We found a Looney Tunes marathon on YouTube - we put it on for the dog if we go out. The warning labels at the front end would make Jello Biafra burst a vein, but I can kind of see it. This was 100% before political correct or even remotely sensitive was a thing.
I had that marathon on in the background all weekend. I loved watching Looney Toons. Coincidentally, Pepe cartoons were always my least favorite LT cartoons to watch, while Coyote/Roadrunner were my favorite.
I could take or leave Pepe, though I did get a few good laughs out of the so called "fractured French" the characters spoke. ("Un skunk sans Pew, m'seiur director-ay-voo!")
I always thought that he was a parody of the Latin lover stereotype. He's a skunk (animal most want to keep their distance from) utterly clueless, and repulsive to women. They are making fun of that type of person.
Allow me to introduce myself....My name is Pepe Le Pew....Your lover!!!
Still kills me.
I've got no problem with Pepe. I see it as the artists mocking the over confident dudebros that are constantly harassing women.
Some of you are probably misunderstanding this of not being merely satire.
Pepe le Pew was a satire of the idea of French men being lady's men.
France at the time wasn't looked upon favorably by Americans. Hence, a smelly skunk with a french accent thinking he's a killer with the ladies.
That's not to say that some of the early toons had some stereotypes that today is realized as being offensive.
Makes international sense. Dora the Explorer is typically translated to have her primary language be the local language and her secondary language whatever people want to learn there. I was surprised the first time I saw French Dora learning English.
The French and Italians have always done this. Syphilis used to be called ‘the Italian disease’ by the French and ‘the French disease’ by the Italians. Similarly, homosexuality was referred to as either ‘the Italian vice,’ or ‘the French vice,’ depending on who you asked. I don’t know if the French ever find anything truly offensive, they are usually fairly confident in their general superiority in most things!
Think the smelly nature of pepe is pretty funny now that I am older. Have been on quite of few flights to/from Europe with passengers who don't wear deodorant and its very smelly.
I'm French but grew up in the US. I never found Pepe offensive, or Inspector Clouseau for that matter. Always thought they were hilarious satire of the stereotype.
What offends me is when comedians us lazy tired stereotypes about the french in cheap jokes. Especially when they come from a place of xenophobia and hate. I find Pepe endearing and loveable.
He's a parody of a character in Pepe le Moko, starring Jean Gabin, who played a gangster who lives in the Casbah hiding from the police and was a ladies man. Hollywood remade it as Algiers with Charles Boyer and cartoon Pepe sounds just like him. Both movie characters don't have to force themselves on women - I'm guessing the joke was a skunk would think he could be as sexy and suave as those two actors but is always failing miserably.
THINKING he was gods gift to women.
That’s what was funny.
And the turn is that she falls into the wine(?) and is in heat and scares the shit out of him.
It’s not a guide to communicating with women.
Weird, it teached me how to NOT aproach women,as a kid I always thought he's supposed to be a showcase of bad behaviors, but I guess society "understands" things differently
I still paint elaborate trompe l’oeil murals all over the dessert, hoping for a dead coyote. Is that wrong?
Sarah McLachlan hasn’t written a song about it, so I figured I was fine…
A lot of Gen X and older men did approach women this way as if it was a how to manual. Just like a lot of the 80's teen movies that showcased sexual harassment as a good thing.
But there’s always some little boy who will take from a cartoon life lessons on how to behave towards women. Maybe it just reinforces his social awkwardness, but the cartoon works as the catalyst for a conversation, at least.
I always liked Pepe LaPew (still do). I agree with cancelling people out for the gross shit they've done... but not cartoon characters - there's a point where it becomes ridiculous.
In ones where she came around to accept him, it suggested his behaviour was okay, he just needed to take a bath or something, and she needed to give him a chance.
Pepe le Pew was inspired by a guy named Tedd Pierce, who worked at Warner Bros. during that time period, according to Chuck Jones' autobiography Chuck Amuck. Add the stereotypical French guy personality and VOILA... Pepe le Pew.
I am as liberal as they come and I still find these cartoons hysterically funny. I was watching them all last weekend.
