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.
Good news is that she has not lost her charm, despite being significantly toned down, she is still cute and her comic timing is good.
The animation, as always, is extremely good, being beautifully drawn, crisply shaded and meticulous in detail. The music is infectious, lush and dynamic. There are some amusing moments, as well as some creative ones and the mix of live action (which also looks good) and animation works well. The voice work is solid.
However, there is a vast preference for the Betty Boop cartoons that have a more surreal edge to the visuals and sharper and more risqué material. The story is also slight and the janitor character as well as being a less than tasteful caricature is not an amusing or particularly interesting foil for Betty.
In summary, watchable curiosity but there's better Betty Boop cartoons around (as well as worse). 6/10 Bethany Cox