User Reviews

Sometimes it's better to dream about a being a hero than actually trying to be one....if you're not trained. That's the case with little Pudgy, Betty Boop's dog who fantasizes about being a fire dog like the one across the street. The problem is that he has no idea what a fire dog has to do.

No matter, it looks glamorous, and the little Pooch even finds an inventive way to put spots on him so he looks like a fire house dog. He's ready to jump out the window and be a hero, if needed. Betty wants him to stay home and be himself, but the dog jumps out the window as soon as he hears the fire alarm.

From that point, the cartoon gets frantic, with foot-stomping "swing" music blasting away as we follow Pudgy's adventures at a burning building. This had some very good sight gags, really wild stuff that would take too long to describe. Suffice to say it's very entertaining and fast-paced and our dog discovers "there's no place like home."

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