34. Bosko's Dog Race (1932)

Release date: June 25th, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko)

Man, Bruno’s really making a name for himself, isn’t he? Another Bosko and Bruno short has Bosko enlisting Bruno in the local dog race for a $5,000 prize ($93,871.53 today. Damn, I’d enter, too!).

Chipper as always, Bosko’s frying an egg over a campfire with his faithful companion, Bruno. He pauses his whistling of “Are You From Dixie?” to tell Bruno “Oh boy, am I hungry!”, greeted with an affirmative bark.

It seems Bosko isn’t the only one with a hankering for some hen fruit. A squirrel happily eats up the egg that Bosko’s flipping in one contended gulp, prompting Bosko to whip out a rifle, shoot a few times, and send Bruno after the squirrel (“Sic ‘im, Bruno!”). The pacing is just right, nice and snappy. We’re lulled into a sense of security as we watch Bosko prepare the egg, Bruno licking his lips in anticipation. All at once, the squirrel eats the egg, and before you know it you’re hearing gunshots and barking. Great setup! 

Interesting to note, as we focus on Bruno chasing after the squirrel, the musical underscore is “Whistle and Blow Your Blues Away”, which would become the next theme song for the Looney Tunes shorts in the 1932-1933 season.

Bosko shoots once more at the squirrel, determined to teach it a lesson. The impact of the shot sends him hurtling (well, rolling) backwards, right into the sizzling pan where he burns himself. The chase comes to a halt as Bruno follows the squirrel through a log, falling into a pond and receiving ridicule from Bosko, who calls him to his side.

A sign advertising “$5000 PRIZE TO WINNER, WHIPPET RACE” catches the eye of Bosko, who proudly shows the sign to his companion. There’s a hilarious scene where Bruno frowns at the audience, the whippet in the advertisement transforming into a galloping Bruno. Juxtaposition between the cheery expression on advertisement Bruno and the miserable expression on real Bruno make the gag hit, at least for me. Good staging! 

Ever greedy Bosko insists that Bruno’s going to run in the race and win. Mortified at the thought, Bruno slinks away and howls “NOOOOOO!”, but Bosko won’t take NOOOOOO! for an answer. Again, the incongruity between facial expressions makes this. The plight of the optimist versus the realist. Bosko’s total ignorance to his pup’s suffering is even funnier, and Bruno’s resistance is absolutely believable. Believability is such an important trait to any media, and unfortunately, a good number of Bosko cartoons lack believability. However, the cartoons that DO have moments of believability (such as here) really hit hard, so that’s something to be thankful for. I always like to give the benefit of the doubt—I don’t like to completely slam a cartoon or a director, no matter how bad the cartoon may be. (though Buddy’s Day Out may test my unflappable optimism.) 

Honey makes an appearance, poking her head over the fence to watch Bosko train Bruno. She asks if they’re training, and Bosko opts to showboat and show off how manly his dog is and how great of a trainer he is.

How very Looney Tunes. I love seeing glimpses of gags that would continue to be used time and time again in future cartoons! Honey points and laughs to the embarrassment of Bosko and Bruno.

Finally, the big day arrives. The seats are packed as bets are placed and flyers are strewn about. Again, some good juxtapositional comedy: we see part of the competition, a sleek, confident whippet with its head held high, gingerly taking its steps with a swagger... and then everyman Bosko, lugging Bruno around with a rope around his neck.

We see honey, who’s clapping and eagerly listening to the announcer dictate the start of the race. That’s a cute way to include her, exposing her endearing excitement towards Bosko.

The hounds are released and Bosko joins Honey’s side in a hurry. Dog after dog races by, but no sign of Bruno...

Bruno comes moseying along, sniffing the ground carefully and taking his time. Once again, great setup! I love that this cartoon in particular really takes advantage of the humorous effects that contrast and juxtaposition possess. Bosko and Honey yell at Bruno to get snappy, and the pooch scrambles off in a hurry.

All of the dogs are faring better than Bruno, who’s literally slowed in time, practically floating in the air as he pants in exhaustion. Bosko runs on the track, shouting his name to keep him going. Eventually, Bruno perks up, but not because of Bosko. He leaps over a fence and chases something offscreen, Bosko close behind.

It turns out that “something” is the squirrel from the beginning of the cartoon. Bruno chases it into a log, where the squirrel climbs up a tree and knocks a beehive down on Bruno.

Predictably, the bees aren’t too happy about this. They sting Bruno and send him on a wild goose chase, with Bosko booking it in front of him so as not to get stung himself. They run into someone’s yard and slip through a wringer, into a laundry basket. We get a great visual of anthropomorphized clothes (including a girdle that flies away like a butterfly) pouring out of the laundry basket, running towards the screen.

Once again, a crude joke has me wondering if Bob Clampett had any sort of involvement. Bruno gets a pair of underwear stuck on his head and runs away, back onto the racetrack, bees uncomfortably close behind. The stings received by the nuisances prove to be a good motivator, as Bruno runs faster and faster, passing all of the dogs, until he wins! 

He crosses the finish line...almost. He doesn’t break the ribbon, but instead it propels him backwards and sends him crashing to the ground, where he explodes into multiple tiny puppies of himself, regrouping just in time for Bosko and Honey to admire him as we iris out.

Quite the enjoyable cartoon! I think it’s tied for favorite with Battling Bosko. The pacing is just right and only feels stretched in a few spots. Bruno is VERY believable, which is rather amusing considering he should be the least believable character there as an animal. Bosko and Honey are endearing as always, and their motives are admirable. Bosko wants to win, Honey wants to see Bosko win. Great music score, great visuals, great gags, great cartoon! Harman and Ising definitely showed us what they’re capable of doing in this cartoon. Like all of the Bosko cartoons, it’s no masterpiece, but considering its time and comparing other shorts, it’s definitely one of the gems. I certainly recommend a watch!

33. Moonlight for Two (1932)

Release date: June 11th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Goopy), Rudy Ising (Stove), The King's Men (Chorus), Marcellite Garner (Girl)

Our old pal Goopy returns! As you may have noticed, each of the 1932 cartoons has alternated between Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies consecutively, until now! Two Merrie Melodies in a row. Moonlight for Two has the dog and his girlfriend going to a dance, but, as always, trouble brews.

Look at that beautiful background! Already getting a beautifully atmospheric start. The little poodle from Freddy the Freshman and Goopy Geer meets this lanky goopy doppelgänger, who’s leaning against a tree and playing the harmonica while the poodle hums “She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain”. Smitten, the dog greets her with a “Howdy, y’all!” and doing a little dance reused from Goopy Geer. Some birds atop a tree branch twitter and tweet, indicating there’s a flame between the two. Lovebirds.

Since it’s a Merrie Melody, the happy couple launch into the song “Moonlight for Two”. As is standard, the vocals aren’t the greatest, but the music is catchy regardless. There’s also a scene where they skip and frolic to an interlude of “Spring Song”, complete with the bird’s chirping in the background. What a creative little interlude! It certainly reminds me of carl stalling’s scores (he comes into the scene with Porky’s Poultry Plant in 1936, which is also Frank Tashlin’s first directorial credit).

Just because, the two of them hop on a cart that goes barreling down a hill towards a log cabin. They crash into the cabin but remain unharmed, the cabin logs neatly stacking up one by one to reassemble, good as new. A cartoon staple! 

Another obstacle blocks them in their path, this time a tree. They crash, and the cart turns into a wheelbarrow, with the lanky dog pushing his sweetheart around. They go over a bridge (that sags into the water, borrowed from Hittin’ the Trail for Hallelujah Land).

Cut to a good ol’ fashioned barn dance. We have some shots of two dogs square dancing (above), a goat using his foot as fiddle strings (strange substitute), and two mules with their tails tied together, forming a jump rope for a little cat to jump with.

Nighttime shots with a giant moon and the appropriate lighting like here make me so happy. They’re so beautiful! I love how rustic the setting is here, very nostalgic and cozy. The lovebirds arrive to the dance and crash the party.

Cue the dance sequence! The lovebirds do their thing, and in early 30s fashion, a wood stove takes a life of its own and shows off a jig of its own. These inanimate objects coming to live gags amuse me to no end, just because of how corny and trite they are. The background vocals for this scene are divine! Good music is so important to me in a cartoon. It can totally make or break a short. A bad cartoon can be saved with a good music score, but even the best of cartoons suffer if the music score is poor.

