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.None of the previous Bosko cartoons were great, most of them being hit and miss, but they were interesting and mostly quite decent. Up to this particular point in the series, 'Ups 'n Downs' isn't quite one of the weaker Bosko cartoons like 'Ain't Nature Grand' and particularly 'The Booze Hangs High' but it also doesn't have enough to make it one of the best.Certainly there are good things about 'Ups 'n Downs'. 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 one of 'Ups 'n Downs' highlight components, its infectious energy, rousing merriment, lush orchestration and how well it fits with the animation is just a joy.'Ups 'n Downs' humour isn't consistent, but the hotdog scene is amusing and while not hilarious the Sonny Boy part is pretty harmless and anybody familiar with the likes of Al Jolson may find it intriguing. The synchronisation and sound are remarkably good, nothing being static or sloppy.However, the humour isn't consistent as said. Other than one or two parts, the cartoon is at best mildly amusing and too often is less than that. Part of the problem is that the timing is pedestrian, with some scenes taking too long to set up, and that the story is routine to the point of painful predictability with the obligatory stock villain that is there for the sake of being a plot device and an ending that is basically an over-familiar cliché that can be seen from miles away and has been done with much more freshness elsewhere.Bosko is bland and not particularly endearing, showing much more personality before and since 'Ups 'n Downs'.In conclusion, a very up and down cartoon. 5/10 Bethany Cox

. . . with Warner Bros. featuring the "Good" Bosko rather than his Evil Twin (who's often referred as "Bosco 2," or simply "Tabasco"). Since Warner Bros. was notorious for using its psychic Looney Tunes Animated Shorts Seers division to warn 21st Century America of its upcoming Calamities, Catastrophes, Cataclysms, and Apocalypti, it should come as no surprise that the important part of UPS 'N DOWNS--the horse race--centers around KGB Chief Vlad "The Impaler" Putin's Russian chess gambit to put in his puppet as America's White House Resident-Elect, in hopes that this would turn the USA into a Soviet Satellite State, such as Estonia and Latvia used to be. Everyone knows that Russia has NEVER been a Socialist nation like Sweden, but rather a practitioner of the Corrupt Crony Communist\Capitalist Oligarchy ear-marking the backgrounds of nearly all the Cabinet Picks announced by Putin's puppet, Rump. Putin, as Bosko's mustached rival here, throws a grenade at Our Hero in an attempt to rig the race outcome. However, Bosko simply takes over Putin's ride to save America!

Watched this Bosko short on YouTube and I agree with the previous poster that this was amusing and nothing more. Best sequence was indeed the hot dogs dancing without a care despite their intended purpose! The "Mammy and Sonny Boy" gag may be pretty obscure for anyone who doesn't know Al Jolson, otherwise it may be considered racist by others though in this case I don't think any real harm was meant by it. If the mouse drawn here looks a little familiar, it's because the directors, Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising, once drew for Walt Disney when he did Oswald the Lucky Rabbit who somewhat resembles the future mouse that would put Disney on the map of animation history. Worth a look once for anyone interested in this sort of thing.

This short is mildly amusing, with a main premise which has been done more or less in other shorts, in some cases to far better success. I want to discuss one or two scenes to some degree, so consider this a spoiler alert: Bosko starts out as a hot dog vendor and this actually is probably the best part of the short. His hot dogs dance on the grill and don't seem to be the slightest bit concerned that their ultimate purpose is to be eaten! One is bought by a dog who is recognized by his intended lunch and realizes that said edible is his "Sonny Boy" and they wind up walking off together to the music of the song "Sonny Boy". The short unfortunately gets quite uneven from here as Bosko takes far too long to secretly retrieve a mechanical horse from its hiding place in order to enter it into a horse race.There's the requisite bad guy who resorts to trickery and cheating to try and get rid of Bosko and his "horse" and some cute and occasionally interesting visuals, but the ending is a bit too trite and obvious for my tastes. It could have been better, but for an early Bosko, it isn't too bad. Worth seeing at least once if you have the opportunity.