Fields of Honey

So today I was watching one of my FAVORITE episodes of "Tiny Toon Adventures" entitled 'Fields of Honey'. I watched it a bunch as a kid and now that I have it on DVD I am rediscovering it. This has to be one of the best episodes of this show, seriously.

It's about how all the other tiny toons have mentors except for Babs. Buster looks up to Bugs Bunny, Plucky has Daffy Duck as a mentor, and Hampton has Porky for a guide. Buster and Plucky argue over who is the greater classic animated comedian and ask Babs her opinion. Since she does not have a mentor, the 3 of them go down to the film vault to watch old reels and see who is funnier. In the vault there is a hooded guide who sends the boys away with reels of their heroes. Babs is left alone and hears a voice that tells her if she watches the reels she will find her. So Babs watches, and when she throws on the last reel from 1933 she discovers HONEY. She heads to the library where she discovers that Honey was a Warner Bros. character from the 1930's who appeared in cartoons with her boyfriend Bosko. As cartoons moved to color, audiences forgot her and she went missing, even Bosko didn't know where she went and eventually he too disappeared. Babs' mission is to find Honey to be her mentor. She hears the mysterious voice once again and it tells her to build a theater to showcase Honey cartoons. If Honey cartoons can garner an audience and stir up laughter, then Honey will return. Because, after all, a character is only young and alive if it has an audience. So, she builds the theater and struggles to get people to come see an unknown character. Eventually through the power of television advertising draws a huge crowd, including the vault keeper and an old woman. As the black and white films play, the audiences laughter grows uncontrollably. The old woman becomes young before Babs' eyes and it is revealed she is the missing Honey. The vault keeper pulls back his hood and it is Bosko. Honey and Bosko are revived to the audience and will live on, Happily Ever After.
Here is the 2nd half if you are interested in checking it out:



OK, OK. Why do I find it to be so special. Well, for us 20 somethings who grew up watching "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Street Sharks", we have very vague recollections of classic characters like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, or even Mickey Mouse. We didn't have a TON of exposure to the classics. Bosko cartoons are real cartoons that premiered in 1929, that is 80 years ago. Before Bugs, Bosko was actually THE STAR that launched "Looney Tunes" for Warner Bros.

Bosko was WB's answer to Mickey Mouse and appeared in 39 shorts for "Looney Tunes". 30's animation was substantially different from contemporary animation in that the entertainment of the time was more musically oriented like vaudeville acts, where as today, storyline and plot are key. What is the point of that last semi-unrelated fact? Just that... if you can't exactly figure out what Bosko is, he was actually designed as a, uh, um... a negro boy. Completely un-racist! He was designed as an African American boy, like those performing in Vaudeville acts at the time. Look at old-school Mickey Mouse or Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, cover the ears and you will see the same look disguised as animals. That clever Walt. Anyways, point is, although these cartoons were designed for a different era and a very different audience, they are still beautiful pieces of art as well as history. SO, it is nice that a kiddie cartoon in 1990 would take an opportunity to re-examine their roots and allow a whole new generation to know these characters. When Porky Pig became the breakout star of "Looney Tunes" (Yes, before Bugs, Porky was El Numero Uno for Warner Bros.) it meant the end of Bosko and Honey. And that's ok. I don't really think it would be that funny today to watch two little cartoon Black kids sing and dance. BUT I think it is really nice to remember the characters that paved the way for the "Looney Tunes", "Tiny Toons", "Animaniacs", "Pinky and the Brain", etc. Bosko can also be seen in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", one of his cartoons is playing on a TV Set, and in "Space Jam" in a portrait hanging on the wall.

So here is an OG cartoon entitled "Bosko and Honey" from 1932, it's not epic but it is interesting to watch. If you find it interesting, go on youtube and look for one called "Bosko and Bruno" (Yes, Bruno is his dog, and yes he does sound like he is saying Pluto, shameless theft in the 1930's) I innocently laughed a few times during that one.