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The Tree's Knees

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The Tree's Knees
Bosko trying to grab hold of a small anthropomorphic tree
Directed byHugh Harman
Rudolf Ising
Produced byHugh Harman
Rudolf Ising
Leon Schlesinger
StarringJohnny Murray
(uncredited)
Music byFrank Marsales
Animation byIsadore Freleng
Rollin Hamilton
Production
companies
Harman-Ising Productions
The Vitaphone Corporation
Leon Schlesinger Studios
Distributed byWarner Bros.
The Vitaphone Corporation
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • May 16, 1931 (1931-05-16)
(earliest known date)
Running time
7:02
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Tree's Knees is the twelfth title in the Looney Tunes series featuring Bosko and Honey.[1] It was released as early as May 16, 1931.[2][a] It was the last cartoon in the series to be directed by both Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.[3] Every Looney Tunes cartoon after this was directed by Hugh Harman until 1933, and every Merrie Melodies cartoon was directed by Rudolf Ising until the aforementioned year. It is also the last Bosko cartoon to not feature the main character's (Bosko's) name in the title. The short is also notable for the extensive use of footage from the earlier short Ain't Nature Grand! that it reuses, in particular a scene of Bosko happily and innocently pursuing a butterfly. The film score was composed by Frank Marsales.

Plot

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Bosko wanders through the forest with an axe, and finds a tree, but the tree turns out to be alive and the surrounding saplings (presumably its children) beg Bosko not to chop it down. Bosko then engages in a song-and-dance routine with the trees, until he is distracted by and follows a butterfly, leading him into another song-and-dance routine with several other living trees and the animals of the forest.

References

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  1. ^ Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 4. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.
  2. ^ "The Tree's Knees - Earliest Known Date". The Sheboygan Press. May 19, 1931. p. 15. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  3. ^ Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 57-58. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.

Notes

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  1. ^ Archived from a May 19 article, this is based on the fact that new cartoon shorts would premiere in theaters on Saturdays.
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