tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26953813990804755652024-02-20T05:39:31.303-05:00Looney Tunes Re-WatchThis blog is a Re-Watch of all the Warner Bros. Looney Tune and Merrie Melodie Shorts.Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-76324829049886034412011-09-24T16:43:00.001-04:002011-09-28T20:45:47.263-04:00One More Time (Oct. 3, 1931)<div><div><p>Summary:<br>
Foxy is a cop walking his beat.  The fat hippo is driving here luxury car and is annoyed by a small mouse in a little car.  She runs down Foxy and he chases after her.  She stops and he sings One More Fine to her.  She cries trying to get out of it and he puts a trash can on her head to stop her.  He meets up with his girlfriend and her dog.  They dance around to the title song and then someone gets robbed and Foxy chases after the crook. Sme other police chase after the crooks and get blown up with a grenade. The bad guys grab Foxy's girlfriend and he gets her back with a mechanical horse. He then trickes hem into driving into the jail.<br>
Notable Gags:<br></p>
<ul>
<li>Foxy's gun has a mouse with a mallet on an extendable arm that hist a crominal on the head</li>
<li>The hippo has mice with trumpets for a horn</li>
<li>The hippo gets over the mouse's car with extendable tires. Go Go Gadget style</li>
<li>Foxy sharpens his pencil on the hippo's mouse hood ornament</li>
<li>Foxy uses the dog as a player piano</li>
<li>The police have a cat that they use for a siren</li></ul>
Commentary:<br/>
I liked this cartoon. It looks as though the Merrie Melodies are going to hit a stride well before the Looney Tunes. There is plenty of random silliness, especially around the necessity of promoting the song, but a cop in patrol is still more of a plot than we've seen so far. Too mch happens for this to be a truly good cartoon. The crime and chase at the end are a little too separated from the rest of the story. Many of the gags were clever, and it was a nice change to have some to include in this post. If I were creating a list of Warner Cartoons that everyone should see at lease once (and I will do that at some point) I would definitely put this cartoon on it.
</div></div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-64633524198752457172011-09-24T16:37:00.001-04:002011-09-28T19:53:23.204-04:00Bosko Shipwrecked (Sept. 19, 1931)<div><div><p>Summary:<br>
We start off with Bosko on a ship in a storm. There is an old man with him but it is unclear who he is supposed to be. Bosko washes up on a island by himself. Some monkeys find him and steal his hat. the drop an egg on him and he wakes up. There is a parrot who loves puns. Then a lion shows up and chases Bosko around the island. The lion eventually is tricked into jumping into an aligator's mouth. Bosko finds a boat and then runs into some natives who are canibals. The king orders him boiled but Bosko pulls a pop gun on them. He then escapes on the back of a hippo.</p>
<p>Commentary:<br>
This artoon is terrible. The storm scene lasts way too long and obviously repeats whole segments to make it that way. Other than that, there isn't much else to say than what is in the summary. That's all that happens and it isn't very funny or interesting. I was really hoping for more out of this one because the title offer so much room for real plot. Even a lame Robinson Crusoe rip off would have been OK. This one loses for not living up to what little potential it had.</p>
</div></div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-70394184959630782592011-09-23T20:23:00.001-04:002011-09-28T19:51:19.213-04:00Smile, Darn Ya Smile (Sept 5, 1931)<div><div><p>Summary:<br>
Foxy is a cable car conductor singing the title song (which to me comes from Roger Rabbit).  There is a rather large hippo that has much trouble getting on.  Foxy is forced to let some air out of her, which she does not appreciate.  Foxy has an enconter with cow and some hobos sing the title song to tell him to get ovr it. He can't get her to move, so he jumps under her. He is thrown from the trolley and his girlfriend is trapped on the out of control trolley. They are then trapped in an old Bosko cartoon*(reused animation). Foxy wakes up and it was all a dream.</p>
<p>Notable Gags:<br>
Foxy puls his cat's tail to ring the Trolley bell<br>
Foxy deflates the hippo because she won't fit on the trolley<br>
The Trolley wheels run off without the rest of the car<br>
The billboards come to life<br>
Foxy jumps under, not over the cow</p>
<p>Commentary:<br>
This cartoon actually has a little potential. It's still very weak, but it has a plot of sorts. The singing is much more in line with a musical rather than random seeming. There isn't a whole lot that is funny, though I have to admit that I was impressed with the jumping under the cow gag. I can see why this one was put on the Golden Collection DVDs.<br>
</p>
</div></div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-92228931195886115502011-09-23T20:21:00.001-04:002011-09-23T20:21:08.614-04:00Lady Play Your Mandolin! (Sept. 1931)<div><p>Our first Merrie Melodie.</p>
<p>Summary:<br>
The setting is a bar and the initial focus is on the gorilla waiter, who is scary on many levels. There is much chaos, till we are introduced to Foxy(who looks nothing like THAT mouse). Everyone loves Foxy. The entertainment comes on and this is what Foxy is waiting for. It is a girl fox who sings the title song. Foxy's horse tries to make his way into the bar, gets a bottle broken over his head and is instantly drunk. This can happen, it happend to my Uncle Freddy twice last Flag Day. The horse drinks a lot more and becomes the life of the party, until he catches fire.</p>
