User reviews

'When My Ship Comes In' is an expression that means 'when I finally strike it rich'--and that's is exactly what happens in this cartoon. Betty bets on a million to one horse and it wins. For the rest of the cartoon, Betty uses her money to make life better for everyone around her. Some of these methods are pretty cute--such as what she does for the old ladies living in the retirement home. Additionally, she opens up a refuse for cute animals, throws tons of money to folks in the streets and build towns--all for just a million. Actually, this would have probably taken a billion--even back then! There isn't a lot in the way of plot--mostly just a catchy tune and lots of gags involving money. Not a bad cartoon but certainly one lacking depth and overall it seems more like a piece of fluff. A nice piece of fluff, mind you.

'When My Ship Comes in' is a little better than the previous cartoons 'Betty Boop's Prize Show' and 'Keep in Style', but suffers from similar problems at the same time.

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 very 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.

As always in a Betty Boop cartoon, even in the not-so-great ones, the animation is very good, being rich in detail and beautifully drawn. The music is infectious and beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, putting one in a good mood and enhances the action wonderfully.

There are some cute and charming moments here, as well as some funny gags revolving around money. The voice acting is good.

However, if anybody enjoyed the pre-code Betty Boop cartoons for being creative visually, 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 cartoon, they will be disappointed here. Because all of those are missing here, so in comparison to before 'Where My Ship Comes In' feels very safe, tame and dare one say it...bland. The story is scant.

In conclusion, 'When My Ship Comes In' is pretty good for a later code-affected Betty Boop cartoon but something's missing. 7/10 Bethany Cox