Yes, the first Looney Tune wasn't Bugs or Porky, but rather Bosko who was created by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. They wanted to create their own studio, but had a hard time starting it. So Bosko was created a later sold to Warner Brothers to star in their upcoming Looney Tunes shorts. His debut cartoon, Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid, which was released in 1929, has the special distinction of being one of the first cartoon with extensive synchronized speech according to IMDb. Then Bosko goes on to have adventures with his girlfriend, Honey, and his dog, Bruno.
When I first saw Bosko, I thought he was a cute little monkey or an ape. He has a big happy smile, and big black eyes. Ten fingers and toes. He even has a tiny derby hat that's slightly slanted. However, if you look up information on Bosko, you'll quickly discover he isn't a monkey like I thought. He's human. Specifically, he's black. No, excuse me, he's not black. Warner Brothers registered him as a 'Negro Boy.' You see, Bosko's personality was based of minstrel show characters. If you don't know what a minstrel show is, they were an old timey comedy skits performed by white people in black face that were terribly racist to black people and they served as the inspiration of Bosko's creation. Here, enjoy his first cartoon, Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid.
"Well, here I is, and I sho' feel good."
A few years later, Bosko would drop his speech mannerisms and adopt the generic high-pitched Mickey Mouse voice that a lot of cartoons had at the time. Now, Bosko's cartoons seem more like Mickey's cartoons in that Bosko, not only talks like him, but acts like him too. Lots of prancing and singing and general merriment without having a set personality other than happy. Anyway, here's Bosko at the Beach.
Even though his last cartoon was in 1938, it wasn't the last time Bosko would make an appearance. Bosko and Honey made their final appearance in an episode of Tiny Toons entitled "Fields of Honey." In the episode, the young toons are supposed to find a mentor however Babs is having difficultly finding one because the vast majority of Looney Tunes are male. Babs discovers Honey and makes Honey her mentor, however, due to their original and questionable design, they looked different.
Now they look more like dogs instead of "negroes" as Warner Brothers branded them as. Bosko wasn't the first and only time Looney Tunes created a character or an episode that was racially questionable. Speedy Gonzales raised some eyebrows and Bugs Bunny starred in cartoons that I'm sure Warner Brothers would like to forget.
