Betty Boop's Little Pal

Betty is furious with her little dog when he ruins her picnic. She tells him to go home, not realizing that there is an evil dog catcher out there. He scoops the little guy up. Betty chases after him. Fortunately, the other dogs in the wagon have some smarts. It's a sweet cartoon but has only a modicum of creativity.

As far as I have been able to ascertain, this is the first appearance by Betty Boop's puppy, Pudgy. Like Betty, this pooch has a HUGE head and is also quite cute.

The short begins with Betty on a picnic with Pudgy. She sings about how wonderful he is and what a friend he is, but soon the dog acts, well, like a dog and makes a mess of everything. Betty is furious--spanking him and sending him home. However, on the way, the evil dog catcher arrives and puts Pudgy into his truck. Why Betty just stood there and didn't argue or plead for Pudgy is odd--or she could have always gone down to the pound to retrieve him. Regardless, it's up to Pudgy and the other dogs in the truck to somehow escape.

Overall, this is a decent installment of Betty Boop. It's awfully cutesy but pleasantly so and worth seeing.

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. Anybody who loves those characteristics to her won't be disappointed, admittedly they've come through stronger in earlier cartoons when the material took more risks but they are all here, plus she has great comic timing.

'Betty Boop's Little Pal' is not one of her best cartoons, but it is a lovely worthwhile watch. Just a little bland compared to before. It does a lot right and very little wrong, but at the same time something is missing in comparison to what made the best Betty Boop cartoons so good. Do have a preference for the more risqué, more surreal cartoons that are also slightly richer in imagination. The story is pretty thin, and takes a while to get going, with the urgency kicking in when the dog catcher appears.

However, as always with a Betty Boop cartoon the animation is very good, again as always rich in detail and beautifully drawn. The music is infectious and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, putting one in a good mood and enhances the action wonderfully, Betty's song here is lovely.

On top of that, 'Betty Boop's Little Pal' is very cute and charming, though some may find a little on the too cutesy side, helped by the adorable chemistry between Betty and Pudgy, while the climax is tense and a lot of fun even if knowing what the outcome is is inevitable. The dog catcher is a menacing enough antagonist, and one cannot get over how cute Pudgy (the little pal of the title) is. The voice acting is fine.

In summary, very cute and charming but not a favourite. 7/10 Bethany Cox