Bosko's Soda Fountain

The Bosko cartoons may not be animation masterpieces, but they are fascinating as examples of Looney Tunes in their early days before the creation of more compelling characters and funnier and more creative cartoons. There are some good cartoons, as well as some average or less ones.

'Bosko's Soda Fountain' is pretty good (for Bosko and as a cartoon in general), but it is very frustrating when the second half prevents it from being very good cartoon like the first half promised. As to be expected, it is flimsy story-wise and some of the gags in the second half are not very funny and come over as quite bizarre instead.

It is in the second half where 'Bosko's Soda Fountain' falls down. The gags aren't as funny or clever and agreed it is really undermined by one of the brattiest and most irritating kids in perhaps all animation.

However, the animation is good. Not exactly refined but fluid and crisp enough with some nice detail, it is especially good in the meticulous backgrounds and some remarkably flexible yet natural movements for Bosko. The music doesn't disappoint either, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.

The gags are quite inventive and fun in the first half, particularly on a visual level. The first half is very entertaining generally, lively in pace and funny. Bosko may not be a great or particularly interesting character, but he has his charm as does Honey. Pacing is suitably lively.

Overall, a cartoon of two halves, one very good half and one disappointing one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Bosko was Looney Tunes' first star...albeit only for a few years. The reason they discontinued the Bosko films was because because the directing team of Harmon-Ising left Looney Tunes to work for MGM...and the pair owned the rights to the character. This was actually a double blessing for Warner Brothers (parent company of Looney Tunes), as Bosko was a rather dull character and the Harmon-Ising style was pretty awful...emphasizing cuteness and singing/dancing over laughs. As a result, the Looney Tunes films, after a brief hiccup, only got better.

While I am very hard on the Harmon-Ising Bosko films and generally give the films low scores, I must admit that "Bosko's Soda Fountain" is a major improvement for the series. While it's not exactly brilliant, it's also not cute, there's no singing AND a nasty character was a nice counterpoint to the usual denizens of these cartoons.

In the first half of the film, Bosko is serving various guests at his soda fountain and the emphasis is on gags...a major plus. Soon, Honey calls to ask Bosko to bring over an ice cream cone for her very obnoxious cat. Bosko hurries...and is met with a lousy attitude from the ungrateful feline.

No cute characters, a few laughs...while this isn't a brilliant film, it's very good for 1931 and it's a shame Bosko wasn't always like this.

By the way, like in so many Bosko cartoons, there's a minor character that looks just like Mickey.