Search - Betty Boop and Other Cartoon Treasures on DVD

Cartoons on this edition

David Gudas | Lewiston, ME USA | 07/18/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this "Betty Boop and Other Cartoon Treasures" DVD at the local Dollar Store. Such a deal. Mine had 5 Betty Boop and 9 Popeye cartoons. Seems odd they gave Betty Boop top billing but less content. The Betty Boop cartoons run one after the other, no menu controls them (You can click the "Next" button to cycle through them). The Popeye cartoons can be selected individually from a menu.
Here's what is on the DVD:
Betty Boop (All Black & White cartoons):
--Is My Palm Read - (February 17, 1933) - Bimbo is a fortune teller; Koko is his doorman; Betty is a customer. Bimbo sees a ride on a steamship, a wreck, Betty stranded on a tropical island. Betty then gets trapped inside a haunted grass hut; Bimbo gets her plea for help, and comes to her rescue. Back at the fortune telling booth, Bimbo reveals himself, but the ghosts come out of the crystal ball and start chasing them.
--Betty Boop and Little Jimmy - (March 27, 1936) - When Betty's exercise machine goes haywire with her in it, she sends Little Jimmy in search of an electrician, but he's distracted along the way looking for an optician, politician, magician, musician, ... By the time he gets back, Betty is practically a stick figure.
--Betty Boop in Swat The Fly - (April 19, 1935) - While Betty Boop tries to cook, a fly drives her and Pudgy the Pup to distraction.
--Betty Boop in Blunderland - (April 6, 1934) - Betty falls asleep doing a jigsaw puzzle and finds herself through the looking glass into a modern, urban wonderland. The shrinking potion comes from a "Shrinkola" dispenser. When most of the characters assemble, Betty sings "How Do You Do" to them. But the jabberwock steals Betty away, and everyone comes to her rescue.
--Betty Boop and Pudgy in Not Now - (February 28, 1936) - A caterwauling cat annoys Betty Boop and Pudgy; the latter tries cat-chasing, but bites off more than he can chew.Popeye the Sailor (Color / Black & White cartoons):
--Popeye For President - (March 30, 1956) (Color) - Popeye and Bluto are running for president; it's election day, the vote is tied, and Olive is the only remaining voter. But she won't vote until her chores are done, so Popeye and Bluto compete to cut her wood, plow her fields, and store her hay. And then it's just an old-fashioned fight.
--Spree Lunch - (June 21, 1957) (Color) - Popeye opens a diner; Bluto pulls one up right across the street. Wimpy comes along, and they compete for his business. The competition escalates, until finally they are throwing things at each other; Wimpy stands between them and snags a complete meal from the stream of objects passing overhead. Another spinach-free Popeye.
--Fright to the Finish - (Aug 27, 1954) (Color) - Olive is reading ghost stories to the boys. Popeye scoffs; Bluto decides to take advantage of this by staging various pranks (a headless man, an animated skeleton, and a sheet-over-balloon ghost). He pins the blame on Popeye and then goes to comfort Olive. Popeye retaliates by turning invisible, thanks to a jar of vanishing cream.
--Taxi Turvy - (June 4, 1954) (Color) - Popeye and Bluto are taxi drivers; they are, of course, competing for fares - and Olive, in particular.
--Shuteye Popeye - (October 3, 1952) (Color) - Popeye's snoring is keeping his resident mouse awake. The mouse fights back. Popeye makes a mistake: he traps the mouse in a spinach can that isn't completely empty.
--With Poopdeck Pappy - (Nov 15, 1940) - (Black & White) - Popeye's pappy, age 99, wants to go out at night; Popeye wants him to sleep. Popeye tries leg irons, but Pappy manages to put them on Popeye and sneak out to a sleazy bar. Pappy dances with other men's girlfriends, bumps into everyone, and throws his dancing partner into the band. Soon, the whole bar is lining up to get a piece of Pappy just as Popeye arrives. It takes a little help from some spinach, but Popeye gets everything sorted out, and he escorts Pappy back to the ship, where he hogties him into his hammock. To no avail; as soon as the light's out, Popeye discovers Pappy's snuck off again and tied a net around Popeye's bed.
--Little Swea'Pea - (September 25, 1936) (Black & White) - Popeye takes Swee' Pea to the zoo and spends most of his time rescuing the tot from the various animals.
--I'm in the Army Now - (December 25, 1936) (Black & White) - Olive tells the boys she loves a man in a uniform, so they try to sign up at the recruiting station, but they can only take one. There follows a duel of clips from previous shorts as they attempt to prove who is the winner.
--Customers Wanted - (January 27, 1939) - (Black & White) - Popeye and Bluto are running competing penny arcades, trying to bring in customer Wimpy. Of course, he would gladly pay Tuesday for a penny today. And of course, their competing arcades show clips featuring each of them, with well over half this short thus recycled."

