Bosko's Picture Show (Hit-ler and Miss, or Meet the Fawkers)

 

Director: Hugh Harmon and Isadore "Friz" Freleng

Summary: In this, the last Bosko short made for Warner Bros/Leon Schelsinger studios, Bosko shows viewers what a night at the movies was like back in the early 1930s. There were sing-alongs with actual in-house organ players, a newsreel showing world events, a short film featuring comedy duo Laurel and Hardy (though some theaters showed other shorts from comedy duos -- and trios, in the case of The Three Stooges), and a melodrama where Honey is in danger of being kidnapped by Dirty Dalton (the cur!).

The Channel: Nickelodeon (Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon -- Nick @ Nite version; as of the second airing)

Part(s) Edited:

• The “Out of Tone” newsreel sequence is missing the story of a Hollywood screen lover (Jimmy Durante) spending his vacation in Germany getting chased by Adolf Hitler (in what is commonly believed to be his first caricatured appearance in an American cartoon. “Cubby’s World Flight”, an obscure short made around the same time as this, is considered the first, but when was the last time you’ve heard someone talk about Cubby?) with an axe.
• During the melodrama He Done Her Dirt (And How!), Bosko shouts “The dirty fuck!” when he sees Dirty Dalton (the cur!) sneak onscreen on a wheel-less bicycle. The first time Nickelodeon aired this short, that part wasn’t cut (or so it’s believed). Starting with the second time, “The dirty fuck!” was changed to “The dirty cur!” (with “cur” being recycled from the part near the end where Bosko yells, “Stop, you cur!” before jumping through the movie screen).

How It Plays Edited: The first cut doesn’t really affect the overall short. The abrupt cut in audio might hint at something missing, but it can logically be written off as a scene that was cut before theatrical release, not a scene that was edited when aired on television. As for the second cut, it’s obvious that something’s been changed, as this video will show you:

Availability Uncut: The only official release it has (as of 2024) is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume six (on the third disc dedicated to Bosko, Buddy, and one-shot black and white musicals). As it’s still under copyright, you’re not going to find the whole thing on YouTube. You might find clips of the infamous “dirty fuck” line and a review/commentary or two, but no full cartoon. Archive.org does have it uncut, but even that website has had copyrighted videos taken down, so catch it while you can or just shell out money for an official release.

EDIT: “Bosko’s Picture Show” can also be found as a special feature on the Blu-ray release of the movie Lilly Turner, starring Ruth Chatterton and George Brent. The movie was released on Blu-ray this year; that’s why it was never mentioned until now.

Final Thoughts and Miscellany: If you’re wondering whether or not Bosko actually did call Dirty Dalton a “dirty fuck,” then you’re not alone. A lot of classic animation fans and historians have argued this. Some believe that Harman and Ising wouldn’t go that far, since this was the time that the Hays Code was in effect, but no one really took it seriously until mid-1934 (this cartoon was released in 1933, so dicey content in American movies still popped up here and there. You can visit pre-code.com or just look up “pre-Code movies” on YouTube or whatever search engine you prefer if you want to learn some American film history before its Golden Age) and think that Bosko called Dirty Dalton a “dirty fox” (which is the line in the closed captions/subtitles on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection volume six version) or a “dirty mug”. While Mark Kausler (animator and director of the 1991 animated version of Beauty and the Beast, the 1994 animated version of The Lion King, and 2001’s Osmosis Jones) thinks Bosko’s line was “the dirty mug,” according to lip sync and a perceived soundtrack flaw that turned an innocent word obscene, animation historian Jerry Beck had several people see the film, with all of them concluding that Bosko indeed called Dirty Dalton a “dirty fuck.” As for me, I believe Bosko did say “dirty fuck,” but it sounded more like “dirty fock” (rhymes with “hawk”). Guess if the short “u” sound was replaced with an "aw" digraph sound, no one would know the difference back then.

Then there’s the question of why Harman and Ising would let this slip. Was it because films back then were trying to be as subversive and obscene as possible, which caused the Hays Office to censor films more harshly after mid-1934, since the Code wasn’t as enforced as it should have been when it first came out in 1930? Were Harman and Ising so mad at Leon Schlesinger over budget issues that this was their “screw you”/“up yours”/“take this job and shove it” (all of which would be too rude to say or imply under the Hays Code, just so you know) moment that led them to go work for MGM? Or is it actually just an innocent word turned rude?

