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I have read through the below threads about the now defunct Have a Laugh! series, but none of them answer any of the questions I have long wondered about.

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Questions:

1. How were the sixty (60) Have a Laugh! shorts selected out of the 350+ character driven theatrical Disney shorts?

2. Which cartoons of the other 300+ theatrical shorts do you think would never have been considered due to overtly inappropriate or insensitive content? (i.e. Propaganda shorts, B&W, those with Maltin Disney Treasure warnings – “Tea for Two Hundred,” “Spare the Rod” etc.).

3. Was there a specific list of materials that needed to be eliminated from the condensed shorts? (i.e. smoking, racial insensitivities, sexism, sexual harassment, innuendo, violence, language, animal abuse, child abuse, suicide, irresponsible gun use and other dangerous behaviors etc.).

4. Was the cancellation of the series publicly announced? The series only lasted 3 years. Were the shorts not popular overall? Not worth the effort to continue to remix? Ran out of workable material to refashion? (Made way for the new Mickey Mouse cartoons, Disney As Told By Emoji, Chip n Dale’s Nutty Tales, Rhythm and Rhymes, Tsum Tsums, Nursery Rhymes, Lullabies etc.).

5. What recent Disney media has been truncated or sanitized similar to the Have a Laugh series for newer generations of viewers? (i.e. The Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, not older examples like Fantasia, Saludos Amigos, The Three Little Pigs, Melody Time, Make Mine Music etc.)

6. What other digital spheres (Disney+, Circle with Disney etc.) has or might refashioned, abbreviated, and self-censored Disney media appear?

Purposes & Issues of abbreviated Have a Laugh! shorts
• Promotes and economizes the classic Disney characters.
• Uses hours of already produced materials.
• Extension of a restoration/preservation project for all Disney media.
• Fills in time slots on broadcast/cable networks.
• Creates a quicker and modern “MTV-influenced” pace.

• Self-censors and sanitize shorts to remove objectionable content.
• Redubbing standardizes Disney’s more modern voice cast and dialogue.
• Elimination of the credits minimizes authorship and even Walt Disney’s name.
• Rewrites history by downplaying past insensitivities and original artistry.
• Refashions older materials for future distribution in digital spheres.

7. What other purposes or issues with the Have a Laugh! series would you also suggest adding to the above?


It has been years since Have a Laugh! last aired, yet the mentality behind such a problematic series and undertaking has only seemed to expand within the contemporary Walt Disney Company. I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the above questions and see if opinions on the series (for or against) might have changed over time.