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, despite being significantly toned down, she is still cute and her comic timing is good.
Pudgy steals the show however and is absolutely adorable, also bagging a number of fun moments.
The animation, as always, is extremely good, being beautifully drawn, crisply shaded and meticulous in detail. The music is infectious, lush and dynamic. 'Ding Dong Doggie' is very funny in spots, is wonderfully wild in pace and it is cute without being too saccharine. The voice is reliably good.
'Ding Dong Doggie' actually doesn't actually have much really wrong with it, it just lacks the surreal and risqué edge seen in the early and best Betty Boop cartoons and it was an edge that's missed.
Overall, fun, cute and well made, fares favourably among the post-Production Code cartoons. 8/10 Bethany Cox