More Popeye than Betty Boop

David Gudas | 06/28/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Despite its title and description, this DVD contains only one Betty Boop cartoon, "Betty Boop and the Little King" (1936) (in black and white), and over a dozen other (mostly Popeye) cartoons, in both color and black and white. It does not contain cartoons entitled, "Is My Palm Read", "Betty Boop in Swat the Fly", or "Betty Boop and Little Jimmy" as indicated on the back of the packaging. However, because I purchased it from a Walgreens store in June 2004 priced at $1.99 each or 2 for $3.00 (along with some other deceptively labeled cheapies), I cannot consider the DVD to be a total disappointment. Recommended more for fans of Popeye."

Boop-boop-a-doop!

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 11/04/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"BETTY BOOP AND OTHER CARTOON TREASURES offers five unrestored Boop shorts plus a balance of mostly Popeye cartoons, both Fleisher and Famous studio releases. These public domain animations enjoy wide circulation.

Transfer quality depends on source material, which is often somewhat degraded, especially the in-color films. Two hours' worth for as low as a cent seems a good deal, however. A good kid's choice.

CONTENTS--
IS MY PALM READ? (1933) - Pre-code Betty Boop shows lots of skin and has her fortune told by Bimbo.
BETTY BOOP AND LITTLE JIMMY (1936) - Boop gets caught in her exercise machine and Jimmy can't figure out who to get to rescue her.
SWAT THE FLY (1935) - Betty Boop's cake baking is interrupted by an annoying housefly.
BETTY IN BLUNDERLAND (1934) - Boop dreams of being in an alter-universe Wonderland with all the famous Lewis Carroll characters.
NOT NOW (1936) - Betty Boop's dog Pudgy chases a howling cat but is followed home by many noisy felines.
POPEYE FOR PRESIDENT (1956) - Political rivals Popeye and Bluto need Olive's lone vote to win the election.
SPREE LUNCH (1957) - Wimpy cadges free meals at both Popeye's and Bluto's eateries.
FRIGHT TO THE FINISH (1954) - Bluto plays mean tricks on Popeye and tries to scare Olive on Halloween.
TAXI-TURVY (1954) - Popeye's and Bluto's competing cab companies vie for Olive's fare.
SHUTEYE POPEYE (1952) - A snoring Popeye is attacked by a spinach-eating mouse.
POOPDECK PAPPY (1940) - Popeye tries and fails to stop his 99-year-old dad from gallivanting at night.
LITTLE SWEE'PEA (1936) - A trip to the zoo keeps Popeye busy rescuing a mischievous baby from the animals.
I'M IN THE ARMY NOW (1936) - Olive's infatuation with soldiers brings Bluto and Popeye to an enlistment station, where clips of earlier shorts are shown.
CUSTOMERS WANTED (1939) - Popeye and Bluto each own penny arcades that show scenes of earlier shorts. Their competition for customers leads to a huge fistfight.
plus--
Stories from a Land Far, Far Away: Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (28 mins.)
The Emperor's New Clothes (Hans Christian Anderson) - Denmark"