Circus Daze

This 1937 cartoon by Hugh Harman features the revamped version of Harman's characters Bosko and Honey, who began their celluloid lives as the first Looney Tunes stars. When Harman and his collaborator Rudolf Ising left for MGM, they took Bosko and Honey with them. Not long after, both characters received a complete makeover, "reimagined" by Harman as little black children.

Though the characters are clearly stereotypical by today's standards, if one chooses to look beyond the stereotypes, it becomes apparent that "Circus Daze" has a certain charm and innocence, evoking a bygone era in which the arrival of a circus to a small town was a real event. In a sense, it bears more than a slight resemblance to the Hal Roach Our Gang films of the period, in which real kids did things that real kids do, even if the situations they got themselves into were exaggerated for comic effect.

Bosko and Honey are relegated to almost a supporting role here, their purpose mainly to engage in vaudeville-style patter. The spotlight is stolen early on by Bosko and Honey's dog Bruno and his bits of business with a particularly obstinate flea. Action is the byword--when the hapless Bruno unleashes the fleas, the pace becomes blindingly fast for a mid-30s cartoon. All the more incredible when one considers the evenly-paced, Disneylike fare Harman and Ising are normally associated with.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Circus Daze
• Bosko
• Harman-Ising