Warner Bros in Black-and-White: Meet Bosko, the Original Looney Tune

It’s hard to believe that Warner Bros’ Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series has been going for so long. Indeed, with their longevity, the cartoons, collectively, comprise one of the longest-running theatrical cartoon series in history – which is a remarkable feat. Of course, while in recent decades their popularity has seemingly receded somewhat, we still get the occasional burst of Looney-ness with spin-off TV series and straight-to-DVD releases (including the latest special Rabbits Run). But what was it like in the beginning? Who was the first Looney Tunes character and how did it start?

We’ve all heard of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig… Even the Tasmanian Devil (or ‘Taz’), who starred in only five cartoons in the Golden Age. But the character who started it all was in fact a small, rubber hose, African American caricature by the name of Bosko. He isn’t heard of so much these days for a number of glaringly obvious reasons. For one thing, while not a severe example he is a racial stereotype – allegedly something his creator Rudolf Ising was completely unaware of (Kanfer, 1997: 86). Otherwise, his cartoons weren’t in any way unique; rather, they mostly derived inspiration from other cartoons from that era, implying not one of them was all that memorable. All the same, it’s interesting to look back on these prototypical Tunes as products of their time, and recognise them as forerunners to a series that was to become one of the biggest in animation history.

Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929)

Bosko first appeared in an unaired pilot short made by Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and Friz Freleng, entitled Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid, in 1929. In early 1930, Harman and Ising managed to convince entrepreneur manager of Pacific Art and Title, Leon Schlesinger, to open a cartoon studio, and he subsequently managed to get Warner Bros to distribute their produce. In return, Warner Bros requested that the Bosko shorts utilise songs from the company’s own catalogue. Harman and Ising consequently gave the series the name Looney Tunes, inspired not only by its logical marketability, but also in mimicry of the Silly Symphonies canon produced by Disney simultaneously.

Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930)

The first short to be officially released was titled Sinkin’ in the Bathtub (1930). This evidently posed stiff competition for Disney, in that its utilisation of popular music meant that it bore an unprecedented appeal to contemporary audiences. However, story-wise, the early Looney Tunes lagged somewhat. Certain plots were rehashed, some were essentially non-existent – and others conspicuously mimicked Disney’s narratives. For example, the Bosko short Congo Jazz (1930), which sees Bosko in the role of a hunter, bears a direct parallel to the Disney Mickey Mouse short Jungle Rhythm from the previous year (Beck, 2004: 43).

Congo Jazz (1930)

Regardless, Bosko became popular with audiences, resulting in the commissioning of a new series – Merrie Melodies. While nowadays the LT and MM series are perceived to be essentially synonymous with each other, in its inception the MM series represented a cartoon that was completely distinct from the LT series it succeeded. While LT utilised music more subtly to propel their narratives (what little they had!), MM proved to be blatant advertisements, with song showcases becoming the series’ central aspect. Characters would often break into song partway through, whether it was pertinent to the film or not – and often it wasn’t.

Buddy in Buddy's Day Out (1933)

New characters began to emerge, but they were not nearly as durable as Bosko. One of these characters was called Buddy. A profoundly unmemorable and uninteresting character, Buddy was devoid of personality, and somehow lacked the appeal of Bosko – an unfortunate development considering that he represented a fairly major advancement for the studio, in that his movements were more anatomically based, with discernible joints, as opposed to the then-ubiquitous, basic rubber hose animation characteristic of the standard cartoon of that era.

Bosko’s final cartoon under Warner Bros was in 1933, after which Harman and Ising turned to MGM following a budgetary dispute with Schlesinger. MGM initially kept Bosko’s original design, but his appearance gradually mutated entirely, leading to his eventual dissolution. Warner Bros Animation, meanwhile, was to move on to better, more mature, satirical cartoons whose appeal far exceeded the basic Bosko batch.

Bibliography:

Beck, J. (2004) Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, the Illustrated History of Cartoon, Anime and CGI. London: Flame Tree Publishing.

Kanfer, S. (1997) Serious Business: The Art and Commerce of Animation in America from Betty Boop to “Toy Story”. New York: Da Capo Press.

Image Sources:

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume One. (2003) Warner Home Video, Burbank, California.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Three. (2006) Warner Home Video, Burbank, California.

Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume Six. (2008) Warner Home Video, Burbank, California.