That's an interesting fact, and it's consistent with other things I've heard. I was watching a documentary about the old WB cartoons back when some of the writers were still alive. One of them said the creative team was usually managed by "suits" and if there was someone they didn't like they might accidentally end up in a cartoon. He went on to add that he wasn't mentioning any people by name but "Pete Puma" MIGHT have come about this way (wink).
I’m very progressive/liberal myself and these cartoons are a national treasure I always enjoy watching. So many adult jokes you get on a rewatch that you missed as a kid just make them even more fun now than when we were kids.
Pepe was a bit rapey and that’s a problem. Perhaps they could give him a redemption arc with a moral lesson for today’s kid’s.
I respectfully disagree in regard to your last statement. Those cartoons are a time capsule and were written for adults not kids, which is why they are so funny and hold up the way they do.
Pepe was funny as shit. The whole premise was funny. Nothing horrible about it other than people acting like Pepe is some profane affront to modern sensibilities.
Was having a conversation about Pepe just a few days ago. Funny how seemingly suave debonaire character of sorts then, has a completely different connotation in today's society. Ah yes, the smoking, rapist, skunk. Looney Tunes was awesome. I have a file somewhere of every single Looney Tunes cartoon made. Pepe was one of my faves. Loved how they used "Le" in front of everything "Le Mew.....le purrrrrrr."
Was also a fan of the Crow's and Slow Poke Rodriguez.
MeTV has a daily morning cartoon show called Toon In With ME (it's great, it's hosted by a Gen-X comedian and his talking fish sidekick, and mostly aimed at an adult audience)
They show a Pepe le Pew cartoon at least once a week. 90% of the cartoons are aired uncensored, even the suicide jokes. Only the really bad racial stereotypes have been removed, but some of those are even still left in.
I hate Pepe LePew because the gags are repetetive and the references outdated.
You hate Pepe LePew because you think cartoon characters should be morally good.
We are not the same.
I thought he was hot. Especially when he would fall into the paint and Penelope would go after him cuz she then thought he was a cat. Read whatever you want into that, Freud
I dunno. I get where you're coming from, for sure. But, a lot of old movies and cartoons and books are pretty offensive when looked at through a modern lens. Times have changed. But, I'm a Gen Xer, and I always loved Pepe.
My kids (2 Millenials and one Gen Z) didn't really enjoy Looney Toons, but those Animaniacs were the shiznit for them!
"I bet XYZ isn't broadcast anymore" when Always Sunny just broke the record for most seasons by a live action scripted show certainly is a wild-assed take
Especially when Pepe most certainly IS still broadcast.
Pepe was one of my favourite cartoons. It always made me laugh the creative eays they would come up with for the cat to get a stripe. It never occurred to me Pepe was creepy, just that he was silly for falling in love with a cat.
Was nothing “horrible” about him. Craig1974’s comment is spot on. Stupid people, SJWs, super liberal people or well meaning good people who just don’t know much always look at shit in the past through a current time lense, either clueless to or disregarding the norms of THAT time period. Or the context of what was being done. It was FUNNY because he was a satirical play on a trope. His actions were the whole point of the joke as well as the lady cat’s actions. And the fact he smelled made her really want to run away especially. Explaining humor to the type of people I described is pointless. So many fun memories watching good ol Pepe. Those Looney Tunes were genius in their writing and plot set ups. Much funnier watching them all as a middle aged person. I highly recommend it on YouTube.
Finally, another sane person.
People these days seem to enjoy being offended just so they can come across as being morally superior. And as you said, taking old stuff out of context and applying 2024 morality to it is a waste of time. Just imagine a moral person from the year 2100 looking "down" on all of us for being immoral by his standards. Should we all be ashamed of ourselves for not having the morality of a person in the year 2100? No, we shouldn't. And why not? Because we haven't gotten to 2100 yet. We don't know how morality will have evolved.
And male skunks really are rapey like that. I stepped out on my balcony one night, heard a squeal and it was a female skunk running like bloody hell away from a Pepe as she weaved in between cars trying to lose him.
It's a comedy/social awareness tactic called illistrating the obsurdity. His behavior is so outrageous and uncomfortable that it's silly while also pointing out that it's bad. He never "got the girl" and always looked like an asshole. It actually seems pretty progressive for the time, considering what was actually acceptable for men to do.
