Battling Bosko

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.

'Battling Bosko' has good enjoyment value and as far as Bosko cartoons go it's generally one of the better ones. It has been well established by now that the Bosko cartoons should not be seen for their stories, which was never a strong suit (quite the opposite), and the story here is very thin and predictable. Some of the cartoon is very repetitive and despite a nice setting the premise has been done to death since and has been executed more consistently and imaginatively.

With Bosko himself, he is a limited character and not particularly interesting, but he is likable enough and doesn't behave as idiotically as he did in his previous cartoon. His opponent is imposing and amusing enough.

As always, 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.

Sound quality has clarity and the synchronisation isn't sloppy and has imagination. The way Bosko is animated is well done and remarkably natural. The gags are mostly very nicely done, with two especially fun ones. The ending is indeed cute.

On the whole, decent and worth watching definitely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

While few folks would consider the Bosko films materpieces, or even good to many, they are historically important in that they were the first cartoons by Looney Tunes. And, in making bad films with insipid characters like Bosko they learned through trial and error that the public preferred edgier, funny cartoon characters, such as Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. In other words, the Bosko cartoons were a learning opportunity for the young animators to experiment...but they certainly don't hold up very well today. Why? Because instead of begin edgy and funny, these cartoons tended to be saccharinely sweet and are usually filled with singing and dancing. However, in those where they abandoned this formula, which wasn't often, the cartoons were much more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, "Battling Bosko" begins with Bosko singing to his girlfriend, Honey, over the phone. Fortunately, this didn't last long and cute was pretty much tossed out the window, as Bosko began a boxing match against the Champ...a huge and scary looking guy! Does tiny Bosko stand a chance?!

This cartoon, oddly enough, worked for me...especially the ending, which came as a complete surprise! Cute, but in a good way, and worth seeing...this is what Bosko SHOULD have been like...but generally wasn't.