9. Finland Banned Donald Duck Comics Due To Nudity
A widely-reported favourite, apparently Disney's feathered fowl with a speech impediment had several volumes of his comic book adventures pulled from the shelves of Finnish libraries. What did the seemingly harmless Donald Duck do to earn such censorship? Why, isn't it obvious? He wanders around nude from the waist - despite keeping his torso clothed - and he cavorts about with Daisy Duck without them being married! The real reason for Donald's disappearing act is, in fact, a lot less scandalous and more banal than that explanation. What actually happened is that the city of Helsinki wasn't doing so well financially, and one of their proposed cost-cutting measures was to stop buying Donald Duck comics to stock in the principality's public libraries. That didn't stop the tabloids stirring things up a year later when Markku Holopainen, the Liberal Party member who suggested getting rid of Donald, ran for parliament. Then the international press picked up on his nickname of "the man who banned Donald Duck" with sensational headlines like "DONALD, WHERE ARE YOUR TROUSERS?" and "DONALD NOT MARRIED; POLITICIANS OUTRAGED!" Of course nothing of the sort was happening in the liberal Scandinavian country, as evidenced by the fact that Donald Duck cartoons were still in regular syndication on TV, and you could still read his comics anywhere apart from the library. Of course, it could all turn out to have been payback on behalf of a neighbouring country...
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
