Search - Betty Boop And Grampy [Slim Case] on DVD

The curvaceous Miss Boop

Alejandra Vernon | Long Beach, California | 05/11/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Betty Boop cartoons spanned the years 1930-39, and were made for an adult audience. Those presented in this collection are from '34 to '39, and are in b&w except for "Poor Cinderella," which was Betty's only color cartoon, and shows her as a redhead. She was first created by Grim Natwick as a dog with a human head, to be the girlfriend of Bimbo the Dog, but later was modeled after Mae West, with West's figure and sultry moves. Mae Questel, who also did the voice for Olive Oyl, was Betty's main voice, and did a fine job of it (others included Kate Wright).
All the cartoons were from the Fleischer Studios, and the episode list is:

1: "Betty Boop and Grampy" (1935), animated by David Tendlar/Charles Hastings. Betty sings "Hold that Tiger," and Grampy makes his first appearance on film, with his ingenious mechanical devices.
2: "Poor Cinderella" (1934), animated by Seymour Knietel/William Henning/Roland Crandall. This was the first color cartoon from the Fleischer Studios, and the colors practically jump out of the screen; its palette is mostly of brilliant reds, lots of aqua green, and a knock out deep blue when Cinderella is dancing with the prince. It's very cleverly done, and I love the chorus of mice. A cartooned Rudy Vallee sings the theme song of the piece, "I'm Just a Poor Cinderella."
3: "Baby Be Good" (1935), animated by Myron Waldman/Edward Nolan. This is what happens to horrid little brats! Part of the film is run in reverse, as restitution is made for baby's bad deeds.

4: "Betty Boop and Little Jimmy" (1936), animated by Waldman/Hicks Lokey. Betty exercises and struts her stuff, but gets stuck in a treadmill, and becomes very skinny.
5: "Betty Boop and Little King" (1936), animated by Waldman/Lokey. Little King (created by Otto Soglow) was a cartoon star in his own right, and this animation has a slightly different style from the other Betty Boop episodes, with some of the backgrounds in a very effective layered 3D look.
6: "The Candid Candidate" (1937). Grampy gets elected Mayor, and of course has one-of -a-kind solutions to the town's problems.
7: "Grampy's Indoor Outing" (1936), animated by Tendlar/William Sturm. When rain stops a trip to the carnival, Grampy's mechanical genius makes for fun indoors.
8: "Grampy in House Cleaning Blues" (1937), animated by Tendlar/Eli Brucker. Betty Boop sings "I've Got Those House Cleaning Blues," and Grampy puts on his famous thinking cap to invent some creative devices. This one is very clever indeed.

9: "Grampy with the Impractical Joker" (1937), animated by Thomas Johnson/Frank Endress. Betty bakes a cake, and gets interrupted by her obnoxious friend Irving. Grampy dons his thinking cap, to deviously outsmart the annoying joker.
Irving to Betty: "Mind if I smoke?"
Betty to Irving: "Don't care if you burn!"
10: "The Scared Crows" (1939) animated by Tendlar/Sturm. This features Pudgy the dog, and Betty deals with some feisty marauding crows.
Total running time is 65 minutes."