Congo Jazz

This short is an early Warner Brothers that features a character named Bosko, who is in ill favor in certain politically correct quarters. My take on it all is that the few shorts I've seen in the series vary greatly in quality, some being very good and others not terribly interesting. This is one of the better ones I've seen. Warner Brothers almost always had excellent music throughout their run, up to the 1950s and this short has excellent music, if a limited plot. Well worth watching. Recommended.

In this quite ordinary cartoon, Bosco, a chimp (?) goes hunting, but like most of the principle characters in these cartoons, he has no success. He is soon being confronted by gigantic gorillas and other creatures. As it turns out, he gets them to dance and participate with him. It's just not all that entertaining.

In his first two films, Bosko was clearly intended to be a black character...with a VERY broadly stereotypical voice. However, Looney Tunes evidently took some heat for this or felt guilty, as pretty soon Bosko changed...with a more neutral voice and a seemingly less apparently black look to him. So, in this sense, "Congo Jazz" is a major improvement for the franchise.

The setting for this cartoon is odd...with jungle animals from Asia AND Africa combined. Such mistakes were common in 1930s films and many Tarzan and similar films did this.

As far as the plot goes, like so many Harmon-Ising cartoons for Looney Tunes, there really is no plot to speak of. Bosko is out hunting but never really tries to do any shooting except for a tiger that attacks him at the beginning. The true Harmon-Ising look then comes into play...with lot of cutesy animals which sing and dance about with Bosko. Ultimately that IS the plot to the cartoon...so it isn't especially deep nor satisfying.

For a 1930 cartoon, "Congo Jazz" is about average....not at good as a Disney product but close...and certainly better in quality than some of its contemporaries (such as anything by Van Buren Studios). Watchable nonsense. My score of 7 is relative to other cartoons of the day....and cannot be compared to a 6 of the 1940s or 50s when cartoon quality improved dramatically.

I did not think I would enjoy this "Bosko" episode as much as the first official one (Sinkin' in the Bathtub), because the start was annoying and spooky in a arbitrary way. However, the episode became better as it went along and by the end I found little to criticise.

What I like about this episode is the way Bosko is not so cruel a main character, he is very positive and tries to find ways of making angry people happy rather than making them more angry (this is not the case with the tiger, but the tiger was trying to eat Bosko, so it makes some sense that Bosko whacked him off a cliff after being relatively friendly to him). I also liked the music and the various ideas played into the episode. I've found with the cartoons, both by Disney and WB, that were made before around 1935, play with slapstick more cleverly and in a much more surreal manner than they really ever did later on. This is shown by the body shapes of the moving characters, the actions they make and the objects they use(not all the time, but this is when the slapstick playing is most noticeable).

Things I can slightly criticize about the cartoon are the very beginning, the fact that it is slightly repetitive in places, the vaguely "innappropriate" scenes (like coconuts on a tree representing a woman's breasts) and the fact that Honey is not in it! :-( Honey was one of my favourite characters in "Sinkin' in the Bathtub," and she did not play a part in this episode.

One thing that people may not realise and may dislike about all the Bosko cartoons, is that Bosko is meant to be a black person. In those days the makers would not have realised it was racist and would have thought it was perfectly OK. If you ignore that fact while watching this cartoon, I am sure you would enjoy it more (if you have problems with racism).

I recommend this cartoon to people who like old black and white cartoons, to people who have watched SITB and enjoyed it and to people who like cartoons with "unusual" slapstick. Enjoy "Congo Jazz"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten.

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.

After two decent but not great previous cartoons, that are noteworthy mainly for historical significance, 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid' and 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub', 'Congo Jazz' joins them in the decent but not great category. It fares least in the story, which is more a paper-thin excuse to string along music and gags with a few draggy stretches and an ending that doesn't feel that well rounded off, it feels like it peters out in fact.

However, 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 is 'Congo Jazz's' highlight component, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.

While never hilarious, 'Congo Jazz' is at least an amusing cartoon, with the ape and palm tree parts faring best. The sound isn't static, the cartoon is quite cute and it is difficult not to be cheerful watching. Bosko is never going to be one of my favourite cartoon characters, or among the all-time greats, but he has more personality this time round and it's more endearing than before.

In conclusion, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox