The Tree's Knees

Bosko is about to cut down a tree when a squirrel pops out of its hole and begs him to spare it. The anthropomorphic tree cowers as little trees gather around to protect it. Everyone is relieved when Bosko pulls a harmonica out of his pants and plays. The little trees dance around the big one as if it were a maypole. "Ain't that cute!" gushes Bosko. But one little tree blows him a raspberry. Bosko gives chase, grabs the tree and pulls off its bark. The poor tree shivers with cold. Bosko grudgingly gives the tree back its bark. The tree puts it back on as if it were an overcoat, then ungratefully kicks Bosko in the shin. The tree throws up his behind at Bosko as a gesture of contempt and walks away. "Well, shut my mouf!" exclaims Bosko.

Quickly recovering from his anger, Bosko takes his ax and goes whistling through the forest. He is charmed by a mother bird singing "Rock-a-Bye Baby" to her baby birds as a tree rocks them in their nest. "Ain't that cute!" he gushes again, just as a bird dropping falls on his hat. Disgusted, he flicks it off and then looks up. He sees a bird on a branch above him chewing tobacco. Bosko barely avoids the next "dropping" as the bird spits out its juice again.

Suddenly, a butterfly goes by and Bosko happily tries to catch it. The butterfly leads him to six trees lined up in a row. Bosko plays the trees as if they were harp strings. Another tree, with the long "hair" typical of musicians, pulls out three tiny branches from the side of its face and plays them like violin strings.

And so on. Only a few cartoons after "Ain't Nature Grand!" (1931) -- where he was a fisherman who felt sorry for a fish -- Bosko again spares the thing he had set out to kill and goes cavorting through the woods instead, making music. Again he gushes over nature and again nature returns his enthusiasm with contempt. (You can hardly blame it.) "The Tree's Knees" has a laugh or two, but it's mainly crude and silly.

Since the previous reviewer mentioned most of the story and gags, I'll just mention once again that the two mice in this short-as in many Harmon-Ising cartoons-bear a resemblance to a certain Famous Mouse from Disney except this time, besides the fact they are so small, they also wear no clothes! Most of the gags are indeed pretty unusual by today's standards though many of these types were common in many '30s cartoons particularly the musical ones. Watching this, I was reminded of Flowers and Trees, Disney's first three-strip Technicolor cartoon that won the Oscar two years later. Mainly because of the human-like trees and the way they made music. So, in summation, The Tree's Knees is highly recommended for anyone interested in early Warner Bros. animation before Tex Avery and many of the characters created in his wake gave the studio a new attitude...

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.

Generally, from personal opinion, 'The Tree's Knees' is one of the weaker Bosko cartoons. As ever with a Bosko cartoon, the story is slight, would actually agree that it's even more slight and more samey than usual and the slightest parts are thin as ice. There are some inventive gags here, but they don't come consistently and others are forgettable and tired in timing. Some are very crude and predictable as well.

Another issue is Bosko himself, not an interesting character and not a particularly endearing one either. The supporting characters are not too memorable, and their material is too inconsistent to make more of an impression. The pacing is rather pedestrian, and the cartoon in its slightest moments is pretty dull.

On the plus side, the animation is not bad at all. 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.

In conclusion, one of the weaker and more forgettable Bosko cartoons. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Bosko is seen heading for the forest with a big ax. But since the trees are sentient creatures, his efforts to cut them down fall short. They also provide homes for the forest creatures. So what does a lumberjack do? He begins to sing and dance. This is the same old stuff, done a hundred times with no real point or resolution.

Bosko was Looney Tunes' first character and star...making 39 shorts before moving on the another studio. Considering how insipid and cutesy most of the Bosko cartoons were, his moving to MGM was NOT a bad thing for Looney Tunes. After all, no real personality was developed for the character...he just acted cute and sang and danced.

Here in "The Tree's Knees", after nearly cutting down a tree and seeing it become anthropomorphic, he relents. During most of the rest of the short, he skips about and dances while trees come to life and whine. There really isn't much in the way of plot...a major problem with most of the Bosco films.

Apart from some lovely animation here and there, there's not much to recommend this short unless you want to see Looney Tunes 'borrowing' the Mickey Mouse character...which they did quite a few times. I am actually surprised Walt didn't sue, as the mice clearly looked just like Mickey. Apart from that, it's saccharine and presents a style which was pretty much dead by 1940 because there really wasn't any humor nor story.