Category: First Appearances

Cartoons that were the debut of recurring characters. I.E., those that appeared at least twice.

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Bosko the Talk-ink Kid

“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.

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Devil-May Hare

“I don’t even know what a Tasmanian devil is”

While spring cleaning, Bugs finds himself in a stampede of animals. Wanting to know what is going on, he stops a turtle (with a shovel) and learns that THE Tasmanian devil is on the loose! (What exactly does that mean? Was he in a zoo?) Bugs looks it up in an encyclopedia and the creature corners him in his lair. To keep his hide alive, Bugs offers to help him find plenty of other food. Groundhogs, chicken, pigs, and deer.

While the devil is falling for Bug’s tricks, a real deer comes up. (where is his “I am not Bambi” sign?) Taz shows up and says that he is done being fooled and will not fall for another fake animal. To spare the creature, Bugs lies and says that the little deer is made of straw. Taz reasons that Bugs is not, and tries to eat him again. Bugs only choice is to call Tasmania for a Tasmanian-she devil. The two fall in love and get married. A happy ending!

Personal Rating: 3

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Bugs and Thugs

“Jiggers! The cops!”

It’s rabbit season, but Bugs is a city dweller, so he’s in no danger. That all changes when a mysterious car stops at the bank Bugs is at. Mistaking it for a taxi, Bugs hops in and soon finds out its the getaway car of Rocky and Mugsy! (The latter of whom is making his first appearance.) Figuring out they are crooks, Bugs tries to call for help, but fails and now has to stall the crooks. When they get to the hideout, Rocky tells Mugsy to let Bugs have it. In the other room, Bugs asks to be given “it”, with “it” being the gun.

To survive, Bugs imitates the cops, causing the crooks to hide in the oven. Still pretending, (Even though he could now leave. Classic Bugs) he tells himself that if they were in the oven, he would not turn on the gas or throw in a lighted match. After his charade, the real police arrive causing the same dialogue we just heard. The crooks beg to be arrested, and Bugs goes back to the city as a detective.

Personal Rating: 4

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Puddy Tat Twouble

“This is what I get for dweaming of a white Christmas.”

This short starts with Tweety singing his theme song. After the intro, we see it’s winter and Tweety has been spotted by Sylvester and an orange cat. They both grab the bird, but there is not enough for the both of them. They fight and eventually end up in a basement. Tweety sees a toy dunking bird and mistaking it for a real bird, tries to make friends, Orange makes the same mistake and eats the toy.

The two putty tats fight and they end up outside again. They see a hole near a sign that says “thin ice,” with Tweety’s hat beside it. In reality he is picking a circle around the cats and they fall in the water. (“thin ice,” my butt.) We end with the cats both suffering from colds. Probably dreaming of the cream of Tweety they don’t have.

Personal Rating: 3

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Canary Row

“Dat putty’s gonna hurt himself if he’s not more careful.”

In a birdwatchers society, Sylvester is spying on Tweety. Seeing the cat through his own binoculars, Tweety is well aware of what’s to come. Sylvester runs into the opposite building, but is kicked out as dogs and cats are not allowed in. He tries climbing a drain pipe but Granny throws him down. (In this short, she is voiced by Bea Bennadaret.) He tries again climbing in the pipe, but Tweety throws a bowling ball down. He tries a monkey disguise that does not fool the old lady. Then he somehow sneaks in and hears Granny saying she is checking out. (But it’s an apartment.) He disguises himself as a bellboy to get her luggage but when he opens the cage, he finds Granny in there.

Apparently, she was not leaving, as Sylvester is still trying to break in. He uses a lever and tosses a weight on the other end. It bounces him up, and he grabs Tweety, but upon landing the weight lands on his head. Swinging over just makes him crash into the wall. Finally, he tries to get over by crawling over an electric wire. A trolley comes along, which repeatedly shocks him. As he runs off, we see it’s Granny and Tweety piloting the trolley.

Personal Rating: 3

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Lady Play your Mandolin

“Hola!”

This is the first Merrie Melody and is one of my all time favorites, so lets get this party started.

We open on a bar with one of the catchiest songs ever played. (These old M.M.’s titles were just the name of the song that was played in the short.) All the customers are singing and drinking (beer) and having a great old time. After some music we find our character, Foxy. He is riding his horse to the party to have some fun. He arrives and plans to go in but his horse wants in on the action. Foxy ties his neck around a cactus (Imagine how horrible that would be!) and goes in.

