Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid: Difference between revisions

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[[File:ltgc6-bosko_6285.jpg|frame|Bosko, in his final Warners short, ''Bosko's Picture Show''.]]
{{quote box|Bosko, in his final Warners short, ''Bosko's Picture Show''.}}
 
Meet the [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit]] of [[Looney Tunes]],: '''Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid''', the original, all but forgotten debut cartoon character of Leon Schlesinger's animation studio for [[Warner Bros.]] during [[The Golden Age of Animation]]. Created by ex-Disney employees [[Harman and Ising|Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising]], Bosko is, as his name tells, a "[[Punny Name|talk-ink kid]]" -- or more specifically, an inkblot blackface character. His first appearance was in the short pilot "Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid" in 1929, and was noteworthy for being one of the earliest cartoons to feature properly synchronized sound and dialogue in a cartoon. However, his official theatrical debut (the pilot was never shown to the public) was in the original 1930 [[Looney Tunes]] short ''[[Sinkin' in Thethe Bathtub]]''.
 
While Bosko was initially what is now considered to be a very offensive character, Rudy and Hugh shortly decided to ditch these racist aspects of him in favor of him being more like an everyman character, from having him own his own businesses, to getting to beat up the occasional ''white'' bad guy -- [[Fair for Its Day|pretty progressive for its time, ain't it?]]
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At MGM, Bosko became a recurring star of Harman And Ising's ''[[Happy Harmonies]]'' series of shorts. He initially retained his inkblot design when he first arrived at MGM, but this design and his original characterization (or [[Flat Character|lack of]]) altogether were eventually scrapped in favor of a full-on blackface kid with a curious personality, [[In Name Only|sharing only the original name of Bosko]]. But the character failed to regain any of his original popularity, and ultimately faded out altogether after a handful of shorts.
 
While the character has remained in limbo for many years, his cartoons rarely airing on TV, save for the earliest days of television (when the first package of ''Looney Tunes'' shorts were initially released to television) and on [[Nickelodeon]] in the late 80s and 90s, 25 of his 37 warners shorts have made their way into the [[Public Domain]], as well as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection series. The character also made a brief comeback in the ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]'' short ''Fields Of Honey''. (although he was slightly redesigned to look more like the dog-esque characters of the then upcoming ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'' show.) Buddy would also make an appearance in an episode of ''[[Animaniacs (Animation)|Animaniacs]]'', ''The Warners 65th Anniversary Special'', to get revenge on the trio, who in their universe were responsible for destroying Buddy's (in real life, non-existent) stardom. ([[Take That, Scrappy!|they were brought in to spice up his boring cartoons...]])
 
=== {{examples|Noteworthy shorts the character has appeared in: ===}}
----
* ''Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid''
== Filmography ==
* ''[[Sinkin' in Thethe Bathtub]]''
* ''Bosko's Picture Show'' <ref>If only for Bosko's alleged use of the f-word.</ref>
 
== {{Filmography ==}}
== 1929 ==
 
* Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid: Although it was not released theatrically, it could in a sense be considered the very first entry in the [[Looney Tunes]] series.
 
== 1930 ==
* [[Sinkin' in Thethe Bathtub]]: The "official" first Looney Tunes short.
 
* [[Sinkin in The Bathtub]]: The "official" first Looney Tunes short.
* Congo Jazz
* Hold Anything
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== 1931 ==
 
* Big Man from the North
* Ain't Nature Grand!
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== 1932 ==
 
* Bosko at the Zoo
* Battling Bosko
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== 1933 ==
 
* Bosko in Dutch
* Bosko in Person
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== 1934 ==
* Bosko's Parlor Pranks: First appearance of Bosko in an [[MGM]] cartoon, as part of the ''[[Happy Harmonies]] series''. Consists almost entirely of colorized [[Stock Footage]] from previous Bosko shorts.
 
* Bosko's Parlor Pranks: First appearance of Bosko in an [[MGM]] cartoon, as part of the ''[[Happy Harmonies]] series''. Consists almost entirely of colorized [[Stock Footage]] from previous Bosko shorts.
 
== 1935 ==
 
* Hey-Hey Fever: Last cartoon to feature the original Bosko design.
* Run, Sheep, Run: First cartoon to feature the [[In Name Only]] Bosko.
 
== 1936 ==
 
* The Old House
 
== 1937 ==
 
* Circus Daze
* Bosko's Easter Eggs
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== 1938 ==
 
* Little Ol' Bosko in Bagdad: Last theatrical appearance of Bosko.
 
