41. Ride Him, Bosko! (1932)

Release date: September 17th, 1932

Series: Looney Tunes

Director: Hugh Harman

Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko), Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Norm Blackburn (Cartoonists)

Oh man, this cartoon has my favorite ending to any cartoon we’ve seen so far. This short is notable for a variety of reasons. First, it contains the first ever live action sequence in a Looney Tunes short. Second, it’s the first cartoon to be copyrighted and not under public domain, and finally, it’s the last Looney Tunes short to use the current theme song of “A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight”, where it would be replaced with “Whistle and Blow Your Blues Away” starting with Bosko’s Dizzy Date.

Buckaroo Bosko is strumming away at his guitar, singing (poorly) “When the Bloom is on the Sage” while on horseback. Since the horse itself can’t be assed to do it, Bosko hops off and pushes him over a large rock, resuming business as usual.

Cut to a card that says “Red Gulch, where men are men, nine times out of ten”. I love my sign gags! This cartoon definitely has the Looney Tunes feel to it. The titular Red Gulch asserts its promise of masculinity as we watch various street-goers get shot to pieces as they walk past a saloon.

Undeterred as ever, Bosko saunters up to the saloon and greets “Howdy, fellers!” He’s greeted by a warm reception of bullets. Regardless, there’s an offscreen chorus of “Howdy, Bosko!” Bosko, justifiably wary, enters the saloon. You can never go wrong with jokes like these, especially the warm greeting he receives after nearly getting shot to pieces.

Initiate your standard yet nevertheless entertaining and charming dancing sequence with Bosko in the saloon. These cartoons in this era were all about boasting about their ability to synchronize sound and animation, and it certainly works.

A dog playing the piano slams his fist down on the keys, propelling the beer in his glass perched on top of the piano right into his gullet. The alcohol burns through him, literally, and he’s “naked” and skips away effeminately.

Bosko takes over piano duties and we get to marvel at the beautiful sounds of a saloon piano. A group of playing cards, a king, two queens, and a joker, all sing along to the beat. The joker (who looks like Goopy in The Queen Was in the Parlor) sings (scats) offbeat, prompting someone to shoot the card with a pistol, the Goopy joker melting away into a puddle.

There’s another transition as we get a different card that reads “The deadwood stage (free wheeling)”. A horse drawn carriage is being pulled rather sloppily, with very smooth animation of the wheels bending and stretching all over the place.

Poor Honey is the passenger, being jostled around endlessly. She protests “Please, be careful!” but no adjustment is made.

Bet you can’t see where this is going. We have a group of outlaws galloping on their horses. The lead bandit and his horse sneak around the mountain, spotting the wagon carrying Honey... and a chest on top, undoubtedly filled with all sorts of vulnerable goods just waiting to be usurped.

Smoke spreads and bullets fly as the bandits follow the wagon, pulled by an unfortunate old man whose hat keeps flying off as bullets pierce it. The chest flies off of the carriage and lands on the ground, but instead of silver and gold, it’s filled with anthropomorphized clothes who make a run for it.

The poor hapless victim pulling the carriage (well, Honey too) hits a rock and is sent flying. He (painfully) slides down a cactus and used the skeleton of a horse to dash away.

Deserting Honey, the man barrels in to the saloon, alerting Bosko of his debacle. Winded, the man deflated into his pants, leaving a dubious Bosko staring at an empty pair of trousers. Bosko makes a run for it, but not before the deflated man grabs a beer and throws it into his bottomless abyss of pants.

In a hurry, Bosko jumps onto his horse... which is actually a fence that bucks him around wildly. Standard yet amusing, our motto of all these cartoons. Bosko actually gets on his real horse and heads to rescue honey, who’s screaming for help.

There’s an extended shot of Bosko chasing after his shanghaied sweetheart, and we slowly zoom out...

To reveal Rudolf Ising, Hugh Harman, and Norm Blackburn, all gathered around Bosko and observing his dilemma. Rudolf is making the sound effects of the horse galloping, when he suddenly asks “Say, how’s Bosko gonna save the girl?” Hugh gives a dumbfounded “I'unno”, which prompts Rudolf to respond “Well, we gotta do something!” Norm, who’s been chuffing away at a cigarette, suggests “Let’s go home.”

Hugh expresses his agreement and the cartoonists exit, leaving Bosko to his own devices as we get the most amusing iris out thus far.

God, I can’t get enough of that ending! This really felt like it belonged under the Looney Tunes name. The animation was smooth and crisp (maybe because the short’s in good quality), the jokes were on point, the music was addicting... another one of my favorites. I’m very glad to see the quality of the Bosko cartoons continuing to rise! I eagerly await the others. I certainly recommend this cartoon, especially for the end scene alone!

Link!