Ups 'n Downs

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.

None of the previous Bosko cartoons were great, most of them being hit and miss, but they were interesting and mostly quite decent. Up to this particular point in the series, 'Ups 'n Downs' isn't quite one of the weaker Bosko cartoons like 'Ain't Nature Grand' and particularly 'The Booze Hangs High' but it also doesn't have enough to make it one of the best.

Certainly there are good things about 'Ups 'n Downs'. 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 one of 'Ups 'n Downs' highlight components, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.

'Ups 'n Downs' humour isn't consistent, but the hotdog scene is amusing and while not hilarious the Sonny Boy part is pretty harmless and anybody familiar with the likes of Al Jolson may find it intriguing. The synchronisation and sound are remarkably good, nothing being static or sloppy.

However, the humour isn't consistent as said. Other than one or two parts, the cartoon is at best mildly amusing and too often is less than that. Part of the problem is that the timing is pedestrian, with some scenes taking too long to set up, and that the story is routine to the point of painful predictability with the obligatory stock villain that is there for the sake of being a plot device and an ending that is basically an over-familiar cliché that can be seen from miles away and has been done with much more freshness elsewhere.

Bosko is bland and not particularly endearing, showing much more personality before and since 'Ups 'n Downs'.

In conclusion, a very up and down cartoon. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Watched this Bosko short on YouTube and I agree with the previous poster that this was amusing and nothing more. Best sequence was indeed the hot dogs dancing without a care despite their intended purpose! The "Mammy and Sonny Boy" gag may be pretty obscure for anyone who doesn't know Al Jolson, otherwise it may be considered racist by others though in this case I don't think any real harm was meant by it. If the mouse drawn here looks a little familiar, it's because the directors, Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising, once drew for Walt Disney when he did Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who somewhat resembles the future mouse that would put Disney on the map of animation history. Worth a look once for anyone interested in this sort of thing.

As before, I was at first amazed at how blantantly this Bosko cartoon seems to rip off Disney and Ub Iwerks' Mickey Mouse cartoons, though I know that Ising did first work for Walt and probably helped to influence what came to be thought of as "the Disney cartoon style" himself. At first, this seemed to be a pretty blatant ripoff of the hot dog scene from "The Karnival Kid" (which by the way is a masterpiece and definitely the best Mickey Mouse cartoon I've seen of the era). As other reviewers pointed out, this cartoon's pacing was far from perfect, as it did have slow bits (although after watching some silent cartoons from fifteen years earlier, wow have my standards for good pacing been lowered!) It also referenced "The Jazz Singer", but even if you are like myself and didn't know the reference, I thought that scene was brilliant! Warner Brothers cartoons can often be cruel, gross, or gruesome, and yet I *loved* how this took a scene from the Karnival Kid and reimagined it with the living hot dog's humanity being recognized, and finding acceptance in a new parent! Honestly one of the most beautiful scenes I've seen in a cartoon - what a joy! I agree with the other reviewers that the horserace setting was not well established at the beginning, giving the cartoon a disjointed and confusing impression. I can see it says "RACE ____" on the back of a sport stadium in the background (probably "RACE TODAY"), but my eye was not drawn there the first time, and the print looks pretty poor quality, so I know I'm not getting the full frame and that may be contributing to my confusion. Perhaps an establishing shot could have made this clearer?

Pacing and cohesiveness could have been better, but overall a wonderful, clever, and extremely joyous and funny cartoon - the dog scene was definitely the highlight, but this cartoon got a lot more smiles and laughs out of me than average!

Looney Tunes' first star was Bosko. And, if you are wondering why they don't show Bosko cartoons on TV, watch a few and you'll see. While they weren't bad for the early 1930s, the cartoons lacked the edge and humor the later Looney Tunes films had. Instead of sarcasm and laughs, the production team of Harmon-Ising emphasized cute animal characters, the repetitive use of cels to save money, singing and dancing and schmatziness. In a word, the cartoons were saccharine.

In "Ups 'n Downs", Bosko is selling anamorphic hot dogs that dance about and seem alive....another common thing in the early Harmon-Ising cartoons. Again and again, you see Bosko dancing about behind his griddle...for no apparent reason. There's also a segment where you see boxing animals training...and it has nothing to do with the rest of the cartoon. Later, there's a big horse race and Bosko enters a mechanical horse and one of the bad animals spits tobacco at him and even tosses a grenade at Bosko!! Unfortunately, Bosko survives the onslaught.

So much of this cartoon seemed random and sticking to a plot is definitely NOT something you'll see often in Bosko cartoons. This one is about typical for a 1931 cartoon but it doesn't hold up well today.

Why have the whole thing with the hot dog stand, if the rest is about a horserace? We have the same bit seen so many times where the hot dogs are sentient beings, refusing to be eaten. At some point, an alarm goes off and Bosko takes off to participate in a horse race. Much of that is clever, but it is an excuse to start something that would be interesting to the audience. A pretty typical cartoon from this stable (so to speak).