Bosko's Knight-Mare (Falling Stars)

Director: Hugh Harman

Summary: Bosko dreams that he’s a Knight of the Round Table after falling asleep while reading a book on Arthurian legends.

The Channel: Nickelodeon (on the Nick @ Nite version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon)

Part(s) Edited: When Bosko first meets the Knights of the Round Table in his dream, the scenes showing the knights as popular celebrities of the day (Ed Wynn, Jimmy Durante, Mahatma Ghandi, and Oliver Hardy, with Bosko turning into Stan Laurel, Hardy hitting Laurel/Bosko and Laurel/Bosko whining over getting hit) was cut.

Opinion on the Edit: Yeah, there’s no real explanation behind his cut. Arguments can be made that the Ghandi caricature could be potentially offensive, as Mahatma Ghandi is a revered figure in Indian history, but I have a feeling that Nickelodeon left in caricatures of Ghandi in other early black and white Warner Bros shorts. Maybe there was some kind of licensing issue over the celebrity likenesses being depicted, but then all the celebrities caricatured here and in other shorts would have been cut. Since the only celebrities the Nickelodeon version allowed were the original Marx Brothers (back when Zeppo was included alongside Groucho, Harpo, and Chico), I’m going to assume that the cut was done because the scene simply ran too long and Nickelodeon needed to shorten the cartoon to make room for more shorts and, most importantly, more commercials.

How It Plays Edited: There’s an obvious skip in the audio track, but nothing too serious. That’s all I got.

Video Comparison: 

Availability Uncut: Yeah, there’s no real legal way to see this. It was on television back when Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon aired this in the late 1980s into the early 1990s. I’m not 100% sure if Cartoon Network ever aired this, since they did air black and white Warner Bros cartoons, but most of them were the one-shot musicals. As of 2024, it hasn’t been released on DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming (either as part of a WB short collection or as a special feature to a film). Since it’s under copyright, most video websites will take it down -- operative word being “most”. While YouTube may only have it available as part of a review (they used to have a video clip showing how it was edited on Nickelodeon, but that has since been taken down), DailyMotion has it uncut, as does Archive.org.

Bosko the Lumberjack (Moose-Fire)

Director: Hugh Harman

Summary: In a refreshing break from the one-shot musical cartoons, we’re back with Bosko. As the title indicates, Bosko is a lumberjack who cuts down trees and tries to save his girlfriend, Honey, from a villain named Pierre. It should also be noted that this is (so far) the last Bosko cartoon to be public domain (as the years go by, this will change and I will try to edit in the changes to reflect that).

The Channel: Nickelodeon (on the Nick@Nite version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon)

Part(s) Edited: According to the old Censored Cartoons page, there was said to be a scene cut where Bosko fires a rifle into a moose head. Turns out that’s a lie. The actual scene cut was Pierre entering the cabin with Honey to escape Bosko trying to get Honey back, and the moose head on the wall randomly coming to life and shooting Pierre in the butt repeatedly. The Mandela effect at its finest.

How It Plays Edited: Doesn’t affect the overall story, but does create the plot hole of Pierre rubbing his butt just as Bosko enters the cabin to fight him. Nothing major.

Video Comparison:

Uncut version:

Edited clip:

Availability Uncut: As mentioned before, this is the last Bosko cartoon that has fallen into the public domain in America (and, with time, there will be more to come). Since there are no official releases of this short (either on streaming or physical media), your best bet is to watch it on online video sites that allow public domain videos.

Bosko the Doughboy (Censorship is Hell)

 

(Please note: this is not to be confused with “Battling Bosko,” which is about Bosko being a boxer and hasn’t been edited for anything on a notable American TV channel or in unnamed syndication. Also, the video versions of this short may contain quick cuts and flashing lights that could cause issues with photosensitivity or trigger those who violence/war-based PTSD. Viewer discretion is strongly advised)

Director: Hugh Harman

Summary: In a shining example of how not every Bosko cartoon was inoffensive fluff, this outing sees out hero in WWI-style trench warfare. The juxtaposition of the horrors of war with the rubber hose humor and physical comedy that was common in animated shorts like this is what sells it.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon

Part(s) Edited: Just because this short is a vast departure from your typical Bosko cartoon doesn’t mean it isn’t still a Bosko cartoon. Much like “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub,” “Box Car Blues,” and “Ups ‘n Downs,” the version shown on Nickelodeon’s Nick@Nite version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon cut the ending where, after Bosko rescues the nameless hippo from swallowing a cannonball, the cannonball explodes on Bosko and he does the Al Jolson in blackface “Mammy” schtick.

