'Betty Boop's Halloween Party' may not be one of the best Betty Boop cartoons. This said, it is still a very good cartoon in many ways, despite having a title that can easily mislead people.
Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation. The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her.
The flaws are few, but as said the title is misleading. The party only takes up a very small portion of the cartoon and it's over too soon and is not as memorable as when 'Betty Boop's Halloween Party' becomes spookier and more imaginative. There are too many characters somewhat, and some are better than others.
However the Halloween atmosphere is great, the visuals help give the cartoon a spookiness and much of it is wonderfully bizarre and deliciously surreal. The black and white animation is extremely good, smooth, meticulously detailed and well drawn with the black and white not looking too primitive. A lot of it is actually very imaginative as well, some of the most inventive, fantastically surreal and eye-popping of the early Betty Boop cartoons to me. The music is both atmospheric and infectious.
It's never a dull cartoon either, and the spirit of Halloween is incredibly well evoked, as well as some welcome humour, even if it is more risqué in other Betty Boop cartoons. The voice acting is fine.
Overall, good Halloween fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox
