Grossberg | Eonline | via Yahoo
August 14, 2006

Quick, how do you say ay caramba in Chinese?!

China has officially banned The Simpsons and several other cartoon shows from airing during prime time to provide a boost to the country's ailing animation industry.

Per Guangzhou's daily Southern Metropolis News, the restrictions will apply to Homer and Bart, Bugs Bunny and the rest of the Warner Bros. 'toon gang, Mickey Mouse and his Disney cohorts, and the Pokemon crew--and may even extend to the BBC's Teletubbies. The cartoons cannot be shown between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., when the bulk of the country's 250 million children tune in to China's Central Television..

While the new rules haven't gone into affect yet, the decision by Chinese regulators aims to protect homegrown fare like Journey to the West, which follows the adventures of the country's iconic Monkey King, and also help Chinese studios compete internationally.

The government action sparked intense criticism from newspapers, among them the Metropolis, which argued in an editorials that such regulations weren't the answer.

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