# Happy Harmonies

Happy Harmonies is a series of thirty-seven animated cartoons distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising between 1934 and 1938.
Produced in Technicolor, these cartoons were very similar to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies and Warner Brothers’ Merrie Melodies musical series. They occasionally featured Bosko, a character who starred in the first Looney Tunes shorts that the duo produced for Leon Schlesinger. After the first two cartoons, the design of Bosko changed from an "inkblot" to a more realistic African-American boy.
The two final titles in the series were originally produced by Harman and Ising as Silly Symphonies cartoons. Disney originally had Harman and Ising create three shorts for Disney, but when they only kept one of their three shorts (Merbabies), the copyrights to the other two (Pipe Dreams and The Little Bantamweight) were sold to MGM who released them as Happy Harmonies.

## List of cartoons
### 1934

| No. | Title | Directed by | Notes | Release date |
| 1 | The Discontented Canary | Rudolf Ising | The first cartoon produced for MGM. Oldest MGM cartoon to be owned by Warner Bros. via Turner Entertainment Co. Extra on the DVD of Evelyn Prentice. | September 1, 1934 |
| 2 | The Old Pioneer | Rudolf Ising | Includes reused animation from Moonlight for Two (1932). First cartoon to label the name Happy Harmonies on the title card. Not shown on TV due to Native American stereotyping. Extra on the DVD of Manhattan Melodrama. | September 29, 1934 |
| 3 | Tale of the Vienna Woods | Hugh Harman | Extra on the DVD of Treasure Island. | October 27, 1934 |
| 4 | Bosko's Parlor Pranks | Hugh Harman | Includes reused animation from Bosko's Soda Fountain (1931), Battling Bosko (1932), Bosko in Person (1933), Bosko's Knight-Mare (1933) and Bosko the Musketeer (1933). First appearance of Bosko in a color cartoon. Extra on the DVD of Midnight Mary. | November 24, 1934 |
| 5 | Toyland Broadcast | Rudolf Ising | Bing Crosby, The Mills Brothers, Kate Smith, The Boswell Sisters, Paul Whiteman, Rudy Vallée, Ethel Waters, Rubinoff and other early radio stars are caricatured. Modern TV showings cut out any scenes involving minstrel show performances in blackface. This leads to an abrupt ending via cutting out the last minute or so of the cartoon on TV. Reuses footage from The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives. Extra on the DVD of Sadie McKee. | December 22, 1934 |

### 1935

| No. | Title | Directed by | Notes | Release date |
| 6 | Hey-Hey Fever | Hugh Harman | Final appearance of the original Bosko design. Extra in the DVD of A Tale of Two Cities (1935), along with Honeyland. | January 9, 1935 |
| 7 | When the Cat's Away | Rudolf Ising | Extra in the DVD of Night Flight. | February 16, 1935 |
| 8 | The Lost Chick | Hugh Harman | Additional voices are provided by Elmore Vincent. | March 9, 1935 |
| 9 | The Calico Dragon | Rudolf Ising | Extra in the DVD of Roberta (1935). | March 30, 1935 |
| 10 | Good Little Monkeys | Hugh Harman | First apperence of the "Good Little Monkeys". | April 13, 1935 |
| 11 | The Chinese Nightingale | Rudolf Ising | Not shown on American television due to Chinese characterizations. | April 27, 1935 |
| 12 | Poor Little Me | Hugh Harman | Extra on the DVD of David Copperfield (1935). | May 11, 1935 |
| 13 | Barnyard Babies | Rudolf Ising | | May 25, 1935 |
| 14 | The Old Plantation | Rudolf Ising | First cartoon in three-strip Technicolor not released by Disney. Not shown on American television due to African-American characterizations. | September 21, 1935 |
| 15 | Honeyland | Rudolf Ising | Extra in the DVD of A Tale of Two Cities (1935), along with Hey-Hey Fever. | October 19, 1935 |
| 16 | Alias St. Nick | Rudolf Ising | First apperence of "Little Cheeser" Extra on the DVD of Sylvia Scarlett. | November 16, 1935 |
| 17 | Run, Sheep, Run! | Hugh Harman | First appearance of the new Bosko design by Harman as a young African-American child. | December 14, 1935 |

