Customer Reviews

Uncensored Bosko #2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are problems with this DVD... the edges of the cartoons are clipped a bit. Contrary to the previous reviewer, I don't think much work was put into remastering the cartoons; at least they are no better than I have seen on TV. Nevertheless, this is the only available edition of these cartoons, which are essential items in the history of cartoons. Many of the cartoons also have a "samey" feeling, but that's true of any large collection of cartoons featuring the same character.
Bosko was the first Loony Tunes character, and the animators introduced some real advancements to the art of cartooning (compare to Felix the Cat from the same era). Besides its historical significance, the humor of Bosko is still as fresh today as ever, certainly funnier than most of what is done these days.
Like most early cartoons, Bosko was created for a movie theater audience, and so had to be created with a view to pleasing adults. So there is one cartoon ("The Booze Hangs High") in which two piglets find a bottle, open it and get drunk!
The real test of this DVD for me was whether or not my son (3 years old) would want to watch it. Well, he has several cartoon DVDs, several recent movies, etc, but he watches Bosko as much as any of them.

Image Entertainment/Bosko Video has given us another fantastic collection of Warner Brothers's near-forgotten first Looney Tunes star. Bosko was a Mickey Mouse-type character with a girlfriend called Honey and a dog called Bruno. Of course, Harman and Ising (Bosko's creators) tried to imitate Disney in their cartoons and it shows, but they are still enjoyable even to this day, with plenty of good music from composer Frank Marsales.
This collection includes the never-released "Bosko and Honey". It comes with its original WB opening and end titles, so has the cartoon "The Booze Hangs High". The rest of the cartoons on this DVD have the Sunset/Guild Films opening and ending titles.
Bosko Video still uses the same Public Domain prints, with dirt and grain aplenty on the pictures, but they are using slighty better prints, with "The Booze Hangs High" shown in a clean print! Still, the quality of both volumes is so much better than most Public Domain video companies.

With no prospect of WB releasing a full set of pristine Bosko cartoons on DVD, this is still an essential buy for any Looney Tunes fan or for lovers of classic animation.

Call it 3 1/2 stars. Bosko really is one of those great "lost" characters of animation who would have remained lost if not for the DVD format. While not nearly as offensive as some have made out Bosko to be, you do need to prepare yourselfs for some racial stereotypes common to all forms of film in the 30's.

Quality ranges from average to a bit above average. Some graininess and scratches as one would expect. Highlight toons include:

"Booze hangs High" - Farm boy Bosko is so full of life that he cannot help but sing, dance and laugh with the farm animals, including a drunken pig!

"Bosko at the Beach" Hot dog vendor Bosko is pushing his cart full of dancing weenies along the beach. Various sea creatures join in the fun, including a dancing octopus, which doubles as a carnival ride. Bruno returns a whole tree after running after a stick while playing "fetch." Bosko first comes to Bruno's rescue, and then is bothered by the pesky pooch just as he is in the throes of amour. Later, Bosko saves the day by saving a kitten from the grip of a merciless ocean.

"Bosko and Bruno" - Bosko is a happy-go-lucky wanderer, accompanied by the ever-loyal Bruno. They find themselves in the path of a speeding train.

"Bosko's party" Ever-cheerful Bosko even whistles while he walks in the rain. That's because he is on his way to a surprise party for his Honey. However, she will not be the only one to be surprised, as the scenario winds its way to a happy ending

A nice collection. Not as good as the first though.

Bosko is great, and very rare (I don't know where the other reviewer saw Bosko on TV because I NEVER have and I watch Cartoon Network often). The cartoons include:

BOSKO'S HOLIDAY
Very good, but no different than many of the others.

BOSKO SHIPWRECKED
Fantastic! The best short on this collection!

BOSKO'S SODA FOUNTAIN
This cartoon disappoints me. The first half of it is funnier than most of the cartoons on this disc put together, if it just kept going like that it would be right up there with BOSKO SHIPWRECKED, but the second half, with Honey and Wilbur, is more annoying than funny and you really just wish Bosko could grab Wilbur and strangle him, even though over-protective parents would disapprove of this. Nevertheless, the cartoon is worth it for the first half.

BOSKO AT THE ZOO
This is a great one, one of my faves.

THE BOOZE HANGS HIGH
Yuck! This is the WORST one of the DVD, it isn't funny and it's kind of gross.

BIG-HEARTED BOSKO
Bosko is exactly "big-hearted". He has been seen shoving logs down horses to make them stand up straight and placing a mouse on a saw and swirving it around for the fun of it, but on this particular cartoon, Bosko is very big-hearted.

BOSKO AND BRUNO
Not as good as I thought it would be. Bruno is too much like Pluto to be very funny (I have the same feelings about Honey. Honey is like Minnie, I mean. She's not a bit like Pluto).

BOSKO'S PARTY
Nothing special, but basically what you would expect Bosko's birthday to be like.

BOSKO'S DOG RACE
When Bosko says: "Bruno, you're gonna run in that race and you're gonna win it" it kind of hits you off guard. That must be the longest period of time that Bosko was talking, he rarely talks, he sings, but he rarely talks.

BOSKO AT THE BEACH
Boring, average, but boring.

BOSKO'S STORE
Once again, a good cartoon is ruined with Wilbur. I wish Harman and Ising would dump that idea!

BOSKO THE LUMBERJACK
A sleeper. This DVD has more duds than volume 1 did.

BOSKO AND HONEY
I don't know why, but this cartoon was unreleased. It obviously wasn't released because it's in the THAT'S NOT ALL FOLKS section of LOONEY TUNES AND MERRIE MELODIES THE COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE WARNER BROS. CARTOONS. and it isn't in the regular list. It's a lot like BOSKO'S HOLIDAY.

As you can see, it isn't AS great as Bosko vol. 1, but at the least, worth buying anyway.

I would love to see the Bosko the Lumberjack episode.He saves Honey from a brute lumberjack who is after her.

Mickey Mouse is great, but Bosko is just a good... he is, in a sense, a rip-off, but that was Jack Warner's fault (telling Harman and Ising to make him like Mickey) and as for the drawing, that drawing style was NOT Disney's idea, that's the way most animators were taught to draw back then. Alright, I'm not trying to sound disrespectful toward Walt Disney, I LOVE Disney, but I'm just saying, Bosko is long-forgotten, whereas everyone in the universe knows who Mickey Mouse is. Maybe Mickey IS better, but EVERYONE knows Mickey and NOBODY knows Bosko, well... he can't be THAT much better.
P.S.: Buy the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, no matter how good this Bosko collection is, the Looney Tunes Golden Collection beats this and Mickey.