“Well here I is, and I’s feel good!”
This… is what started it all. When Harmon and Ising went to pitch their idea to make their own cartoons to Scheslinger, they brought along this beauty. It’s essentially the Looney Tunes pilot cartoon. It was made in 1929 and combined live action and animation well ahead of its time. (Warner Bros was good at that.)
It starts with Bosko being born. (Drawn.) The animator asks him to show us what he can do and Bosko starts doing some dances. (One is quite racist, but only by today’s standards.) He notices the audience and learns that he is supposed to make us laugh. The animator gives him a piano and some musical gags occur. Bosko sings (badly) and the animator sucks him back into the pen. Bosko pops out of the inkwell and promises us he will return. (Then he blows a raspberry at the animator.)
Happy Halloween!
Personal Rating: For most, I’d give this a 2, but if you can appreciate how good this early example of live action and animation coexisting is, I’ll bump it up to a 3.