05. Box Car Blues (1930)

Release date: December 1930

Series: Looney Tunes 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Starring: Bernard Brown (Bosko), Ken Darby (Pig)

The last short of 1930! Unlike previous Bosko cartoons, this one doesn’t have music as a priority. It’s more of a climax cartoon. Bosko and a pig are camping out in a boxcar, but the train goes downhill and the boxcar detaches from the train, sending Bosko and the pig uncontrollably hurtling down the railroad.

The short opens with a train chugging along on the railroad. I really love the animation here! Your typical rubber hose animation, but the stretchiness like in the drawing above is very charming and fun to watch in motion.

We’re now introduced to Bosko and a pig who are camping out in a boxcar, dancing and singing together. Not much to say, some catchy banjo picking and some jaunty dance moves.

Suddenly, Bosko and the pig are sent flying down to the end of the boxcar, flattening against the wall. the train is struggling to go up a very long hill. There are a few gags where the train scales various inclines and slides down them, with some lovely rubbery animation. 

A personal favorite gag of mine is when the tree is climbing a mountain and pulls down its pants, which the mountain angrily pulls them back up. It’s silly and out there, but a good little creative touch to break up any monotony.

The train makes it up the mountain once more, but one of the boxcars detaches and barrels down the opposite side of the mountain. it just so happens that that boxcar is the one inhabited by Bosko and the pig. 

There’s a sequence where Bosko sticks his head out from the top of the car, and his head is decapitated by a railroad crossing sign (first decapitating a mouse in Hold Anything and now this... brutal!). Nevertheless it’s a fun sequence, and it’s amusing to hear the sound of his head bouncing around to the beat of the music.

We then get this cool shot of Bosko heading down the hill and into a tunnel.

As always, gifs do it little justice, but it’s pretty dizzying to watch. It makes it a lot more interesting than just showing a side view of him entering a tunnel.

Bosko exits the tunnel unharmed, when two halves of the boxcar split open, with Bosko’s legs holding them together as they weave in and out, in and out. More fun animation to watch, especially when he stretches his neck out and turns it like a winch, bringing the two halves together again.

Another tunnel enters, and Bosko tumbles and slides down on top of it from the outside, landing on a cow at the end of the tunnel with the boxcar behind them. One more tunnel separates Bosko from the cow, and he lands back on top of the boxcar, which is headed straight for the cow.

More of the same chase sequence follows, with the cow mooing in distress and Bosko getting hurt, such as being dragged through trees and electricity poles. The whole chase sequence is rather lengthy and becomes a bit repetitive, which I think lessons the impact of the climax. Still has a lot of fun and stretchy animation though.

Finally, the sequence ends when the boxcar crashes into a tree, squishing the cow into an accordion shape who walks away unharmed but haughtily. 

We’re reminded of the pig’s existence, who, for some reason, was inexplicably absent during the entirety of the climax, as he and Bosko huddle under an umbrella, shielding themselves from falling debris. The debris stop, and the pig puts away the umbrella, before getting hit on the head with the banjo seen at the beginning of the short.

The pig begins to cry, but Bosko comforts him and starts to pick on the banjo, and the two of them head down the tracks on a remaining wagon, and they dissipate into the darkness of a tunnel as the short ends.

This cartoon is different from the previous Bosko cartoons, in that the focus isn’t really on music, but on climax. Of course the musical timing is all there, but there’s none of the inanimate objects/animals coming to life and being used as instruments. Personally, this cartoon isn’t my favorite—not bad by any means, but the climax takes up a good chunk of the cartoon, and with it being so stretched out it loses its impact and just feels repetitive. With that said, though, there’s a lot of fun, malleable animation, and I appreciate that they were being experimental by going for something other than a music based cartoon.

And that’s a wrap for 1930! I think out of the year, The Booze Hangs High is probably my favorite, with a lot of clever and unexpected gags. I don’t have any that I hate, but I did find this one to be rather boring since it’s approximately half of it is just Bosko getting hurt and the same gags being reused. Though, again, a nice change of pace from the previous musical cartoons! It makes me curious as to where the Bosko cartoons will go next!