### 1936

| No. | Title | Directed by | Notes | Release date |
| 18 | Bottles | Hugh Harman | Extra in the DVD of San Francisco (1936). | January 11, 1936 |
| 19 | The Early Bird and the Worm | Rudolf Ising | The two lazy crows are voiced by (as well as caricatures of) then-famous blackface team Moran and Mack. Their dialogue is directly lifted from their hit 1927 comedy recording, Two Black Crows. Additional voices are provided by Bernice Hansen. Singing vocals are provided by The Rhythmettes. Extra in the DVD of After the Thin Man. | February 8, 1936 |
| 20 | The Old Mill Pond | Hugh Harman | First appearance of the Jazz Frogs. Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Bill Robinson, Louis Armstrong, Stepin Fetchit, Ethel Waters and The Mills Brothers are caricatured. Re-released in abbreviated form by Soundies Distributing Corporation on March 2, 1942 under the title Hot Frogs. Extra on the DVD of Born to Dance. | March 7, 1936 |
| 21 | Two Little Pups | Rudolf Ising | First appearance of the "Two Little Pups". | April 4, 1936 |
| 22 | The Old House | Hugh Harman | Featuring Bosko and Honey. Honey sings "There Ain't No Spooks in There!". | May 2, 1936 |
| 23 | The Pups' Picnic | Rudolf Ising | Featuring the "Two Little Pups". | May 30, 1936 |
| 24 | To Spring | William Hanna | William Hanna's directorial debut. In the public domain in the United States. Extra on the DVD of Broadway Melody of 1936. | June 4, 1936 |
| 25 | Little Cheeser | Rudolf Ising | Featuring "Little Cheeser". Extra on the DVD of Romeo and Juliet (1936). Extra on the Blu-Ray of Libeled Lady (1936). | July 11, 1936 |
| 26 | The Pups' Christmas | Rudolf Ising | Featuring the "Two Little Pups". | December 12, 1936 |

### 1937

| No. | Title | Directed by | Notes | Release date |
| 27 | Circus Daze | Hugh Harman | Featuring Bosko and Honey. Last cartoon billed as a Happy Harmonies. | January 16, 1937 |
| 28 | Swing Wedding | Hugh Harman | Featuring the "Jazz Frogs". Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Bill Robinson, Louis Armstrong, Stepin Fetchit, Ethel Waters and The Mills Brothers are caricatured. | February 13, 1937 |
| 29 | Bosko's Easter Eggs | Hugh Harman | Featuring Bosko. | March 20, 1937 |
| 30 | Little Ol' Bosko and the Pirates | Hugh Harman | First of three "Little Ol' Bosko and the Jazz Frogs" shorts. Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Bill Robinson, Louis Armstrong, Stepin Fetchit, Ethel Waters and The Mills Brothers are caricatured. | May 1, 1937 |
| 31 | The Hound and the Rabbit | Rudolf Ising | Extra in the DVD of Double Wedding. | May 29, 1937 |
| 32 | The Wayward Pups | Rudolf Ising | Final appearance of the "Two Little Pups". Extra in the DVD of The Prisoner of Zenda (1937). | July 10, 1937 |
| 33 | Little Ol' Bosko and the Cannibals | Hugh Harman | Second of three "Little Ol' Bosko and the Jazz Frogs" shorts. | August 28, 1937 |
| 34 | Little Buck Cheeser | Rudolf Ising | Final appearance of "Little Cheeser". Extra on the DVD of Captains Courageous (1937). | December 15, 1937 |

### 1938

| No. | Title | Directed by | Notes | Release date |
| 35 | Little Ol' Bosko in Bagdad | Hugh Harman | Third of three "Little Ol' Bosko and the Jazz Frogs" shorts. Final Bosko cartoon. | January 1, 1938 |
| 36 | Pipe Dreams | Hugh Harman | Featuring the "Good Little Monkeys". Originally produced for Disney, but released by MGM. Rarely shown on television due to showings of tobacco. | February 5, 1938 |
| 37 | The Little Bantamweight | Rudolf Ising | Originally produced for Disney, but released by MGM. Final cartoon in the Happy Harmonies series. | March 12, 1938 |

## Home media

The only official home release to date containing a significant number of the Happy Harmonies shorts is the Happy Harmonies Cartoon Classics LaserDisc box set. The LaserDisc set was released in 1994 by MGM/UA Home Video, which predated the merger of Turner Broadcasting System with Time Warner in 1996. The four-disc set contains 17 of the 37 Happy Harmonies shorts while the remaining 25 shorts include one side of six Barney Bear cartoons, the 1939 short Peace on Earth and the 1940 animated short The Milky Way. In 1999, MGM paid Time Warner $225 million to end its lease of distributing content owned by Turner Entertainment Co. prior to 1996 (the cartoons are part of MGM's pre-May 1986 library in which Turner had purchased 13 years ago). While the copyrights remain with Turner, distribution rights are now with Warner Bros., Turner's current parent company.