The Dangers of Cats that Smoke?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/08/21/odd.tomandjerry.reut/index.html

This bothers me, and I don't know why.
I mean, its a cartoon about a cat and a mouse, in which the cat is often trying to maim, if not outright eat the mouse, which apparently nobody has a problem with.

But, you have that cat "smoking"....and suddenly its hurting the children.

Now, just as a bit of clarification, I do think that there is a lot of garbage that children are exposed to today that is harmful. The media is full of too much human on human violence, without any sort of context. Kids do see way too much sex and violence as children, and while it will not make them all into psycho killers, it does desensitize.

That being said, those images are of people. Not of two animated animals in a cartoon that is older then the parents of these children. Again, I point to the fact that Jerry can wallop Tom with a frying pan so that the cat's head leaves an impression, and that's ok, yet a obvioulsy cartoony "smoking as suave" joke raises the hackles???

I would think that if your child is imitating an animated cat from the 1950's, than you have more to worry about than Junior's smoking habit.

Of course, this could all just result from my brother trying to hit me in the head with a frying pan, to see if it would leave and indentation too.