Beauty and the Beach is banned worldwide outside of Asia, that is, in all countries that receive the series from 4Kids Entertainment. It is the 18th episode of the original Japanese series, titled Holiday at Aopulco. On June 24, 2000, a newly produced English-language version of the episode aired on Kids' WB! as "Beauty and the Beach". Promoted as a "lost episode" special presentation, it has only received one rerun and has not yet been shown elsewhere or released on DVD.
In this episode, the female characters all enter a beauty contest. Team Rocket also enters, with James donning an inflatable suit with huge, exaggerated breasts. As one scene of the episode was about James showing off his artificial cleavage for humorous effect, this scene was removed from the English-language version when it did finally air.
"Tentacool & Tentacruel" has not been seen regularly on Kids' WB! since 2001 and has more recently disappeared from Cartoon Network USA as well. After premiering in America on October 1, 1998, the episode ran normally for three years, but was taken out of rotation following the September 11 attacks because a key scene involves a giant Tentacruel demolishing towers with its tentacles. (The same scene appears as a clip in first season opening title sequence.) Another possible reason for its banning was because of Nastina's use of large guns and attempt to kill the Tentacool. It can still be seen elsewhere around the world and on VHS.
This episode has recently been brought back into circulation on Cartoon Network's Boomerang network.
"The Tower of Terror" premiered in America on October 7, 1998. Much like Tentacool and Tentacruel, this episode was taken out of the Kids' WB! rotation after the September 11th attacks. It was most likely believed that the title would be in bad taste after the attacks, despite actually being named after a ride at Disney MGM Studios. However, it did resume airing before Kids' WB! finished playing the first season altogether.
This episode has recently been brought back into circulation on Cartoon Network's Boomerang.
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"The Legend of Dratini" was the second episode to be banned by 4Kids Entertainment and hence worldwide outside Asia, this was the 35th episode of the original Japanese series. At several points in this episode, guns are pointed at people threateningly, and warning shots are fired. Due to the sensitivity of the American public to guns in children's shows (particularly the image of a child being threatened with a gun), this episode was never aired for American circulation.
The removal of this episode leads to continuity problems, as Ash captured 30 Tauros in this episode. The Tauros appear in later episodes, even being used in Pokémon Tournaments by Ash; only one episode very briefly mentions where they came from. It is believed, although unconfirmed, that 4Kids Entertainment did produce an English-language version of "The Legend of Miniryu", though it has never been aired.
"Electric Soldier Porygon" was aired in Japan on December 16, 1997, around 18:30 Japanese time, and became infamous for causing a number of epileptic seizures in young viewers. It is now banned worldwide, including Japan.
About 20 minutes into the episode, there was a scene in which Pikachu stops some rockets with his lightning attack, resulting in a huge explosion that flashed red and blue lights. Although there were similar parts in the episode with red and blue flashes, this scene was extremely intense, with blinks at a rate of about 12 Hz for approximately 4 seconds in almost full screen, and then for 2 seconds outright fullscreen. At this point, viewers started to complain of blurred vision, headaches, dizziness and nausea, actual cases of the motif of harmful sensation. A few people even had seizures, blindness, convulsions and lost consciousness. Japan's Fire Defense Agency reported that a total of 685 children (310 boys, 375 girls) were taken to hospitals by ambulances. Although many children recovered during the ambulance trip, more than 150 of them were admitted to hospitals. Only two people stayed in the hospital for over 2 weeks.
Scientists believe that the flashing lights triggered "photosensitive seizures" in which visual stimuli such as flashing lights can cause altered consciousness. Although scientists know that approximately 1 in 4000 people (0.5 - 0.8% of children between 4-13 years old, although it is possible for it to happen to anyone) are susceptible to these types of seizures, the number of people affected by this Pokémon episode was unprecedented.
A Pokémon website, Pokémon Press Battle, made the following observation: "(...) photo induced epileptic attacks can be caused by exhaustion, stress, and sitting too close to the television. All of the above are facts in most Japanese schoolchildren's lives, who live under constant academic and social pressure in small homes. Experts have speculated that the children were intensely focused and involved with the show, figuratively 'glued to the set' when the scene went off like a bomb in their faces." After the airing of "Electric Soldier Porygon", Pokémon went into a four month hiatus. TV Tokyo discontinued some program specials that were supposed to air around the end of December:
"Holiday Hi-Jynx", an episode which was already "out of order" due to being pushed back after the show's hiatus following the "seizure incident" (above), aired on North American television several times but is no longer part of the rotation in that region. When "Holiday Hi-Jynx" aired on Kids WB it was usually around Christmas time along with "Snow Way Out".
The episode garnered controversy because of Jynx's original appearance. Her dark skin, exaggerated lips, and light hair, more than likely inspired by Yama-uba, are strikingly similar to performers in blackface, and the racially-charged image drew a great deal of criticism. This criticism became very public after Carole Boston Weatherford published an article in Black World Today about Jynx's appearance. Since the incident, Jynx has been modified to have purple skin, but even in other episodes before the change took effect any appearances have often been cut out of the show. The episode continues to air elsewhere around the world and is also available on DVD.
Jynx's thirteen second appearance in "All Things Bright and Beautifly" was also removed in the English series. The Jynx Erika owns in "Mean With Envy" and "Pacifidlog Jam" marks the first appearance of Jynx in purple. Jynx can still be seen in its old color, in some Pikachu's Jukebox songs. The scenes are taken from Holiday Hi-Jynx.