I’m amazed the rest of the comedic war violence wasn’t edited, nor was the scene of the longjohns dumping the bomb on the cannon by opening up its back flap (I’m guessing this was an early example of scatological [“bathroom”] humor in the same vein as the duckling who had to go on “The Booze Hangs High”).

How It Plays With the Edit: Another sign that this is a Bosko cartoon at heart: the ending, while abrupt, doesn’t affect the rest of the short.

(original version)

(approximation of how the Nickelodeon edited version played out. Nickelodeon's edits were a lot nicer than what I came up with, so don't take this as actual footage)

Availability Uncut: And just like that, we have a trait that separates it from most other Bosko shorts. This one does have an official release. It’s on the sixth and final volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (on the second disc, which features wartime cartoons. A lot are the World War II-era shorts that would otherwise be edited or banned from airing, but there are some that just take place in a wartime setting). It’s still a public domain short (and has been since 1960), so, if you don’t want to buy the Golden Collection DVD, you can easily watch it on YouTube or other video websites. I recommend the CCCartoons version, which actually has it uncut and in high quality.

Update: As of 2026, "Bosko the Doughboy" is also available (restored and in high-def) as a special feature on the Blu-ray version of the movie Possessed, starring Clark Gable and Joan Crawford.

Bosko Shipwrecked (Cannibal Run)

 

Director: Hugh Harman (though the title card lists both Harman and Ising as directors, this was the first short where Harman does solo direction and the first time one person is credited for a Warner Bros cartoon)

Summary: After a terrible storm at sea, Bosko ends up shipwrecked on an island, where he must contend with the wildlife that stole his hat and the angry jungle natives who would love to have him for dinner…as the main course.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon

Part(s) Edited: The angry jungle native part. All of it.

How It Plays With the Edit: I think it’s just better to show you the uncut version vs. the edited version (the latter of which I had to make myself, since I couldn’t find an actual clip), though this might be the first time a scene cut in a Bosko cartoon actually affects the story and not the flow of gags set to music:

(original uncut version)

Link to Edited Version

Availability Uncut: Another day, another public domain Bosko short that hasn’t been officially released on DVD, Blu-ray, or streaming as of this writing in 2024. However, it is on a lot of unofficial public domain DVDs (I remember having the Cartoon Craze DVD specifically titled, “Bosko Shipwrecked”) and, of course, YouTube and other video websites are an option.

Ups 'n Downs (Hot Dog Day Afternoon, or *This* Is The End?!)

 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko, working as a hot vendor at an amusement park, ditches his post to compete in a horse race at a nearby track.

The Channel(s): Nickelodeon, syndication (Astra TV)

Part(s) Edited:

l Nickelodeon’s version cut a very bizarre scene (in a cartoon that’s already filled with the kind of rubberhose surrealism you’d see in 1930s animation that wasn’t Disney) where a dog buys a hot dog from Bosko and, just as the dog is about to eat it, the hot dog comes to life in and does the Al Jolson “Mammy” schtick from The Jazz Singer (which was a recurring pop culture reference in the older WB shorts) to beg the dog not to eat him and the dog immediately falls in love with the hot dog and the two skip away happily.

l Astra TV (a television station in Greece) aired a version of this short that, not only was redrawn and colorized, but also went under the title, “Off to the Races” and had an alternate ending to cover up the fact that Radio & Television Packagers, Inc. used an incomplete copy of the original as their source.

How It Plays With the Edit:

l Nickelodeon version: We’ve been through this before: we’re still in the era of the WB shorts having little-to-no plot, so whatever gags get cut for whatever reason probably won’t be missed, unless they’re the highlight of the short. Outside of an abrupt change in audio, there’s no effect.

l The Astra TV redrawn version: I’ll let the video comparison do the talking, but, if you want my opinion, the Astra TV version’s ending feels like the kind of corny comedy that plagued children’s cartoons before the rise of Nickelodeon and Western animation in general at least trying to elevate itself by making its children’s cartoons more creator-controlled and expanding animation to appeal to older viewers (whether it’s intense, dramatic HBO fare, like Spawn and Spicy City or the crude, irreverent comedies like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Adult Swim’s early works):

(original version)

(redrawn Astra TV version)

Availability Uncut: No official release as of 2024 on streaming or home media. However, you can easily see the original black and white version and the Astra TV redrawn version on YouTube and other online video websites without worrying over copyright issues, as “Ups ‘n Downs” has been in the public domain since 1959.