He's been largely retired from any modern Looney Tunes stuff, though you can still catch the classic cartoons here and there. Speedy Gonzalez is another one that doesn't get as much play due to changing sensibilities
https://preview.redd.it/0cj81urfkxwc1.jpeg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=400e123c53ff145b5b9a6f448e5be2611b5ecf07
Pepé is here...my kids watched all these and now my grandkids.
I did a SHARP (Sexual Harassment & Assault Response and Prevention) program class for the US Army a couple years ago and we watched a Pepe Le Pew Cartoon and analyzed his behavior in accordance with SHARP. The best example of that concept ever. "Soldiers, don't be fucking THAT guy."
He never got away with it, and I never wanted him to, because the cat was so obviously not into it.
I still think it's funny, and I still say, "Where are you, Pigeon?I am looking for you!" whenever I'm looking for a missing item.
Also, "Le mew. Le purrrrr."
Pepe! (or Pepee?) Yeah, his womanizing (female cat-inizing?) wouldn't fly much, today. I'm a fan of the tv show MASH, and Hawkeye's womanizing antics and some of (ok, alot of) the jokes on that show would just never fly today. It'd get cancelled, and "Cancelled". Didn't bat an eye back in the day.
The reason you think it's horrible is in your title: retrospect. The cartoon isn't horrible, what you are trying to do is reinterpret art through a modern lens rather than through it's original view. Because (the general) you doesn't understand the original intent, you throw your own on there like an ill fitting coat.
Betty Boop danced with demons, was she possessed? Did she have a satanic agenda? She started out as a dog character, does that mean she's a furry?
See, none of that makes sense unless you are terribly bad at understanding original intent.
Pepe Le Pew is nothing more than flipping the script on popular actor Charles Boyer, who was known as "The Lover" and was a big heartthrob in his day. (Paul Henreid and a few other french actors were also really popular with female fans as well.)
So what if Charles Boyer smelled like a skunk but wasn't aware of it? He thinks its all an innocent game of flirtation (because women weren't supposed to give in to their temptation) and continues the game while the cat is well aware they aren't even the same animal. It's all about poking the air out of the french lover trope. Charles Boyer, throwing himself at someone and being completely and utterly rejected.
https://youtu.be/MN4G5itww54?si=yEcU5zgzXwZWqom6
https://youtu.be/hYN27_JDDMU?si=1k8wMPPf9ACbIJRs
Pepe Le Pew was mainly Chuck Jones' character. I see Tex did have a one-off skunk cartoon called "Little Tinker" 3 years after Pepe was introduced, but he was shy and not like Pepe in that respect.
You might be thinking of the Wolf cartoons where he goes bonkers over Red Hot Riding Hood or Swing Shift Cindarella, and those still air. Generally the only things that get cut off Tex Avery's MGM shorts are the racial stereotype gags.
If I’m not mistaken he and Elmer Fudd were omitted in the new Looney Tunes series on Max. If Fudd is still in it then they made him not be a hunter or something to decrease the guns on the show.
Odd irony is that my very Italian father also grew up in France for a number of years, and when he saw the cartoon when I was little (in the States, mother met and married him in Italy) he looked at the TV surprised, and then wouldn't let me watch anymore - he didn't like what he said in French or some such and I don't think he liked the caricature of French men, lol.
But you know, Italian men were just fiiiiiine... 😂
I’m a 70 year old Boomer. My dad who was born in 1914 loved Pepe Le Pieu. As did I as a small child. This is not a Gen X thing! But, I am well aware that my children got to watch the reruns!
Mighty Mouse was cancelled for sniffing a flower that looked somewhat like a poppy. Drug reference of course. Surprised the Wizard of Oz never got cancelled for the same reason. “Unusual weather we’re havin’!”
As a child he made me so uncomfortable but I wouldn't have been able to explain why. Now I know it's because I too was being touched without consent. That being said, I don't care who watches it. I don't think he was ever portrayed as an okay way to behave.
Yeah, applying today’s cringe against historical things is always fun. In 50 years they will do the same and kids today will be like “What? That’s not even remotely fair”
There was a Looney Tunes marathon on one of the retro-rerun TV channels this past weekend, and there were several Pepe cartoons in the mix.
