Stop That Noise

I got a copy of "Stop That Noise" from archive.org since this short is in the public domain and is available for free download. However, an odd thing happened when I played it--about half-way through the film, it restarted! So be prepared if you decide to download the film and just speed through this.

The cartoon begins with Betty trying to get some sleep but the construction and train sounds from the city keep her awake. So, she packs her bags and heads to the country--unaware that it could be even worse there. Not only is it loud, but the bugs are insanely thick and make every minute miserable--leading Betty to realize that there's no place like home.

While this is not a great Betty Boop cartoon, it is a very good one. As usual, the animation is excellent and the story kind of cute and timeless.

Stop That Noise (1935)

** (out of 4)

Pretty bland and forgettable short has Betty Boop growing tired of all the noise in the city so she takes a trip to the country for some peace and quiet. Of course, once she hits the country she comes under attack from other noises as well as an angry group of mosquitoes. STOP THAT NOISE is one of the weaker shorts I've seen from the Betty Boop series and I think the biggest reason for that is that it just seems to effort went into it. Usually even the lesser quality Betty shorts still had a large amount of imagination going on but that's certainly missing here. Instead of any sort of imagination we're just given a bunch of lazy gags that are never funny and there's really nothing original here. Obviously you know once Betty goes to the country she's just going to find more problems but sadly none of them are all that funny. The jokes are rather lame and the attack by the insects just never produces any laughs. Even the stuff in the city is pretty bland but thankfully this just runs 7-minutes so it's over pretty quickly.

"All the the day, and all through the night, it's noise," sings an annoyed Betty who can't sleep with a train outside her bedroom window, along with construction workers with jackhammers. "Oh, there is no pity in this great, big city...for all the noise, noise, noise!"

She decides to get away from it all, so she packs her things and drives out to the country, literally parking her car right on the front porch of a country home (which apparently is uninhabited).

Betty begins to relax with a book but soon discovers noises and irritations of a different variety, like ducks and a variety of very hostile insects.

This was another "no place like home" or "the grass is always greener on the other side," story but had very few laughs and no music, the two things that made Betty Boop cartoons so popular.

Betty is trying to sleep in her inner-city apartment. There is construction going on outside and the noise of jackhammers and other devises is pounding in her head. She decides to go to a cabin in the country to get away from the din. But it's not all it's stacked up to be. We find out that the country is not quiet and there is more yet.

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 bugs though are a good enough threat.

'Stop That Noise' is sometimes cute and amusing. The voice acting is good.

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.

Creativity and more consistent (in quality and timing) jokes are also missing, while the story is thin and never holds any surprises.

On the whole, not bad but for Betty Boop rather bland, even for a late cartoon of hers. 5/10 Bethany Cox