A Ball of Dogs

Here’s a gag from the sixth Looney Tunes cartoon that was stolen from the 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon The Plowboy (and earlier; see Mark Kausler’s comment).

In Big Man From the North (released January 10, 1931), three dogs pulling Bosko in a sleigh roll down a hill smash into a wall. The animals emerge as a single character in a ball.



Billboard reviewed the cartoon on January 17, 1931.

Bosco, the chief character in all these Looney Tunes, and Honey, his inspiration in all his adventures, are the hero and heroine in this animated cartoon travesty on the Northwestern Mounted Police tale. This Warner Vitaphone short is up to the usual standard of cartoons and should prove effective competition to other similar cartoons in the market. Intricate action and background, plot and animation and sound synchronization are all satisfactory, and the laugh qualities to this short should be worth any exhibitor’s showing time. The caricatured drama shows Bosco as a member of the Mounties sent out to get a bad man and bring him in. Little Bosco is shaking like a leaf when he enters one of the Northwest saloons to find his man. Ultimately the gigantic bad man shows up and proceeds to shoot up the pace. Poor Bosco’s puny stature and ineffectual bravado are insufficient to capture the outlaw, but morally supported by his sweetheart, and assisted by the effectiveness of a high-powered shotgun. Bosco gets his man and how! Animation is sandwiched with the usual dancing animals and rhythmic convolutions of other inanimate props in the background. A reel worth booking. C.G.B.