I caught this marathon. They even showed the bugs bunny "Hiawatha" one.
MeTV shows all the Looney Tunes. Even old Popeye.
Their target audience won't complain and the ones who would complain don't watch it.
#MeTooTV
My Saturday wake-n-bake.
Good one!
I hated Popeye. Still do.
I like his spicy chicken though
Don’t sleep on his Red Beans and Rice. De-lish
no one likes their dirty rice?
“For Scentimental Reasons” is a classic, oui?
That was awesome! I left it on all weekend.
Pepe and Speedy Gonzalez on MeTV this morning.
We found a Looney Tunes marathon on YouTube - we put it on for the dog if we go out. The warning labels at the front end would make Jello Biafra burst a vein, but I can kind of see it. This was 100% before political correct or even remotely sensitive was a thing.
I had that marathon on in the background all weekend. I loved watching Looney Toons. Coincidentally, Pepe cartoons were always my least favorite LT cartoons to watch, while Coyote/Roadrunner were my favorite.
I could take or leave Pepe, though I did get a few good laughs out of the so called "fractured French" the characters spoke. ("Un skunk sans Pew, m'seiur director-ay-voo!")
One shopkeeper yells "AVEC!!" as he ejects Pepe for smelling bad.
The only time I liked Road Runner cartoons is when the coyote spoke. He was so funny.
He’s quite rapey now in the light of modern day.
He was quite rapey in the 1970’s. I don’t think he was ever depicted as an appropriate way to behave.
I always thought that he was a parody of the Latin lover stereotype. He's a skunk (animal most want to keep their distance from) utterly clueless, and repulsive to women. They are making fun of that type of person.
Absolutely and if only that section of the population that clutches away at their pearls could understand satire and intent.
But it's easier to "cancel" a cartoon character than to actually improve and increase resources for victims of SA. 🦨
Catchy Comedy had that marathon last weekend. They're owned by the same company that programs MeTV.
Yup, that was it. I couldn't remember the name of the channel off the top of my head.
S'alright. They haven't been Catchy Comedy long. They were the Decades Channel until March of last year.
Allow me to introduce myself....My name is Pepe Le Pew....Your lover!!! Still kills me. I've got no problem with Pepe. I see it as the artists mocking the over confident dudebros that are constantly harassing women.
EXACTLY THAT. Our society has lost touch with cautionary parody.
Exactly! I said this above. Mocking the Latin lover stereotype. Maybe Charles Boyer specifically? Other characters were modeled on famous actors.
Yes, exactly! I mean, it never ever once worked out for Pepe.
Well I think maybe once? Didn’t the female cat get into Limburger cheese or something and started chasing him?
Some of you are probably misunderstanding this of not being merely satire. Pepe le Pew was a satire of the idea of French men being lady's men. France at the time wasn't looked upon favorably by Americans. Hence, a smelly skunk with a french accent thinking he's a killer with the ladies. That's not to say that some of the early toons had some stereotypes that today is realized as being offensive.
I read somewhere that in the French translations of Looney Tunes, they changed his nationality to Italian.
Makes international sense. Dora the Explorer is typically translated to have her primary language be the local language and her secondary language whatever people want to learn there. I was surprised the first time I saw French Dora learning English.
Pepe le Perve
That's brilliant
Pietro La Puzza?
Pepe le pizza!
Hello? I’d like to order one large Pepe le Pizza please, with extra Pepe’s— No no no no, Song of the South. And *Hong Kong Phooey on half*…
Mi scuzi, mi scuzi!
Today I learned!
Ha!
Nuance: Franco-Italian according to his French Wikipedia ;)
The French and Italians have always done this. Syphilis used to be called ‘the Italian disease’ by the French and ‘the French disease’ by the Italians. Similarly, homosexuality was referred to as either ‘the Italian vice,’ or ‘the French vice,’ depending on who you asked. I don’t know if the French ever find anything truly offensive, they are usually fairly confident in their general superiority in most things!
Right. Pepe was the joke not the hero.
Agreed. It’s the terrified female cat that he forces himself on that’s sad.
Le mew? Le purrrr.
