Warner Bros. first
cartoon character. In 1929, animators
Hugh Harman and
Rudolf Ising approached
Leon Schlesinger, a producer, with a short cartoon they'd made called "
Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid." This featured a primitively drawn
Bosko talking up a storm in sync with his movements, which was a major
animation advance for the time. Bosko was at this point was of uncertain
ethnicity or even
species. Schlesinger convinced Warner Bros., who had recently
ushered in the era of "
talkies," that an animated series of musical cartoons would help sell songs from their extensive
record catalog. Thus Bosko was transformed (physically, anyway) into a pretty clear
Mickey Mouse clone, and
Looney Tunes and
Merrie Melodies were born. It is sad that, despite the fact that he starred in dozens of cartoons between 1930-33, Bosko is now largely
forgotten.
Not to be confused with that yummy Bosco chocolate sauce!