If you grew up watching cartoons, and I think most of us fall into that category, then you likely remember the French skunk named Pepe Le pew. He has been a part of our cartoon history for many years and he was even slated to be in an upcoming Space Jam sequel. If you have been looking forward to that movie, you will have to enjoy it without Pepe Le pew in place. Reportedly, they are removing him from scenes in that movie and will never be using him as a cartoon character again.
The anticipated release date for Space Jam 2 Is July 16, 2021. When they first made the film, there was a scene that was straight out of Casablanca and Pepe is the bartender. He makes a pass at Greice Santos and in true Pepe Le pew fashion, he starts to kiss her arm. That is when she slaps him and knocked him into a nearby chair. There is more to the story, however. Do you remember Penelope the cat that he was always chasing in the old Pepe Le pew cartoons? It seems as if she has filed a restraining order against him.
Pepe Le pew was given a bit of a lesson in the movie before they cut the scene. Lebron James tells him that it wasn’t a good idea to be grabbing other ‘tunes’ when he didn’t have their permission to do so. Looking back in the history of cartoons, we also learn something about this character.
Pepe look pew has been around since 1945 and he has always been interested in Penelope. Remember, she is the black cat that would always accidentally get a white line painted on her, making her look like a skunk. Pepe would pursue her relentlessly and many people believe that he was ‘normalizing rape culture’. It seems as if we will have to enjoy our cartoons without the beloved skunk around any longer.