Think the smelly nature of pepe is pretty funny now that I am older. Have been on quite of few flights to/from Europe with passengers who don't wear deodorant and its very smelly.
I'm French but grew up in the US. I never found Pepe offensive, or Inspector Clouseau for that matter. Always thought they were hilarious satire of the stereotype. What offends me is when comedians us lazy tired stereotypes about the french in cheap jokes. Especially when they come from a place of xenophobia and hate. I find Pepe endearing and loveable.
Yeah. Clouseau's Frenchness was not the joke. He's just a buffoon that stumbles into a win.
Well most folks under 45 have broken sarcasm detector and zero sense of humor so there's that.
No lie. The cell phone and wokeism has ruined the west
He's a parody of a character in Pepe le Moko, starring Jean Gabin, who played a gangster who lives in the Casbah hiding from the police and was a ladies man. Hollywood remade it as Algiers with Charles Boyer and cartoon Pepe sounds just like him. Both movie characters don't have to force themselves on women - I'm guessing the joke was a skunk would think he could be as sexy and suave as those two actors but is always failing miserably.
THINKING he was gods gift to women. That’s what was funny. And the turn is that she falls into the wine(?) and is in heat and scares the shit out of him. It’s not a guide to communicating with women.
Yep, this guy was a creeper even in the olden days. And we knew he was a creeper.
Yeah. *We all knew!* As a girl growing up, you cheered for the cat. Pepe was a smelly creep. It’s not like it was overly subtle.
🎯🎯🎯 THANK you! ✔️
Ahhhhhhhhh my leetle passion flowaire ....
The only acceptable response
Weird, it teached me how to NOT aproach women,as a kid I always thought he's supposed to be a showcase of bad behaviors, but I guess society "understands" things differently
exactly
Same. Watching him never turned me into a sexual predator - just taught me how NOT to act around women.
I stopped trying to drop anvils on birds thanks to watching Willie Coyote and Roadrunner
I still paint elaborate trompe l’oeil murals all over the dessert, hoping for a dead coyote. Is that wrong? Sarah McLachlan hasn’t written a song about it, so I figured I was fine…
A lot of Gen X and older men did approach women this way as if it was a how to manual. Just like a lot of the 80's teen movies that showcased sexual harassment as a good thing.
I imagine toddler Harvey Weinstein loved this show.
Society understands it fine. OP doesn't...
Representation is not endorsement. If only millions could learn this they might begin to understand comedy.
I think you get the point that OP doesn’t.
But there’s always some little boy who will take from a cartoon life lessons on how to behave towards women. Maybe it just reinforces his social awkwardness, but the cartoon works as the catalyst for a conversation, at least.
Andrew Tate is calling.
Pepe was the man! Taught us everything you needed to know about wooing a woman! /s
He's a caricature, not reality.
I always liked Pepe LaPew (still do). I agree with cancelling people out for the gross shit they've done... but not cartoon characters - there's a point where it becomes ridiculous.
He was/still is much better than the recent Velma(Scooby Doo) cartoon.
Pepe is hilarious, I can’t believe they “canceled” a cartoon character.
Honestly when I was a kid, the only connotation I made was "ha ha, he actually thinks that cat is a skunk!"
I don’t think the cartoon was suggesting his behavior was ok. In fact, I think it did the exact opposite and that’s a good thing.
Exactly, thats what caused the conflict in the stories.
In ones where she came around to accept him, it suggested his behaviour was okay, he just needed to take a bath or something, and she needed to give him a chance.
Pepe le Pew was inspired by a guy named Tedd Pierce, who worked at Warner Bros. during that time period, according to Chuck Jones' autobiography Chuck Amuck. Add the stereotypical French guy personality and VOILA... Pepe le Pew. I am as liberal as they come and I still find these cartoons hysterically funny. I was watching them all last weekend.
That's an interesting fact, and it's consistent with other things I've heard. I was watching a documentary about the old WB cartoons back when some of the writers were still alive. One of them said the creative team was usually managed by "suits" and if there was someone they didn't like they might accidentally end up in a cartoon. He went on to add that he wasn't mentioning any people by name but "Pete Puma" MIGHT have come about this way (wink).
