Congo Jazz (1930) User Reviews

Bosko does some of what Bugs Bunny later did

[lee_eisenberg · 6/10 · 13 November 2008]

Bosko, in case you've never heard of him, was the original Looney Tunes star, appearing in the cartoons from 1930 until 1933, when his creators moved to MGM. In "Congo Jazz", the character hunts animals. What's interesting is that in the instance of an attack by a gorilla, Bosko makes the big guy forget that they're supposed to be enemies; just like what Bugs Bunny frequently did! True, there's not much in the way of plot. Of the few Bosko cartoons that I've seen, this was far from the best. Mostly it functions as a cultural historical reference, a look into the early days of what within a few years became the domain of Porky, then Daffy, and finally Bugs.

BTW, is it just me, or when Bosko spanks the monkey, do they show the monkey's butt? Seriously, I know that this was before the Hays Code, but still.

Congo Jazz is another pretty entertaining Bosko cartoon short

[tavm · 7/10 · 10 June 2007]

In Congo Jazz, Bosko is a hunter who is chased by a tiger. He shoots but the bullet comes out with a whimper instead of a bang. Eventually, Bosko pulls a flute out and serenades the tiger to the edge of a cliff before kicking him off. He then encounters a couple of young apes. One of them gets in trouble with Bosko so he opens the baby's butt-fur and attempts to spank him (this was obviously pre-Code). The father arrives. Feeling threatened, Bosko offers some gum. The father ape obliges. They then make beautiful music together when both play with their tongues. All the jungle animals join in. It all ends with two laughing hyenas laughing at Bosko's expense though Bosko himself does too...Another musical Bosko that has its own charm despite no real plot to speak of, just gags connected by music and setting. Pretty entertaining though a far cry from later Looney Tunes that became classics after Tex Avery and other "new blood" arrived in 1936...

Bosko receives a bit of a re-do.

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 10 May 2021]

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.

Music, music, music!

[slymusic · 21 April 2010]

"Congo Jazz" is one of the earliest Looney Tunes starring Bosko, a highly energetic character created by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko himself is quite elastic, able to stretch himself into unbelievable contortions. (Well, maybe not so unbelievable - it's a cartoon!) Musical accompaniment seems to be a big part of these early cartoons, too, particularly this one, as "music soothes the savage beast". Bosko is a hunter of wild game in this film, you see.

There's one sequence in "Congo Jazz" that I especially admire. Bosko and an ape play strings of chewing gum like pizzicato strings, then a lot of other jungle inhabitants joyfully join in with their own instruments.

"Congo Jazz" is a cartoon that is likely to brighten your mood when you see it. Find it on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 6 Disc 3.

Bosko in the jungle

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 14 March 2017]

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

I'll Have Some Bosco

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 7 December 2018]

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.

One of Bosco's better efforts, but still not convincing

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 27 August 2016]

"Congo Jazz" is a 6.5-minute cartoon made by successful animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising in the year 1930, so it had its 85th anniversary last year. It is in black-and-white, but it has sound and the title already gives away that the music in this little movie is one of the core components, actually the core component I would say. It is still better than most other Bosco stuff I have seen, but the funny moments about the hunter becoming the hunted and some chewing gum music action alone are not enough anymore, not even for the early 1930s as animation was improving drastically around that time and the Bosco cartoons became outdated really quickly. I think only huge cartoon lovers should check this one out. No English is spoken, so you can watch it wherever you are from and won't need subtitles. But the real question is, do you really want to? I give it a thumbs-down.

If you look past the inconsequential music revue . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 6 October 2016]

. . . Warner Bros.' animators are urging the World to hunt down and kill EVERY wild animal that can harm people with this 1930 release, CONGO JAZZ. This brief cartoon opens with Buzz Bosko hunting down one of the World's few remaining tigers. When his gun misfires, Mr. Bosko tricks the giant feline to careen off a high cliff to its doom. Unfortunately, he loses his gun in the process, so he's unable to foreshadow how Real Life Ohio Zookeepers recently gunned down the giant ape who got too curious about people when a cartoon giant ape threatens Buzz. If you stop and think about it, JAZZ's animators would have been incredulous at the idea that sharks would still be chowing down on the humans NOT already offed by poisonous snakes, rabid bats, baby-eating dingoes, and killer mosquitoes this late into the 21st Century. Most science fiction prognosticators of their day pictured Mankind enjoying a virtually sterile, threat-free environment in the 2100s, with the only non-human animals--dangerous or not--confined to Jurassic Parks and Time Travel Tours.

The music is excellent and the animation isn't bad either

[llltdesq · 8/10 · 1 May 2002]

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.

Ha ha, sweet, almost as good as "Sinkin' in the Bathtub."

[Mightyzebra · 8/10 · 22 December 2009]

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.