Bosko's Mechanical Man (1933)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Release Date:

27 September 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Bosko creates a robot. The only problem is that his creation goes mad wreaking havoc. |

Plot Keywords:

Bosko | Robot | Insanity | Cartoon | Looney Tunes

Cast

Rochelle Hudson	...	Honey (voice) (uncredited)
Johnny Murray	...	Bosko (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Vitaphone)

Company:

Leon Schlesinger Studios

Soundtrack:

Let's Put Out the Lights (and Go to Sleep)

So who remembers Bosko?

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

After STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928) it was obvious that a famous mouse had came to stay. Naturally WB wanted a piece of the cake and responded with their character Bosko, and the rest is history. Or maybe not, since Bosko never ended up on T-shirts and lunch-boxes, or became a sideshow performer in a theme-park. But he perhaps the strongest of the Mickey clones to come out of the early 30's who survived through about 40 shorts, and even were "resurrected" for a short while by MGM! The inspiration were pretty obvious, Bosko were perhaps a monkey of some sort (and later suspected as a racial caricature which for years has caused him banned from TV!) but he did have a faithful dog named Bruno and a girlfriend named Honey who dressed in a skirt and a ribbon! And this short is especially interesting because it were released the same year as a short titled MICKEY'S MECHANICAL MAN! But there's also the end to all similarities. Mickey's robot was created for a boxing match, and was a good guy all the way. It only got out of control at the sound of a horn. In BOSKO'S MECHANICAL MAN we first see him construct the robot of every piece of scrap he can find, intending it to do Honey's dishes! But the robot turns brutal and almost causes the demise them both. I shouldn't tell how they save themselves, but as in any other Bosko short, music is a keyword! Bosko was aping Mickey, but so was many other toons of the time where many only survived one or two shorts. Bosko had charisma and concluded his stories with the trademark-line "That's all folks!" which later for ever should be associated with Porky Pig.

Another fun short to look out for is RKO's DOWN SOUTH, with Toby the Pup as… ready?... a steamboat pilot!