Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (Bosko era, 1929-mid-1933)

Looney Tunes and (its spin-off Merrie Melodies) is an American animated short film theatrical series by Warner Brothers that ran from 1930 until 1969.

During this time, the series were at their humble beginnings with Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. It originally began as Warner Bros.' answer to Silly Symphonies and the animation is far more primitive than the later shorts. The series has rubber hose style animation, much like Harman and Ising's previous works with Disney. This was also Friz Freleng's start at Warner Bros. as an animator and co-director, along with many others including Bob Clampett, Tom and Robert McKimson.

This article will be talking about the shorts from "Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid" up to "We're in the Money".

1929

 * "Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid" (Harman/Ising; May 1; with Bosko, also his first appearance; never theatrically released)

1930

 * "Sinkin' in the Bathtub" (Harman/Ising; April 19; with Bosko and Honey; also first appearance of the latter, as well as the first theatrically released Looney Tunes short)
 * "Congo Jazz" (Harman/Ising; September 22; with Bosko)
 * "Hold Anything" (Harman/Ising; October 29; with Bosko and Honey)
 * "The Booze Hangs High" (Harman/Ising; December 16; with Bosko)
 * "Box Car Blues" (Harman/Ising; December 25; with Bosko)

1931

 * "Big Man from the North" (Harman/Ising; January 19; with Bosko)
 * "Ain't Nature Grand!" (Harman/Ising; March 14; with Bosko)
 * "Ups 'n Downs" (Harman/Ising; April 26; with Bosko)
 * "Dumb Patrol" (Harman/Ising; May 30; with Bosko and Honey)
 * "Yodeling Yokels" (Harman/Ising; June 13; with Bosko and Honey)
 * "Bosko's Holiday" (Harman/Ising; July 18; with Bosko and Honey)
 * "The Tree's Knees" (Harman/Ising; July 25; with Bosko)
 * "Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" (Ising; August 2; with Foxy and Roxy; first appearances of the two, as well as the very first short in the Merrie Melodies series)
 * "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!" (Ising; September 5; with Foxy; oldest WB cartoon that was included in the a.a.p. package)
 * "Bosko Shipwrecked!" (Harman; September 19; with Bosko)
 * "One More Time" (Ising; October 3; with Foxy and Roxy; final appearance of both)
 * "Bosko the Doughboy" (Harman; October 17; with Bosko)
 * "You Don't Know What You're Doin'!" (Ising; October 21; Fluffy and Piggy; first appearance of both)
 * "Bosko's Soda Fountain" (Harman; November 14; with Bosko, Honey and Wilber; also his first appearance)
 * "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land" (Ising; November 28; with Fluffy and Piggy, last physical appearance of the two (excluding the latter's appearances on ending cards for every MM short until "I Love a Parade"); also the earliest cartoon to be part of the Censored Eleven)
 * "Bosko's Fox Hunt" (Harman; December 12; with Bosko and Bruno)
 * "Red-Headed Baby" (Ising; one-off; first Merrie Melodies short not to feature a recurring character)

1932

 * "Bosko at the Zoo"
 * "Pagan Moon"
 * "Battling Bosko"
 * "Freddy the Freshman"
 * "Big-Hearted Bosko"
 * "Crosby, Columbo, and Vallee"
 * "Bosko's Party"
 * "Goopy Geer"
 * "Bosko and Bruno"
 * "It's Got Me Again!" (Ising; May 14; one-off) Academy Award nominate
 * "Moonlight for Two"
 * "Bosko's Dog Race"
 * "The Queen Was in the Parlor"
 * "Bosko at the Beach"
 * "I Love a Parade"
 * "Bosko's Store"
 * "Bosko the Lumberjack"
 * "You're Too Careless with Your Kisses!"
 * "Ride Him, Bosko!" (oldest WB cartoon to still be protected by copyright)
 * "I Wish I Had Wings"
 * "Bosko the Drawback"
 * "A Great Big Bunch of You"
 * "Bosko's Dizzy Date" (reuses footage from the unreleased "Bosko and Honey")
 * "Three's a Crowd"
 * "Bosko's Woodland Daze"

1933

 * "The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives"
 * "Bosko in Dutch"
 * "One Step Ahead of My Shadow"
 * "Bosko in Person"
 * "Young and Healthy"
 * "Bosko the Speed King"
 * "The Organ Grinder"
 * "Bosko's Knight-Mare"
 * "Wake Up the Gypsy in Me"
 * "Bosko the Sheep-Herder"
 * "I Like Mountain Music"
 * "Beau Bosko"
 * "Shuffle Off to Buffalo"
 * "Bosko's Mechanical Man"
 * "The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon"
 * "Bosko the Musketeer"
 * "Bosko's Picture Show"
 * "We're in the Money"

Why This Is A Looney Beginning

 * 1) Introduced us to such characters as Bosko, Honey, Bruno, Foxy, Roxy, Piggy and Goopy Geer (even though they are non-descript in personality).
 * 2) The licensed songs in Merrie Melodies sound great with an upbeat, jazzy score (composed by Frank Marsales in a similar style to Philip Scheib's at Terrytoons, James Dietrich's at Walter Lantz and Gene Rodemich's at Van Beuren).
 * 3) Good animation, harkening back to the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit shorts at Disney (with an update of lip synchronization).
 * 4) * In the early shorts from 1930-31, the animation was more wild than Disney's and most of the song and dance routines focused on surreal visual gags.
 * 5) * The art style got polished by the end of the era.
 * 6) Passable voice acting from Carmen Maxwell, Rochelle Hudson, Johnny Murray and  an unidentified Sara Berner.
 * 7) While not as off-the-wall and wacky as the later shorts in the 1940s era, it did introduce us to plenty of gags and funny moments that originated the overall style of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
 * 8) Good cartoons, such as:
 * 9) *Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (which started the franchise on a high note)
 * 10) *Congo Jazz
 * 11) *Bosko the Doughboy
 * 12) *Bosko's Dog Race
 * 13) *Moonlight for Two
 * 14) The soundtrack sounded more lavish by 1932 to 1933. Also, the pacing of the shorts started to pick up by mid-1931 with the very first Merrie Melodies short "Lady Play Your Mandolin!".
 * 15) The shorts used to air on Nickelodeon before they were taken off the air. However, Cartoon Network only brought back the early Merrie Melodies shorts on television in the late 90s.
 * 16) Despite this era focusing more on song and dance routines, it had plenty of catchy licensed songs.
 * 17) "Smile Darn Ya Smile", "Bosko in Person" and "Shuffle Off to Buffalo" are easily considered the most memorable cartoons of the era (despite being low on story).
 * 18) These shorts are not as terrible as the next era and they have a certain charm.
 * 19) Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Bob McKimson and Tom McKimson all got their start at Harman-Ising and one of them took over directorial duties by the next era.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some bad shorts, such as:
 * 2) * "Bosko's Picture Show"
 * 3) * "Yodeling Yokels" (depending on your view)
 * 4) * "Bosko and Honey"
 * 5) The Bosko cartoons are rarely shown on television today, mainly due to the racist depictions of Bosko and Honey (despite them being free of negative stereotypes).

Trivia

 * Bosko and Honey both returned in Tiny Toon Adventures, with Foxy, Roxy and Goopy Geer returning in the third season.
 * During that era, Bob Clampett did a caricature of Rudy Ising hunting for a rabbit (which later sparked the pairing of Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny in recent years).

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