<p>Notable Gags:<br>
Foxy ties his horse by the neck to a cactus<br>
The hat rack takes Foxy;s coat and hat like a butler</p>
<p>Commentary:<br>
It's noce to have a break from Bosko and I like that there were no improvised instruments. But this cartoon is just chaos. I guess it was somewhat funny at the tail end of Prrohibition. It was much more of a primitive music video than a cartoon. The onl.y food thing about it really is that it brings some relief to the monotany of a one star series.</p>
</div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-29737907894462016542011-09-23T20:09:00.001-04:002011-09-23T20:09:29.973-04:00The Tree's Knees (Aug 1931)<div><p>Summary:<br>
Bosko goes to cut down a tree, which reacts in fear. So he does the only logical thing, play the harmonica. He then chases a small tree around and pulls off his bark. He then comes on a tree that is rocking a bird's nest while the bird sings. Warner Bros must own rock-a-bye baby. After deciding he no longer needs lumber, Bosko chases a butterfly and then plays some saplings like a harp. Some mice play with a saw and they fall into a small puddle. Bosko saves them. They then turn themselves into a record payer.</p>
<p>Notable Gags:<br>
I give up - there really aren't any and I'm tired of reaching for them</p>
<p>Commentary:<br>
This cartoon returns to the improvised musical instrument series of gags that we saw in cartoons like Congo Jazz. It is a step backward and therefore soubly disappointing. It doesn't even have the benefit of having fresh gags. It has all been seen before. This is another one to skip if you watch these for anything other than historical curiosity.</p>
</div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-72909067417505552712011-09-23T19:57:00.001-04:002011-09-23T19:57:28.202-04:00Bosko's Holiday (July 1931)<div><p>Summary:<br>
Bosko and his alarm are asleep and the phone is ringing so it is trying to wake them up. The alarm wakes up and tries to get Bosko up with difficulty.<br>
Bosko answers the phone and its Honey, who wants to go on a picnic. Bokso whistles for his car and then winds it up. He sings while he drives, his hands are never n the wheel. This isn't so bad because he is using a real musical instrument. His hood ornament mouse doesn't much care for his tail being used to replace a string though. Honey's dog bites the tire and Bosko has to tie it up. They flirt a little until Bosko whispers smething that is appearently very inappropriate and Honey won't talk to him. He gets her back by chewing with his mouth open and the the dog gooses her and she leaves.</p>
<p>Notable Gags:<br>
The car has little kids that follow Bosko for a while<br>
The mouse hood ornament is alive<br>
Not really much else</p>
<p>Commentary:<br>
Come quickly Porky! I have to admit that I am getting tired of Bosko and that is one reason(other than being lazy) that has kept me from posting. This cartoon has little going for it. It is not full of gags, nor does it have a compelling or funny plot. If you never see this one, don't feel bad about yourself. That is really the most I can say about it. Next post in a few minutes.</p>
</div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-61977292265817490582011-06-20T19:58:00.004-04:002011-06-21T06:46:07.108-04:00Yodelling Yokels (June 1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Yodeling_Yokels.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 176px;" src="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Yodeling_Yokels.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><div><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Summary</span><br />The cartoon starts off with Bosko yodelling in the mountains, playing the accordian. After a walk he yodells at Honey, who yodells back andcomes out to play. Bosko is high on a cliff and slides down a very tall tree. When he lands, he and Honey end up on some improvised skis and Honey f herself in trouble floating down the ice on a river. Bosko and his dog manage to save her before she goes off the waterfall. There is alsoa mouse in Honey's house putting into a wedge of Swiss cheese with a piece of spaghetti.</p><p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notable gags</span><br /></p><ul><li>There are 3 bears(I think bears, thet have Mickey Mouse ears</li><li> Bosko shoots an owl that laughs at him and laughs hysterically </li><li> Bosko's trip down the tree is filled w8th painful encounters with branches </li><li> Honey turns into a huge rolling snowball </li><li> The dog's teeth stretch out to save Honey </li></ul><p>Commentary</p><p>This is not a great cartoon, but it does have a couple of things going for it. The first is avoiding the "everything is an instrument" standard that the Looney Tunes were getting away from. It may not actually be a plot, but this cartoon does have something happen. The spot gags here are more slap-stick than the early Looney Tunes. I have to admit that Bosko's long ride down the tree made me giggle, even if it was broad. The clever bit here was the timing of the branches. The last set was just a little bit longer than expected.