Ride Him, Bosko! is a 1932 Looney Tunes short directed by Hugh Harman.
Plot[]
A coyote howls from a mountaintop under a full moon. He takes a deep breath as his body inflates to accommodate extra air and releases another howl.
Bosko rides a horse, plays a banjo, and sings the cowboy song, "When the Bloom Is on the Sage". His horse seems unable to go over a rock along their path and Bosko is forced to climb down and push him over it before they can continue on their way.
The following words appear against a black background as the music switches to a piano rendition of "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain".
Red Gulch
~ where men are men, nine times out of ten ~
Outside a saloon, shadows in the window indicate that the patrons are having a good time. A small gun chase takes place and a passer-by is whacked on the head with what looks like a bottle of beer. Next, a really tall cowboy walks down the road but has the middle of his body shot out by the patrons. This results in him being reduced in height.
Bosko arrives, and his horse collapses in a heap beside the pavement. Strolling toward the saloon on the opposite side of the road, Bosko throws open the doors and yells "Howdy," only to be greeted by a volley of gunshots. The patrons yell, "Hi Bosko," in return as Bosko laughs uneasily. He then picks up his bullet ridden hat and walks inside, where a three-piece band, comprising banjo, violin and piano, is playing "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain". Bosko starts to tap dance whilst some onlookers sway to the beat.
The piano player thumps hard on the keys which makes a mug of beer fly through the air and empty the contents into his open mouth. He gulps it down and is suddenly consumed by flames that spread upwards from his feet. This results in his clothes being burnt off, exposing bloomers. He puckers suddenly-red lips, crosses his knees in a shyly feminine fashion, and walks away seductively.
Bosko steps up to the piano and starts to play, rocking his stool in tune to the music. Next, four cards are seen held in someone's hand: a King, Jack, Queen and Joker. They sing a little ditty, but the person holding the cards soon shoots the Joker putting an end to their performance. Bosko is still playing the piano whilst the other patrons gather in a circle and start dancing.
Honey, Bosko's sweetheart, is in a carriage that is riding down the highway in a carriage with a big trunk on the roof. The ride is quite bumpy, so Honey gets thrown around her seat a bit and exhorts the driver to be careful. A group of highwaymen are also on the move, and one of them creeps along behind a cliff to look for potential prey. He spots Honey's carriage, and hastens back to his cronies, who follow his lead. He then positions himself alongside the path of Honey's carriage and aims his guns. However, the carriage hurtles past at such a fast pace that the gunman gets twisted around himself. Having unraveled, he gets on his horse and gives chase along with his gang, all of them shooting non-stop. Eventually, the trunk on the roof of the carriage falls out and the clothes get out and start running away to avoid the hailstorm of bullets. A corset is literally 'flying' away.
Inside the carriage, Honey is getting thrown about violently as the driver is flung off his perch and lands on a tall cactus. He slides down wincing as hundreds of spines break off and lands on a skeleton of a bull. The skeleton suddenly comes to life and goes off at a gallop whilst the rider hangs on for dear life.
Back at the saloon, Bosko is still playing the piano when the driver stumbles in and relays the news. He then deflates and collapses dramatically into his pants as his hand grabs a mug of beer and pours it in his pants.
Bosko gets on his horse, and gallops away to the rescue, the horse leaping noticeably effortlessly over the rocks he seemed to have trouble with earlier.
The bandits are still chasing the carriage, and Honey leans out of a window and implores Bosko to save her. As Bosko continues to gallop after the runaway carriage, the screen zooms out to Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and Norm Blackburn watching the cartoon and adding sound effects. They discuss how they can get Bosko to save the girl, when Norm says, "Let's go home." This prompts everyone to exit, leaving Bosko in the lurch and shrugging.
Availability[]
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 6, Disc Three (restored)
Notes[]
- Although the short ends with a cliffhanger, it is continued in "Bosko's Parlor Pranks", a Happy Harmonies short produced after Harman and Ising had taken Bosko to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, where Bosko eventually gets to rescue Honey from the crazy gunmen. Animation from this cartoon is reused in that short.
- This short is the earliest Warner Bros. cartoon currently still under copyright, as it was renewed in 1961 by Seven Arts Productions, the company that gained ownership of the cartoons in the Sunset Productions package after the latter went bankrupt. While the renewal period originally was another 28 years, the Copyright Act of 1976 allowed for works currently under copyright as of January 1, 1978 to be copyrighted a total of 75 years from the year of release or publication. The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended those works another 20 years, meaning the renewal of any medium originally released prior to 1964 would now last another 67 years. The short's copyright cannot be renewed for a second time, making the short set to enter the public domain in the United States on January 1, 2028, as the maximum copyright for works published before 1964 with renewal is 95 years, 28 from the original, plus the 67 from the renewal. On the 96th year of release, the work will enter the public domain in the United States.
- Animation of the bandits would later be reused in "Speaking of the Weather" (1937).
- This is the final cartoon to use "A Hot Time in the Old Town" as the opening song.
Gallery[]
References[]