Bosko the SPEED KING (1933)

---

Back in the 20s and 30s, a knock-off cartoon of Mickey Mouse called Bosko was all over the silver screen. He was the star of thirty-nine Looney Tunes cartoon shorts by Warner Brothers, and was one of the earliest examples of ‘talking’ cartoons.

In this short film, Bosko races his No. 13 roadster against tough competition on the speedway. The ‘Champ’ that Bosko must defeat is a cigar-chomping gorilla who resorts to cheating, like throwing a box of thumbtacks onto the race, in an effort to defeat Bosko.

It’s a silly cartoon with sight-gags like Bosko unzipping a tire to change the inner tube (yup, even car tires had them) or using a piano to ‘tune’ the engine, with the help of his girlfriend, Honey (who looks suspiciously familiar with that polka-dot bow in her hair.

Even though this is a cheap cartoon compared to the bill-dollar productions Disney was putting out, the racing scenes are the reason to watch this 8 minute gem. The animators used the same shots a cinematographer would using filing a motor racing movie. The perspective used for the oval track makes it look three-dimensional. And the race cars? Such a cool time-capsule of Indy Car racing in the 1930s..

Here’s the whole cartoon, courtesy of Dailymotion.

---

---

Even though this cartoon is 91 years old, it is important to note the racism in Bosko. He is not a mouse like Mickey. When the character was created by Hugh Harman in 1928, it was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office as a “Negro boy under the name of Bosko”. The character spoke in a Southern US drawl and used the catchphrase “Mmmm! Dat sho’ is fine!” when something good happened.

Despite these facts, some Hollywood historians claim that the illustrators didn’t draw attention to Bosko’s race, or use negative stereotypes about Blacks, instead portraying him as a spunky and resourceful boy. Judge it for yourself.

---