38. Bosko's Store (1932)

Release date: August 13th, 1932

Series: Looney tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko, Wilbur, Mouse)

Yes, you’re seeing that right! This is Bob McKimson’s first animation credit! He’d later work under Tex Avery’s unit with Rod Scribner until Avery’s departure in 1941. Bob Clampett would take over the unit and make his best cartoons with all of the great animators, with McKimson and Scribner inarguably his top animators. McKimson would start his own directorial unit in 1946 and make cartoons all the way until the very last short in 1969. And Friz, of course, would go on to be a director starting in 1934. He’d depart briefly in 1937 for MGM, but would return to WB in 1940 with his iconic You Ought to Be in Pictures.

Every day is a happy one for Bosko, and this one is no exception as he’s whistling away, cleaning the windows of his general store. He’s distracted by the sound of a phone ringing, to which he answers “Okay, Chicago!”, a catchphrase of newspaper gossip columnist Walter Winchell, who was also referenced in The Queen Was in the Parlor.

His customer wants an order of baloney, so he holds up the meat to the phone and asks “How’s that?”, to which the customer gives their affirmation. I’m so glad that the Bosko cartoons are getting funnier as time goes on, not only in visuals but jokes like these.

Using a fan to cut the baloney into slices (another great visual), Bosko is completely oblivious to a wiener dog entering his store, hungry for food. The wiener dog sniffs out the baloney and eats all of the slices that are shooting out of the blades of the fan, stacking up inside him, one by one.

Bosko notices and the dog awkwardly loafs around, avoiding the ever threatening gaze of Bosko. This premise was reused from Bosko’s Soda Fountain, but I can’t help but laugh each time I see the dog looking around so nervously.

The dog, suddenly content, skips to the end of the store, making accordion noises with each movement. However, he trips just before he reaches the door, an angry Bosko blocking his path. The dog runs the other way, right through the fan, and we get this disturbingly wonderful visual of the dog getting sliced to pieces and rejoining again! 

Since it’s a Bosko cartoon after all, we have a nice little musical interlude as Bosko dusts the products on his shelf. Some chicks in a crate of eggs cheep, while hotdogs hanging in the store bark, and a cardboard cutout slaps him after he dusts its butt. Gotta love the innuendos! 

Cut to a mouse in its house, who wishes to make an order. The mouse slides around on the rotary dial, and makes the call. The mouse asks “Hey, do ya got any dried fish?”. It slides down the cord to the earpiece on the floor to hear Bosko respond “Sure, we’ve got dried fish!”. The mouse climbs back up and says “Well, why don’t you give ‘em a drink??” and blows a raspberry into the receiver. The earliest instance of a prank call in animation? I LOVE IT! I absolutely wasn’t expecting that (nor have I heard that one)! 

Predictably, Bosko glares, but lets it slide off his back as he skips across the store and sweeps the storefront, eventually dancing with the broom (above). The broom even grows an arm and slides Bosko’s grip up a little. Wonderfully risqué! The music is as nice as ever.

Honey and Wilbur make an appearance, skipping along with the music. Honey greets Bosko, who coos “Hello, Honey!” and skips over to greet her. Wilbur asserts himself to be quite the brat as he drawls “HELLO, HONEY!” sarcastically. He’s undoubtedly obnoxious, but I love him, that delivery alone is fantastic.

A player piano rests on Bosko’s storefront, and honey asks if Bosko has a nickel so they can dance. Together they sing and dance to “How Can You Say No? (When All the World Is Saying Yes)”. Frequent as the dancing scenes may be, there’s something oddly endearing about them. Great synchronization and great music. It certainly puts you in a better mood, very fitting for the depression.

Their shindig comes to an abrupt halt when Bosko spots Wilbur eating multiple bananas from a bunch hanging outside the store. Wilbur retaliates by squirting the banana in Bosko’s face, sending him flying backwards and landing in a basket in the store. It just so happens that the basket is attached to a pulley system, and Bosko is rammed into the wall, falling and tumbling into a barrel of molasses in a daze. While Wilbur makes an escape, Bosko attempts to chase after him, but it’s no use. The perils of molasses asserts itself once again as he’s stuck in the foul smelling sucrose.

Wilbur, on the other hand, gets what he deserves: briefly. He tries to climb a spool of string hanging on a rafter, but falls.

He lands straight into a meat grinder that grinds him up into tiny little versions of himself. Again, overused? Absolutely. Highly amusing? Absolutely. He regroups as Bosko frees himself from the molasses, minus his shoes.

Bosko chases after Wilbur who climbs onto a ladder on wheels, knocking down various nonperishables as he escapes Bosko. Bosko corners Wilbur at last, but the little devil grabs some BARBED WIRE and runs it beneath Bosko’s legs, pulling it so it shreds his crotch to pieces... And a very painful iris out! 

Without a doubt, the second half of the cartoon was the highlight with the entire Bosko and Wilbur fiasco. As obnoxious as Wilbur is, he brings some much needed excitement. The sing and dance sequence was very cute like always! The first half was fun, albeit slow—more reused gags, but so be it. I loved the prank call between the mouse and Bosko. As I said before, the second half is the highlight, where everything just happens all at once and the animation is a delight to watch! It wasn’t the greatest Bosko cartoon, but far from the worst. The Bosko/Wilbur scene is worth a watch.