I've been spending a lot of time with precode movies that feature what was then considered sexy. One can't do that without spending some time with Betty Boop. Cartoons are abstractions but for them to work those abstractions have to be rooted something that matters. This is the only comic I know that depends on what is known about sex. I suppose Clara Bow is who we should be thinking about, though I believe this notion is deeper than any single human soul can carry.
That's because it is so very extra, I mean this is a pretty human body. It jiggles, it wiggles, teases and hides coyly. Its very very human. But then her head and face is from another world. Her face is from the cartoon world while her body is from the real world and acts like it's from the real world. This is exactly the opposite of what we will see in films, live- action films from this period. And I mean the pre-code era.
I think that reversal of focus is what makes this so engaging and seem like so much fun.
Each Betty Boop cartoon has some minor threat well actually a major threat that has Betty a moving into dangerous territory because of her sexiness or sex-related risktaking. And they all feature some interleaving of these abstractions with similar abstractions of then jazz music. But this one is unique so far as I know in that the threat is an unwanted lover, someone with power, someone who she inexplicably was sitting on a throne with. There's a story there.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.