Betty Boop's Ker-Choo

Betty is entered in an auto race. She is late for the start because she has a cold. She sings a song about a cold in her nose which goes on forever. When the race starts, she holds her own, even if she doesn't feel well. The race is entertaining with Betty doing her best. The real hero of this is Betty's sneezing. It's well done early animated cartooning.

"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.

This was the very first Betty Boop cartoon I ever saw. I was not in

the least bit disappointed. This film was fast paced, ingeniously

animated and absolutely hilarious. In the world of Fleischer,

everything is flexible. Animals talk and formerly inanimate objects

come to life. When Betty puts a cough drop into her mouth, she

more-or-less inserts it, along with her entire hand, and then pulls it

back out. She sneezes, and the bearded men on the cough drop

box excuse her. She sings a song, as always, quite well, and

looks very sexy in that little white motoring outfit. The best bit

comes at the very end, but I won't give that away. I'll just say that it

involves how she is the only one to actually cross the finish line.

Yes, a great comedy, sexually suggestive, as usual, but good

clean fun for those who don't know the difference.

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