We enter the last year of the Harman-Ising cartoons, followed by the start of a new era for Warner Bros. cartoons. Again, the Bosko cartoons are usually by Hugh Harman, the others mostly by Rudolf Ising, but one of the studio's top animators starts to play a more significant role...

The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives
An orphan kid is wandering in the snow at Christmas until he meets Santa who takes him to his shanty. There we see musical scenes involving toys. This short reminds me of "Red-Headed Baby" (some scenes are even reused from that one). A cute one, most enjoyable if watched at Christmas, I'm sure.
7.5

Bosko in Dutch
Bosko and others skate to music, then he sings "It's Tulip Time in Holland" with Honey. He also has to save two kittens (who both look like Wilbur) from drowning. Friz Freleng claimed this was the first short he co-directed – but to me, it's closer to Harman's earlier Boskos in style than Freleng's later masterpieces. However, there's a clever visual gag when the kittens scream for help – maybe this was one of his contributions to the short?
7.5

One Step Ahead of My Shadow
Various gags in a Chinese setting, including some with distinctly American themes (contemporary radio shows, jazz music). Again, the music makes way for the villain of the short, this time fittingly a dragon chasing a boy and a girl. I think this is one of the weakest Harman-Ising shorts – not very funny for the most part, and the stereotypes date it badly... But then there's the scene with the dragon where we see possibly the wildest and cartooniest animation so far. If only the rest of the cartoon had been something like that...
6.5

Bosko in Person
This short is all about Bosko and Honey performing in front of an audience. They sing, dance, do impressions... For once, the musical aspect makes complete sense. The quick switches between the acts make it a very fast-paced cartoon, and you're constantly looking forward to seeing what our heroes do next. The most fun I've had with Bosko! Another short claimed to be at least partially Freleng's, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if that was the case.
9

Young and Healthy
King Louis isn't interested in the upcoming ball, he'd rather be free. Thankfully playing with the kids in the yard cheers him up. A pretty typical cartoon of the day, but a nice enough watch in any case.
7.5

Bosko the Speed King
A racing cartoon – something that immediately piqued my interest! This reminds me at times of "Ups 'n Downs", but now with cars instead of horses. Many fun and clever gags like Honey tuning up Bosko's motor and a joke featuring a stuttering starter that would be used a lot of times with a certain character we won't be meeting for a couple more years. Speaking of Honey, I think she's adorable in this one – certainly one of her best roles. All in all, one of the strongest Boskos and I don't think this would even have felt out of place later in the decade!
9

The Organ Grinder
An organ grinder plays music in the street for money. The main character here, though, is his monkey who puts on a show for a group of kids. Entertaining short with a wild ending.
8

Wake Up the Gypsy in Me
A short that takes place in Russia, so a lot of cossack dancing here! The star here is the Rice-Puddin' the Mad Monk – not just brilliantly named, but also easily the standout villain out of all the shorts we've seen. He manages to be both hilarious (a villain so diabolical he even cheats at puzzles) and very creepy (abducting and trying to kiss an obviously much younger Roma girl). I think the very beginnings of the later Looney Tunes spirit can be seen waking up in some scenes.
8.5

Bosko's Knight-Mare
Having read a book about King Arthur's knights, Bosko falls asleep and dreams he's a knight who has to save Honey from the villain. Pretty average for the time.
7.5

I Like Mountain Music
In a drug store, characters in magazines come to life and sing the title song. They have to stop three robbers from stealing the cash. Fun cartoon – this theme was developed further in later cartoons, but most of it is already here. Better than the earlier "Three's a Crowd".
8.5

Bosko the Sheep-Herder
The title pretty much says it, other than that there's a wolf trying to eat one of the sheep. There are a lot of scenes with the characters playing music, even Bosko using an unusual instrument (a beehive), and all of them dancing to it, as well as cutesy scenes with animals. Are we back in 1931 all of a sudden? Some fun moments, but the recent Bosko cartoons have usually been better than this.
7

Beau Bosko
Bosko is in the French foreign legion and has to catch Ali Oop, "the Desert Scourge". Good gags, especially Bosko's way of defeating the band of thieves is true Looney Tunes. Freleng is again believed to have co-directed.
8.5

Shuffle Off to Buffalo
This cartoon shows a factory where elves prepare babies for delivery. The babies seem to be very smart ones, as they can already speak and sing, performing the catchy title song. Another Freleng co-direction, this one is quite cute!
7.5

Bosko's Mechanical Man
Bosko builds a robot to help him and Honey with chores. Sadly, the robot seems to cause chaos more than anything else. A very strong entry in the series with fun gags. I like the animation here (a couple of wild scenes). Honey is in a more significant role this time (being responsible for some of the best moments of the short), which is certainly a good thing! Definitely a standout in its era, and the best Bosko so far.
9.5

The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon
Anthropomorphic utensils are washing and drying themselves and having fun until a dough monster attacks and tries to take away the beautiful dish. Not very different in execution from the typical Merrie Melody of the day, but the atypical character choice and cute designs help make this an enjoyable short.
8

Bosko the Musketeer
Bosko has another daydream – this time he's a musketeer, friends with the famous three. To no one's surprise, he has to save Honey from a villain. After "Bosko's Mechanical Man", which was a masterpiece by the standards of the time, this is a bit underwhelming, but it's more or less an average Bosko cartoon. The events being a character's imagination or dream is something I find quite boring, to be honest (though thankfully we know it from the start here).
7.5

We're in the Money
Another "things come to life" cartoon, this time about toys (and some other goods) in a department store. They perform the title song that would later be heard in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies a lot of times, so here's another first. Otherwise, there's not much that's new here – we've had many cartoons with living toys, and even some of the characters are recycled (the mannequin from "A Great Big Bunch of You" seems to have been rehired from the dump). Still a decent short, this time without a villain appearance.
7.5

If you've ever seen "Bosko's Picture Show", you can probably hear it.

