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Big Man from the North

Bosko is a Mountie in his sixth Looney Tune.

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Harman-Ising Productions

Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising originated the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short subjects in 1930 and 1931, respectively. Both cartoon series were produced for Leon Schlesigner at the Harman-Ising Studio on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, with Warner Bros. Pictures releasing the films to theaters. The first Looney Tunes character was the Harman-Ising creation Bosko, The Talk-ink Kid. Despite the fact that Bosko was popular among theater audiences, he could never match the popularity of Mickey Mouse, or even Betty Boop. In 1933, Harman and Ising parted company with Schlesinger over financial disputes, and took Bosko with them to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. As a result, Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. lot on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.

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Box Car Blues

Bosko and a pig are hobos in a runaway boxcar.

Bosko sings “Cryin’ for the Carolines.” Also on the soundtrack is “Alabamy Bound.”

betty boop, billy murray, bimbo the dog, birds, booze, bosko, bouncing ball, boy, cinderella, color classic, construction, drunk, friz freleng, ghosts, gorilla, gun, honey, hugh harman, leon schlesinger, looney tunes, mae questel, max fleischer, merrie melodies, mountie, music, paramount, pigs, policeman, rudolf ising, rudolph ising, rudy vallee, screen song, synchronized speech, talkartoon, warner bros.

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The Booze Hangs High

This Bosko cartoon is very musical in nature and has one bit centering around three pigs who take turns drinking from a bottle of booze and lurching around. Bosko feeds his pigs by dumping a trash can into their trough. The two baby pigs find a bottle of booze in the trough. They and their father all get drunk on it.

The title comes from a song used in this cartoon, “The Goose Hangs High”, which comes from the Oscar Hammerstein musical The Song of the Flame.

betty boop, billy murray, bimbo the dog, birds, booze, bosko, bouncing ball, boy, cinderella, color classic, construction, drunk, friz freleng, ghosts, gorilla, gun, honey, hugh harman, leon schlesinger, looney tunes, mae questel, max fleischer, merrie melodies, mountie, music, paramount, pigs, policeman, rudolf ising, rudolph ising, rudy vallee, screen song, synchronized speech, talkartoon, warner bros.

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Hold Anything

Bosko is a construction worker, making music with his equipment while he works, when he suddenly gets infatuated with Honey.

betty boop, billy murray, bimbo the dog, birds, booze, bosko, bouncing ball, boy, cinderella, color classic, construction, drunk, friz freleng, ghosts, gorilla, gun, honey, hugh harman, leon schlesinger, looney tunes, mae questel, max fleischer, merrie melodies, mountie, music, paramount, pigs, policeman, rudolf ising, rudolph ising, rudy vallee, screen song, synchronized speech, talkartoon, warner bros.

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Congo Jazz

Congo Jazz is the second Looney Tunes cartoon starring Warner Bros.’ first cartoon star, Bosko. Bosko hunts in the jungle, but ends up playing music with the animals.

betty boop, billy murray, bimbo the dog, birds, booze, bosko, bouncing ball, boy, cinderella, color classic, construction, drunk, friz freleng, ghosts, gorilla, gun, honey, hugh harman, leon schlesinger, looney tunes, mae questel, max fleischer, merrie melodies, mountie, music, paramount, pigs, policeman, rudolf ising, rudolph ising, rudy vallee, screen song, synchronized speech, talkartoon, warner bros.

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Sinkin' in the Bathtub

Sinkin’ in the Bathtub was the very first Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon short as well as the very first of the Looney Tunes series. The short was produced and directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, with animation by a very young Friz Freleng. Leon Schlesinger was credited as an associate producer. Made in 1930, this short marked the theatrical debut of Bosko the “Talk-Ink Kid” whom Harman and Ising had created to show to Warner Brothers. Bosko became their first star character, surpassed only much later by Porky Pig and Daffy Duck.

The film opens with Bosko taking a bath while singing “Singin’ in the Bathtub”. A series of gags allow him to play the shower spray like a harp, pull up his pants by tugging his hair, and give the limelight to the bathtub itself which stands on its hind feet to perform a dance.

Once he finds his car, which had left the garage to use the outhouse, Bosko goes to visit his girlfriend Honey, who is showering in front of an open window. A goat eats the flowers he brought, so he serenades her to get her to come out. A saxophone full of bubbles provide a floating cascade of steps for her as she alights from the balcony.

Their country drive presents grave perils for Bosko, ending with the car plunging over a cliff into a lake. Always able to adapt, Bosko continues their date as a boating trip and plays the last refrain using lily pads as a marimba.

betty boop, billy murray, bimbo the dog, birds, booze, bosko, bouncing ball, boy, cinderella, color classic, construction, drunk, friz freleng, ghosts, gorilla, gun, honey, hugh harman, leon schlesinger, looney tunes, mae questel, max fleischer, merrie melodies, mountie, music, paramount, pigs, policeman, rudolf ising, rudolph ising, rudy vallee, screen song, synchronized speech, talkartoon, warner bros.