Ride Him, Bosko!

Plot synopsis:
The cartoon begins as a coyote howls from a mountain top, under a full moon. He takes a deep breath as his body inflates to accommodate extra air and releases another howl.
Next, Bosko is seen riding a horse, playing a banjo and singing 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 scene then shows the following words 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 ~
The view is next of a road outside a saloon and 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 to the size of a midget.
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-riddled 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 a suddenly lipsticked mouth, 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 shown still playing the piano whilst the other patrons gather in a circle and start dancing.
The scene then cuts to show the following words
The Deadwood stage
         (free wheeling)
Honey (Bosko's sweetheart) is in a carriage that is hurtling down the highway 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 creep 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 gunmen gets twisted around himself. Having unravelled 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 seen 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 thorns 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 after himself.
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 run away carriage the scene pans out to show Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising, and Friz Freleng watching the cartoon and adding sound effects. They discuss how they can get Bosko to save the girl, but then decide to go home. This prompts everyone to exit, leaving Bosko in the lurch.

Tags: psychedelic

Review:
Bosko in the wild west. The Bosko cartoons may not be animation masterpieces, but they are fascinating as examples of Looney Tunes in their early days before the creation of more compelling characters and funnier and more creative cartoons. There are some good cartoons, as well as some average or less ones.'Ride Him Bosko' is another very good Bosko effort, another one of the better ones in a mixed selection of cartoons where some are good and others are average or less. The story is thin and sometimes a little obvious. The ending is strange and anti-climactic, feeling somewhat indecisive.Honey is likable and charming, while Bosko like 'Bosko the Lumberjack' is more heroic than usual.Furthermore, the animation is good. Not exactly refined but fluid and crisp enough with some nice detail, it is especially good in the meticulous backgrounds and some remarkably flexible yet natural movements for Bosko. The music doesn't disappoint either, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.Sound quality has clarity and the synchronisation isn't sloppy and has imagination. The way Bosko is animated is well done and remarkably natural. The gags is imaginative and rarely miss or less than very amusing.All in all, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox. Ride Him, Bosko! has a highly unusual ending for a cartoon. Ride Him, Bosko! is a western-flavored cartoon with lots of shooting gags involving body reduction, and card characters singing! There's also an alcohol gag that has a really strong one turning a male piano player into a woman instantly! There's a fine musical number, "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain" with Bosko tap-dancing up a storm! There's Honey being held hostage in an out-of-control stagecoach with three gunmen behind her! And there's Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising looking at the drawing board watching Bosko riding along as they wonder out loud, "How's he gonna save Honey?" "Let's go home," says a third party as they leave Bosko in the lurch as we iris out...Highly amusing cartoon up to the ending though one wonders whether they really couldn't figure how Bosko saves Honey or did they simply run out of time and budget and decided "The hell with it!" Anyway, recommended for anyone with interest in Warner Bros. cartoons before the Big 3 of Porky, Daffy, and Bugs arrived.... Bosko ought to be in pictures. Whereas most Bosko cartoons had the small, black-and-white character of no discernible species go through an adventure and have a resolution with his girlfriend Honey, "Ride Him, Bosko!" has a real surprise ending. Just when Bosko is in limbo, we see that the cartoon IS in fact a cartoon: the camera pans away from the scene, revealing Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising and their assistants watching the cartoon, wondering how to end it (they can't decide, so they go home for the day).Obviously, the Termite Terrace crowd elaborated on this idea in later cartoons. In the late '30s, characters would often address the audience directly, forcing people to acknowledge that the action on screen was make-believe. Friz Freleng's "You Ought to Be in Pictures", took the genre to a new level: set in the live-action world of Warner Bros. studios, Daffy Duck convinces Porky Pig to move to live action cinema.Anyway, this is an OK look into early Warner Bros. animation, before Bugs, Daffy, Porky and Elmer.. One of the earliest desktop computers can be seen . . .. . . . at the end of this 1933 Looney Tune, RIDE HIM, BOSKO! This climax is LIVE ACTION, and there's no mistaking the High Definition Flat Screen Ultrathin Monitor perched in the middle of the three animators' desk. Their machine is running advance AI (Artificial Intelligence) software so old hat to the team that they're too bored to contribute an ending to RIDE. As one of the Looney Tuners yawns "Let's go home," the trio leaves, thoroughly trusting their computer to wrap up the animated short with the Funniest Possible Capper--all on its own! Many Americans have struggled over the years to grasp the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, String Theory, and Quantum Physics. When posed a Toughie, such as "Which came first, Looney Tunes or Donald J. Trump?" most U.S. residents simple shrug, muttering "Search me." RIDE HIM, BOSKO! provides the perfect escape from this conundrum. In the Beginning was the Loon, and it was Good. Then Honey Came 'Round the Mountain, and Bosko screamed "That's all, folks!"