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35 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and revealing..., February 21, 2003
It's hard to know exactly what to say about these cartoons. As far as the animation goes, it's excellent. The cartoon "Bosko the Doughboy" has some incredible and almost breathtaking scenes in it. All the toons have a look similar to the black and white Betty Boop cartoons. Compared with cartoons today, they're amazingly detailed and the characters are full of life each time they move. A lot of work used to go into the production of cartoons (pre Hanna-Barbera), which is obvious from this DVD.In addition, these were the first "Looney Toons" made by Warner Brothers. Bosko is the first character to have said "That's all folks!" at the end of a Looney Tune (Porky Pig took his place later). These cartoons plant some seeds for what would become the classic 40's Looney Tunes with Bugs Bunny and Daffy, et al. As the precursor to these classic toons, Bosko is important. On the other hand, these are definitely cartoons from the 1930s. Musicals were HUGE then, and these cartoons are mostly musical in content. Of course, so were a lot of the early Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop cartoons. That was entertainment then. Nonetheless, the animation carries a lot of the show even today. They are still entertaining in their own way. If you enjoy music from the 20s and 30s (including the usual ubiquitous Jolson hits) then you'll be doubly happy. Then there's the biggest reason we can tell they're from the 1930s: ethnic caricatures. In the first toon, "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid", Bosko's voice is without doubt a caricature of an African-American boy. Then there's the undeniable fact, while watching "Congo Jazz", that the playful monkeys and apes have a striking resemblance to Bosko. Bosko's girlfriend is also without doubt a caricature (she also shares a lot of the characteristics of Minnie Mouse). The stereotypes of the age are painfully obvious in these toons, as they are in all toons from this era (the Betty Boop toon with Louis Armstrong, "I'll be Glad When you're Dead you Rascal You!", is painful to watch, and nothing on this DVD approaches that; as far as negative portrayal of African-Americans in movies and cartoons goes, it gets a LOT worse than Bosko). It's easy to condemn the makers of these toons today, but it's more productive to learn from rather than censor them. It's art like this that really shows how things have changed in the last 100 years (not that the struggles are complete, mind you). The quality of the toons on this DVD varies from toon to toon. The audio is typically low and sometimes a little muffled. The images sometimes bleed into the background, but overall the quality is more than viewable. There's nothing completely unwatchable. The only complaint is probably not attributable to Bosko Video. Since the titles feature Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, who Bosko outdated by years, these obviously are not the original title sequences. It would be great to see the Bosko cartoons restored with their original titles, but this may be easier said than done. It's possible that the original titles are long gone. The Bosko cartoons on this DVD are important culturally and historically. They reveal the biases of their age and are also entertaining as cartoons or as lessons in the art of animation. If you enjoy black and white animation from this period you'll enjoy this DVD.
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DVD ~ Dave Fleischer
DVD ~ Artist Not Provided
DVD ~ Mel Blanc
DVD ~ Mel Blanc