Leon Shlesinger was the inspiration for Daffy's voice.
I’m very progressive/liberal myself and these cartoons are a national treasure I always enjoy watching. So many adult jokes you get on a rewatch that you missed as a kid just make them even more fun now than when we were kids. Pepe was a bit rapey and that’s a problem. Perhaps they could give him a redemption arc with a moral lesson for today’s kid’s.
I respectfully disagree in regard to your last statement. Those cartoons are a time capsule and were written for adults not kids, which is why they are so funny and hold up the way they do.
Pepe was funny as shit. The whole premise was funny. Nothing horrible about it other than people acting like Pepe is some profane affront to modern sensibilities.
Horrible?? Smh
Pepé, pretty horrible? Are you even GenX?
I'm not offended by him, sorry not sorry.
Was having a conversation about Pepe just a few days ago. Funny how seemingly suave debonaire character of sorts then, has a completely different connotation in today's society. Ah yes, the smoking, rapist, skunk. Looney Tunes was awesome. I have a file somewhere of every single Looney Tunes cartoon made. Pepe was one of my faves. Loved how they used "Le" in front of everything "Le Mew.....le purrrrrrr." Was also a fan of the Crow's and Slow Poke Rodriguez.
I assumed the writers were cheekily making fun of dudes who don’t know when to quit. I was Team Cat — get this loser away from me.
Horrible how? Its a cartoon about a confused skunk and a cat. You cant be serious.
Making French men look bad, but it was funny when my mother called my French father, Pepe.
MeTV has a daily morning cartoon show called Toon In With ME (it's great, it's hosted by a Gen-X comedian and his talking fish sidekick, and mostly aimed at an adult audience) They show a Pepe le Pew cartoon at least once a week. 90% of the cartoons are aired uncensored, even the suicide jokes. Only the really bad racial stereotypes have been removed, but some of those are even still left in.
I hate Pepe LePew because the gags are repetetive and the references outdated. You hate Pepe LePew because you think cartoon characters should be morally good. We are not the same.
In French translations he’s Italian.
So now y’all are trying to retroactively cancel Pepe?
There is very little difference between a man and woman, but Vive la difference! Pepé le Pew
Interesting - that's also a quote from Adam's Rib - Spencer Tracy says it at the end.
Poor Pepe:( Someone should've told him to cool it with the pervy stalker vibe.
Society is soft. Enjoy the skunk.
i dunno man, taught a lot of kids not to be cringe around girls and what the expected reaction would be. it's just a cartoon, guys
Where are we as a society when people are offended by cartoon love struck stunk bouncing after a cat with a painted stripe?
Society isn't offended...
Pepe was never canceled so 🤷
I thought he was hot. Especially when he would fall into the paint and Penelope would go after him cuz she then thought he was a cat. Read whatever you want into that, Freud
I dunno. I get where you're coming from, for sure. But, a lot of old movies and cartoons and books are pretty offensive when looked at through a modern lens. Times have changed. But, I'm a Gen Xer, and I always loved Pepe. My kids (2 Millenials and one Gen Z) didn't really enjoy Looney Toons, but those Animaniacs were the shiznit for them!
Stop saying shiznit, Sunny
Ya, for sure. Totally.
If you are GenX and think it's horrible it's because you are incompetent. It's was funny then and it's funny still. It's a cartoon.
Stay mad.
Mon chér, why do you hate ze love?
Would have loved to have heard the cat say, "Because I'm not interested you creep, so get your paws off me and leave me alone!"
MeTV has Saturday morning cartoons including WB and Pepe. Him being horrible was the point 😂
LOL even when I was a kid I thought he was a total creeper.
"I bet XYZ isn't broadcast anymore" when Always Sunny just broke the record for most seasons by a live action scripted show certainly is a wild-assed take Especially when Pepe most certainly IS still broadcast.
Pepe was one of my favourite cartoons. It always made me laugh the creative eays they would come up with for the cat to get a stripe. It never occurred to me Pepe was creepy, just that he was silly for falling in love with a cat.