</p><p>The other plus for this cartoon is the absolutely random and unexplained mouse playing golf. I can't say that it works completely, but it's a start. Overall this is a missable and forgettable cartoon.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>--Jack<br /></p><br /></div>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-31324538025892416922010-08-25T14:28:00.003-04:002010-08-25T14:57:09.408-04:00Dumb Patrol (April 1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/dumbpatrol1931.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 202px;" src="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/dumbpatrol1931.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Summary:<br />The first war cartoon from Warner Bros. Bosko and his pet plane are attacked by a very surprisingly non-stereotypical German. After his plane is destroyed he finds himself with a French Honey and a fully functional piano. His singing and dancing with Honey is interrupted and he builds a plane out a Dachshund and a broom. Bosko then defeats the bad guy and laughs.<br /><br />Notable Gags:<br /><ul><li>Bosko's plane flaps its wings and "swims" to fly</li><li>As soon as Bosko lands his clothes come back</li><li>French Honey apparently has a hard time understanding French</li><li>The old U pipe to return bullets gag</li><li>The bad guys plane is blown into hundreds of tiny planes that Bosko disposes of with bug spray</li></ul>Commentary:<br />This cartoon was again a little disappointing It's comforting to know that the Warners people will eventually make better use out of wartime material. Even Bosko the Doughboy is more entertaining. There really just weren't enough gags. I think the most creative one here is the U-Pipe gag so famous in my mind due to Spaceballs. Also I do have to admit that Honey not understanding French put me in mind of Holy Grail. Even so, I can see the changes happening in how the Termite Terrace (That might be anachronistic) people are approaching cartoons. It is getting better. I know I complain a lot about the general lack of quality in these early cartoons, and I stand by that, but I do have to admit it's getting better.<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-30644010184270270232010-08-12T07:10:00.003-04:002010-08-21T14:50:06.780-04:00Ups 'N Downs (1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Ups_n_Downs.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Ups_n_Downs.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Summary</span><br />A day at the races. Bosko is selling hot dogs, which dance on the griddle. Spectators arrive in various silly ways and then Bosko sneakily leaves his stand to go to a locked shed. We see the horses and jockeys training and it becomes clear that Bosko intends to race. We soon find out that his horse is rather impressively not alive - it's mechanical. The mechanical horse proves to be troublesome, but every time it breaks, Bosko is able to put it back together. Bosko eventually wins the race by extending the horse's neck in a "Go Go Gadget!" sort of way.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Notable Gags</span><br /><ul><li>People riding a cow as a trolley, squeezing its head for a horn</li><li>A dog buying a hot dog, The hot dog comes alive and pleads "Mammy!", the dog replies "Sonny-boy!" and the dance off together</li><li>Mice sneak in to the race with the unwitting help of an ostrich<br /></li><li>A racehorse trains like a boxer</li><li>One too big jockey on a too small horse, then a too small jockey on a too big horse.</li></ul><span style="font-weight: bold;">Commentary</span><br />Well, we're back on track for plots, sort of. While there is still a lot of music here, most of the gags are just gags with music playing, not song and dance routines. And of course later we get Bosko's attempt at racing. What's really missing from this cartoon, and many others as well, is genuine humor. Very little in this cartoon can be truly considered funny. There is silliness, and there is what must have been novelty for the time, but little humor. The moist clever bit may have been the hot dog pleading for its life, but the "Mammy" element makes it fall a little flat to a modern audience. And lets not forget the fact that Bosko blatantly cheats and gets away with it. A mechanical horse with an extending neck is hardly on the up and up.Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-37386548525876862252010-08-04T09:55:00.003-04:002010-08-04T10:53:57.197-04:00Ain't Nature Grand? (March 1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Aint_Nature_Grand.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 319px; height: 227px;" src="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Aint_Nature_Grand.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Summary<br />This cartoon is about a fishing trip <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bosko</span> takes. He is followed by a dog that he sends away. He then can't bring himself to kill the worm he brought, so he lets it go and improvises. The worm gets chased by a crow but is able to handle the threat. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bosko</span> then catches a fish who does not appreciate <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bosko's</span> attitude about it. The singing and dancing then begins with bees, spiders, frogs and bugs getting into the act. Some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">apparently</span> gigantic bugs drop what I thought was an olive, but turned out to be a boulder on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bosko's</span> head. They then shrink and attack <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bosko</span> with a beehive machine gun, chasing him into a fountain.<br />Notable gags<br /><ul><li>Using the letters NO from the " No Fishing" sign as worms.</li><li>When the worm is being chased by the crow, it rolls into a circle to get away</li><li>After the crow gets the worm, the worm stretches through a few holes and then pulls the bird through. Classic trope of someone getting dragged through a tangled situation.</li><li>The crow puts his feathers back on like a coat</li><li>After catching a fish and being nice to it, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bosko</span> gets spat on for his trouble</li><li>The bugs use a flower as a propeller, on a bug that can already fly</li><li>The flying bugs turn a beehive into a machine gun<br /></li></ul>Commentary<br /><br />This cartoon is interesting to me for a few reasons. First, there was relatively little singing and dancing. we are continuing or journey away from the strictly musical nature of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Looney</span> Tunes. Although I have to say I regret the lack of plot. Second, I think this is the first time, at least for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">WB</span>, that we see the "Threading" trope. (Not and official trope, but it's when a character is tied to a string that is threaded through a lot of obstacles, then pulled through). Lastly, we see some truly wanton and unprovoked violence. The multi-sized bug attack on <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bosko</span> has no rational cause. I won't say this is the beginning of Heckling, but it is certainly in the same vain. Overall, this is no where near my favorite <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bosko</span> cartoon, but I have to admit the relative lack of musical silliness was encouraging.<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-16300441499480493082009-11-11T09:45:00.004-05:002010-08-04T11:40:39.459-04:00Big Man From The North (Feb 1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Big_Man_From_The_North.gif"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="http://www.davemackey.com/animation/wb/titlecards/Big_Man_From_The_North.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A Plot! A Plot! Finally A Plot! Well, sort of. The cartoon starts off at a Mounted Police station in the middle of a blizzard. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bosko</span> enters causing the storm to blow hard into the building. In the process of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">re-shutting</span> the door, the Captain loses his pants. He tells <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bosko</span> to go "get your man", a mean looking figure with no name, but he's wanted dead or alive whoever he is. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Bosko</span> goes out to his dog sled, with a team of dogs in no way prepared for life in the snow. And one not prepared to pull a sled, since he is about a fifth the size of the other dogs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bosko</span> goes on a sled ride involving a couple of gags and ends up slamming into a bar in the middle of nowhere. Inside, Honey is singing and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Bosko</span> sings with her. This is the only vestige of the random music making of the earlier cartoons. Eventually, the Bad Guy comes in and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bosko</span> plucks up the courage to fight him. They have a gun battle in the dark and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Bosko</span> stabs the guy in the rear with an ENTIRE SWORD, no really, up to the hilt! Oddly, that does not dispatch the villain, it doesn't even really phase him. Eventually <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Bosko</span> shoots off his fur, leaving him a skinny weakling and he runs off embarrassed.<br /><br />Notable Gags:<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bosko</span> pulls off the pants of his boss while being blown by the wind.<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bosko</span> has a tiny dog on his sled team that doesn't reach the ground as they run.<br />The dogs legs adjust to the up and down landscape, classic gag.<br />When the dogsled slams into the bar, the dogs meld together and walk off.<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bosko's</span> Gun is apparently a cork-gun<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Bosko</span> uses a machine gun on Mr. Baddie<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Bosko</span> Sticks an entire sword into Mr. Baddie's rear-end<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Bosko</span> shoots off Mr. Baddie's fur, leaving a skinny weakling<br /><br />I have to say I like this one a little. It's about time we got to an attempt at a plot. I know that even in the Golden Age <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">toons</span> plots were mostly thinly veiled excuses for gags, and that's <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">ok</span>. But even a weak plot is better than random, unconnected gags. The fight at the end isn't as clever as say, Bugs v. Sam, but I can see how blowing the fur off of the villain would have been at least entertaining in the early days.