A wiener dog couple is happily dancing together, when one of the dogs chugs some alcohol (moonshine?). The alcohol is potent, and literally burns his abdomen, making him short and squat instead of tall and skinny like his girlfriend. No matter, they continue to dance. Disparity in height also makes for a good source of comedy, and here we see it work. Highlights also include a goat using his banjo as a spittoon and the goopy doppelgänger dancing rhythmically with the stove.

Is it a Harman and Ising cartoon without a villain? Of course not! Enter this rifle sporting villain, who immediately flirts the lanky dog’s girlfriend. The lanky dog cries “Stand back, villain!” and receives gunshots in response.

Lanky dog tries his best to dodge the array of bullets coming at him hot. As shown above, he lands in some spittoons in the midst of his panicked scramble, and dashed away, spittoon clad and all. He kicks them off, decking the villain squarely in the face.

Enraged, the villain throws himself on top of the dog, and the two of them tussle (complete with some blinding flashing action going on in the background).

Anthropomorphized wood stoves come in handy! The stove leans over and burns the villain twice, threatening to spit fire in his face. The wood stove corners the villain and blocks the dog from any harm, turning to the side to expose a crank. The dog turns the crank and hot coals shoot out of the stove at the villain like a machine gun, sending him running.

Thus, our story ends with the stove and the dog shaking hands. Iris out! 

This cartoon is relatively average as far as Harman and Ising cartoons go. The pacing is a little slow at times, primarily towards the beginning, but it picks up as time goes on. The backgrounds were stunning! They were very moody and beautiful, so that’s always a plus. The underscore was gorgeous, and the harmonized voices during the dance sequence with the wood stove were captivating. Unfortunately, a lack of distinct personality in the characters (and the female counterpart disappearing for half the short once more—seriously, it feels like every cartoon the woman just disappears!) does bring down the rating of this short, but there’s more personality in it now than there was a year ago or two years ago. Slow and steady! So, average cartoon, not terrible, but nothing outstanding either.

32. It's Got Me Again! (1932)

Release date: May 14th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray, The Rhythmettes (Chorus)

Another cartoon with more “firsts”! This is the first cartoon to credit Tom McKimson, one of the McKimson brothers (Bob, Charles, and Tom) who would later serve as one of Bob Clampett's layout artists, Bob McKimson of course becoming Clampett’s top animator (tied with rod Scribner) and later moving on as a director. This is also the first Warner Bros. cartoon nominated for an academy award! Unfortunately it didn’t win, losing to Disney’s Flowers and Trees. Warner Bros. would receive many nominations as we’ll see, but only won 5 awards out of 1000+ cartoons! (Tweetie Pie, For Scent-imental Reasons, Speedy Gonzales, Birds Anonymous, and Knighty Knight Bugs) Anyway, enough names. This cartoon features the antics of a gang of jolly mice, which are rudely interrupted by a hungry cat.

In the middle of the night, a mouse takes furtive footsteps out of its hole. It sneaks around a mouse trap, but the chime of a clock scares it and its tail gets caught in the trap.

He seeks his mouse hole for refuge, and the trap slips off its tail and hits the wall. Safe from the metal clutches, the mouse cautiously makes a return and steals the cheese. All is well.

There’s a lovely pan of the room as the mouse makes its way to the other side, tiptoeing over an xylophone, squeezing through a French horn sliding down a violin, bouncing off a drum, and sliding onto the crank of a phonograph, giving it a few whirls.

Music gets going and the mouse declares “Okay fellas, on with the dance!” 

An armada of mice stream out of the hole, using an accordion to lower themselves down. There’s even an elderly mouse on crutches (ha!) that keeps spinning around his crutches when the little mice run between his legs.

The mice sing the titular number of “It’s Got Me Again!” While frolicking around the record, the one mouse on the record tripping and spinning around in endless loops. Frank Marsales’ music score is beautiful as always! The mouse flies off of the record, bouncing off a horn, a banjo, etc, using a metronome as a javelin to pull himself back on top of the phonograph.

