Bolivar the Talking Ostrich is a cartoon talking ostrich character created by Pinto Colvig.
History and pitch to Warner Bros.[]
Warner Bros. had recently passed on one cartoon proposal Blue Notes starring Bolivar. Pinto Colvig had experience as a newspaper cartoonist. Colvig had been experimenting with animation for some time, believing that the coming of sound would see cartoons replace two-reel comedy shorts. In 1928, close on the heels of Disney's Steamboat Willie, he self-funded a cartoon pilot with a partner named Walter Lantz, whom he met at the Mack Sennett comedy factory. By early 1929 Colvig attempted to sell his picture to Warner Bros. Although the cartoon’s animation was ready, its soundtrack wasn’t. Undeterred, Colvig proceeded to screen the film. According to Colvig’s studio biography, “[Colvig] finally got Jack Warner and [Leon] Schlesinger to look at it in a projection room. Pinto [would] furnish the sound effects himself. He sat down near the screen with an amazing array of film tins under his feet, cow bells, squawkers, his beloved clarinet, a battered trombone, and sundry other noise makers. “The picture came on the screen and Pinto started doing his stuff. He had to keep his eye fastened on the screen in order to furnish the proper sound at the proper time. His spirits rose as he heard Warner and Schlesinger roaring with laughter in the back of the projection room. Finally, the screening was finished. Warner slapped him on the back. ‘Son, you are all right,’ he laughed. “It was several months later that Pinto found out that Warner was laughing so hard at Pinto furnishing the sound effects he hardly saw the picture. It was finally sold to a small independent [distributor] a year later for about the amount Pinto had invested in it.” "But despite Jack Warner nixing Colvig’s Blue Notes, by late 1929 his studio was busy developing its large program of short films, and sound cartoons would inevitably be a must-have part of the mix. Bosko, a cartoon “star in waiting,” was about to get lucky."