I'm a longtime fan of Fleischer cartoons, especially Betty Boop. In her best cartoons from the Pre-Code era, she's naughty and sassy; her adventures are funny, surreal, even nightmarish at times; she goes on safaris, tames wild beasts, and runs for President. But in 1934, when stringent Code enforcement kicked in, Betty began to lose her appeal. She had to dress more demurely, for starters. The gags became more earthbound and routine. Even her professional life suffered: now she was playing teachers, or sales clerks. Code enforcer Joe Breen, chief censor of the Hays Office, was the culprit who took Bettty's boop-boop-a-doop away.
In some of the later cartoons, the Fleischer animators tried to boost the franchise by creating sidekicks. Betty acquired a cute dog, Pudgy, and a cute grandpa, Grampy. The results are sometimes amusing, but never achieve the wild heights of Betty's heyday.
'Buzzy Boop at the Concert' is one of the later efforts, but it differs from them in significant ways. First, it was long believed to be a missing film, and was rediscovered only recently in a Russian archive. Second, the cartoon itself is quite lively and fun, more so than most of the other latter-day Betty Boop releases.
Our setting is a stately concert hall. The featured attraction is Madame Shrill, billed as "Soprano Supreme." Betty is in attendance with her niece Buzzy, who is not exactly thrilled to be there. She prefers going to the movies. When the show begins, Buzzy expresses her lack of enthusiasm by 'applauding' with her feet. The accompanist makes his entrance. He's a bizarre character, who mutters strangely and assaults his piano with frightening intensity. Then, star attraction Madame Shrill enters. She too is quite odd looking. But when she commences trilling, everyone in the place falls asleep, even musicians in the orchestra pit. Buzzy decides to liven things up by sneaking into the prompter's box, and disrupting the performance. Before long, she has Madam Shrill singing swing-style, and jitter-bugging. And of course, the whole assemblage wakes up, approves, and joins in.
Admittedly, the premise is a familiar one, found in other cartoons of the era -- that is, the Jazz versus Classical Music trope, where Jazz always wins. Still, it's carried out with energy and vigor. Betty herself is not the star of the show, which was almost inevitable by this time, but Buzzy has girlish charm. In any event, while it's no lost masterpiece, 'Buzzy Boop at the Concert' is an unexpected treat for Fleischer fans.
In some of the later cartoons, the Fleischer animators tried to boost the franchise by creating sidekicks. Betty acquired a cute dog, Pudgy, and a cute grandpa, Grampy. The results are sometimes amusing, but never achieve the wild heights of Betty's heyday.
'Buzzy Boop at the Concert' is one of the later efforts, but it differs from them in significant ways. First, it was long believed to be a missing film, and was rediscovered only recently in a Russian archive. Second, the cartoon itself is quite lively and fun, more so than most of the other latter-day Betty Boop releases.
Our setting is a stately concert hall. The featured attraction is Madame Shrill, billed as "Soprano Supreme." Betty is in attendance with her niece Buzzy, who is not exactly thrilled to be there. She prefers going to the movies. When the show begins, Buzzy expresses her lack of enthusiasm by 'applauding' with her feet. The accompanist makes his entrance. He's a bizarre character, who mutters strangely and assaults his piano with frightening intensity. Then, star attraction Madame Shrill enters. She too is quite odd looking. But when she commences trilling, everyone in the place falls asleep, even musicians in the orchestra pit. Buzzy decides to liven things up by sneaking into the prompter's box, and disrupting the performance. Before long, she has Madam Shrill singing swing-style, and jitter-bugging. And of course, the whole assemblage wakes up, approves, and joins in.
Admittedly, the premise is a familiar one, found in other cartoons of the era -- that is, the Jazz versus Classical Music trope, where Jazz always wins. Still, it's carried out with energy and vigor. Betty herself is not the star of the show, which was almost inevitable by this time, but Buzzy has girlish charm. In any event, while it's no lost masterpiece, 'Buzzy Boop at the Concert' is an unexpected treat for Fleischer fans.