He drinks and the entertainment begins. It is Roxy and Foxy asks her to (all together now) “Play her mandolin!” She complies and more music ensures. The horse is ticked at being left out and unties himself. He yells some thing and Foxy breaks some tequila over his head. His horse gets drunk and comes in. He drinks more and starts to hallucinate wildly. Pretty scary. He burns up and our characters finish their song.

Personal Rating: 4 (First cartoons aren’t supposed to be this good.)

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Bugs Bunny gets the Boid

“Shh! I’m a-stalking a victim.”

Its Beaky Buzzard’s debut and he is sent by his mother to get food for dinner. (While she stays home and does who knows what) Beaky wants no part of this, but his mom kicks him out saying to at least get a rabbit. (We all know where this is heading)

The Snerd bird sees Bugs and grabs him. Bugs says he must shower first, but Beaky catches on. He leaps into the hole only to find Bugs dressed as a woman. Bugs smacks him with his towel and runs. Beaky catches him and flies off. Bugs rips out one of his feathers and tickles him into letting go. Bugs lands in front of a skeleton and mistakes it for his own. On seeing his feet he realizes he is okay.

He goes off but Beaky grabs him. They dance and Bugs puts him in front of the skeleton. Beaky calls for his mom and she is ticked. Bugs reveals that her “leetle keeler” is fine and she declares him a hero instead!

Personal Rating: 4

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Don’t Give up the Sheep

“Hello, Fred.”

This is the first appearance of Ralph and Sam, and it shows. Sam is erroneously called Ralph, and the real Ralph looks less like a coyote and more like a starving animal.

It starts with Sam going to work. He greets Fred Sheepdog and they switch places for the day. Ralph shows up and plans to get the sheep. He sets the time-clock ahead and this works. Until Sam sees the village clock and runs back to the field. (One thing to keep in mind, Ralph usually gets his prey. He just does not get to eat it.)

3 more scenes deserve mention. Ralph digs under the ground to get the sheep but he gets greedy and takes them all. Sam sees this and rushes down. The wolf grabs him. POW! Ralph uses a rope swing to swing down and get a sheep, bur he grabs Sam. Finally, Sam quits for the day and Fred greets him. Sam starts pounding him and we see it’s really Ralph in disguise. The real Fred shows up and takes over Sam’s Ralph pounding.

Personal Rating: 3

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Feed the Kitty

“Don’t you dare bring one more thing into this house!”

A little kitten comes across a big dog. He tries to frighten her, but she treats him as her bed. Falling for her, Marc Antony takes her with him to her new home. The mistress of the house decides the dog has enough material objects and warns him to not bring in anymore things. So now he must try to keep the kitten hidden. This lady never stops moving and frequently runs into it. Puppy has to pass it off as a toy and a powder puff just to keep it safe.

When she comes into the kitchen, he hides it in the flour bin. Wouldn’t you know it, she is about to make cookies. He tries to save her, but the mistress throws him out. Unbeknownst to him, his kitty crawls out of the bowl but not before he thinks she has been beaten, rolled out, cut into shapes, and baked. The dog is reduced to a blubbering wreck and the woman tries to cheer him up with a cat shaped cookie. (Seriously, who makes cookies shaped like cats?) He puts it on his back and cries, but surprise! She’s alive! The woman finally gets wise and says if he takes care of it, he can keep it. A happy ending for all.

Rating: 5

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Frigid Hare

“Jumping ice cubes! Its freezing!”

Out of the two shorts that Playboy Penguin appeared in, this is my favorite. Bugs is on his way for a vacation and makes a wrong turn at Albuquerque and ends up at the south pole. There he saves a penguin from an… Eskimo? (Never mind. I’m not going to mention he’s in the wrong hemisphere.) Now the little bird is smitten with him and we see the cutest scene ever! (I want to hold him) Bugs throws him away, and sees him get nabbed by the Inuit. Realizing he must do the right thing he disguises himself as a woman again, and manages to rescue the penguin.

Upon the guy’s realization that his dreamboat is a rabbit, the chase begins. They end up dangling over a cliff where Playboy returns the favor and saves bugs. (The Eskimo is carried off by a whale that has a vertical tail. WRONG!) Bugs wants nothing more to do with the bird and just wants to get to his vacation spot. Until he learns that the days down there are 6 months long! We wont see bugs again until 1951. (Not literally.)

Personal Rating: 3