''Big Man from the North'' is the sixth title in the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series ''Merrie Melodies'', during t ...

'' series featuring

Bosko Bosko is an animated cartoon character created by animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. Bosko was the first recurring character in Leon Schlesinger's cartoon series and was the star of thirty-nine ''Looney Tunes'' shorts released by Warn ...

. It was, like most ''Looney Tunes'' of the time, directed by

Hugh Harman Hugh Harman (August 31, 1903 – November 25, 1982) was an American animator. He was known for creating the Warner Bros. Cartoons and MGM Cartoons studios and his collaboration with Rudolf Ising during the Golden Age of American animation. ...

and

Rudolf Ising Rudolf Carl "Rudy" Ising ( ; August 7, 1903 – July 18, 1992) was an American animator best known for collaborating with Hugh Harman to establish the Warner Bros. and MGM Cartoon studios during the early years of the golden age of American a ...

;

Frank Marsales Frank Alfred Marsales (31 August 188614 August 1975) was a Canadian composer best known for his work scoring many classic animated films by Warner Bros. Cartoons in the 1930s. He also worked with Walter Lantz Studios in the mid to late 1930s. ...

was the musical director. It was released as early as November 22, 1930.

Summary

The iris opens to

Mounted Police Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in th ...

headquarters in a snowstorm. Within, we find the Sergeant, a pipe in his mouth, pacing the floor and occasionally spitting tobacco at a coal stove. He hears a knock at the door and opens it for Bosko, the hero of the picture. Blown in by the wind, Bosko latches on to the sergeant's trousers; so intense is the wind that the sergeant cannot seem to close the door, and Bosko is so buffeted by the gust that the sergeant's pants follow him to the wall. Once the door is closed, the sergeant angrily confronts his inferior, who, embarrassed, hands the trousers back. But on to business! The sergeant shows Bosko a wanted poster bearing the legend "$5000 reward" and "Dead or Alive." "That's your man," growls the sergeant. Out into the cold and wind goes Bosko alone. Three dogs on a sled await their master, two of proper size, one tiny. Bosko boards his chariot and yells "Mush!". The three dogs thunder across the snowy hills, their legs sometimes extending to accommodate the valleys rather than their bodies simply descending and ascending with the steep slopes. The party crashes into the side of a saloon; the dogs are so tangled as to have become as one, and a disoriented Bosko sits uselessly on the cold ground for a few moments as they collect their bearings. We come with Bosko to the front entrance of the saloon and see again the poster shown to Our Hero by the sergeant. A nervous Bosko spit-shines his badge, readies two revolvers and enters the bar. Within, Honey dances and scats to the delight of the patrons. Relaxing a moment, Bosko stows his small arms in his pants in order to revel with the customers; upon the table, he dances alongside Honey and scats in such a way that he sounds a bit like a

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

. He then shows off on the

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, bouncing merrily on a compliant stool as

beavers Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

percussively accompany his playing by slapping their tails on the counter. The wanted villain enters, peg-legged, guns blazing! He makes his way to the bar as a terrified Bosko again shines his badge and screws up his courage in anticipation of a fight. Leveling his pistol, he takes aim at the unimpressed ruffian and fires, only to find that, in lieu of bullets, his gun contained only a tethered

cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

. But the incensed villain takes out his weapon and, just as he is about to fire upon poor Bosko, the clever little fellow spots and spits on a hanging

gas lamp Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a fuel gas such as methane, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, hydrogen, carbon monoxide, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directly by ...

, thereby bringing darkness upon the saloon. There is gunfire in the dark, and the light comes back on to reveal the villain still standing, panting, amidst a multitude of smoke, empty seats, and battered tables. The patrons all seem to have left; the villain turns his back and Bosko pops out from under the floorboards mounting a machine gun, which he fires square upon the bad guy's rump. Undaunted, the angry adversary brandishes a

saber A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

and chases Bosko to the double doors: these Our Hero swings just so that, himself leaping from the entryway, the fast-pursuing villain's head becomes stuck in the doors. His foe momentarily incapacitated, Bosko captures the sword and sticks it into the villain's rear end. Enraged afresh and newly energized by this latest affront, the villain chases Bosko again, this time to the other end of the bar, where Bosko removes a shotgun from its wall mount: aiming, he fires at the antagonist who, because of the blast, is reduced to a scared, scrawny fellow surrounded by his bandoliers and a ring of his erstwhile fur. Quite finished, he runs off, out of the bar and into the distance. The patrons return to the scene of the action to cheer for their rescuer, who takes a few bows as the iris closes.

References

External links

* {{Harman and Ising 1930 films 1930 comedy films Looney Tunes shorts Warner Bros. Cartoons animated short films Films directed by Hugh Harman Bosko films Films set in North America 1930s police comedy films Films scored by Frank Marsales Films directed by Rudolf Ising 1930s Warner Bros. animated short films 1930s English-language films English-language comedy short films American animated black-and-white films English-language crime comedy films 1930 animated short films