“It’s important that history doesn’t forget these films,” said Robert Newton, managing director of the Cape Ann Community Cinema in Gloucester, “which is why we are remembering them on a day like Martin Luther King Day.”

The films are a collection of banned and censored cartoons made by the major studios between the 1930’s and 1950’s and collected by Newton, who lists film critic and video store owner on his long r_sum_. Most of the dozen films he will show on Monday, January 18th at 7:30pm are of a racial nature, and are so un-PC that one studio banished 11 of them to an infamous list of “The Censored 11” in the 1960’s. These cartoon shorts, some of which included characters like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, were pulled from syndication and forever relegated to the vaults.

“We want people to come and view these films, laugh uncomfortably and think about why,” Newton added. “Hopefully, everyone will come away with a better picture of where as a country we’ve been, and how far we still have to go.”

There is no charge for this special night, which will take place at the Cinema at 21 Main Street in Gloucester, though donations will be accepted.