Betty Boop and Little Jimmy

While almost all of the Betty Boop cartoons are a bit strange, "Betty Boop and Little Jimmy" is about the strangest! The way the film ends just defies description and it's something you just need to see for yourself.

The short begins with Betty singing a ditty about exercising to keep her figure (a figure that is FAR less 'robust' in this cartoon than the Pre-Code* version of Betty). Betty uses one of those exercise belt machines (the sort that turned out to do absolutely no good in real life) and dumb Little Jimmy ends up breaking the machine with Betty on it--and the device goes out of control. Betty yells for him to get an electrician but during most of the cartoon, this ignorant little jerk looks for politicians, magicians and pretty much everything ending with an 'ians'. In the end, the little runt accidentally unplugs the machine--and then the film gets weird. See it and see what I mean.

This is not one of the better outings by the Boopster. It's not just the bizarreness but the film isn't particularly enjoyable compared to the average Betty Boop flick. Not terrible but far from her usual.

Is it wrong to get turned on by a cartoon character? I dunno But Betty is hot. Even in 1936 when they were toning down the sex aspect.

Betty is exercising and singing "Keep Your Girlish Figure," as she does with lyrics such as "roll your eyes and keep away from pies," and "if you find that you're too plump, takes off these extra bumps with a hop and a skip and a jump." She was ahead of her time, considering aerobic exercise.

"Little Jimmy" is exercising along with her but makes a big mistake, putting the exercise horse into too high a gear. It goes off its bearings, crashes into Betty who is stuck on her machine. Jimmy goes for help, but like a lot of little kids, is distracted with various outside. Betty, meanwhile, is whittling away to anorexic proportions!

The ending to this is very bizarre with the message being if you laugh you'll grow fat. Go figure. Not horrible, but not one of Betty's best.

Betty Boop and Little Jimmy (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Another rather bizarre short finds Betty Boop working out to keep her cute figure but then part of an exercise machine goes crazy so Little Jimmy is sent out to find an electrician. BETTY BOOP AND LITTLE JIMMY isn't a classic in the series but it's certainly worth watching since it contains some rather bizarre moments. The more of these Betty Boop shorts I watch the more I notice how downright weird some of them were. This one here manages to be entertaining in a bizarre way because it gives us three sides to Betty. At first we just see her typical figure but there are jokes towards the end where we see her in other ways. First we see her as a a very skinny woman, which is what Olive Oyl would look like in a few years. We then see her as an obese woman, which will certainly catch your eye. There really aren't any laughs to be found here but these alternate views of Betty certainly make it worth viewing. The animation is top-notch as is the imagination being shown but another big thumbs up goes to the song that Betty sings while working out.

A good deal of the pre-Production Code Betty Boop cartoons are daring and creative, with content that makes one amazed at what's gotten away with. While the later Betty Boop cartoons made after the Code was enforced are still watchable and exceptionally well-made, they are so toned down that they feel bland.

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 good news is that she has not lost her charm, she is still cute and her comic timing is good.

Less good is that, thanks to the production code her sensuality is heavily muted, and it was like she had lost a large part of what made her such a unique character back then and what made her popular.

The animation is still very good, as ever being rich in detail and beautifully drawn. Some of it is quite imaginative too. The music is infectious and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, putting one in a good mood and enhances the action wonderfully. Just love Betty's song here.

'Betty Boop and Little Jimmy' has the odd mildly amusing moment, is paced securely and a couple of parts are cute. The voice work is good enough.

However, if anybody enjoyed the pre-code Betty Boop cartoons for being wonderfully surreal and for its daring risqué content that was ahead of the time back in the 30s and wouldn't be seen a lot now in cartoons, they will be disappointed here. Both are missing which gives a rather tame and bland feel here.

Apart from the odd mildly amusing moment, 'Betty Boop and Little Jimmy' is not a particularly funny cartoon, nor is it an entirely imaginative or informative one. Little Jimmy is very irritating, but the worst thing about 'Betty Boop and Little Jimmy' is the out of place and jarringly weird ending which just juxtaposes too much with the rest of the cartoon.

In conclusion, average Betty Boop. 5/10 Bethany Cox