Like Bosko's debut/pilot cartoon 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid', 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' is interesting historically, with it being the first official Looney Tunes cartoon. It is also fascinating to see Loone Tunes in their early days before the creation of more compelling characters and funnier and more creative cartoons.Again like 'Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid', 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' is an decent cartoon on its own, not bad but not much to get excited about. The story is paper thin and has its slow stretches, including an overly-sentimental moment with Bosko grieving over flowers, also getting a little repetitive towards the end. Bosko and Honey while cute do lack personality somewhat outside of being stereotypes.However, the animation is not bad at all, not exactly refined but fluid and crisp enough with some nice detail. The music is suitably bubbly and lush, with clever use of pre-existing material.There are some amusing moments, especially with the car, the sound is not as static as before, the cartoon is very cute without being too much and it is hard not to feel cheerful or smile at least while watching.In summary, decent but not great, worth seeing for historical interest. 7/10 Bethany Cox

. . . it's clear that the die has been cast to proclaim Warner Bros.' new animated shorts division as America's Extreme Early Warning System, particularly for its upcoming 21st Century Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti. You can look at almost any snippet of SINKIN' IN THE BATHTUB and seem to hear a Morgan Freeman-like voice narrating from the Heavens, "Welcome to Trump World." From the cow spitting a giant glob of black chew at Bosko and Honey while blocking the progress of their touring car in the highway (obviously symbolizing the Environmental Rapist White House Resident-Elect Donald J. Rump has named as America's new "Protector" of Mother Nature) to the automobile itself that turns into a runaway bathtub at the drop of a hat (representing Conspiracy Theory Promoter Michael Flynn, Rump's man to be in charge of National Security), 2017 portends to be so Topsy Turvy that it's likely to be the last to begin under our current U.S. Constitution. When it's YOUR turn to sink below the swampy surface for the third and final time, don't be surprised to hear a Looney Tunes refrain echoing in your doomed brain, screaming "We tried to tell you so!"

As an animation nut, the truly significant moments in animation history always make my heart swell and my pulse race. 'Gertie the Dinosaur' genuinely makes me tear up. So it was perhaps inevitable that I would enjoy Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising's 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' since it is the first ever Looney Tune(not counting the short pilot film 'Bosko The Talk Ink Kid'). Animated by the great Friz Freleng, 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' is surprisingly enjoyable on its own merits. It quickly establishes a bawdier atmosphere than previous cartoons (completely naked characters, a dance involving toilet paper, a shot of a bra and a cow with an enormous, pendulous udder) which would come to characterise Warner Bros. animation. It also establishes a sense of enormous inventiveness instantly when lead character Bosko plays his shower like a harp. The subsequent story is thin on plot (Bosko visits his girlfriend Honey and they go for a drive encountering some very mild danger) but there are plenty of funny moments, my favourite being Bosko's anthropomorphic car unexpectedly emerging for a distant shed instead of the garage. If the short ever tends towards the dull, there's always the sense of "I'm watching the first ever Looney Tune" to get you through the weak patches, Surprisingly, these are few and far between (Bosko crying after a goat eats his flowers is a little saccharine but otherwise there's little that comes to mine) and while there was still a long way to go before the recognised Warner style was achieved, 'Sinkin' in the Bathtub' is a charming start to a truly great story. Bosko's climactic intonation of the soon to be iconic phrase 'That's All Folks' will surely floor any animation fanatic.

This is the first official Looney Tunes short (there was a demonstration short, called Bosko the Talk-ink Kid, that served as a pilot and got the ball rolling and is actually a more interesting short than this one is, in some respects) and it has the first recurring character, Bosko. As characters go, Bosko is average-not the best, but not the worst either. The main problem with Bosko shorts is the sameness of them. They have some very amusing and occasionally clever bits, but a lot of the gags are repeated ad tedium. I want to talk about some of the things happening in the short, so there may be spoilers below: Almost anything can be a musical instrument in a Bosko short (and often is). The short begins with Bosko in the bathtub, with Bosko humming the song, "Singing In the Bathtub" and playing various "musical" instruments and eventually dancing, where the bathtub also starts dancing as well. Bosko gets dressed and goes to his garage to get his car, which is in the out-house. He drives over to his girlfriend Honey's place and she too is humming the same song in her bathtub. I'm curious to know just how much sheet music for "Singing In the Bathtub" was sold after this short came out. But I digress.After turning various items (including steps) into musical instruments, they go off in Bosko's car. After a misadventure or two, Bosko falls out of the car and breaks into several tiny versions of himself (a gag they would often repeat in later shorts with Bosko and other characters) eventually "pulling himself together" and chasing after the car. In the end, everyone goes off a mountain cliff and Bosko and Honey wind up "Singing In the Bathtub" again-a lake! This is on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 3 and is well worth seeing. The Collection itself is highly recommended.