Pluskylang
Great Film overall
Stevecorp
Don't listen to the negative reviews
TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Sameer Callahan
It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
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.After two decent but not great previous cartoons, that are noteworthy mainly for historical significance, 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid' and 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub', 'Congo Jazz' joins them in the decent but not great category. It fares least in the story, which is more a paper-thin excuse to string along music and gags with a few draggy stretches and an ending that doesn't feel that well rounded off, it feels like it peters out in fact.However, the animation is not bad at all, 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 is 'Congo Jazz's' highlight component, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.While never hilarious, 'Congo Jazz' is at least an amusing cartoon, with the ape and palm tree parts faring best. The sound isn't static, the cartoon is quite cute and it is difficult not to be cheerful watching. Bosko is never going to be one of my favourite cartoon characters, or among the all-time greats, but he has more personality this time round and it's more endearing than before.In conclusion, decent but not great. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Mightyzebra
I did not think I would enjoy this "Bosko" episode as much as the first official one (Sinkin' in the Bathtub), because the start was annoying and spooky in a arbitrary way. However, the episode became better as it went along and by the end I found little to criticise.What I like about this episode is the way Bosko is not so cruel a main character, he is very positive and tries to find ways of making angry people happy rather than making them more angry (this is not the case with the tiger, but the tiger was trying to eat Bosko, so it makes some sense that Bosko whacked him off a cliff after being relatively friendly to him). I also liked the music and the various ideas played into the episode. I've found with the cartoons, both by Disney and WB, that were made before around 1935, play with slapstick more cleverly and in a much more surreal manner than they really ever did later on. This is shown by the body shapes of the moving characters, the actions they make and the objects they use(not all the time, but this is when the slapstick playing is most noticeable).Things I can slightly criticize about the cartoon are the very beginning, the fact that it is slightly repetitive in places, the vaguely "innappropriate" scenes (like coconuts on a tree representing a woman's breasts) and the fact that Honey is not in it! :-( Honey was one of my favourite characters in "Sinkin' in the Bathtub," and she did not play a part in this episode.One thing that people may not realise and may dislike about all the Bosko cartoons, is that Bosko is meant to be a black person. In those days the makers would not have realised it was racist and would have thought it was perfectly OK. If you ignore that fact while watching this cartoon, I am sure you would enjoy it more (if you have problems with racism).I recommend this cartoon to people who like old black and white cartoons, to people who have watched SITB and enjoyed it and to people who like cartoons with "unusual" slapstick. Enjoy "Congo Jazz"! :-) 8 and a half out of ten.
Lee Eisenberg
Bosko, in case you've never heard of him, was the original Looney Tunes star, appearing in the cartoons from 1930 until 1933, when his creators moved to MGM. In "Congo Jazz", the character hunts animals. What's interesting is that in the instance of an attack by a gorilla, Bosko makes the big guy forget that they're supposed to be enemies; just like what Bugs Bunny frequently did! True, there's not much in the way of plot. Of the few Bosko cartoons that I've seen, this was far from the best. Mostly it functions as a cultural historical reference, a look into the early days of what within a few years became the domain of Porky, then Daffy, and finally Bugs.BTW, is it just me, or when Bosko spanks the monkey, do they show the monkey's butt? Seriously, I know that this was before the Hays Code, but still.
Robert Reynolds
This short is an early Warner Brothers that features a character named Bosko, who is in ill favor in certain politically correct quarters. My take on it all is that the few shorts I've seen in the series vary greatly in quality, some being very good and others not terribly interesting. This is one of the better ones I've seen. Warner Brothers almost always had excellent music throughout their run, up to the 1950s and this short has excellent music, if a limited plot. Well worth watching. Recommended.