Bosko's Holiday

Bosko's telephone can't get its owner to wake up no matter how insistently it rings. The phone beats the alarm clock (also sleeping) with its receiver and orders it to wake up their owner. The panicky clock can't get him up either -- not by its own ringing nor by hitting a brush against his bedpan. In desperation, the clock stabs Bosko in the rear with its hand. Bosko wakes up screaming, and sleepily answers the phone. It's Honey. She wants to go on a picnic.

Bosko cranks up the car, sends home the little baby cars that try to follow and drives to her place. Soon the two sweethearts are off to the woods. Bosko easily fixes a tire that his dog bit a hole in. He has less luck winning Honey's forgiveness after whispering an ungentlemanly suggestion in her ear.

"Bosko's Holiday" has even less plot than usual. There isn't even the usual calamity to provide excitement. The gags are crude and rude: at one point, Bosko tries to make Honey hungry by chewing noisily with his mouth open. The short is further undermined by later entries that have scenes and gags nearly identical to this one. The film feels like a generic-label Bosko cartoon.

Bosko is certainly not among my favorite cartoons of the 1930s. He's not the worst...but is certainly nothing like the later edgy cartoons from Looney Tunes. Instead, like in nearly all the of the Bosko films, he sings and dances a lot...like he as well as his girlfriend, Honey, are deranged!

When the story begins, Bosko is sleeping and the alarm clock goes off AND his phone rings....but he won't awaken. So, true to so many of the Harmon-Ising Bosko cartoons, the phone and alarm clock come to life and force him to awaken. This is kind of cute...I'll give the film its due. Unfortunately, Bosko then goes for a drive to Honey's house...singing the insipid 'La, La, La, La, La' tune. To make it worse, when Honey joins in, she, too joins in the singing (yuck). Honey's dog is sad he didn't get to go along...and runs after them.

The tire gag and a few others save this cartoon from being completely saccharine...but the godawful singing and cutesy look make this a cartoon you only want to see once.

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.

While there are better Bosko cartoons, there are also worse. 'Bosko's Holiday' is watchable, but only just a little above average, so as far as Bosko cartoons go in ranking it's somewhere in the middle. As ever with a Bosko cartoon, the story is slight, would actually agree that it's even more slight and more generic than usual. There are some inventive gags here, but they don't come consistently and others are forgettable and tired in timing.

Another issue is Bosko himself, not an interesting character and not a particularly endearing one either. Honey is not a great character either, but fares better, having some charm and not being annoying. Pacing has its slow spots too.

On the other hand, 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.

As aforementioned, some of the gags are quite inventive, like the beginning gag, the part with the doghouse and the car and the ending.

In conclusion, a one-time watch but will never be a favourite any time soon. 6/10 Bethany Cox