Bosko's Soda Fountain (1931)

How sad is this?

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The acting in this movie is really good.

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. There are some good cartoons, as well as some average or less ones.'Bosko's Soda Fountain' is pretty good (for Bosko and as a cartoon in general), but it is very frustrating when the second half prevents it from being very good cartoon like the first half promised. As to be expected, it is flimsy story-wise and some of the gags in the second half are not very funny and come over as quite bizarre instead.It is in the second half where 'Bosko's Soda Fountain' falls down. The gags aren't as funny or clever and agreed it is really undermined by one of the brattiest and most irritating kids in perhaps all animation.However, the animation is good. 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 doesn't disappoint either, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.The gags are quite inventive and fun in the first half, particularly on a visual level. The first half is very entertaining generally, lively in pace and funny. Bosko may not be a great or particularly interesting character, but he has his charm as does Honey. Pacing is suitably lively.Overall, a cartoon of two halves, one very good half and one disappointing one. 7/10 Bethany Cox

. that there's really no other way to take BOSKO'S SODA FOUNTAIN other than as a allegorical prophecy on the part of Warner Bros.' Animated Shorts Seers division, those always uncannily accurate Looney Tunes prognosticators particularly apt at predicting 21st Century America's upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. In this particular offering, Bosko appears to be minding his own business behind the soda fountain. Since everything is in order, he's obviously meant to represent U.S. President Obama, fixing Health Care, saving the Auto Industry, and rescuing a failing economy destroyed by W. (for "weasel?") Bush and his Evil Henchmen. (A story in the Dec. 28, 2016 USA TODAY noted that the cost of W.'s phony baloney Iraq war is now up to $6 trillion, not to mention 5,000-plus murdered U.S. troops and one million slaughtered Iraqis; Obama had to clean up THAT mess for W. too, of course.) Then a hippo lady with patched white panties barges into Bosko's shop, symbolizing Hillary's brazen plan to take over for Barack (as the hippo lady begins fiddling with things, such as the shop's fan, with counter-productive results: it turns into a private ice cream server!). Meanwhile, a wiener dog waltzes in--representing the Rich People Party (RPP) Congress with which Barack is saddled--and swallows up all the meat links in the store, just as the RPP gorged by eating up Obama's U.S. Supreme Court Pick, Asian Trade Deal, Clean Air Treaty, Minimum Wage Increase, Banking Industry Fixes, Great Cyber Walls against Russian Election Hacking, and most of the other key parts of Barack's potential Legacy. Finally, Bosko's gal Honey (a dead ringer for Rump's mouthpiece Kelly Anne Conway) calls to order an ice cream cone for the thirteen-year-old stuck in a grown man's body, Rump (drawn here as an actual child, since America's National Censor Board would NOT allow Warner Bros. staff to illustrate the activity of a self-confessed serial finger rapist in the 1930s!). Honey's kid- sized Rump ends up smashing the ice cream into Obama\Bosko's face, and then gives him a gratuitous beating. Woe to America for tolerating Election Loser (by 3 million votes!) Rump, Warner warns us.

This is a very good Bosko short, at least in the beginning. It kind of loses a bit of appeal in some respects (for me, at least) in the second half. I'll be discussing this in some detail, so you have been warned:This starts out, understandably enough, with Bosko running a soda fountain. He's busily making sodas and other concoctions for various customers. Early on, there's a very happy little mouse enjoying a soda and jumping up and down with undisguised glee (that glee is later dampened when Bosko grabs the little mouse and uses his head and ears like an egg-beater). A dog, after eating a large stack of sandwiches, is picked up by Bosko and used as an accordion/concertina-like "instrument" (proving once again that Bosko can get music out of virtually anything). There are some fairly good visual gags in the first part, when Bosko is at the soda shop.Unfortunately, the cartoon cuts to Honey teaching (or trying to teach) a little monster whose entire presence is like one large fingernail scraping slate! He's a little cat who would make a few appearances (thankfully a bit less annoying in most of them). He incessantly demands an "ice cream cone" in a voice that would shatter glass. Honey of course calls Bosko and asks him to bring an ice cream cone to appease the little brat, instead of sending the little creep back to his parents. Big mistake! Bosko bring an ice cream cone and promptly winds up wearing it when the little creep shouts that he doesn't like vanilla and sends it back at Bosko and the chase is on. Bigger mistake! Bosko has things happen to him that look incredibly painful, even for a cartoon character, including one scene which, as a male, is far too disconcerting for me to contemplate!. Suffice it to say that the kid winds up making Bosko look very foolish in the end.Some very good animation sequences here and some very funny stuff, but the pint-sized Dillinger leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's a very funny short nevertheless and most definitely worth watching. Recommended.