Let's Talk About... Looney Tunes!

[Avaitor]

This is something I have been thinking about doing, so let's try this on a trial basis. If enough people are interested in watching Warner's shorts in chronological order, perhaps in a less-straightforward time frame then our weekly YYH thread, then I'll keep this going for however long we have interest in it.

First, let's watch the one that started it all, Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid. This was kind of the pilot for Warner's animation division, and wasn't actually shown in theaters- in fact, it was never screened to a wide audience until early in the 00's, when Toonheads aired an edited version of it in a special episode.

The interesting thing about Bosko here is that he's, um, kind of racist. Apparently, while they were brainstorming to come up with original ideas for cartoon characters, Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising decided on what was originally an attempt at drawn blackface, which they turned into Bosko. They toned down his design a little, but still gave him an uncomfortable southern drawl that can easily be seen as caricature. One thing that later Bosko shorts gratefully do is give him a different voice that helps to make the character seem a little less offensive.

Still, there is merit here. The animation is fun and rubbery, and it allows for Bosko to have some fun as the animator brings him to life. It's also worth noting that this is the first cartoon to feature synchronized dialogue, as opposed to Disney's synchronized music. It's worth watching as an important part of animation and film history, even if it's not exactly tasteful by today's standards.

But what do you guys think of this short?

[Daikun]

I have a special place in my heart for the Bosko shorts. I enjoyed watching them when Nickelodeon aired LT shorts back in the day. Despite him seeming rather offensive, he was also progressive. He was a black caricature, but also the star of the show.

Edit: As for Bosko's Chinese dance, however... Yeah, there's no defending it.

[Avaitor]

Want to try this again? If so, here's "Sinkin' in the Bathtub".

This is the first short with Honey, and it's a pretty simple, but fun to watch romp in which Bosko defies the laws of physics to woo her. His racist drawl is still present, but thankfully Bosko at least doesn't talk to much, as this is more of a visual short. Any thoughts?

[Daikun]

"Sinkin' in the Bathtub" is one of my favorite Looney Tunes shorts. It's a testament to why LT is so great. I love nearly everything about this short. The title song is catchy as hell, and it contains many of Bosko's iconic moments. Honey dancing on the bubbles, Bosko screaming toward the camera, the bouncy, rubbery animation, the inanimate objects coming to life... It's a style of animation that's not seen often today. While Looney Tunes (and theatrical cartoons in general) would become more detailed and grow into their own special entity in the following decades, they would--at a cost--become more conservative in style and lose that special spark of creativity not seen during this time period.

[Avaitor]

There is something different about Warner's early shorts, not just in comparison to the more iconic Looney Tunes bits in the years to come, but also from what Disney, Fleischer, Iwerks, etc were doing at the time.

There's more of a music-based rhythm to the older Looney Tunes. While Disney did incorporate songs into their Silly Symphonies, these were typically in addition to the story and content. Fleischer also would use songs, but they were on an entirely different wavelength from everyone else at the time. Warner was licensing some of their tracks to their animation department, in hopes that their animators would find unique ways to combine their music with daring new techniques in animation. You can see a rubbery quality to Bosko and Honey's galavanting that Disney wasn't using as frequently themselves, and it works well.

[Commode]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxxqg0XHxTw

Nick Knacks episode on the Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon.  So glad this was made, need more research on this program(the old ancient GAC page on the subject is now dead), this syndication package on Nick is responsible for much of my fandom of the franchise.

oh and this series https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z57_2T_WIuA

first video linked and so far the series only goes up to 1950, but still an amazing series

also idk, have Google drive that has all the shorts from 1930-1969 plus much more content but am I allowed to post that?

[LumRanmaYasha]

KaiserBeamz's Merrie History of the Looney Tunes series is an awesomely thorough and detailed retrospective of the production history of the Looney Tunes. Three hours worth of video essays in and he's only as far as the early 50s so far, can't wait for more.

And yeah, the Nick Knacks episode on LT's tv history was really interesting, especially as someone who only ever really remembers watching the shorts on CN.

[Avaitor]

I've only seen the first part of KaiserBeamz's series, but it was very good. Definitely need to find time to watch more of it.

And the Nick Knacks video was also quite good. Greg is good about finding a worthwhile angle to focus on for each of the series he goes over, and using the Looney Tunes on Nick block to make a documentary about the franchise's complicated TV history was a hell of a call. And I like that I'm seeing it catch on beyond the channel's usual audience- this just proves how these cartoons still command a big following.

[Dr. Insomniac]

An interesting reminder from Nick Knacks that Tune In With Me is the first time in years that Looney Tunes is airing on local networks. With all the public domain LT shorts, you'd think at least one network would air them during dead air hours or early in the morning. But maybe that paid programming money is too good to turn down.

[Commode]

Cool thing about the MeTV airings is that they, along with HBO Max, have been airing previously unrestored shorts.  Quite a few have aired already, and thanks to the MeTV airings all of the Foghorn Leghorn cartoons now have HD restorations available.  There have been some issues, mostly with title cards being inaccurate or missing music cues, but for the most part it's so great to see cartoons like "I'd Love to Take Orders From You" restored.

If only we could get these on physical releases though, I'd kill for a Blu Ray collection of all the restored Foghorns.

[Daxdiv]

I remember them showing the scene where Bugs Bunny shot a dude in Rhapsody Rabbit & Daffy shooting himself at the end of the Scarlet Pumpernickel on Toon in With Me. They do seem to air the uncut versions if available.

EDIT: According to the Looney Tunes Wiki, they do appear to edit some stuff from time to time. Mostly the racist stuff.

[Commode]

From what I've seen the only edits are the overt racist stuff yeah, particularly towards African Americans, though some stuff has snuck through.  Sylvester in blackface in "I Taw a Putty Tat" has aired at least once.

Violence and references to WWII stuff has largely been unedited, just the other day the Hitler in a box gag in "Nutty News" aired.  Even the usage of "damn" that happens twice("I Tawt a Taw a Damn Yankee Cat!") in "The Rebel Without Claws" has aired uncut.