The Booze Hangs High (Gross Hypocrisy)

 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko dances and sings with farm animals and deals with a pig family getting drunk on discarded booze. That and a brief scene of a duckling interrupting a dance to use the bathroom are the highlights of this short. It’s not much, but, given how much the Warner Bros cartoons were trying to be like Disney, those scenes show that this won’t last.

Part(s) Edited: Here’s something: a Bosko cartoon that hasn’t been edited on Nickelodeon to remove a character doing the Al Jolson “Mammy!” schtick. Instead, Nickelodeon cut the part where the father pig’s drunken solo is interrupted when he belches up an eaten corncob, dusts it off, flicks off a kernel, and puts it back in a trap door in his stomach. This wouldn’t be a problem, except:

a) The scene isn’t as gross as described.

b) Nickelodeon back in the late 1980s into the 1990s was all about crude and gross humor. If they weren’t, Ren and Stimpy, all variations of Double Dare, and the whole idea of dumping slime on kids and adults (which originated from the Canadian sketch show You Can’t Do That on Television) wouldn’t exist.

c) No cuts were made to the scene of the duckling squirming in desperation and whispering to his mom that he needs to use the bathroom or the piglets getting drunk and their father catching them and joining in on the drunken antics. Hypocrisy in censorship will be a running theme as this series continues.

How It Plays With the Edit: As with the “Big Man from the North” example, I have access to both the uncut and edited on Nickelodeon version for you to see how both versions play:

Edited Version: 

Uncut Version: 

Availability Uncut: This is a public domain cartoon (having been one since 1959) and you can easily find it online or on bargain bin home media. However, this one does have an official release by Warner Bros. You can find it on the sixth and final volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set (it’s on the third disc dedicated to the early black and white shorts) or on the Blu-ray version of the Greta Garbo movie, Anna Christie. That version is an HD restored version, which is better quality than the DVD version.

Box Car Blues (Throw Mammy From the Car...Again!)

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko and a pig traveling as hobos in a boxcar.

Part(s) Edited: As the blog title implies, this post is more-or-less a sequel to the one for “Sinkin’ in the Bathtub”, as both that cartoon and this one were edited on Nickelodeon to remove Bosko yelling, “MAMMY!” during a perilous moment (in this case, it’s during the three times he goes through a tunnel on top of a boxcar). And, as I said in the first one, for more information about how and why this would be considered offensive, look up “Al Jolson” and the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer. Surprisingly, the train pulling the hill’s “pants” down, revealing polka-dot underwear and the hill coming to life and being embarrassed over it wasn’t cut. You’d think Nickelodeon’s censors at the time would have caught that. Then again, knowing what we know now about how the kid actors were treated on most Nickelodeon shows, maybe they looked the other way.

How It Plays With the Edit: We’re still in “edits that make no difference since the cartoon is thinly-plotted anyway” territory. There might be a slight jump in the music track, but nothing too jarring.

Availability Uncut: No physical media or streaming release as of 2024, but it is a public domain cartoon, so you can easily find it online, in bargain bin DVD releases, or right here:

Ain't Nature Grand? (Spit-Bit)

 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko’s fishing trip turns into a string of scenes where he cavorts with nature.

Part(s) Edited: Another light one from the days of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon being a Nick at Night show. Bosko petting the fish until it spits in his face was cut. The Looney Tunes wiki says that there was a scene where Bosko gets bitten by the fish he pets, but I’ve scoured every uncut copy I could find and the biting scene doesn’t exist; only the spitting. If you care anything about people having access to correct information, please fix it. On top of that, there’s nothing overly-violent about spitting in someone’s face. Yes, it’s kinda rude and disgusting (especially since this premiered around the time when the Hays Code was written up as a guideline to proper movie content, but wouldn’t be fully enforced until 1934 and spitting back then was considered crude and disgusting enough to be a problem with the censors), but not violent. This is why I conclude that this was done either because Nickelodeon’s censors were really strict back in the late 1980s or it was just a cut made because the network needed that time for commercials.