Process repeating as the mouse gets thrown off of the record again, he slides through a clarinet, and out come a tiny army of mice. They jump on the drum, completely synchronized with a rolling snare drum march! I can’t eat this up enough! The animation is so tactile and fun, and the music is synchronized perfectly. A mouse plays “The Girl I Left Behind Me/The Waxie’s Dargle” on a fife, the mice sitting on the exposed holes of the fife sprinting into the air with each note played. Animation reused from hold anything gives us a line of mice (who uncannily look like Mickey—i know all the mice and foxes do, but they’re sporting pants and shoes too) who march in time with the beat.

One by one the rodent soldiers take their exit, except for one, who trips on a nail in the midst of a hurry to catch up with his brethren. He falls and lands straight into a spittoon, much to his public ridicule. He gets out and blows a raspberry into a tuba. I love that! It amuses me to no end how many raspberries are used in these cartoons. Spittoons are another common object.

Meet the enemy, a hungry cat in a rainstorm. The cat looks inside at the festivities and licks its lips—trouble is brewing. I love how ugly this cat is, especially the big irises and conjoined eyes. Good design on their part! 

We cut back to a piano, where two mice burst out and tinker around on the piano in a fight. A gangster and a hapless victim! I wasn’t expecting that whatsoever. I wonder if Friz Freleng animated this sequence? The musical timing and the suspicious tinkering around accompanied by piano music reminds me of his Sylvester and Tweety cartoons. This is a great scene though, synchronization on point and the concept of a mobster mouse is hilarious.

Back to the cat, who’s made his way onto the roof, looking in through a skylight. He shoves himself into a chimney, granting himself entrance into the house through a fireplace. Spotting a cuckoo clock, he attacks the bird that comes out of it and swallows it. As all cats do. Consequently, each time the cat opens its mouth, a “cuckoo” sounds, which alerts the mice.

Time for a good ol’ cat and mouse chase! The cat corners one of the mice, who bursts into a rendition of “It’s Got Me Again!”, doing an Al Jolson impression. I’ll say it once and i’ll say it many times again (so be warned!), the music is phenomenal! Frank Marsales really adapted well to the various moods of the cartoon, from the suspicious opening to the celebratory party, to the furtive nature of the cat to the hurried chase sequence, and now to the warbly, jazzy “farewell” underscore.

Just as the mouse’s family is going to have to shop for a tombstone, we get a view of a group of mice using a musical bow as a hunting bow, complete with a drumstick arrow. The drumstick shoots the cat squarely in the ass, sending it running.

More mice join in on the fun, using a harp as a bow and sending an armada of drumsticks flying. Great sound design with the plucky harp strings playing each time a shot is fired! The cat tries to dodge the arrows, but to no avail.

Of course, we have a flamethrower too. I LOVE THIS IT’S SO SMART. You lull your audience into a certain mindset, expecting more musical MacGyver patented weapons... and then you randomly pull out a flamethrower from nowhere. It’s genius! 

The cat runs into a bass drum and briefly becomes dazed. However, he has little time to rest, as a mouse blows a streamer in the cat’s face, sending him running. And possibly best of all, we have a shot of a mouse shooting needles from the record player like a machine gun, complete with the sound effects! The cat leaps out of the window, and all is well, iris out.

Certainly worthy of it’s academy award nomination! The pacing was just right, as was the story structure. Frank Marsales’ music was beautiful as ever! A LOT of fun visuals, like the mice being divided by the clarinet and jumping on the drum, and the mouse shooting needles at the cat. This is probably my second favorite Merrie Melody after You Don’t Know What You’re Doin’!. Certainly worthy of a watch!

31. Bosko and Bruno (1932)

Release date: April 30th, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko)

Bruno seems to be establishing himself as quite the character! Here we have Bosko and Bruno, about Bosko and Bruno’s adventures narrowly avoiding an oncoming train, stealing a chicken, and riding an out of control boxcar.

As all Bosko shorts begin, the cartoon opens with Bosko whistling, aided by his faithful companion Bruno as they traverse the train tracks. Bruno gets itchy, scratching and biting at himself. He spots the culprit: a flea. The flea walks on Bruno’s tail, allowing the dog to flick him off out of sight.

