27. Big-Hearted Bosko (1932)

Release date: March 5th, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko, Baby)

What an endearing title, right? Big-Hearted Bosko entails Bosko and his dog ice skating on a pond, when they find an abandoned baby. It’s up to them to keep the baby safe, but they can’t get it to stop crying. It’s certainly a cliché (though it wasn’t at the time), but this cartoon has a lot of charm to it!

Open to Bosko and his dog, Bruno, ice skating. Bosko proves himself to be light on his feet, clicking his heels together and doing all sorts of moves that would make Michelle Kwan jealous. Bruno, not so much. He narrowly avoids slipping into gaping cracks in the ice and crashes into a few trees. Frank Marsales’ music score is lovely! I give him props. Even the worst Bosko cartoons have a good music score, so I applaud him for making something out of nothing. This scene, while entertaining, runs a bit long, nearing 2 minutes. However, Marsales’ music score makes for some easy listening, so I don’t mind it as much.

Bruno ends up slipping into an exposed spot in the ice and can’t swim. He struggles, and Bosko hurriedly comes to his aid. I love this scene, because it’s probably the most personality we’ve seen from Bosko yet. Bruno disappears and Bosko cries “Bruno, Bruno! Come back! Bruno! What’ll I do? Oh, what’ll I do, what’ll I do?? Bruno, Bruno! Gee whiz, he’s gone! He’s gone!! Bruno! Bruno! Where are you??” 

as Bosko sobs, Bruno sticks his head out of a nearby log and croons (in very Looney Tunes fashion) “YOOHOO!” Nothing like a dog faking its death for some entertainment, huh? It worked, though, it got a good laugh from me! 

Rightfully pissed, Bosko throws a twig at Bruno, which misses. Bruno, being a dog, instinctively runs to catch it, when he stumbles upon a picnic basket.

As all picnic baskets do, the picnic basket wails and cries. A baby. However, Bruno is clueless and summons Bosko to his side. They both express hesitation at opening the contents of the basket, but Bosko does so anyhow and indicates it’s nothing to be afraid of.

Sure enough, it’s an abandoned baby. The pair express delight until the baby starts crying. As Bruno coddles the baby, the baby, à la daffy duck, squeezes Bruno’s nose, prompting Bosko to laugh at him. Bosko suggests they take it home, and they do just that. They skate off, Bosko singing a lullaby to the baby each time it gets fussy (which is periodically).

Home sweet home... almost. Bruno rocks the baby and Bosko plays a soothing melody on the violin, but the baby can’t be pacified. Bruno gets even more frustrated than Bosko and stalks off to fume for awhile.

Enter the “baby can only be satisfied by slapstick” trope! Bruno parks himself on a hot stove and burns himself. He drags his butt across the floor, whining, swallowing a bucket of water to put out the flame. Of course, the baby laughs at his plight. I know this trope has been done to death, but it’s still very amusing, especially the believability of Bruno’s frustration. Swallowing the water instead of pouring it on the flame is a great touch.

To show what a good hearted guy Bosko is, he doesn’t immediately resort to hurting himself for laughs. He has high hopes and seeks a fife to calm the baby down, who has grown fussy again. The baby isn’t a fan of “The Waxies’ Dargle” and refuses to be hushed. Bosko asks what’s wrong, and the baby sings “I’m Cryin’ for the Carolines!”, a reference to the song “Cryin’ for the Carolines” (which was a short film produced by Leon Schlesinger in 1930, part of his planned “Spooney Melodies” series! Funny how these things all tie together). I love gags like these! 

Once more, Bruno gets fed up and storms off. He heads for the bathroom and slams the door, causing a cuckoo clock to fall right on his head. Unfortunately, the baby didn’t see it, and still cries.

No matter! Bosko solves the problem like he always does, a good jaunty melody on the piano.

To top it off, we get this great scene of Bosko doing shadow puppets for the baby. Ducks, pigs, goats, donkeys, you name it. I love how the lighting looks! It’s very atmospheric (and hard to feel down while Bosko is imitating a donkey).

Bruno is wooed by the music, too. He comes out of hiding and puts a lampshade on, gyrating and using it as a skirt while Bosko and the baby scat together. Bosko slides to the kitchen and opens the stove, where we see a cooked duck that quacks. It’s no short without an animal involved in the music sequence somehow! Bosko returns to the living room and dances, when a goldfish bowl falls on his head. He stares dubiously at the audience as the baby and Bruno laugh. Iris out.

What a cute cartoon! As the title suggests, Bosko was very endearing. I’m really glad he’s slowly becoming more fleshed out. He reminds me of Porky (doesn’t everything?) in the '30s cartoons: a good, optimistic guy that bad things happen to. However, Bosko usually solves the problem with dancing and music. Porky... he just bumbles through it, making him even more endearing. The music score was fantastic and saved the extended ice skating sequence from being too boring. This cartoon was pretty predictable, but it almost felt like a standard Looney Tunes cartoon, which is good. A major improvement from what we were seeing a year ago in 1931 and onward! Overall, cute, funny yet predictable cartoon that’s worthy of a watch (especially the scene where Bosko mourns Bruno, who pops his head out of the log)