How It Plays With the Edit: Since I can’t find evidence that this was edited, I like to imagine that the scene went from Bosko saying, “Ain’t that cute?” to the audience about the fish to the fish jumping out of his hands and back in the water. The cut doesn’t make or break the cartoon, since we’re still in the era of cartoons having thin plots and thinner characterization and only being a vehicle for visual gags set to music.

Availability Uncut: No official release as of 2024, but this is a public domain short, so your best bet is either on online video sites or bargain bin videotapes and DVDs that have compilations of old cartoons (and maybe a forgotten short film or live-action movie) that aren’t under copyright. Here’s the whole cartoon below for those who don’t want to go on YouTube:

There's also a redrawn colorized version of this short that exists, but, as far as I can tell, I never saw it on television. Here's a video showing the differences between the black and white and redrawn-colorized version:

The Big Man From the North (Born Under a Backside)

 

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko is a Canadian Mountie whose sergeant assigns him the task to catch a wanted criminal, dead or alive. Like most cartoon shorts of the time at Warner Bros., expect a lot of music numbers and gags that eat up a lot of clock to cover for a thin plot.

Part(s) Edited: The version that aired on Nickelodeon’s Looney Tunes on Nick (the Nick at Nite version where it was mostly black and white shorts) cut the scene of the outlaw getting stuck in the saloon doors, Bosko grabbing the outlaw’s knife, and plunging it into his rear end. Despite this, Bosko popping out of the spittoon and firing a machine gun into the bad guy’s butt wasn’t cut. Did the Nickelodeon censors feel that the knife in the butt was more of a threat to be imitated? It did look like it could be easily done and knives are more accessible than guns, even though I live in America, where the gun/knife accessibility ratio is 50/50 or more, depending on the state laws and any precedent from previous court cases.

How It Plays With the Edit: Why should I tell you how it plays out when I can show you? Here’s how it plays out uncut (start point at 6:33):

And here’s a clip from the censored version:

Availability Uncut: So far, the only physical media that has this short are the DVD release of the 1931 gangster film, Smart Money, starring James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson and volume three of the Warner Gangster Collection DVD set. It’s not on any Warner cartoon collections (at least, not as of this writing), either in physical media or on streaming, nor has it aired on television since its days on Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon (it may have made an appearance on Cartoon Network’s Late Night Black and White, but I haven’t seen it there. Someone else can correct me on this). However, all is not lost. This cartoon has been in the public domain since 1958 and can easily be found on YouTube or whatever video website you prefer.

Hold Anything (Head of Mouse-hold)

Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko is a construction worker who impresses Honey by making music from everything in sight, including a decapitated mouse, a typewriter, and a goat filled with hot air. I don't know how best to describe it. The early Warner Bros. shorts were weird in their lack of a coherent plot and characterization.

Part(s) Edited: Nickelodeon strikes again with their edits. This time, they cut Bosko decapitating the Mickey Mouse-looking mouse (and the mouse trying to get its head back) as Bosko tosses the mouse back and forth on the saw. It's not as gruesome as it sounds (mostly because it's played for laughs and musicality), but I do kind of understand why Nickelodeon would consider it inappropriate for kids/family TV, especially back in the late 1980s, early 1990s when censorship was a bit more strict on the violence/dangerous behavior front. Thanks to OpenShot Video Editor, I did a recreation of how I think the edit played out on Nickelodeon. 

Please note: I was too young to remember when Nickelodeon aired Bosko cartoons on Nick at Nite (but I do remember when they aired Daffy/Speedy cartoons on their daytime version of Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon), so this isn't 100% actual evidence.

How It Plays With the Edit: Besides a mild jump in the audio (and the fact that the early Warner Bros. cartoons didn't have much in the way of a story or plot), the edit doesn't make or break the cartoon. Get used to this type of evaluation. It will be semi-frequent.

Availability Uncut: Bad news: it's not on any official Warner Bros. DVD or Blu-ray release as of this writing, nor is it on any streaming service, such as HBO Max (or Max, as it's now known), Warner Media RIDE, or even Boomerang (whose streaming service has more classic cartoons than the actual channel). The good news: this short is public domain, so YouTube and other video sites should have it uncut and uncensored (and maybe, just maybe, you can find the edited-on-Nickelodeon version since there are people out there who want to upload the stuff they recorded on their VCRs back when that was common). Here's the full short on  YouTube (the quality isn't the best, but it is uncut and uncensored).

