LouHomey
From my favorite movies..
CrawlerChunky
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
filippaberry84
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
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. There are some good cartoons, as well as some average or less ones.'Bosko the Doughboy', one of the better Bosko cartoons by quite some way, is a welcome return to the war-oriented theme explored in 'Dumb Patrol', another one of the better Bosko cartoons. Again the story is slight and slightly flimsy and a couple of parts are not for the easily offended.On the other hand, the animation is good. 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 doesn't disappoint either, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.The gags are quite inventive and fun with a brave and successful attempt at being darker and grimmer than usual for a Bosko cartoon, Bosko while not a great character is more compelling than usual and the pacing is lively enough.In summary, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox
MissSimonetta
Believe it or not, there were a few American cartoons from both the silent and early sound periods which used the Great War as fodder for comedy! Given the destructiveness of that particular conflict, it seems tasteless that these cartoons should treat the subject matter so lightly.But heck, I have to admit I thought Bokso the Doughboy (1931) was pretty amusing.I'm not a big fan of the early Looney Tunes; indeed, Disney and the Fleischers easily overshadowed them in the early 1930s. By no means is this Bosko short bucking that trend of mediocrity, but it is a lot of fun with its dark humor and mildly imaginative gags. Bosko himself is still a largely uninteresting character, but that is less noticeable than usual here.
tavm
Bosko the Doughboy is a bit more grim than usual and since the previous reviewer discussed the short in much detail, I'll mention some gags that haven't been discussed yet. Like the one where the bullets take some of the body of another soldier to make him much smaller instead of killing him. Or the one where after a friend of Bosko's gets a cannonball stuck in his stomach, Bosko gets it out by simply zipping down his front part and taking the ball out of there! Or the one where the dog soldier has fleas so Bosko solves the problem by getting his metal hat riddled with bullets so with the holes filled in the dog uses it to scratch his back! Like I said, pretty grim with "gallows" humor abound. Still, worth a look for any early Warner Bros. animation enthusiast.
Afternothing99
On the Image Entertainment release of 'Uncensored Bosko, Volume One' Stephen Worth of "Storyboard Magazine" proclaims on the back cover that "One of the best cartoons ever produced is 'Bosko The Doughboy' (1931).'" Don't you think that's stretching it a tad? I can see his enthusiasm, the cartoon is well designed and well executed, but a story is non existent, and it lingers for about a minute before it Iris's out. If you want good cartoons see something like 'Wyken Blynken And Nod' or 'Somewhere In Dreamland' or 'Old McDonald Had A Farm'. I suppose if you are a die-hard animation fan and historian like myself, watch this one. The short is presented on 'Uncensored Bosko volume one', in fair condition, with a few scratches, and the film runs seven minutes.