LOONESSEY I: CONGO JAZZ (1930)

Inflatable tiger left, Bosko right.

First up in our Looney Tunes feature series: Congo Jazz from Sept. 1930. Surprising the number of interesting things a cartoon could bring up in the space of six minutes and 20 seconds. It features the wincingly-outdated-because-borderline-racist main character Bosko who seems to take his cue from the vaudeville/blackface performers of the earlier twentieth century, not to mention a burlesque palm tree, assorted jungle-creatures-cum-jazz-performers and what appears to be an inflatable tiger.

Gum-strumming. There's a word.

Probs the most interesting thing about the short (besides the insane, absurdist jokes) is how established the animation principles were by that time. Guess the rudiments never change. There's one gag where Bosko's bullet/musketball falls onto the ground, and seems to be an almost textbook demonstration of how to animate a bouncing ball (complete with dashed-line motion trail). Another thing is that Bosko ends the short with "That's all folks!" which phrase I'd always assumed was of a later date.

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Besides that there's the absurdist gags, most of which rely on the basic conceit of jungle animals as jazz musicians and/or instruments. The bit where Bosko and a grumpy gorilla bond over strumming pieces of gum is oddly charming in spite of and/or because of how offthewall it is.

I suspect Bosko may've been an at least subconsciounce influence on Bungalow Bill (rhythm, falsetto voice, etc.). Here's a link to the whole short. Dunno how long it'll stay on YouTube.

N.B. The only rule of the Loonessey is there are no rules. This is the Calvinball of watching-old-cartoons-then-riffing-off them. This one turned out fairly straight-laced. Others may not. I have upwards of 350 to go anyway.