The unemployed animators, led by Harman and Ising, decided to produce their own cartoons and made Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid as a demonstration to show to distributors, using a character the two cartoonists had created and copyrighted in 1927–28, while still working with Disney. Rudolf Ising appeared on-screen as himself in the short and Carman Maxwell performed the voice of Bosko. Harman and Ising shopped for a distributor, but were turned down by both Paramount Pictures and Universal. Leon Schlesinger, head of Pacific Title & Art Studio took an interest in Bosko and used his connections with Warner Bros. Pictures to get a distribution deal for a cartoon series that Harman and Ising later named Looney Tunes, a play on the name of Walt Disney's Silly Symphony series. The cartoon pioneered the pre-synch technique, now standard in American animation, as Harman and Ising understood the shortcomings of recording the sound after the animation in relation to dialogue. Apparently, the entire soundtrack was filmed on the spot, with Maxwell being off-camera. According to cartoon historian Mark Kausler, a camera pointed at Maxwell's mouth to provide reference for the animation, but it was finally determined that it wasn't necessary and that it looked "too forced". Availability Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid is available on disc 3 of the DVD set Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 and disc 3 of the Blu-ray set Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2. Preservation The short was considered lost for many decades, with only the film's Vitaphone soundtrack still in existence. Turner Entertainment Co. had a 35mm copy, but did not acknowledge its existence until 1999. The short was later released on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 DVD. References External links Bosko the Talk Ink Kid on YouTube 1920s English-language films 1929 animated films 1929 short films 1920s American animated films 1920s animated short films 1929 comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Hugh Harman Films directed by Rudolf Ising Looney Tunes shorts Bosko films Short films with live action and animation African-American animated films African-American comedy films American animated short films Warner Bros. animated short films