Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid

Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid
Directed byHugh Harman
Rudolf Ising
Story byHugh Harman[1]
Produced byHugh Harman
Rudolf Ising
StarringCarman Maxwell
Music byIrene Hamilton[2]
Animation byFriz Freleng
Rollin Hamilton
Production
company
Release date
  • 1929 (1929)
Running time
5 min (1 reel)
LanguageEnglish

Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid is a 1929 live-action/animated short film directed and produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.[3] The film serves as a proof of concept for the character Bosko and was pitched to various producers, leading to the development of the Looney Tunes series. As a result, it was never released to theaters, and therefore was not seen by a wide audience until March 12, 2000 when it was aired on Cartoon Network's television special ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons.[4]

Plot

Rudolf Ising is thinking of ideas for a new character and draws a blackfaced person with an ink pen, who comes to life. When asked his name, the drawing introduces himself as Bosko. Ising tells Bosko to show him what he can do, and Bosko starts to tap dance, whistle, and sing, including a brief rendition on "Khosn kale mazel tov".[5] Afterwards, Bosko looks directly to the screen and asks, "Who's all them folks out there in the dark?" Ising tells Bosko that they are the audience and asks him if he can make them laugh, and Bosko agrees to try. At Bosko's request, Ising draws a piano and Bosko begins to press the keys. When one of the keys near the upper end of the keyboard produces a low note, Bosko removes the key and puts it in its proper place near the lower end of the keyboard. Bosko experiments some more, then plays a glissando. He laughs and starts singing "Sonny Boy", his tongue accidentally slipping out. He opens the top of his hat and pulls his hair, lifting his tongue back into his mouth. He continues to sing and play the song, which causes his head to pop off his shoulders like a slinky. After that, Bosko sings once again. Ising says that is enough. He then sucks Bosko back into his fountain pen and Bosko drags the piano along, and then Ising puts both back into the ink bottle. Bosko then pops out of the ink bottle and promises to return.

Production

In 1928, after Walt Disney left Winkler Pictures, producers of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon series for Universal Pictures, producer Charles Mintz retained his animators, including Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, Isadore "Friz" Freleng, Carman "Max" Maxwell, Norman "Norm" Blackburn, Paul Smith, and Rollin Hamilton. After a year, Harman and Ising failed to take over the series' production in proposals to Universal head Carl Laemmle, motivating Universal to establish its own in-house cartoon studio headed by Walter Lantz, leaving Winklers's West Coast animators out of work. Those who did not leave for Universal or Winkler's East Coast branch (producers of the Krazy Kat series), were led by Harman and Ising, who decided to produce their own cartoons and made Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid as a demonstration to show to distributors. Harman and Ising coerced Freleng and Hamilton to respectively leave Winkler and Universal to animate the film.

Rudolf Ising appeared on-screen as himself in the short and Carman Maxwell performed the voice of Bosko. Harman and Ising shopped for a distributor, but were turned down by both Paramount Pictures and Universal. Leon Schlesinger, head of Pacific Title & Art Studio took an interest in Bosko and used his connections with Warner Bros. Pictures to get a distribution deal for a cartoon series that Harman and Ising later named Looney Tunes, a play on the name of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony series.[6]

The cartoon pioneered the pre-synch technique, now standard in American animation, as Harman and Ising understood the shortcomings of recording the sound after the animation in relation to dialogue. Apparently, the entire soundtrack was filmed on the spot, with Maxwell being off-camera. According to cartoon historian Mark Kausler, a camera pointed at Maxwell's mouth to provide reference for the animation, but it was finally determined that it was not necessary and that it looked "too forced".

Availability

Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid is available on disc 4 of the DVD set Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, disc 3 of the Blu-ray set Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, and the Thunderbean Blu-ray Technicolor Dreams and Black and White Nightmares.

Preservation

Due to its prototypical nature rendering it unsuitable for any kind of public release, it was considered lost for many decades, with only the film's Vitaphone soundtrack still in existence. Turner Entertainment Co., who owned the rights to the short through Warner Bros.' pre-1950 works, had a 35mm copy in their archives, but did not acknowledge its existence until 1999. The short was later released on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD and the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 Blu-ray.

References

  1. ↑ Bosko, the talk ink kid
  2. ↑ Scott, Keith (2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, 1930-70. BearManor Media. p. 4. ISBN 979-8-88771-010-5.
  3. ↑ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 379. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  4. ↑ Schneider, Steve (1988). That's All, Folks! : The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. Henry Holt and Co. p. 34. ISBN 0-8050-0889-6.
  5. ↑ Goldmark, Daniel. Tunes for ’Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon. University of California Press, Ltd., 2005, p. 31-32
  6. ↑ Maltin, Leonard (1987). Of Mice And Magic: A History Of American Animated Cartoons (Revised ed.). New York, NY: Plume. pp. 223–224. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
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