<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-54907933701011589802009-11-09T10:30:00.001-05:002009-11-09T10:32:20.287-05:00Great News!Just read on <a href="http://www.cartoonbrew.com">Cartoon Brew</a> that Looney Tunes will be returning to Cartoon Network this month. Can't tell you how excited I am!<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-76277248041587741322009-11-09T10:01:00.001-05:002009-11-09T10:05:30.771-05:00Box Car Blues (Jan 1931)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Bosko_Box_Car_Blues.png/250px-Bosko_Box_Car_Blues.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 188px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Bosko_Box_Car_Blues.png/250px-Bosko_Box_Car_Blues.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This cartoon is much more gag oriented than it is focused on random music making. We start with a musical train and in the last car are our "heroes" Bosko and an unnamed pig (possibly a rough version of the pig from The Booze Hangs High) the two sing for a while, until their car is separated from the rest of the train. This leads to a series of gags that almost exclusivly feature Bosko. The car goes off and on the tracks at random and finally crashes into a tree at the end of the tracks.<br /><br />Notable gags:<br /><br />The train becomes anthropomorphic several times. Including when the wheels become hands that choke music out of the whistle, and when it pulls itself up a very steep mountain.<br /><br />Speaking of the mountain, the train manages to pants the mountain and the mountain pulls his pants back on.<br /><br />Bosko is repeatey subjected to groin injuries. Primarily from trees and telephone poles.<br /><br />At one point the tracks get too wide for the car and it splits in half. Bosko fixes the problem by using his neck as a crank to pull the car and tracks back together.<br /><br />There is also a random cow that is suddenly being chased by the car. It ultimately is smashed by the car, but is ok in spite of that.<br /><br />Overall this is an interesting cartoon because it departs from the "use any thing as an instrument" gimic. Sinkin' In The Bathtub had a similar runaway vehicle gag, but only after the silly music making. This cartoon also focuses on a certain kind of humor, namely pain. It is Bosko's trouble and pain that make us laugh. For whatever reason, it doesn't work here as much as it will in later Warner shorts. There is something missing here, maybe it isnthe fact that Bosko is not somehow inflicting the pain on himself. The Coyote could stop chasing the Roadrunner if he wanted to. I'm not sure I will continue to muse on this as we move on through the cartoons. Maybe something will occur to me.<br /><br />-- JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-40304998038204975872009-11-03T16:59:00.000-05:002009-11-03T17:20:15.513-05:00The Booze Hangs High (December 1930)This cartoon begins with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Bosko</span> at a farm, dancing to what is presumably the title song with a cow. The cow's "pants" fall down and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Bosko</span> laughs. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Bosko</span> then goes to a horse and buggy and plays a tune on the horses tail. He later sees a pitchfork which he plays as a banjo. While play the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">banjofork</span>, a family of ducks is dancing while they are walking, one of the little ones whispers to his mother and she sends him off to "use the facilities" while the rest distract us with dancing. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Bosko</span> eventually drops the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">banjofork</span> and plays the horse again, reusing a good bit of animation. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Bosko</span> then goes to feed the pigs with the garbage. In the garbage the two small pigs find a bottle with three <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Xs</span>, this <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">unkown</span> substance could not be alcohol because this was 1930. Somehow, they get drunk of of this substance and their father(by the voice) does too. The bottle gets thrown onto <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Bosko</span> who also becomes drunk. The quartet sings and dance some and then we all go home.<br /><br />Notable Gags:<br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Bosko</span> uses the horse's ear to tune his tail<br /><br />The little duck has a flap in the back of his feathers to make using the restroom easier, convenient.<br /><br />The little pigs use one tail as a corkscrew to get the booze open<br /><br />As they pop the booze bubbles, it plays "How Dry I Am"<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Bosko</span> gets drunk by physical contact, a cartoon staple, but the first time Warner used it<br /><br />The father pig burps out a corn cob, then puts it back through the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">door</span> in his stomach -<br />after which he has a classic guilty look on his face.<br /><br />I actually enjoyed this cartoon, not sure why really. Maybe drunks pigs are comic gold or something. This one had no more story than the others, but I think Harman and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Ising</span> hit on some genuinely funny situations this time. The expression on the characters' faces seemed more real or at least more thought out. I genuinely laughed when the bubbles played "How Dry I Am", and the guilty/embarrassed look on the daddy pig's face was hilarious.<br /><br />As I alluded to in the summary, this cartoon has to be seen in the context of Prohibition America. Now I do not mean that I think it is some grand allegory or pointed political statement. More that it fits in with modern <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">stoner</span> movies. It makes light of a substance that is not only illegal, but also still widely used.<br /><br />--jackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-27045288725748487152009-10-16T14:14:00.000-04:002009-10-19T10:18:24.619-04:00Hold Anything (November, 1930)So, another post - and it's only been a week or so! We've got another Bosko cartoon. Yay! or something. No, really, not to go all negative on what I'm doing, but it's hard to be very entertained by these early cartoons. But enough about me - on to the cartoon.<br /><br />We start with another excuse for turning ordinary objects into musical instruments. Today's lesson is how to turn a construction site into a symphony orchestra. After using a rivet gun (or whatever that's called) to make music, Bosko finds an unwitting partner in music in a mouse that he uses to play a saw. And to illustrate the maxim that no good deed goes unpunished, the mouse is rewarded for his volunteer work by getting cut in half - which is funny and not sad because he comes back together and is O.K. The mouse eventually falls into the mouth of a rivet-eating goat. And escapes by walking out of the door that is in his stomach.<br /><br />After goofing off playing a saw with a mouse, Bosko apparently decides it's time to get some work done and scolds the goat and mouse. But this is really more of his his need to get back to making music. He sees Honey "working" in an office, we know she's working because she is using a typewritter. To bridge the gap between his hanging beam and her window Bosko plays the ropes and creates physical musical notes that he uses as steps.<br /><br />Bosko gets to Honey's typewritter and inserts the music to the title song and as he types the music plays and types out the words to the song. He continues to play the typewritter as a piano and Honey dances on the ledge. The goat tries to eat the whistle and gets filled with steam - which is very convenient for Bosko who uses him as an instrument I can only describe as "playing a goat full of steam with a whistle in its mouth". Bosko falls, and does a classic split on impact and comes back together, after dancing on bricks like a piano.<br /><br />Notable Gags:<br /><br />Dancing/Marching mice extend their legs to stay level instead of going down steps.<br /><br />The mouse that plays the saw gets his head cut off and his body tries to catch it.<br /><br />Goats eat everything - classic<br /><br />Goats have doors in their stomachs, missed that in Biology class<br /><br />Typewritters are pianos if you put sheet music into them. - A good reason to buy Warner Bros. music.<br /><br />Honey can detach at the waist - Awesome!<br /><br />Goats are also very stretchy - points for the best real world application of this fact.<br /><br />Commentary:<br /><br />I am unfamiliar with this song, which is not new and will not get old. But that may have something to do with me not really getting these older cartoons. So at the risk of getting too repetitive, I will try not to bring up the fact that I just don't find these old cartoons to be very good.<br /><br />That being said, Some of the above gags deserve a bit more mention. First the goat. This is the first goat in the Looney Tunes world and it sets the stage for the trope of goats will eat anything. At this point there is nothing too extreme, just some bolts and a bit of string. But its good to know they were thinking along those lines already.<br /><br />Bosko creating physical notes to use as steps offers up another early beginnings of a cartoon tradition - namely, if you need something - just make it! Sure he plays the notes out instead of just producing them from his pocket, but it's still the same thing.<br /><br />Well that's really all I have for this one. Sorry if it seems disjointed, I wrote it over a week or so.<br /><br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-64009021438806325592009-09-25T19:39:00.000-04:002009-09-25T20:15:43.028-04:00Congo Jazz (Oct.ober. 1930)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:TyKGz1j0lT8FJM:http://frederatorblogs.com/refrederator/files/2008/04/congo-jazz.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 129px; height: 113px;" src="http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:TyKGz1j0lT8FJM:http://frederatorblogs.com/refrederator/files/2008/04/congo-jazz.