Bosko's Easter Eggs

Out of all the Bosko cartoons, this one is definitely one of my favorites (from those I have seen, anyway). Bosko accidentally busts his easter eggs, so he attempts to scam the chicken out of her eggs, which he actually does, but then the chicken gets her revenge! Bosko was way ahead of his time evidently, as he is constantly making rhymes as he strolls along (with his pooch Bruno, and the girl who is his sister or girlfriend or something). One of my favorite lines he sings (raps?) is, "The Easter time is the time for eggs, and the time for eggs is the Easter time!" As always, Bosko makes seemingly simple situations very complicated and he gets himself into some crazy antics. Meanwhile he's always saying things like "Hello Miss Chicken, you sho' look scrumptious today!" For those not in the know, Bosko is a young black child with a very vivid imagination, often finding himself in wild adventures. These old Bosko 'toons are always a blast, and full of amazing animation which blows away today's bloated computer/CGI garbage.

Bosko is a cartoon character who underwent MANY changes in his voice and look over the years. Initially, Bosko was a Looney Tunes character who looked kind of like a black person...but sounded like a character out of an "Amos 'n Andy" show.... VERY stereotypical and offensive. But this awful voice was only used in the first two shorts (one of which wasn't even shown to the public). Soon, with a more neutral voice, Looney Tunes began insisting that Bosko was neither black nor white...he was just Bosko. After a few years with Looney Tunes, the production team of Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising took the character to MGM, as they owned the rights to the character. Initially, Bosko looked much the same, though the cartoons were now made using Two Color Technicolor. However, late in the life of Bosko, Harmon-Ising decided to make Bosko VERY obviously black and the character's look and voice were changed dramatically....and in shorts like "Bosko's Easter Eggs" he's obviously a black kid...as is his girlfriend, Honey. Bruno the dog looks pretty much the same.

Now considering how sensibilities have changed, the newest Bosko incarnation is certainly one to cause a few eyebrows to raise today. He is very stereotypical and I am sure many would be offended by him. This is doubtless why it's VERY difficult to find these cartoons any more....even harder than finding many of the old Looney Tunes versions.

So it this any good? In some ways yes. The quality of the artwork is astoundingly good compared to the old Bosko. And, making them in full color was great....and possible since the exclusive agreement between Disney and Technicolor had expired...so other studios could now have full color cartoons...not just black & white ones or cartoons made with two-color film (such as Cinecolor and Two Color Technicolor). As for the racist aspects of this particular cartoon, well, it's all in the eyes of the beholder. It didn't seem that bad to me...though I am not black and my opinion isn't the most important one here. I objected more because the cartoon was pretty dull plot-wise.