Off the tracks and onto a bridge, when sounds of an oncoming train distract the hikers. Nothing like a little peril to start the day right! The two jump into a handcar and book it, as we get some shots of the train barreling towards them.

A gap in the bridge prompts them to push upside down. I love it! Very creative and fun. Thankfully for them, the tracks resume and they can escape the train like normal escapees. The car bumps into a rock and sends the two flying. They land on their feet and continue to run along the tracks. You say “Couldn’t they just divert into the grass around them?” and to that I say “Yes!” with no further comment. The wonderfully perplexing logic of cartoons.

To make matters worse, Bruno’s foot gets caught in the tracks. Bosko hurriedly tries to free him, but to no avail. The railroad switch also happens to be locked. The train comes closer and closer...

And barrels along the tracks, Bruno nowhere to be found. Jesus! I wonder if you could get away with that today. Bosko mourns his pooch and begins to cry, when Bruno pops his head out of a hatch and coos “YOO-HOO!”, the concept reused from Big-Hearted Bosko. What a sadist! Again, I love the gag regardless. Good way to trick your audience and shed some crocodile tears.

Bosko fumes and throws a rock which Bruno chases. The two of them end up in a dark tunnel, and the sounds of another train approach. You’d think they’d learn their lesson! Terrified, they scramble off the tracks and take cover in a ditch.

In good ol’ predictably unpredictable fashion, the train is none other than a cow ringing its cowbell and imitating the whistle of a train. To celebrate narrowly avoiding their deaths, the two follow some chicken tracks they find in the dirt. They travel over a pond and into a farm, where they spot a chicken. Trespassing means nothing to them as they help themselves into the farm.

Great staging here! The silhouette of the dog grows over this shot of a chicken. Bosko decides he wants eggs, and the best way to get them is to kidnap the entire chicken. Bruno chases after the chicken, and we get a gag of the chicken running through a push mower, its feathers coating Bruno as the naked poultry runs amuck.

Rightfully so, a farmer comes out with a gun and starts shooting at Bosko for trespassing. Okay, shooting might be a bit harsh, but it’s funny. The farmer bounces around with the rifle, a gag reused from Bosko’s Fox Hunt as Bosko and Bruno run for the hills.

They stumble across some moving boxcars as they stand on the edge of the cliff, and jump on, ensuring an effective escape.

But, because it’s Bosko, and nothing good can happen to the guy, one of the boxcars detaches and goes on a separate decline on the railroad. We get this neat shot of Bosko (and Bruno) balancing on top of the boxcar, the background reused from Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!.

Bosko shouts “I can’t stop!” over the howls of Bruno as they rocket into a dark tunnel, courtesy of Boxcar Blues. In one of the tunnels they come out of, they’re met by a guest: a cow racing in front of the boxcar, trying not to get hit.

Unfortunately (again in the style of Boxcar Blues), the cow is rammed into the tree by the boxcar. It walks away, unfolding like an accordion, as our heroes exchange dubious expressions. Iris out.

Not bad for Bosko! There have been better Bosko cartoons, but there have also been worse cartoons. This is much better than Boxcar Blues and even Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!. I love Bruno faking out Bosko with his death, that’s some cruel stuff! The gag where the chicken’s feathers cover Bruno is also highly amusing, as is the yokel with the shotgun (I have a higher appreciation for that since I live in the country). As always, there’s some reused footage, but it doesn’t become a detriment. The scene towards the end where Bosko and Bruno ride on the boxcar is a bit long and tedious, but again: Depression era, gotta feed up time somehow. I always link the cartoons regardless of opinion, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a whirl!

30. Goopy Geer (1932)

Release date: April 16th, 1932

Series: Merrie Melodies

Director: Rudolf Ising

Starring: Johnny Murray (Goopy), Rudy Ising (Waiter), Marcellite Garner (Girl), The King's Men (Chorus)

The background scoop on this one is weirdly fascinating. Enter Goopy Geer, a tall, lanky, piano playing dog. Surprising as it is, he WASN’T inspired by Disney’s Goofy, because it wouldn’t be possible.