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Well its time for another Looney Tunes Re-Watch. This is the second Looney Tune and we have Bosko again but without Honey. The cartoon starts with Bosko walking slowly through the woods, screaming in time to the ominous music. After a few screams, his fears are justified when a large tiger comes up behind him. The tiger goes unnoticed until it decides to lick Bosko's backside. Confronted by the beast, Bosko raises his gun and fires - producing a lot of smoke and a small BB drops out of the end. The chase begins again in earnest and Bosko manages to defy all laws of physics and biology to get away. He then sings to the tiger, and they seem to be getting along - until Bosko kicks the tiger off a cliff.<br /><br />Bosko then meets a small monkey or gorilla with a tail (not really sure) who spits in his eye because Bosko violates his personal space. Bosko spanks the child primate until "mommy" shows up. The large gorilla is subdued with gum, which they pull out and play as stringed instruments. This of course leads to the entire jungle dancing and playing music.<br /><br />Notable gags:<br /><br />Bosko is stretched while running from the tiger, he lifts his rear half up and pulls it toward himself while still moving forward.<br /><br />Animals apparently have flaps in their fur which allow for underwear/bare bums to be shown<br /><br />There is an awful lot of reused animation, most notably when the two monkeys are dancing on the log.<br /><br />Last but not least, a palm tree comes to life, turning the palm fronds into a grass skirt and the coconuts, well lets just say it was a female tree. One of "fer" coconuts comes off while she is twirling(can't think of a better word here - Help!) and hits Bosko in the head.<br /><br />These early cartoons never concerned themselves much with plot, focusing more on gags than set-ups and punchlines. This is fine, many later cartoons forget the original premise three seconds in. The problem is the gags just don't really work much now. I have to wonder how well they really worked then. Maybe the newness of this form of entertainment was novel enough that an elephant playing his trunk like a trombone was fascinating. Today it falls a little flat.<br /><br />One thing that does stick out to me though, is the genesis of the "gleeful sadism" that will mark many a later cartoon. Sure, Bosko was attacked by the tiger first, but why did he have to befriend the thing right before kicking it off a cliff to its presumable death? And a smile and not a hint of an afterthought. I am not trying to be preachy here, I am not saying the cartoonists should not have put this in or anything. I am simply musing on this facet of the genre. I guess the fault in this particular cartoon is that the act of violence wasn't particularly clever or funny, so it is easier to pick it apart. I was just watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Tom Turk and Daffy</span> today and Daffy was completely cruel to Tom. But it was funny somehow, and daffy had less (read "None") provocation. This is, however, an aspect of the Warner cartoons I intend to keep track of. Maybe a pattern or explanation will present itself later.<br /><br />That's all I have for now. No idea when the next installment will be. Proably a couple of days, but maybe tomorrow. Judging by the apparent readership, no one will have read most of these posts until months after they're done.<br /><br />Hoping I'm wrong about that last,<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-76518392432425453372009-09-23T20:26:00.000-04:002009-09-23T21:13:08.926-04:00Sinkin' In The Bathtub (Sept. 1930)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f0/Sinkin_in_the_Bathtub_%28still%29.jpg/225px-Sinkin_in_the_Bathtub_%28still%29.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 171px;" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f0/Sinkin_in_the_Bathtub_%28still%29.jpg/225px-Sinkin_in_the_Bathtub_%28still%29.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This is the very first official Looney Tune. It features Bosko and his girlfriend, Honey. The cartoon begins with Bosko whistling the song Singin' In The Bathtub. Now would be an appropriate time, then, to discuss the purpose of these cartoons. I know that many people who would be interested in a blog like this might already know this, but for those of you who have never looked any deeper into cartoons than deciding wheter or not they are funny (a valid pursuit), here is the deal. The primary purpose for the Looney Tunes, and even more the Merrie Melodies was to:<br /><br />A. Fill a 6-7 min. time slot before the feature<br />B. Promote music in the Warner music catalog<br /><br />It amazes me how this simple money-making motive guided the art that would be cartoon shorts. There is no denying that even long after the pretext of promoting particular songs was forgotten, the Warner shorts ( and really all shorts) centered around music. In the hands of Carl Staling and the others, the music is an essential aspect of not only the story, but the comedy.<br /><br />So, the cartoon: Bosko is whistling his song, and playing his surroundings as instruments. The music gets so exciting that the bathtub itself begins to dance, spreading toilet-paper confetti all over the place. After deciding that he is clean enough, Bosko points the shower out the window and "surfs" down to the yard - just like everyone else.