Bosko's Picture Show
With this short (another Freleng co-directed one), we have to say goodbye to the first Looney Tunes star ever. We get to experience a visit to the movies back in the day – organ music ("We're in the Money" – I said we'd hear it a lot of times!), newsreels, short films... All of it hosted by Bosko, of course! This short is essentially one unrelated gag after another, with a lot of celebrity appearances (some comedic, some more disturbing). Oh, and Bosko appears to utter a very rude word supposedly never before heard in a movie! Our hero sure went out with a bang!
8.5

At this point, disaster strikes for Leon Schlesinger. Following payment disputes, Harman and Ising leave his studio. They take the characters of Bosko and Honey with them, also snatching many of the animators, and sign a contract with MGM to produce the new Happy Harmonies series. Schlesinger is left with essentially nothing but the titles Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. But he's not one to give up, so he hires a new crew to come up with replacement characters for the series. Disney animator Tom Palmer becomes the new director (or "supervisor", as the credits say) and creates a character called Buddy to be the new Looney Tunes star. The Merrie Melodies will continue as one-shots. Will the new cartoons be a success?

Probably the least "looney" title card in the history of the series.

Buddy's Day Out
Directed by Tom Palmer
Buddy, his dog Happy, his girlfriend Cookie, and her brother Elmer go on a picnic. But Elmer and Happy start driving around in a car, and Buddy and Cookie have to save them. The characters are all boring and shallow compared to Bosko and friends (I won't even try to compare them to the later ones). This short shows how good Harman-Ising's worst efforts were – for all their flaws, they were still competently made cartoons. The timing here is all over the place – the changes between shots are abrupt and awkward, I felt like I was watching a film with scenes missing. And the only somewhat funny joke this short has is also ruined by bad execution (Buddy asks Cookie for a kiss and gets rejected, followed by various animals doing the same – but a completely unnecessary shot of baby Elmer is inserted in between, ruining the flow). Things surely can't get much worse from here...
3

I've Got to Sing a Torch Song
Directed by Tom Palmer
People around the world (ranging from celebrities to cannibals) are shown listening to the radio, and at the end, there's a performance of the title song by many of them. A weird cartoon – obviously some of the jokes about celebrities are bound to be extremely dated, but many of the ones here feel like they would have been unfunny even back in the day, some hardly counting as jokes (at times kind of giving the film an unintentional dadaist quality). The drawings range from typical of the era to downright ugly. Slightly better than Palmer's first effort. It's not as jumpy as the first one, but maybe that's in part because there isn't even supposed to be a proper plot.
5

So the answer is a resounding no! Hiring Tom Palmer proves to be a huge mistake – his two cartoons get rejected by Warner Bros. for being unfunny and generally terrible and have to be reworked quickly to make them releasable. Looking at the finished cartoons (especially the first one), this doesn't appear to have helped much. Palmer gets fired from the studio, with other directors quickly taking his place. The character of Buddy will outlast his creator, but not without a redesign – the people at the studio appear to have wanted to forget essentially everything about Palmer's short tenure!

Buddy's Beer Garden
Directed by Earl Duval
Buddy and Cookie serve beer and food to people at Buddy's bar. There's also a lot of music to entertain the audience. This is quite similar in style to many of the Harman-Ising era cartoons. Despite Buddy still having little personality besides being cheerful, there are enough funny gags for this cartoon to be an entertaining seven minutes. The animation is also nice to look at – essentially a different world from the last two cartoons.
7.5

Buddy's Show Boat
Directed by Earl Duval
Various acts perform on Buddy's boat, including Buddy and Cookie themselves doing a duet of "Under My Umbrella" (no, not that one). A villain tries to kidnap Cookie, and it's Buddy to the rescue! Nothing world-changing here (it resembles many of the Bosko cartoons), but it's a good take on that basic formula. The phone scene with Buddy and Cookie (and the villain) is my favorite part of this cartoon.
7.5

Sittin' on a Backyard Fence
Directed by Earl Duval
Cats have fun at night, dancing to music. Chaos ensues, as two tomcats start fighting over a female cat. This was fun, with some very impressive animation during the chase sequences (especially the camera angles). And cartoon cats are cute!
9

An additional cartoon called "Buddy's High Jinks" is listed in some publications from the time as having been completed, but it doesn't appear to have been released. Could it have been a Palmer effort that was even worse than the other two, to the extent it couldn't be saved by any additional work?

To put it briefly, 1933 was a messy year. The last entries of the Harman-Ising era showed strong improvement in their cartoons, particularly the Looney Tunes, with Bosko getting some of his best shorts. But sadly that ended all of a sudden. The replacement character, Buddy, is essentially a more boring copy of Bosko. Thankfully the quality of the cartoons seems to be improving again with Earl Duvall becoming the director – hopefully the trend will continue in 1934. There will be more firsts for the series, at any rate!