Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid is a 1929 short directed by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.
Plot[]
Animator Rudolf Ising is drawing and trying to come up with a character. Eventually he creates an African-American boy named Bosko. Ising asks Bosko what he can do, and Bosko proceeds to dance and whistle. Bosko stops and notices something, asking Ising, "Who's them folks out in the dark?" Ising tells him that it's the audience; he then asks Bosko if he can make them laugh. After some thinking, Bosko asks Ising to draw him a piano and Bosko starts playing on the piano trying to create laughs (Bosko himself laughs), and sings while tongue sticks out. Bosko continues to sing until his head pops up and we see it's made of springs. He manages to get his head back together and continues to sing. Ising gets annoyed by his singing and decides to use his ink pen to grab Bosko's pants, eventually sucking him in and puts him back in the inkwell. Bosko pops out of the inkwell, says, "Well, so long folks. See ya all later," blows a raspberry at Ising, and goes back inside.
Availability[]
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1, Disc Four (also Disc Three as part of ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons)
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2, Disc Three (also as part of ToonHeads: The Lost Cartoons)
Notes[]
- This short was never released in theaters, and was lost media until 2000. A heavily edited version later appeared in the ToonHeads special "The Lost Cartoons", which was also its first official public screening in 71 years.
- This cartoon has been in the public domain from its inception as it does not have a copyright notice. As of 2025, all works from 1929 are now in the public domain.
Gallery[]
_-_Piano.png "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid (1929) - Piano.png (1.14 MB)")