Sinkin' in the Bathtub (Throw Mammy from the Car)

EDIT (2024): This introduction was back when I was going to group the edits by channel, not in chronological order. While the introduction doesn't apply to the direction I want to take the blog, I'm leaving it as is, because to do so would deny that the introduction never existed. On top of that, we have a generation of people who don't remember when Nickelodeon aired the Looney Tunes cartoons. It's a good history lesson, if nothing else.

For those who either weren't born between the years 1988 and 1999 (or too young to remember those years), there was a time when Nickelodeon was one of many American free-broadcast and pay-TV channels that aired the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. 

Nickelodeon's way of airing them was different. When it started out in 1988, the cartoons aired on Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon's block for old TV shows (around that time, it would have been programs from the 1950s to the 1970s that were in the Paramount library). The selection was slim: black-and-white shorts made before 1943 (specifically, the Bosko and Buddy cartoons, with some one-shot musical shorts), redrawn-colorized versions of the 1930s-1940s Porky Pig cartoons, and the post-1964 cartoons (most of which were the ones where Daffy Duck is paired with Speedy Gonzales, the Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons made without Chuck Jones' involvement, and the desperate attempts at creating new characters [Cool Cat, Chimp N. Zee, Bunny and Claude, etc] before Warner Bros. animation studio shut down completely in 1969) were all that aired. 

When Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon moved to daytime hours, the line-up was changed to get rid of the Bosko, Buddy, and one-shot musical black and white cartoons; changed some of the redrawn-colorized cartoons to computer-colorized, and added some Warner Bros. shorts that would otherwise not be available on network television: the Speedy Gonzales cartoons made between 1954 and 1963 when he was paired with Sylvester or a one-shot character, the Pepe Le Pew cartoons made after 1949's "For Scent-imental Reasons", the post-1948 Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, and a lot of shorts (with one-shot or lower-tier characters) considered "forgotten", "underrated", and "hidden gems" by the more hardcore of Looney Tunes cartoons fans. Yes, the more popular shorts were included, but weren't aired often (possibly because they were needed on other, less niche networks).

In contrast to network television of the time, Nickelodeon didn't edit for slapstick violence, suggestive humor, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, or use of dynamite or bombs. Nickelodeon's cuts were for profanity (a rarity, but it has happened), any activity considered dangerous and easy for young and impressionable viewers to copy, comically violent gags that were too violent by the network's standards, suicide played for comedy, ingesting pills or dangerous chemicals, outdated racial caricatures of African-Americans, East Asians, and (sometimes) Native Americans/American Indians, and references to World War II involving Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Imperial Japan and the Japanese (the more innocuous WWII references to buying war bonds, rationing food, and recycling scrap metal were left intact). 

Other cuts done to the cartoons were to shave off some time for more commercials, and, in the case of a lot of redrawn-colorized cartoons, edits done to cover up the fact that the artwork was terrible and there was no way in Hell that the Korean animators were able to re-create the lively and over-the-top animation done by Bob Clampett (and, on occasion, Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin, Norm McCabe, and Chuck Jones, but most of the redrawn-colorized cartoons were originally black and white cartoons directed by Bob Clampett).

As you'll see, compared with other channels, Nickelodeon's cuts made more of an effort to make the edits for content as seamless as possible. There were more successes than failures and some attempts proved that whoever edited the classic cartoons for content at Nickelodeon at least had a sense of humor. However, that's just my opinion and you (the reader) might not feel the same way.

...And now, on with the show!

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Director: Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: Bosko and his similar-looking girlfriend, Honey (remember, these were made back when Mickey and Minnie Mouse were popular and other cartoon studios tried to imitate that success) go on a car ride that goes comically wrong. Oh, and the first part has a lot of comedy set to the short’s title song. That, too, was common in the early days of Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Part(s) Edited: Yes, even the very first Warner Bros. cartoon was censored when aired on American television. But Nickelodeon’s edit was fairly light. All they cut was Bosko yelling, “MAMMY!” as his car chases him down a hill with Honey in it. For more information about how and why this would be considered offensive, look up “Al Jolson” and the 1927 film, The Jazz Singer.

How It Plays With the Edit: Since this is an early Warner Bros. cartoon where the plot and characters are thin and the shorts only existed as a kind of early version of the music video, there's no need to worry about any jokes being ruined or plot holes. However, according the the old Censored Cartoons Page, Bosko shouting "MAMMY!" was muted rather than cut, so having Bosko shout with no sound coming out may turn that scene into a non sequitur. I did a crude compare/contrast video just to show how I think the edit played out.

