Betty and Jimmy get a work-out

Betty Boop and Little Jimmy (1936)
Starring: Mae Questel
Director: Dave Fleischer

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Betty (voiced by Questel) is working through a personal fitness and weight-loss regiment when Little Jimmy (also voiced by Questel) causes a workout machine to malfunction. With Betty trapped in it, Jimmy rushes off to get help, but is repeatedly distracted along the way. 

By 1936, Betty Boop's best years were behind her as a cartoon character. The morality clauses of the Motion Picture Production Code instituted in 1934 had drained her adventures of the adult-oriented surrealness and not-so-thinly veiled sexual references that had made them unique, and Betty was left starring in cute and mildly amusing features. The wild-child of the animated world had settled down and become domesticated, and, as if to drive that fact home, she was paired in several films with the child character of Little Jimmy. (For more on Little Jimmy's origins, see my review of "Baby Be Good" by clicking here.)  

"Betty Boop and Little Jimmy" is a fairly typical example of these on-the-downhill-slope efforts. The voice acting is great, the animation is top-notch, the music is fun and catchy... but the story is entirely without any of the edgy sparks that were flying left and right back in early 1930s. What we have here is a series of cute, harmless, and mildly amusing gags that are almost entirely free of anything that would cause upset. (That said, there are a couple of moments that might "trigger" some of the hyper-sensitive modern viewers out there, but anyone who is psychologically well-balanced should weather the experience just fine.)

One thing that really sets it apart, however, is the unsettling, nightmarish territory that this cartoon heads into at the end. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it--other than it is completely out of tone with everything that leads up to it. It's so inconsistent that I find myself wondering if maybe veterans from the "Tom and Jerry" series dropped by for the story concept meetings, because, like the "Tom and Jerry" series, it's as if the creators here couldn't settle on a tone or an audience for their efforts.

Why don't you take a few minutes out of your day and enjoy a bit of 1930s fun and weirdness? Maybe you have a different take on the ending than I do, and then you can set me straight with a comment!