Customer Reviews

Betty Boop - The Definitive Collection [VHS]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Betty Boop: The Definitive Collection" documents the highs and lows of this classic cartoon character. The eight-volume set includes virtually every Boop short from 1930 to 1939, even her cameo appearances in Max and Dave Fleischer's "Screen Song" cartoons. The first four volumes focus on the Depression-era, pre-Hays Code period, with plenty of freewheeling surrealism and risque humor from Betty, Bimbo and Ko-Ko the Clown. "Minnie the Moocher," "Snow White" and "I Heard" remain animation classics, featuring terrific music by Cab Calloway and Don Redman. Of course, you're also stuck with the remaining four volumes, which focus largely on the toned-down, more domesticated version of Betty Boop during 1935-39. There are a few gems in these later volumes, such as the cartoons with Grampy the inventor, but many miss the mark - particularly those featuring Betty's cute dog, Pudgy. If you're a Boop completist, the "Definitive Collection" is a must. Otherwise, you may want to buy a more selective Fleischer compilation, such as the excellent "Betty Boop Confidential" or "Betty Boop: Special Collector's Edition."

This Betty Boop collection is very good and a must for a true Betty collector but the videos are available separately and certain volumes may be of more interest to individuals and thus a better buy. The buyer can purchase the volumes with content of interest to him/her. An example is the volumes with Pudgy the Pooch, NOT of interest to most Betty fans. There are problems with this collection, the first is it is incomplete though this is probabaly due to the fact that some films are lost (maybe forever). There is no color, even on the cartoons that were made in color. Finally I feel the films should have been in chronological order rather than the "catagory" volumes used ("pre-code", musical, etc.) This would have allowed viewing the changes in the characters as they occured and would also have allowed fans of a certain era to by the period they wanted. Other than these it is a good collection and the picture quality is very good and the sound, in most cases, is very good and un-tampered-with (cleaned up but without adding new sounds). For Betty fans it is a good buy.

"Definitive" is an excellent word to describe this most complete collection of cartoons from one of the most enduring stars of 1930's Hollywood.

It is missing only a handful of Boop cartoons, but those are believed lost forever and have never surfaced on any video collection that I'm aware of. In addition, the prints are generally struck from the best, uncut copies available. The collection also includes several "politically incorrect" cartoons that are never shown on any of the cable networks, and the set also includes a brief video history of Betty narrated by Max Fleischer's son, director Richard Fleischer. Despite an earlier reviewer's assertion, only one Betty cartoon was ever filmed in color - "Poor Cinderella" - and it appears here in all it's two-color glory.

Without a doubt, the early cartoons that feature Betty teamed with boyfriend Bimbo and Koko the Klown are head and shoulders above the rest, especially when teamed with a Cab Calloway song. "Bimbo's Initiation" and "Snow White" are perhaps the finest examples of the surrealistic style of cartoon the Fleischer Brothers excelled at. "Is My Palm Red" is Betty at her risque best, before the Hays Office censors toned down her act. Of the latter shorts, only those with Grampy rise above the pedestrian. Alas, Betty went to cartoon heaven not with a bang, but with a whimper.

For any fan of animation in general and Betty in particular, this collection is THE "must-have!"

I bought this collection for my mother, but have found that I watch it almost as much as she does! With almost every Betty Boop talkartoon or screen song made, including the original "Dirty Dishes" talkartoon, in which Betty played a small part as a dog, this truly is The Definitive Collection. This is certainly a must have for anyone tracing the evolution of Betty from canine quest-star to sweet, sexy flapper, to toned-down lady.

This VHS collection, is the only "official" release of Betty Boop cartoons from Republic. It has all the cartoons, except one with Popeye and three or four others, considered lost back in 1998, when this collection first released (those cartoons already "re-discovered" on various private collections worldwide, maybe a future DVD collection gonna have them).
The picture and the sound quality is great, compared the usual public domain DVDs you may have seen the last years.
There is a problem through: It is called "Digital Noise Reduction" and it is the nightmare of the animation fans! This set here, is the obvious example of how bad DNR can be, when we use it on Cartoons. Beyond that, it is an excellent choice for Betty Boop fans, now!

If you love Betty Boop, this collection will not disappoint. My only complaint is that it is not available on DVD. The transfers are excellent, many are better than those on DVD collections I've come across.

It might be worth buying the first few volumes separately and just leaving out the last ones - unless you have a young kid in your family, who will probably enjoy them. It's very sad to see Betty end her wild career as a middle-class sweater-wearing schoolteacher catering to a cute puppy (just as it was depressing to see how they domesticated Popeye in his later years) - but the early "surrealist" cartoons more than make up for the duds. They're worth seeing for the Cab Calloway numbers alone, and for their visual originality and imagination. There was integration of live action and animation in some episodes, I believe well before Disney ever thought of it, and the "out of the inkwell" idea was also original in its time.

This is a well-made collection, with very good visual and sound quality, and it's a great look into the early history of American animation. And Betty herself is a character who will live forever! It's just a shame the series isn't avaiable on DVD.

I don't know why it took me ten years to buy this collection. I don't remember enjoying these shorts as much when Amc was showing them in the late 1980's on the weekends. They're almost as funny as the cartoons produced at the whitehouse, the creativity and intellect was certainly superior. I highly recommend this set, even being that the format is vhs. I decided not to wait for the more user friendly dvd version to be released, as there is nothing to guarantee that it will be as complete, or as well made, or even if they will be offered at all. One thing is certain about this collection ; a lot of time and research went into this project, it shows in the the presentation and packaging. As mentioned in other reveiws, I too would have prefered them to be in chronological order instead of arranged by theme, and a companion booklet would have been nice also. Don't wait, if you're anything like me, and see what's on the television, you probably need good hard laughs as soon as possible.

Betty Boop is so adorable whether on calandars, posters, or starring in movies. Because Betty Boop's movie career ended in 1939 I know she existed well before I was born. There should be more movies sold to us younger people who wanna Boop-Oop-A-Doop all the time. I say this video collection deservs a 10.

Though I don't own this collection (though I would definitely buy the whole thing!), I did see many of those wonderful old-time cartoons featuring our longest-living and most beloved flapper ever invented on a cel sheet with her kewpie doll-like baby face so coyly wreathed by those cunning little black ringlets and completed with big, round fluffy-lashed eyes and that tiny beestung lips right underneath her little button nose!

Believe it or not, our animated sweetheart had once been a singing anthropomorphic dog with a famous voice by the real, live nightclub singer. Then she became human and continued to trot flirtatously through a whole parade of dreamy cartoon shorties, accompanied by her very comical buddies like Koko the Klown, Bimbo the talking dog, and Gramps the eldery inventor who lives upstairs and sometimes helps her out in her time of need. Some of Betty Boop's wacky adventures are quite innocent and very imaginative with a fantastical 3-D background; others are quite naughty and even racy at times.

Now at the very dawn of the new millennium, our very plucky young heroine continues to win many a heart and would appear in a motorcycle garb, a hippie costume, a very slinky nightgown complete with a long feathery boa, whatever you could imagine her in! But her classic outfit is of course a seductive little tiny black dress with a very curly hemline as well as a perky little garter at her nubile young thigh and tappity-tapping high heels! So hats off to one of America's most recognizable cartoon icon other than Mickey Mouse himself!