Circus Daze

When Harman and Ising left Warner Brothers -- it's a lot more complicated than that, but let's let that stand as shorthand for the process -- they took Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid with them. They left him alone for a few years, but eventually they revived him, Honey and his dog Bruno, re-imaging them slightly as small children. Here, in this decent, though dated cartoon, they are at the circus, causing havoc -- and Bruno is acting exactly like Pluto Pup. Even as Termite Terrace was breaking free of its children's orientation under the chaos of Tex Avery and Bob Clampett's units, Harman was still trying to do what worked, and eventually would become a back number.

There are some good points to this cartoon: there is an almost rotoscoped quality to the cartoon animals here as things break loose. But the cutesy attitude of the entire matter does not wear well for an older audience.

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.

'Circus Daze' is very much the same as Run Sheep Run'. In that it really isn't one of the best Bosko cartoons, to me it's one of his weakest and one of his less than average cartoons (mediocre for want of a better word). Not awful, just mediocre and forgettable. It's best to forget the story, which is derivative and almost non-existent, so thin to the extent that it struggles towards the end to sustain the running time making the cartoon feel draggy and (despite not being long) in need of a shorter length.

It also struggles to do anything new with an idea that has been done to death in cartoons and with much more fun, colour and imagination. How can a cartoon use a circus setting, which is a very colourful and very entertaining setting, and make it pretty colourless and lacking in excitement and laughs? 'Circus Daze' manages to, not doing very much with its setting.

On top of that, there is not much that is funny here (all the best stuff pretty much is with Bruno) and it seems to favour tiresome repetition, with a running joke that was only mildly amusing the first time but got old fast, over being inventive. Everything feels bland and perfunctory. Bosko is a very limited character, who never does anything interesting or even as much as amusing, it is agreed that he is too much of a background character. Honey also has little to do, and the circus characters are not particularly memorable.

Bruno in terms of characters is the sole exception, he has a real personality and has the best moments.

Other than Bruno, 'Circus Daze's' main strengths are the animation and music. The sound and synchronisation are also good. As always for a Bosko cartoon 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.

All in all, not an awful cartoon but pretty mediocre. 4/10 Bethany Cox