Betty Boop's Ker-Choo

"Betty Boop's Ker-Choo" is almost like watching a 1930s version of Mario Cart! The film begins with several racers (including Bimbo and Ko Ko) waiting for Betty Boop to get in her car so they can start the race. It seems he has a cold and proceeds to sing about it. I personally wish they hadn't included the song, as the rest of the cartoon was great and the song only seemed to slow things down a bit. What follows is a super-crazy race as you'd only see in a cartoon or video game! And, in the end, Betty's cold turns out to be a big advantage. Overall, it's cute, clever and very watchable even 80 years after its debut. Not the best cartoon by Betty but better than average.

For some reason, I am obsessed with Betty Boop, so much so, that I get called Betty Boobs at work. I have recently began collecting the figurines, and have a bag, purse, dressing gown, beach towels - yeah it's bad.

But this isn't about me, this is actually about the first cartoon I've ever watched of Betty Boop. Previously, I've only seen her in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? where she was in colour. I bought a whole DVD, with 23 cartoons, and this was the first one I watched. It was a bit strange. First of all, I didn't realise they were done so long ago, they were in black & white, and there wasn't much laughs to be had. I don't think it was the right one to kick the DVD off either. The ending's the only really good bit, and some of the animation is slightly strange - she's constantly moving, what is the deal with that? Wouldn't it be easier to draw her standing still? But one down, 22 to go.

This short spoofs the very popular sport of auto racing. At the time this short was made, Barney Oldfield, an auto racer, was one of the more notable and famous celebrities of the day. This is auto racing, Fleischer style. Bizarre gags and excellent animation highlight this one and it's charming to watch. Fans of Late Night Black and White, the old Cartoon Network show, will recognize this as the cartoon footage is taken from for the "Groovie" (a series of fillers used to fill out the hour) titled, "Rollin'". Well worth watching. In print and available. Most recommended.

Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style 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 charm, sensuality and adorability factors are here and she's fun to watch.

Furthermore, the black and white animation is very good, smooth, meticulously detailed and well drawn with the black and white not looking too primitive. A lot of it is actually very imaginative and impressively surreal, especially in the race. Even better is much of the music, which is rousing, catchy and unquestionably accessible to anybody who loves or is familiar with the compositional style. 'Betty Boop's Ker-Choo' is a very amusing cartoon, with the highlight being the entire race which was inspired stuff and animated pretty brilliantly, and is full of energy and charm too.

If anything, personally would have liked to have seen more of the race and also either shortened or omitted Betty's song, which was okay but slowed down the cartoon and didn't serve much relevance, basically an excuse to give Betty something to sing.

To conclude, a very good cartoon of Betty Boop. 8/10 Bethany Cox

In this cartoon, one of the first things we see is a unique and fast way to fill the grandstands at any sporting event. It might be impractical and a little rough on the customers but it was an original idea and fun to watch.

Betty quickly gets into a song, probably titled "Ker-Choo," since she has a cold, it's the title name of the movie and it's said at the end of most verses. It's cute and catchy as most of her numbers were. However, it went on a little too long in relation to the rest of the story, which was about an auto race.

Betty has to be the only race-car driver in history, by the way, to power her nose in the middle of the race! The race, which lasts about two minutes is extremely entertaining with all the goofy sights you'd except to see, and more.

In all, a fun movie that would have been rated a star or two higher had the race been another minute longer and the song a minute shorter. Still, a typical cute and funny Betty Boop cartoon that leaves you with a smile on your face.