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Recently I decided to try to find and watch as many animated shorts as possible. From the 30s to the 60s or later most of the big Hollywood studios made dozens of short cartoons every year and lots of them can be found on Youtube. I'm starting with Warner Bros, whose Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes films are the most well known and best-loved shorts. Unfortunately Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and all the rest weren't there from the start and there's an awful lot of uninspiring, music-based, B&W shorts to get through first. I'm going in chronological order starting from WB's first animation, Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929) watching only those that are immediately available for viewing on Youtube or elsewhere.
I've watched 53 so far, out of a total of 75 that WB produced between 1929 and 1933. Most of these have featured Bosko, the first WB's cartoon star. He's a perpetually good-natured black boy who loves to sing and dance and woo his girlfriend Honey. Whether or not they feature Bosko (most do) the early Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are generally a test of patience to watch because there's no plot, proper characters or drama. Except for the first film, which served to introduce Bosko, it's just animation set to popular songs of the time that Warners owned. Watching these cheery, quaint, humdrum films, however, does afford the odd glimpse of an idea here, a visual trope there- which slowly developed into some of the iconic staples that later came to define animation and especially WB animation: the falling anvil, the railroad handcar, a u-pipe used to send bullets back where they came from.
Most of these films have started to merge into each other already so I'll just pick some highlights that I can remember. Characters in The Booze Hangs High get drunk which is always a good thing in a cartoon; Bosko the Doughboy sees Bosko fighting in the trenches of WWI; Lady, Play Your Mandolin has a catchy song; You're Too Careless with Your Kisses features arguing man and wife insects; Three's a Crowd has characters from books coming to life and fighting, as does I Like Mountain Music; Wake Up the Gypsy in Me is about the end of the Russian empire and features the mad monk Rice Puddin' incorrectly completing a jigsaw puzzle and then fleeing the Revolution. The best of these films was Bosko's Mechanical Man in which Bosko makes a robot in his garage to help with the housework which then goes on a furious rampage.
Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929) 6/10
The Booze Hangs High (1930) 7/10
Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930) 6/10
Congo Jazz (1930) 7/10
Box Car Blues (1930) 6/10
Hold Anything (1930) 6/10
Bosko the Doughboy (1931) 6/10
One More Time (1931) 6/10
You Don't Know What You're Doin'! (1931) 6/10
Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land (1931) 6/10
Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (1931) 6/10
Bosko's Soda Fountain (1931) 6/10
Bosko's Holiday (1931) 6/10
Ain't Nature Grand! (1931) 6/10
Dumb Patrol (1931) 6/10
Big Man from the North (1931) 6/10
Bosko Shipwrecked! (1931) 6/10
The Tree's Knees (1931) 6/10
Yodeling Yokels (1931) 6/10
Ups 'n Downs (1931) 6/10
I Love a Parade (1932) 6/10
Bosko and Honey (1932) 6/10
Moonlight for Two (1932) 6/10
It's Got Me Again (1932) 6/10
Crosby, Columbo and Vallee (1932) 6/10
Bosko at the Zoo (1932) 6/10
Bosko's Party (1932) 6/10
Bosko's Dog Race (1932) 6/10
Big-Hearted Bosko (1932) 6/10
Freddy the Freshman (1932) 6/10
Goopy Geer (1932) 6/10
A Great Big Bunch of You (1932) 6/10
The Queen Was in the Parlor (1932) 6/10
Bosko the Drawback (1932) 6/10
Bosko at the Beach (1932) 6/10
Bosko and Bruno (1932) 6/10
I Wish I Had Wings (1932) 6/10
Battling Bosko (1932) 6/10
You're Too Careless With Your Kisses (1932) 6/10
Bosko's Store (1932) 6/10
Bosko the Lumberjack (1932) 6/10
Bosko's Dizzy Date (1932) 6/10
Three's a Crowd (1932) 6/10
The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives (1933) 6/10
Bosko's Picture Show (1933) 6/10
Bosko in Person (1933) 5/10
I Like Mountain Music (1933) 6/10
Bosko the Sheepherder (1933) 6/10
Bosko's Mechanical Man (1933) 7/10
Beau Bosko (1933) 6/10
Bosko in Dutch (1933) 6/10
Bosko the Speed King (1933) 6/10
Wake Up the Gypsy in Me (1933) 6/10
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