Be Human (1936)

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Release Date:

20 November 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Comedy | Short | Family

Plot:

Betty Boop is incensed at her farmer neighbor's cruelty to his animals. But the inventive Grampy knows how to teach him a lesson.

Plot Keywords:

Grampy | Farmer | Betty Boop | Whip | Treadmill

Cast

  (Cast)

Mae Questel

...

Betty Boop (voice) (uncredited)

Runtime:

7 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:U

Company:

Fleischer Studios

Quotes:

[first lines]
Betty Boop: [singing] Be human! / Animals can cry. / Be human! / It's easy if you try.

One for Spike and Mike

Geeze! If you want a Most Violence Against Animal Award winner,

this is it. Let's see, a cow gets it's face punched in, a dog is tied

down and whipped viciously (and I mean mercilessly so), a

chicken fails to deliver eggs and gets it's neck wrung, and then a

horse suffers the same fate at the dog, another merciless

whipping. Luckily, Betty Boop was right next door, heard the poor

animals cries, and telephoned Grampy's animal rescue center.

Grampy comes racing to the rescue with a very flexible paddy

wagon (they have to be bendable - otherwise it wouldn't be a

Fleischer cartoon). The deviant alpha animal torturer is kidnapped,

thrown onto a treadmill, and, in that timeless eye-for-an-eye spirit,

whipped mercilessly in retribution. He sees what it's like to be

brutalized and tortured, and resolves to change his ways.

I always warn people about this one. It's definatly not for the faint of

heart. While the message, be kind to animals by being human

(hence the title), is indeed admirable and welcome, the leering

and exaggerated way that the violence is treated is questionable to

me. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but you never know...