<br /><br />His car isn't in the garage, oh no, it's in the outhouse, the need of which is a little lost on me since it is apparent that Bosko has indoor plumbing. Maybe it's an outhouse just for the car, that must be it, I personally would never trust my car with a key to my house. He would constantly be coming in at three in the morning with the worst gas (yes, I went there, I made that horrible pun. I hope you understand - I had no choice)<br /><br />After driving to Honey's, Bosko tries to suprise here with the flowers he picked (and played) on the way. He is frustrated in his wooing by a goat who eats the flowers. He the begins to cry (to music mind you, he cries in time to the music - could you do that? - in such distress? could you? I don't think so). When Honey says that she still loves him, proving that she is not nearly as shallow as one might think, Bosko immediately becomes his happy self.<br /><br />I don't know if this cartoon has the first instance of an impromptu xylophone, I doubt it, but this is certainly genesis for the Warner studio. The first example is the wooden plank sidewalk. This, certainly is form following function, it just looks too much like the instrument. They HAD to use it as xylophone, it looked like a much better xylophone than sidewalk anyway.<br /><br />After dumping her bathwater into Bosko's saxophone, Honey proceeds to dance on the bubbles he produces. The bubbles also make music as she pops them. It is impressive enough that she is able to remain airborne on nothing but floating soap, but also use the occasion for music making is impressive.<br /><br />Another first for Warner in the cartoon cliches department is Bosko splitting into a bunch of little Boskos after falling out of the car. By today's standards it seems so obvious that this is the correct effect, that it makes me wonder if there was anyone in the room that had some other, maybe greater idea, that was shot down and is now lost to history.<br /><br />After a long and truly unfunny runaway car scene, Bosko and Honey end up in a pond, in a bathtub, with cat-tails for mallets (or whatever you play xylophones with) and lily-pads for an instrument, with which they reprise our theme. When the end card comes up, Bosko shouts "That's All Folks" thus beginning a long and glorious tradition - to quote Vizzini.<br /><br />Well, that's all I have for this one, and it looks like it may be too much. I will probably post more of these before I get any comments, but go ahead and let me know if I ramble too much.<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-28397491381147117392009-09-23T19:47:00.000-04:002009-09-23T20:16:25.612-04:00Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid (1929)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bosko.toonzone.net/1930/bosko_the_talk-ink_kid/title.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 114px;" src="http://bosko.toonzone.net/1930/bosko_the_talk-ink_kid/title.gif" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />This is the pilot cartoon used by Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising to entice Leon Schlesinger into producing their Looney Tune concept. In it, we find a proto-Bosko, who is much more... well I guess "ethnic" would be the nicest way of saying it. The fact is that for all the controversy over some of the Warner (and for that matter all studios) cartoons, it was there from the very beginning. I have seen this cartoon about a dozen or more times, and I still can't quite accept a society that accepted this as normal.<br /><br />So, the cartoon: The cartoon features the aforementioned Bosko and a live action Ising. The main point of the whole thing is to prove that Harman and Ising have the wherewithal to sync sound and film - something I still struggle with from time to time. Bokso sings and dances, even doing an imitation of a Chinese person, and ends playing the piano. And of course, various "cartoony" things happen, his neck uncoils and he fixes himself by spinning up his stool. The cartoon is really only valuable to me from an historical angle (a common theme for the first few years).<br /><br />--JackKen Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2695381399080475565.post-22725365607172522712009-09-23T19:36:00.000-04:002009-09-23T19:45:14.413-04:00Introduction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Yu5SZzOdGB0/Srqy83swgeI/AAAAAAAACEI/S6G0kG8D1Fc/s1600-h/61J1YT0Q1GL._SL500_AA240_.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 200px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Yu5SZzOdGB0/Srqy83swgeI/AAAAAAAACEI/S6G0kG8D1Fc/s200/61J1YT0Q1GL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384813063288422882" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">This blog represents my effort to watch and comment on all of the Warner Bros. Looney Tune and Merrie Melodie shorts from 1929-1988. I will be greatly aided by the book</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span id="btAsinTitle"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: Complete Illustrated Guide to Warner Brothers Cartoons </span>by Beck and Friedwald, which lists all the cartoons and gives a lot of geeky information, like the release date and the animators. All the cartoons will be watched in chronological order with any cartoon that is neither a Looney Tune or a Merrie Melodie(such as the Private Snafu shorts) at the end.<br /><br />--Jack<br /></span></span>Ken Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14229390928090281520noreply@blogger.com0