== 1990 ==
 
* [[Tiny Toon Adventures|Fields of Honey]]: Makes a redesigned appearance with Honey.
* [[Tiny Toon Adventures|Two-Tone Town]]: Original design appears as a background easter[[Easter eggEgg]] in the Town.
 
== 1996 ==
* ''[[Space Jam (Film)|Space Jam]]'': Makes a cameo as a portrait in the film.
 
{{tropelist}}
* [[Space Jam (Film)|Space Jam]]: Makes a cameo as a portrait in the film.
* [[Bratty Half -Pint]]: Wilbur the Cat from "Bosko's Parlor Pranks", who really, really wants an ice cream cone.
 
 
----
=== Noteworthy shorts the character has appeared in: ===
* ''Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid''
* ''[[Sinkin in The Bathtub]]''
* ''Bosko's Picture Show'' <ref>If only for Bosko's alleged use of the f-word.</ref>
 
=== Tropes associated with this series: ===
* [[Bratty Half Pint]]: Wilbur the Cat from "Bosko's Parlor Pranks", who really, really wants an ice cream cone.
* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Bosko and his girlfriend Honey could well be considered the early studios answer to Mickey and Minnie Mouse. (along with Foxy and Roxy from Merrie Melodies...) His dog Bruno is also a blatant ersatz of [[Pluto the Pup]].
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: Bosko very rarely makes appearances in modern Looney Tunes artwork, and hasn't appeared in any cartoons since his redesigned cameo in ''[[Tiny Toons]]''. Understandably, this is due to his roots as a blackface character making him an unacceptable character to put into the mainstream today. It dosen't help that his esoteric nature compared to the mainstream [[Looney Tunes]] (due to his cartoons being off the air since the 80's), not to mention his [[Flat Character|vague personality]], do not make him a popular character among fans.
* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: Understandably, if you're a modern ''Looney Tunes'' fan whoswho's used to all of the later characters like [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], [[Wile E Coyote and The Road Runner (Animation)|Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner]], etc., these early shorts will be quite an odd experience to see compared to the later shorts.
* [[Dogface]]: his look in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''.
* [[EverythingsEverything's Better Withwith Monkeys]]: Done with the baby monkeys in "Congo Jazz".
* [["Everybody Laughs" Ending]]: The ending of "Congo Jazz".
* [[Flat Character]]: Moreso with his successor Buddy, though.
* [[Gainaxing]]: Done by a ''[[Non -Mammal Mammaries|palmtree]]'' in "Congo Jazz".
* [[The Golden Age of Animation]]
* [[Looney Tunes in Thethe Thirties]]: From 1929 to 1933 for Bosko. Buddy took over around mid to late 1933, and was retired in 1935.
* [[Music Soothes the Savage Beast]]: Done by Bosko to a tiger in the beginning of "Congo Jazz".
* [[No Ending]]: Taken to the utmost extreme in "Ride Him, Bosko!". Just as Bosko is hot on of the trail of the kidnapped Honey, the film goes to Rudy Ising and his animators [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|get up and leave]] without resolving the [[Cliff Hanger]], obliterating the [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|fourth wall]] in a way that hints at later Warner Bros. more than contemporaneous Disney.
* [[Off Withwith His Head]]: In "Hold Anything", Bosko ''decapitates a mouse with a saw'' -- and it's [[Played for Laughs]]!
* [[Pie -Eyed]]: [[Depending Onon the Artist]].
* [[Precision F -Strike]]: The aforementioned quote from "Bosko's Picture Show."
* [[Public Domain Animation]]: All of the shorts prior to "Ride Em, Bosko!" are [[Public Domain]].
* [[Rhymes Onon a Dime]]: In "Ride 'Em Bosko", there's an exposition card which says "Red Gulch, where men are men, nine times out of ten."
* [[Stock Footage]]: A huge chunk of animation from the Warner Bros. shorts were retraced for the first two MGM Boskos, albiet colored.
* [[That's All Folks]]: By all accounts, he ''should'' be the [[Trope Namer]], as he technically said the lines first in "[[Sinkin' in the Bathtub]]", but for some reason it went to [[Porky Pig]] instead.
 
{{reflist}}
{{The History of Looney Tunes}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:The Golden Age of Animation]]
[[Category:The Great Depression]]
[[Category:Western Animation]]
[[Category:BoskoWestern TheAnimation Talkof Inkthe Kid1920s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1930s]]
[[Category:Western Animation of the 1990s]]