Big Man from the North (1931)

This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place

Please don't spend money on this.

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.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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.'Big Man from the North' generally is one of Bosko's better cartoons. Up to this particular point in the series most of the cartoons were decent if hit and miss, with the only cartoon falling below that being the strange though not awful 'The Booze Hangs High'. 'Big Man from the North' doesn't reach above decent level on the whole but has a good deal to recommend.While showing more signs of a story than the previous cartoons, which were basically plot-less mostly but while still on the thin side signs of a story are here, it's very predictable with not much new. There are occasional slow parts and there are a couple of repetitive gags by Bosko standards.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 'Big Man from the North'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 the gags are amusing, especially with the dogs and in the saloon. Parts are cute without being too schmaltzy, it's never static and synchronisation is remarkably good.All in all, decent cartoon and one of Bosko's better ones generally. 7/10 Bethany Cox

. . . "Rape me once, shame on you; rape me twice, shame on me." That's pretty much the theme of this Sadomasochistic 1931 Looney Tune, BIG MAN FROM THE NORTH. Its inclusion on Passport Video's 2005 RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER AND FRIENDS disc just goes to prove the Hell-on-Earth and possible Human Extinction Event we're all in for now that "Mad Dog" Putin has installed his Russian KGB Rump Puppet as Leader of the Free World to its slaughter. The fraudulent Corrupt Capitalist Rump Disciples at Passport Video stuck this Looney Tune on their DVD sight unseen because they ASSUMED any BIG MAN FROM THE NORTH just HAD to be Santa Claus (rather than, say Satan, or his wide-bodied Earthly Potentate, aka bankrupt New York Values Casino Owner Rump). In Reality, the FIRST "big man" shown here is a Canadian Mountie sergeant, who chews tobacco as he also smokes a pipe. A minute into this cartoon, his deputy Bosko rips off the seat of his pants, exposing his butt crack. Six minutes later Bosko blows off all the clothes of the other "big man" shown here--an outlaw into whose Buttopical Center Opening he's just rammed a very long, fully phallic broad sword! Hardly children's "Christmas fare," you Passport bozos. No doubt such spectacular Wrong-Headedness has landed some of the Passporters high-ranking cabinet positions in the Putin-Rump Administration.

Bosko is a Mountie and has been sent to get his man. The baddie, it turns out, is clearly modeled after Disney's Pete (from "Steamboat Willie" and other early cartoons). Along the way, there is some singing and dancing--though what this has to do with the Mounties is beyond me!I have never been a fan of the Bosko cartoons. They were heavy with the schmaltz--lots of overly cutesy singing and dancing and mugging for the audience. Edgy, they were NOT! Now I cannot blame Warner Brothers alone for this--many of the rival studios such as Van Beuren, MGM and Terry Toons were incredibly insipid throughout the 1930s. Cartoons we know and love today (such as MGM's Tom and Jerry and the Looney Tunes crowd) were all cartoons of the 40s--after the happy, singing, cutesy fad had, thankfully, faded. So, in light of this, my score of 5 for "Big Man from the North" is actually very positive--and I was shocked that I didn't hate this short!

I was shocked in a few places watching this old cartoon as a several scenes had guys with their pants down (from the rear, with a crack showing) and, in one instance had a sabre jammed between his cheeks! Ouch!!Anyway, it shows you even some of the cartoons were a bit edgy in this pre-Code era but otherwise it was a simple story of a little Canadian Mountie, "Bosko," being assigned to capture a big, tough crook and how he went about it. He wasn't given any name, but if you've seen a number of 1930s cartoons, you know the little man is "Bosko." What I didn't know, until submitting this review, was that pretty actress Rochelle Hudson did the voice of the female singer in the saloon. There were some decent sight gags in here, several of them duplicated in the first half of this animated short. Sight gags are what cartoons are usually all about anyway. Here, for instance, we saw gags with the three dogs who drove the little guy over hilly terrain to the saloon where the bad man was hanging out. The saloon had a clever scene in which Bosko tried to impress a woman (Hudson's character) with his piano playing. This guy was good: a Jerry Lee Lewis-type who banged those keys!Overall, a pretty entertaining cartoon that was a bonus feature on the "Smart Money" feature film DVD.