04. The Booze Hangs High (1930)

Release date: December 1930 

Series: Looney Tunes 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising 

Starring: Bernard Brown (Bosko), J. Delos Jewkes (Pig, Horse)

Like so many of the Bosko cartoons, this short is a showcase of music in a barnyard setting (as opposed to the jungle or a construction site). The first half of the cartoon consists of Bosko dancing with animals and playing them like various instruments, while the second half includes a bunch of pigs getting drunk and singing obnoxiously.

The cartoon opens with Bosko dancing with a cow. The dancing is cut short as the cow’s pants (fur? Skin?) fall down, revealing a frilly blouse. Bosko laughs and the cow, obviously offended, stalks away.

Bosko now turns his attention to a horse, which he tunes and plays like a fiddle. It’s a very fun and charming scene with happy animation—a nice change of pace in the midst of The Great Depression.

Our attention is now turned elsewhere to a family of ducks dancing and hopping along. One of the ducklings stops and begins to look anxious, and whispers something to his mother. The mother unbuttons an invisible butt flap so the little duckling can defecate offscreen (no cartoon is complete without some bathroom humor) before marching back to his mother, clearly accomplished.

I know this was before the Hays Office, but wow! It’s a bit jarring to think of. Though it did it’s job effectively in bringing some laughs because I’m definitely amused by it. What’s a cartoon without some butt flaps? 

After some more musical antics we pan to a bunch of hungry pigs. Bosko pours the feed into the trough, and the pigs eat away. One of the pigs dives into the trough and proudly pulls out a bottle of liquor. The little pigs unscrew it and take turns taking swigs of alcohol and get drunk.

The father pig investigates the situation and takes a few drinks himself before bursting into a rousing, lyric-less rendition of “One Little Drink”. The deep bass of the pig’s voice singing nonsensically is hilarious and makes for a very corny and absurd yet charming scene. The pig tosses the bottle away...

Which lands on Bosko’s head, the impact causing HIM to become intoxicated, too. Together, Bosko and the pigs sing “Sweet Adeline”— the father pig even throws up a corn cob at one point before discreetly attempting to stow it back inside him, a very unexpected and strange gag, but amusing for that reason.

The cartoon irises out as they all dance together one last time.

This was actually a very enjoyable cartoon, probably my favorite so far! Intoxication would be commonly used as a source of humor in many cartoons, so it’s a pretty common theme. But it’s even more amusing to remember that this cartoon IS from 1930–still during prohibition. I really enjoyed the little touch of the pig glancing between his children and Bosko in the gif above, I love that they included that. It’s your typical “entertain the audience by synchronizing music and animation” and seems primitive and trite by today’s standards, but still holds up as a fun cartoon.