Congo Jazz is just weird rubber limbs and animal drums

Is it worth the 6 minutes?

If you like old cartoons where everything moves like it's made of warm taffy, then sure. It's a quick watch.

People who hate the weird, uncomfortable vibes of the 1930s should probably stay away from this one. It's definitely a product of its time, and not in a way that feels particularly great today.

The whole thing starts with Bosko wandering into the jungle. He has a gun that looks way too big for him.

He's supposedly hunting, but he's mostly just bouncing along to the beat of the background music. The way his legs move is honestly kind of mesmerizing if you don't think about it too hard.

There is a tiger early on that he tries to shoot. The tiger doesn't even seem scared; it just sort of ducks and looks annoyed.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Congo Jazz (1930) through its definitive frames.

Then the movie just... stops being about hunting. It becomes a music video for no reason.

Bosko finds a monkey and starts yanking on its tail to make music. It feels a bit mean-spirited, even for a cartoon.

I noticed that the background trees all dance exactly the same way. It’s like they only had the budget to animate three branches and just looped them forever.

The music is catchy, I guess. It’s that old-timey jazz that sounds like it’s being played through a tin can.

One specific moment that made me blink was when Bosko starts playing a baby elephant like a piano. The elephant looks like it’s having a terrible time.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Congo Jazz (1930) through its definitive frames.

It’s a lot different than something like Beauty and the Beast where the animals actually have personalities. Here, they are just living instruments for Bosko to hit.

I think the animators just liked drawing things stretching. There is a scene with a giraffe that goes on for way too long.

The giraffe’s neck just keeps growing and shrinking. It doesn't really add anything to the joke, it's just... there.

There’s also this weird bit with a coconut. I missed the punchline because I was looking at how poorly the grass was drawn in the corner of the screen.

It reminds me a bit of the energy in School's Out, where the rhythm is more important than the actual plot. Nothing really happens, they just move until the film runs out.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Congo Jazz (1930) through its definitive frames.

The ending is very abrupt. Bosko just sort of wins? I’m not sure what he won.

He doesn't even have his gun anymore by the end. He just has a bunch of animals staring at him while he smiles at the camera.

A few things I noticed:

• The tiger has a very human-looking face for about three seconds. It’s creepy.
• Bosko’s whistle is actually pretty impressive if the voice actor did that live.
• The monkey’s expression when his tail is being pulled is genuinely sad.
• There is a lot of dust on the film strip in the version I saw.

I don't know why Bosko was so popular back then. He feels like a blank slate that just happens to be really good at annoying animals.

If you've seen one of these early Looney Tunes, you’ve basically seen this one. It’s not special, but it’s a weird little time capsule.

The jazz isn't even really jazz. It’s more like a marching band got lost in a swamp.

I’ll probably forget I watched this by tomorrow morning. Except for that poor elephant. Poor guy.