26. Battling Bosko (1932)

Warner cartoon no. 25.
Release date: February 6, 1932.
Series: Looney Tunes.
Directed by: Hugh Harman.
Producers: Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and Leon Schlesinger (associate).
Starring: Johnny Murray (Bosko).
Animation: Isadore "Friz" Freleng and Paul Smith.
Musical Score by: Frank Marsales.

A new cartoon here, and this is one that I do like out of the Bosko and Harman-Ising cartoons I've seen recently.

 The cartoon starts off with a silhouette of Bosko boxing on a punching bag, and we see Bosko actually practicing his boxing at home. Bosko is preparing for a fight with another strong boxer, he also practices for his John L. Sullivan poses. Very good introduction showing a silhouette of Bosko (unseen) boxing, and then we reveal as the camera shows us Bosko boxing.

Meanwhile, Honey is at home, she's reading a newspaper with Bosko on the front cover with the headline, "Bosko to Fight Champion", she remarks "What a man," to Bosko. She turns on the radio to hear about the boxing. An announcer who is hosting the boxing bets that Bosko is going to get defeated by the champion he's fighting who is favourite to win. She turns off the channel, to kiss a picture frame she has of her boyfriend, Bosko - still hoping he would win. Bosko's fighting rival, apparently named "Gas House Harry" is practicing fighting, and he has more fans than Bosko.

Bosko continues to practice his fighting, until the punching bag punches Bosko out of his stool, and moments later the phone rings - he picks it up and it's Honey speaking. Honey mentions that she bet on Bosko to win, and hopes that he won't get hurt while boxing. So, in the meantime Bosko starts to sing a song about his boxing, with Honey playing on the piano.

Today is finally the big day for Bosko, that is the boxing match that starts. There is a newspaper boy who barks about the fight today, even even throwing papers around so that the public can read about the big fight and place their bets. A lot of animals from different places are traveling from trolleys just to see the big fight. As the trolley stops, a bunch of animals rush out of the trolley, that the trolley falls flat like a burst football.

 

Honey is at home playing the piano, and she is also listening to the radio about the boxing. "Gas House Harry" walks down the arena, and he is appreciated by a lot of his fans, as he is a heavyweight champion. Bosko then walks down the arena with a song to his fans, "I'm a hot-shot guy called Bosko, come and watch me do my stuff!" ToonZone confirms that's what Bosko said. Bosko climbs onto the canvas and prepares to fight!

 We then see Harry and Bosko on the canvas, just before the fight begins, the referee makes an announcement before the fight begins, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have here Gas House Harry--" there is shot showing Honey and her dog's point of view through the radio, and they "boo" towards Gas House. The referee continues on with "---and our new member, Battling Bosko!" and the crowd cheer. I like how this was staged, with a long-shot showing the referee making an announcement, it fits well to the cartoon.

The fight officially begins, with Bosko about to prepare to fight, but Gas House Harry just stands there, and knocks Bosko with one punch, which makes Bosko bounces on each side of the canvas. Bosko hits the bell with his head, so he becomes knocked out for a new seconds, when his coach helps wake him up, and get him prepared for the second round. The coach helps him spray water in his face to stop the sweat, and also sprays his private parts in which Bosko giggles - I bet that was censored.

Bosko gets ready for the second round, with Bosko all energetic and punches Gas Harry right in the chest, and his tattoo with a ship sinks, now that's a great gag. There appears to be a hippo in the audience in shots shouting "Go Bosko" and supporting him. As Bosko and Gas Harry continue to try fighting, the ostrich referee grabs their hands, and they skip along the canvas, and they finish the friendly skip by punching the referee out of the arena, and onto the floor. 

The radio commentary announces that Bosko has been defeated by Gas House Harry, who constantly keeps boxing Harry, and also punches him like a punching bag, until he's finally boxed, he tumble-turns and he stops by lying back knocked-out. The referee starts the count to get Bosko up. Honey hears this, and she's willing to get Bosko to win. She does this by stepping out of the house and rushing through to the arena and help wake Bosko up. She finally sees Bosko and tries to wake up, but it ends with Bosko in a sleepy mood, and he uses the canvas floor as a duvet to sleep - and that's all folks! It seems that Bosko has the fighting ability of Rembrandt - he's always on the canvas ;-).

So far of the Bosko cartoons and Harman-Ising cartoons I've seen, I actually really liked that one. Yes, it had a good tight-story, that showed Bosko's rival who is favourite to win, and it is proven that Bosko loses. The gags in there were very well put, and that's what I do like. It's also great to see that the cartoon is hardly reused at all - I don't think there is any reuses in there. Overall, this cartoon really works and that's one of the 1932 cartoons I really enjoyed watching.