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

A Proper Introduction

Now to start this blog right with the proper theme song...

Pre-Blog Formalities

The days of classic cartoon viewing aren't as robust as they used to be (especially on the Saturday morning front), but, thanks to Internet and home media, there are alternate ways of finding classic cartoons, uncut or otherwise. Don't you think there should be a dedicated blog (not a wiki. A blog) that tracks down all the cuts and alterations made?

There used to be a website dedicated to the edits done to non-Disney cartoons, but it hasn't been updated in years and now lives on as an archived website.

"Drawn and Quartered" is a look at how the classic cartoons (specifically the ones from Warner Bros., though I will try to include examples from other studios and some modern examples) were shown censored on American television, and the occasional rare cases of censorship from other countries and theatrical re-releases.

What separates this from the old Censored Cartoons Page (and some current wikis):

• My blog will be more visual: The old Censored Cartoons Page had misinformation and glaring omissions on some of the entries, especially in light of clips from old VHS tapings showing how the edited shorts in question actually aired with parts cut. Those will be updated, often with compare and contrast videos on how the cartoon plays uncut vs. how it plays edited. While some will be actual footage, there will be some videos that will be re-enactments of how I think the edit played out on the channel in question.

• My blog will go in chronological order rather than alphabetical: This was more of a style choice I made. I was going to keep with the alphabetical order from the old website, but decided against it. I also was going to go by what channels edited which cartoons, but the Looney Tunes fandom wiki already did that and a lot of WB cartoons are edited on two or more channels. Random order and viewer requests were also rejected because those are more reserved for those who have more Internet friends than they can handle, and sadly (or not), I'm just not that hooked on social media. A chronological approach just seems like the only way to go. Additionally, a chronological approach also shows those who have never seen the Warner Bros cartoon in order just what order the shorts are supposed to go. You can learn a lot about the quality of a series by seeing how it started, when it started to improve in quality, all the memorable moments in the middle, when its golden age turned to brass, and when it all went downhill and why. For those worried that I won't cover the post-Golden Age shorts that have been shown edited, such as "The Duxorcist", "Fright Before Christmas", "Duck Dodgers and The Return of the 24th-½ Century", "Blooper Bunny", and "Museum Scream", they will be part of a page where I can just run through what was cut and why, which I will also do with the Twelve Missing Hares (the 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that were pulled from the 2001 version of Cartoon Network's all Bugs Bunny marathon "June Bugs", due to outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes) and The Censored Eleven (the 11 cartoons that have been banned since 1968 due to pervasive stereotypical depictions of Africans and African-Americans).
• I'll be a bit more informal and actually say what I think about most of the edits: Pretty self-explanatory here. While I am against censorship of the classic cartoons, there will be times where I'll have to say that the edit done is not as bad as it could have been or be completely neutral about it. However, there will be times where I will go into nitpicky nerd/"Little Miss Pretentious Film School Student" mode and point out how the edit affects the comedy or narrative of the short. It comes with learning a lot about storytelling and my ongoing quest to being a published novelist and doing something with the Writing for Film and TV BFA I received in 2007. The point is, you'll learn more about the cartoons shown than you did in the past Censored Cartoons Page, including where to find them uncut, if an uncut copy exists.
• The MGM and Fleischer cartoons will also be covered: Another self-explanatory one. As for Disney, I don't know much about the edits done for those shorts, but I do welcome any information and evidence, so long as it's useful and real. The MGM and Fleischer cartoons will have to wait until after I go through the WB cartoons or if I feel I need to mix things up, whichever comes first.
• The posts will be frequent: Outside obligations such as work, home life, and other projects will get in the way, but I will try to make my posts available Monday through Friday, between 8:00 in the morning and 2:00 in the afternoon (Eastern Standard Time; your time zone may greatly vary).