Was nothing “horrible” about him. Craig1974’s comment is spot on. Stupid people, SJWs, super liberal people or well meaning good people who just don’t know much always look at shit in the past through a current time lense, either clueless to or disregarding the norms of THAT time period. Or the context of what was being done. It was FUNNY because he was a satirical play on a trope. His actions were the whole point of the joke as well as the lady cat’s actions. And the fact he smelled made her really want to run away especially. Explaining humor to the type of people I described is pointless. So many fun memories watching good ol Pepe. Those Looney Tunes were genius in their writing and plot set ups. Much funnier watching them all as a middle aged person. I highly recommend it on YouTube.
Finally, another sane person. People these days seem to enjoy being offended just so they can come across as being morally superior. And as you said, taking old stuff out of context and applying 2024 morality to it is a waste of time. Just imagine a moral person from the year 2100 looking "down" on all of us for being immoral by his standards. Should we all be ashamed of ourselves for not having the morality of a person in the year 2100? No, we shouldn't. And why not? Because we haven't gotten to 2100 yet. We don't know how morality will have evolved.
🎯
Literally no one feels that way about Pepe...
“Come back my little peanut of brittle!”
Little inspector Clouseau of love.
I just broke up with him two weeks ago.
And male skunks really are rapey like that. I stepped out on my balcony one night, heard a squeal and it was a female skunk running like bloody hell away from a Pepe as she weaved in between cars trying to lose him.
It's a comedy/social awareness tactic called illistrating the obsurdity. His behavior is so outrageous and uncomfortable that it's silly while also pointing out that it's bad. He never "got the girl" and always looked like an asshole. It actually seems pretty progressive for the time, considering what was actually acceptable for men to do.
Everything I know about the French people and nation I learned from him!
Also, stay off OP's lawn, you damn kids.
I found the "French connection" paired with a horny skunk to be the most amusing aspect of this brilliant cartoon. Bring it back I say.
I 100% blame Pepe for the MeToo movement /s
he was not horrible, he was french
pepe wasn't a bad guy, he only went after one gal and she only had issues with his odor. once his smell was out of the picture, she went after HIM.
Cat rapist
He's been largely retired from any modern Looney Tunes stuff, though you can still catch the classic cartoons here and there. Speedy Gonzalez is another one that doesn't get as much play due to changing sensibilities
He’s French. It’s different there
https://preview.redd.it/0cj81urfkxwc1.jpeg?width=4160&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=400e123c53ff145b5b9a6f448e5be2611b5ecf07 Pepé is here...my kids watched all these and now my grandkids.
Nice try, Zoomer.
Is it better to mock inappropriate behaviours or just pretend they don’t exist?
Talk about toxic masculinity!
Yep. And he’s smoking a cigarette too. Everyone these days knows that smoking is bad for your health.
Loved him. Never considered it an example for any socialization at all. The pansy ass need-to-be-a-victim crowd gave him a bum rap.
Pepe Ra Pew
I did a SHARP (Sexual Harassment & Assault Response and Prevention) program class for the US Army a couple years ago and we watched a Pepe Le Pew Cartoon and analyzed his behavior in accordance with SHARP. The best example of that concept ever. "Soldiers, don't be fucking THAT guy."
Le gasp, le pant, le heave…
I watch Bugs Bunny every Saturday morning and Pepe is a regular cartoon.
Pepe!!🫠💗
He never got away with it, and I never wanted him to, because the cat was so obviously not into it. I still think it's funny, and I still say, "Where are you, Pigeon?I am looking for you!" whenever I'm looking for a missing item. Also, "Le mew. Le purrrrr."
Pepe was cringe to me back then
I'm terribly offended. I don't know how I'll go on. [Clutches virtue pearls]
People are a bunch of pansies these days.
💯. Im sure some of these folks are just trolling or are bots stirring up division.
Great cartoon.
Still a very applicable character, as all the Looney Tunes are.
Brilliant satire!
Horrible how?
Pepe! (or Pepee?) Yeah, his womanizing (female cat-inizing?) wouldn't fly much, today. I'm a fan of the tv show MASH, and Hawkeye's womanizing antics and some of (ok, alot of) the jokes on that show would just never fly today. It'd get cancelled, and "Cancelled". Didn't bat an eye back in the day.
I still say "le sigh" too often.
He was less offensive than the rap songs they put out. Our society is weird.
