We Bug Out
I tellin’ ya! We wrap up “Insect Infestation Week” with the jolliest, toe tappingest, happiest-go-luckiest slab of 1930’s cartoonery imaginable — “Ain’t Nature Grand” starring Bosco. An early Harman and Ising Looney Toon finds our hero frolicking big time with birds, fish and assorted fauna before some really big bugs decide to torment the guy with normal sized wasps, just for the sheer hell of it. Love Bosco’s scat singing, his dance with the frogs and especially that thing Bosco’s head does whenever he gets hit in the cranium!
Major P.C. warning! This is a Bosco cartoon. Bosco is not an “imp,” a “scamp” or any other delicately phrased euphemism. Bosco is supposed to be a little black man, rendered in the style deemed acceptable in 1931. That means he looks like the caricature of a blackface performer. Other than Bosco’s appearance and jazzy, high falsetto voice, there’s virtually no content in this specific cartoon based on racial stereotypes. As usual, ReFrederator is presenting this film uncensored, letting you make the allowances (or not) for cultural context.
Next week, everything is strictly super with five Kryptonian Kartoon Klassics!
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On June 23rd, 2006 at 12:00 am
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of animation in this one. Beside the PC angle, the early WB cartoons have been derided as crude. This easily is better than non-Disney cartoons of the period. I especially liked the depiction of motion toward and away from the “camera,” like when Bosco ran in circles through the waterfall and when the dragonfly circled in ascent.
On June 24th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I wish I could get THAT kind of power out of a wind-up daisy!…..I guess the little buggers thought it would be funny to attack Bosco from the air?…..all he was doing was dancin’ with the little froggys, which IS legal in most states, as I understand it.
On June 29th, 2006 at 12:00 am
I was told Warner denied that he was based off of a stereotypical black person.
In any case, This is where we get the designs for the Animaniacs :3