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Context WesternAnimation / BoskoTheTalkInkKid1929

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00_bosko_the_talk_ink_kidmp4_snapshot_0047_20170910_125317.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:"Well, here I is, and I sure feel good!"]]
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4''Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid'' is a [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1929]] short cartoon directed by [[Creator/HarmanAndIsing Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising]]. It is the pilot film for the entire ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'' franchise, and the debut of ''WesternAnimation/BoskoTheTalkInkKid''. The film is notable for being one of the earliest (if not the first) attempts at synchronizing spoken dialogue with animation.
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6The cartoon starts with animator Rudy Ising drawing a cartoon human on a sheet of paper, who springs to life in front of his eyes. The cartoon (voiced by Carmen "Max" Maxwell) introduces himself as Bosko, and Ising asks Bosko if he can perform tricks for him and entertain the (offscreen) audience, which he agrees to do.
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8Obviously, the film won over Leon Schlesinger, and the ''Looney Tunes'' series was subsequently greenlit, with the series officially launching the following year with ''WesternAnimation/SinkinInTheBathtub''. The cartoon was never released theatrically, and was only intended to be a privately-screened pilot for the series. It eventually fell into the PublicDomain and can be found online, as well as the first volume of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD series. Cartoon Network also aired a cut-and-sped-up-for-time version of this short as part of their ''[=ToonHeads=]'' special about lost, rare, and obscure Warner Bros. works (''[=ToonHeads=]: The Lost Cartoons'').
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11!Tropes:
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13* ArtInitiatesLife: Bosko immediately comes to life after Rudy finishes drawing him.
14* CharacterTitle: The cartoon is named after the title character.
15* DreadfulMusician: Bosko is not a very good singer. His attempt at holding a long note is so unpleasant to Rudy Ising, that he forces him back into his ink pen just to get him to stop.
16* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Even more so than ''WesternAnimation/SinkinInTheBathtub'', since there's very little music present at all in the film. There's also no opening or ending credits. Most distinctly, the cartoon isn't actually called a ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon as a result.
17* IncrediblyLongNote: Bosko tries this early on, and it makes his head pop of his body like a broken mattress spring. Later on, Bosko holds a very long note while singing "Sonny Boy" near the end, which annoys Rudy Ising enough to make him suck Bosko back into the ink pen from whence he came.
18* JiveTurkey: Bosko speaks in an exaggerated form of AAVE in this short, tying in with his roots in MinstrelShows; this aspect would be tossed out in later appearances in favor of a Mickey Mouse-esque falsetto.
19* NoFourthWall: Rudy and Bosko are both well aware that there's an audience watching them.
20* NoNameGiven: The cartoonist in the film isn't given a name, but it's clearly Rudy Ising, Bosko's co-creator.
21* OffWithHisHead: A non-lethal variant. Bosko holds a note so long while singing that it randomly makes his head detach from his body like a broken spring. He eventually reattaches it to his body.
22* PilotMovie: For the entire Warner Brothers Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies franchise.
23* PublicDomainAnimation
24* RandomEventsPlot: The cartoon has no plot to speak of. It's just Rudy Ising getting Bosko to do various tricks for the audience, just like in a "chalk talk". Justified as this is a pilot short made as a pitch to Warner Bros. to see if the character would be worth using for their animated shorts and some pitch pilots don't have plots to speak of (and if they do, it's rudimentary stuff made to outline the character or series).
25* RogerRabbitEffect: The film is clearly channeling WesternAnimation/OutOfTheInkwell in the bits where Rudy Ising and Bosko interact on-screen.
26* ShortFilm: Even shorter than the future ''Looney Tunes'', since it runs for less than five minutes.
27* ShoutOut: Bosko sings Al Jolson's 1928 hit "Sonny Boy" from ''The Singing Fool''.
28* StandardSnippet: When Bosko does a stereotypical Yiddish dance, he also sings an acapella of the song [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MXkhfFmsiDs "Khosn Kale Mazel Tov".]]

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