Review of “Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid” (1929)
Seen in 2017.
An animator, filmed in live action, creates and speaks to a childlike blackface character named Bosko. It dances the czardas, because comedy apparently requires densely layered ethnicities.
Withheld from release in its time, it acted as a pilot for Looney Tunes (1930). Apart from inserting the vaudeville animator into the film in live-action rather than cartoon form, it is not much of an advancement over “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914).
References here: Looney Tunes (1930), “Ride Him, Bosko!” (1932), “Sweet Sioux” (1937), “The Little Lion Hunter” (1939).