Availability Uncut: It's been in the public domain since 1958, so you can find it on YouTube and similar video sites if you want to see it there. For those who love physical media, this short can be found on The Uncensored Bosko DVD (volume 1), the third volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set as a special feature, volume two of the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Blu-ray (on disc three), and on several public domain VHS tapes (for those who still have VCRs) and DVDs, particularly Inside Termite Terrace volume two (VHS), Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising's Uncensored Cartoons Collection volume one (DVD), and Hugh Harman & Rudolf Ising's Uncensored Cartoons.

Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid (Crashing Pilots)

Director(s): Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising

Summary: In what is considered the pitch pilot to the Warner Bros. cartoons (and one of the earliest examples of incorporating lip sync to sound in animation as well as one of the earliest examples of mixing live-action with animation), an animator (Rudolf Ising) draws a cartoon human on a sheet of paper, who springs to life in front of his eyes. The cartoon character (voiced by Carmen “Max” Maxwell) introduces himself as Bosko and shows off his many talents before Ising puts him back in the inkwell.

Part(s) Edited: You’d think a cartoon this short and only seen by Leon Schlesinger as part of a pitch to see what kind of animated shorts an executive would want for his studio wouldn’t be subjected to cuts, would you? 

Well, it was. 

While it might seem that the edits were done for time reasons (as there were a lot of works to cover within the hour [with commercials] and spending time on this would have eaten a lot of clock), I feel that some of Bosko’s dialogue was cut so it wouldn’t sound so stereotypically black, though kudos to Cartoon Network for not overdubbing Bosko’s original voice like they did with Mammy Two-Shoes from the Tom and Jerry shorts.

When Cartoon Network aired this as part of a special episode of ToonHeads about lost, rare, and obscure works from Warner Bros (mostly animated, though there were some live-action pieces and a couple that were hybrid), they cut Ising taking a drag from his cigarette (though they left in him stubbing out his cigarette in an off-screen ashtray), the cartoon started when Ising actually draws Bosko instead of when Ising is wracking his brain trying to come up with something, Ising actually drawing Bosko was sped up, Bosko’s line, “Well, here I is and I sure feels good”, along with some of Bosko’s dialogue with Ising was cut (the ToonHeads version goes from Ising drawing Bosko to Ising immediately asking Bosko what can he do), Bosko’s line, “Okay, boss. Watch dis here,” after Ising tells Bosko to show him what he can do, and pretty much everything after Bosko does a a stereotypical Yiddish dance while doing an a capella of  “Khosn Kale Mazel Tov”. Cartoon Network’s version goes from the Yiddish dance to Bosko belting out a long note next to a piano that just magically appeared (it was from one of the many scenes that got cut) until Ising sucks him back in the fountain pen and puts him in the inkwell, which was also sped up slightly.

How It Plays With the Edit(s): For the casual viewers, the edits weren’t too obvious. This short didn’t have a plot, so you don’t have to worry about losing any story beats, and considering that a lot of films from the early days of movies have lost footage, you’d be excused in thinking that “Bosko The Talk-Ink Kid” either had scenes lost to time or actually was that short, since pitch pilots are supposed to be rudimentary outlines of what a series is going to be like. I’m pretty sure anyone out there trying to create a new animated or live-action series, whether you’re just starting out or have been in the game for years, will agree with me on this. If not, the comment section is there to correct me. Just be respectful.

Availability Uncut: The short is public domain, so you don’t have to worry about legality when it comes to finding it online. If you’re into collecting physical media, it’s not really available on an official home media release, unless you count the Inside Termite Terrace VHS from 1988 or the Uncensored Bosko DVD that came out in 2000. YouTube has it uncut. As for the “edited for time (and possibly content)” version that Cartoon Network aired on ToonHeads, that’s, if you can believe it, readily available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, volume one, or the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection, volume two.

For comparison's sake (and for those who don’t have a DVD player, a Blu-ray player, or a VCR/VHS player), I will provide a link to the compare/contrast video I made myself, but you (the reader) have to support any and all official releases of these cartoons (this will be a given for all future posts): https://drive.google.com/file/d/11zzOOEgsUJtzd9dPePxEyd85kCEf_LUF/view?usp=sharing