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Many cartoons from previous decades are routinely [[censorship|censored]] on [[television]], [[video]], and [[DVD]] today. Usually, the only censorship deemed necessary is the cutting of the odd [[racism|racist]] joke or instance of graphic [[violence]]. For example, one classic cartoon gag is the transformation of characters to [[blackface]] after an explosion or an automobile backfiring. Such small amounts of objectionable material only require relatively minor cuts in the cartoon to make it palatable to censors. However, in the Censored Eleven, racist themes are so essential to the cartoons that the copyright holders believe that no amount of selective editing can ever make them acceptable for distribution.
Of the cartoons included in the Censored Eleven, animation historians and film scholars are quickest to defend the ones directed by [[Bob Clampett]], especially ''Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs.'' Despite its politically incorrect content, this cartoon is frequently included on lists of the "greatest" cartoons ever made. In a [[Usenet]] message on the [[newsgroup]] ''rec.arts.animation'' writer and author Michelle Klein-Hass wrote stated:
:"...Everyone cites Tex Avery's racism, and some even look at Clampett's Jazz cartoons and cry racism when Clampett was incredibly ahead of his time and was a friend to many of the greats of the LA jazz scene. All of the faces you see in ''Tin Pan Alley Cats'' and ''Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarves'' are caricatures of real musicians he hung out with at the Central Avenue jazz and blues clubs of the '40s. He insisted that some of these musicians be in on the recording of the soundtracks for these two cartoons. " -- message posted on [[February 24]], [[2002]]
When he obtained distribution rights to all pre-[[1948]] [[Warner Bros.]] cartoons in [[1986]], [[Ted Turner]] vowed that he would not distribute or air any cartoons from the Censored Eleven. Since [[Time Warner]] bought back the cartoons in [[1996]], this policy has shown signs of weakening, as Warner Bros. is rumored to be producing a series of DVD collections of classic Warners cartoons in the vein of [[Walt Disney Studios|Disney's]] ''[[Disney Treasures]]'' series.
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