Betty Boop and Little Jimmy (1936)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Release Date:

27 March 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Animation | Family | Short

Plot:

Betty tries a regime of exercise, but her weight loss gets out of hand. She sings "Keep Your Girlish Figure."

Plot Keywords:

Exercise | Little Jimmy | Betty Boop | Grandfather Clock | Weight Gain

Cast

Mae Questel

...

Betty Boop (voice)

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Ontario) | Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (PCA #777)

Company:

Fleischer Studios

Odd Ending To So-So Animated Short

Betty is exercising and singing "Keep Your Girlish Figure," as she does with lyrics such as "roll your eyes and keep away from pies," and "if you find that you're too plump, takes off these extra bumps with a hop and a skip and a jump." She was ahead of her time, considering aerobic exercise.

"Little Jimmy" is exercising along with her but makes a big mistake, putting the exercise horse into too high a gear. It goes off its bearings, crashes into Betty who is stuck on her machine. Jimmy goes for help, but like a lot of little kids, is distracted with various outside. Betty, meanwhile, is whittling away to anorexic proportions!

The ending to this is very bizarre with the message being if you laugh you'll grow fat. Go figure. Not horrible, but not one of Betty's best.