TheLittleSongbird 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.'Battling Bosko' has good enjoyment value and as far as Bosko cartoons go it's generally one of the better ones. It has been well established by now that the Bosko cartoons should not be seen for their stories, which was never a strong suit (quite the opposite), and the story here is very thin and predictable. Some of the cartoon is very repetitive and despite a nice setting the premise has been done to death since and has been executed more consistently and imaginatively.With Bosko himself, he is a limited character and not particularly interesting, but he is likable enough and doesn't behave as idiotically as he did in his previous cartoon. His opponent is imposing and amusing enough.As always, 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 are mostly very nicely done, with two especially fun ones. The ending is indeed cute.On the whole, decent and worth watching definitely. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . four weeks, or four days in January, as the case might be), Warner Bros.' uncannily accurate Looney Tunes prognosticators predict in BATTLING BOSKO. Warner's Animated Shorts Seers division always proves particularly adept in being able to warn We Citizens of the Far Future about 21st Century America's upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. In BATTLING BOSKO, the title character represents our infirm, geriatric White House Resident-Elect (thanks to an "election" rigged by the Commie Russian KGB) Rump. Bosko's supremely confident Big Bruiser opponent--who outweighs the light-weight Emmy-losing Game Show Host prone to choke away all the casinos purchased first with Daddy's dough and then with billions from Russian, Chinese and German loan sharks by at least a factor of ten--has his way with Bosko in the ring (picture Dylan Roof jailed in the same cell with a quartet of urban Gang-Bangers and you'll get the picture). By standing on Bosko's toes, KGB Chief Vlad "Mad Dog" Putin's stand-in during BATTLING BOSKO--"Gashouse Gary"--is able to knock down Bosko's "President" Rump dozens of times in the space of a few seconds, as if he's pummeling a Bobo Doll. This is Warner's way of warning We Future Americans of Rump's KGB Secretary of State Exxon Valdez Tillerson, his KGB Intel Chief (Off-His-Rocker Flynn), his future KGB U.S. Supreme Court, and Putin's KGB picks to permanently ruin the rest of our Hallowed American Institutions. Please keep all this in mind when you sit next to your Red Commie KGB enabling neighbor in church next Sunday!

Robert Reynolds This short has some good moments and some rather interesting animation in spots, though there's a fair amount of repetition here. I want to cover some of the action, so here is a spoiler warning: The short starts with a rather nice visual bit (possibly the best one in the short) tied to Bosko working a speed bag. Ultimately, the speed bag emerges victorious. Bosko likely would have been better off sending his shadow out to fight "Gas-House Harry", a hulking brute seen punching an anvil.For a short nominally about a boxing match, very little which takes place in the ring is itself noteworthy. Most of the short covers events outside the ring. There's a very nice sequence revolving around streetcars full of fans headed to the fight. It looks like they just re-used the same drawing twice to repeat a gag. The same seems to be the case for a sequence in the ring where the champ gets groggy and also a repetitive shot featuring a loud hippo fan of Bosko's, which is not only repeated several times in this short, but was used in at least one other Bosko short, if I recall correctly.There are two really funny bits inside the ring-Bosko being revived by his trainer after the first round and Bosko and the champ exchanging blows, only to simultaneously knock the referee out of the ring! Bosko doesn't fare too well in the end, even with a long count by the referee. The ending is cute, though. I hope this will eventually be released as part of a future Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Recommended.