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.
'Whoops! I'm a Cowboy' has some amusing moments, is paced securely and a few 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, 'Whoops! I'm a Cowboy' is not a particularly funny cartoon, nor is it an entirely imaginative or informative one. Wiffle Piffle is not as compelling a character as Betty and the cartoon ends on somewhat of an abrupt note.
In conclusion, average Betty Boop. 5/10 Bethany Cox