Minnie the Moocher

The best cartoon I've seen in half a lifetime. Doesn't say much since I'm still rather young. Point is though this seems like a visual (and also audio) symphony of swing.

I only knew the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy version of Minnie The Moocher and only through coincidence did I find this and hear Cab Calloway's version... all I can say nice.

What else is there to say, you almost get nostalgia to the days when you'd sit at home on the Saturday mornings and watch cartoons till noon. Back in the worry-less days.

Perfect collaboration between the Boop and the Swing.

Betty Boop has some right to feel a bit persecuted by her parents. They nag and assault her verbally, causing her to run away with Bimbo. Obviously, the cartoonist sided with the parents because once the two get into unfamiliar territory, they are bombarded by ghosts and demons. Horrible visages accost them. The interesting thing is that this film has nothing to do with the character of Minnie the Moocher from the Cab Calloway song. It becomes dance music for the wraiths that inhabit the forbidden place. All of that said, the animation is superb, the characters terrifying, and everything is great fun. One question. Why is this sexy little thing with the garter and the revealing costume living at home with her parents. Running away and being so inexperienced seems the action of a seven year old.

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. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing and she is very well supported by the ever fun Bimbo, the two have great chemistry together too.

'Minnie the Moocher' (title taken from the famous Cab Calloway song) is quintessential Betty Boop. If anybody is a fan, 'Minnie the Moocher' is a must watch, and perhaps even people not so hot on her might get a lot of value out of it.

As always, the animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.

Like with pretty much all the early Betty Boop cartoons, meaning before the production code tightened up and everything became tame, 'Minnie the Moocher' certainly does not disappoint when it comes to being risqué, creative or delightfully bizarre. As a pre-code cartoon, a lot of the content here is very daring stuff, very ahead of its time back then and you don't see much like the pre-code Betty Boop cartoons made today. And it's done in a very hugely creative and humorous way, with a very high spirit and spookiness throughout. The voice acting is good as always.

Overall, wonderful cartoon and for Betty Boop fans it's quintessential. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Minnie the Moocher is essentially a music video for Cab Calloway's titular song, the '30s equivalent of Michael Jackson's Thriller, a featurette with a story to go with the song. It begins with live action footage of Calloway strutting his stuff in front of his Cotton Club Orchestra, but quickly turns into an animated tale featuring sexy cartoon babe Betty Boop, who runs away from home with her lover Bimbo, only to be haunted by singing ghosts in a spooky forest.

While perhaps not quite as demented as Bimbo's Initiation (1931), this cartoon still features its fair share of freaky visuals, from Betty's father's head turning into a gramophone, to Max Fleischer's regular character Koko the clown emerging from an inkwell, to the walrus ghost who mimics Calloway's dance moves, to the bizarre skeleton cat and its kittens, and so much more in-between. The animation is top notch for the day, with lots of lovely detail (check out the backgrounds, which feature fang like stalactites and skulls), while the music, it goes without saying, is superb. If you love animation, then you simply must check this out (and Bimbo's Initiation, which I think is even better).

This is a Betty Boop cartoon, though it starts with a bit of footage of Cab Calloway and his orchestra. Calloway's song "Minnie the Moocher" is set to life using Betty, her friend Bimbo and an odd assortment of ghosts, though I really would have much preferred to actually just watch and listen to Calloway sing this song live--since it is very easy to like and quite funny (and a bit radical with its reference to cocaine). However, as a cartoon, it's a very strange thing indeed as I really don't know who the audience for this Pre-Code nightmare would be! After all, it is really scary and so younger kids would be terrified by it and the drug references, if the parents noticed, would really turn them off as well, as it's NOT good child fare! Interesting, well animated but too bizarre, this one is great for adults who want to see just how subversive Betty could be in her wild Pre-Code days.