Goofy made his debut in Mickey’s Revue, which came out over a month later than Goopy Geer on May 25th, 1932. Not to mention, he wasn’t even called Goofy yet. He went by “Dippy Dawg” (which does arguably sound more like Goopy Geer in terms of syllables, but again, a coincidence). The chances of Disney copying Harman and Ising are low, and it’s more than likely just an uncanny coincidence, but it’s really fascinating! Here, our titular canine plays the piano as we observe the antics of the night club around him.

It seems Goopy is quite a star as we open to a crowd chanting “Bring Goopy Geer!” in a nightclub. Exact recycled footage from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! displays a gorilla waiter skipping through the club, as well as reused (but not exactly ripped from the cartoon) animation of the hippo from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! asking of Goopy’s whereabouts.

Fret not! A Looney Tunes staple—a number of curtains rise, one after the other, to reveal a distance shot of our hero Goopy, greeted to a warm reception of confetti and applause.

No time is wasted as Goopy launches into a musical number. He tells us “I have not studied music, I do not know my notes!” before launching into a very impressive piano riff. I love the animation above, it’s so smooth and bouncy and addicting to watch! The music is just as addictive.

He’s briefly interrupted by three cats loudly eating soup. To adapt to the newfound sound, he plays the piano to the beat of their slurps. A gag is reused from Freddy the Freshman where one cat reaches for a piece of bread, the next one in line chews, and the third swallows. There’s also a scene of a cow eating some spaghetti to the beat of the music.

Goopy then launches into the favorite 12th Street Rag, a tune you might recognize. As the song rages on (and Goopy plays with his hands and with his gloves, who are floating next to him) the gorilla waiter asks a chicken sleeping in a pot of water for one chicken soup.

The chicken obliges and swims a few laps, dipping its butt in the broth one last time before hopping out of its own juices and drying off. I love that! I wish all soups were made like that. Maybe I’d be more willing to eat certain chowders and creamier soups.

The dog from Freddy the Freshman excitedly leaps on stage and converses with Goopy. She squeals that she’s got a new baby in “our” house. Wow, what’s been going on behind the scenes? Freddy was certainly left out to dry! Goopy is just as bewildered, for he asks for the baby’s name, and the dog answers she doesn’t know! A perfect segue for her to sing “I Need Lovin’”.

In the middle of her song, there’s a shot of a boy blowing up a balloon. It slips out of his grip and slides away, and hurriedly he chases after it.

Image in all of its crude goodness, the balloon slides beneath the legs of a hippo (from Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!) who GIGGLES excitedly. The hippo turns to see the boy and gives him a good smack in the face! Whew! The innuendo in these cartoons is wonderfully fascinating! Another gag that I wouldn’t be surprised if Bob Clampett had some sort of involvement in.

Pan to Goopy, who’s dancing away to the music. Beautiful animation! Although he doesn’t have any discernible personality, his moves are spot on. I love how rubbery he is! 

A turkey uses its feathers as a skirt and twirls around, while coat hangers (again from Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) dance to the beat of the music. The syncopation between the sound effects and the music is great! Undoubtedly, the music is the highlight of this cartoon.

The intoxicated horse from Lady, Play Your Mandolin! (see a pattern here?) also makes an appearance. It gets drunk and begins to hallucinate, looking into a mirror and seeing various monsters... And Ghandi. Although it is slightly annoying with all of the reuses of animation (but I’ve been binging all of these shorts, so they’re all still fresh in my mind) I think this is hilarious because it just comes TOTALLY out of left field. I wasn’t expecting it at all.

Back to Goopy, who’s tickling the ivory. The horse staggers up to him and spits, which turns into a flame, sparking an explosion.

The show must go on! Iris out as Goopy plays some bars of Nagasaki on his charred piano.

As far as Merrie Melodies go, this one was decent. There was a LOT of recycled footage, which, if you’re me and watching all of these at once, becomes a bit of a distraction, but it WAS The Depression. Inarguably, the music is the best aspect of the cartoon. It’s infectious! And Goopy, as transparent and lacking in personality as he is, is entertaining to watch with his various rubber hose dances. There have been better cartoons, but there have also been worse. I’d say you check it out just for the music alone.