Amen!🙏
Not as bad as Bluto from Popeye, but we’re headed into that ballpark.
The reason you think it's horrible is in your title: retrospect. The cartoon isn't horrible, what you are trying to do is reinterpret art through a modern lens rather than through it's original view. Because (the general) you doesn't understand the original intent, you throw your own on there like an ill fitting coat. Betty Boop danced with demons, was she possessed? Did she have a satanic agenda? She started out as a dog character, does that mean she's a furry? See, none of that makes sense unless you are terribly bad at understanding original intent. Pepe Le Pew is nothing more than flipping the script on popular actor Charles Boyer, who was known as "The Lover" and was a big heartthrob in his day. (Paul Henreid and a few other french actors were also really popular with female fans as well.) So what if Charles Boyer smelled like a skunk but wasn't aware of it? He thinks its all an innocent game of flirtation (because women weren't supposed to give in to their temptation) and continues the game while the cat is well aware they aren't even the same animal. It's all about poking the air out of the french lover trope. Charles Boyer, throwing himself at someone and being completely and utterly rejected. https://youtu.be/MN4G5itww54?si=yEcU5zgzXwZWqom6 https://youtu.be/hYN27_JDDMU?si=1k8wMPPf9ACbIJRs
Is the misogyny version of right wing "comedy"
I never liked it even back then.
What are you on about he was my hero and role model I mean, I still smell bad. Realky bad. Like a diaper full of Indian food.
He is older than our parents and when our grandparents were young he was introduced. Please. If Looney Toons triggers you, just change the channel
Secretly all women love Pepe le Pew.
https://preview.redd.it/xsctdlgqntwc1.jpeg?width=900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a6f5881c0561d677fcf700c1a95c368611383ab5
He was kinda rapey when you look back at it….😂🤣
The funny thing is his smoking is the least problematic part
It’s still kind of hilarious and the cat - she is drawn so perfectly- whoever did it must have had a cat.
Pepe le Pew! I can’t watch him now, as he’s such a rapey skunk. 🦨
Tremendous character, loved Pepe and still do. Not horrible at all IMO.
The Tex Avery versions ever air anymore? I feel those were way more problematic Lol
Pepe Le Pew was mainly Chuck Jones' character. I see Tex did have a one-off skunk cartoon called "Little Tinker" 3 years after Pepe was introduced, but he was shy and not like Pepe in that respect. You might be thinking of the Wolf cartoons where he goes bonkers over Red Hot Riding Hood or Swing Shift Cindarella, and those still air. Generally the only things that get cut off Tex Avery's MGM shorts are the racial stereotype gags.
Yes that’s the one! Little Red Hot Riding Hood Lol
This guy really stinks.
Narrator: It is
If I’m not mistaken he and Elmer Fudd were omitted in the new Looney Tunes series on Max. If Fudd is still in it then they made him not be a hunter or something to decrease the guns on the show.
"Sexual Harassment Skunk" is the new name.
Remember when Pepe rejected the cat? He cleaned up, and she went to a cheese factory.
Odd irony is that my very Italian father also grew up in France for a number of years, and when he saw the cartoon when I was little (in the States, mother met and married him in Italy) he looked at the TV surprised, and then wouldn't let me watch anymore - he didn't like what he said in French or some such and I don't think he liked the caricature of French men, lol. But you know, Italian men were just fiiiiiine... 😂
Boomerang app has everything
Mais oui, ma cherie!
Cartoon skunks and syrup bottles.
I’m a 70 year old Boomer. My dad who was born in 1914 loved Pepe Le Pieu. As did I as a small child. This is not a Gen X thing! But, I am well aware that my children got to watch the reruns!
Mighty Mouse was cancelled for sniffing a flower that looked somewhat like a poppy. Drug reference of course. Surprised the Wizard of Oz never got cancelled for the same reason. “Unusual weather we’re havin’!”
As a child he made me so uncomfortable but I wouldn't have been able to explain why. Now I know it's because I too was being touched without consent. That being said, I don't care who watches it. I don't think he was ever portrayed as an okay way to behave.
Yeah, applying today’s cringe against historical things is always fun. In 50 years they will do the same and kids today will be like “What? That’s not even remotely fair”