Betty in Blunderland (1934)

Betty in Blunderland Review

Betty in Blunderland is a 1934 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is a solid, but flawed short.

Betty Boop series was ripe for an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ adaptation, and we did get one here, but it should have been so much better. It’s strange and inventive to a degree, but it should have been even weirder. The first half is where the best moments are. Betty falling down the rabbit hole and failing to notice that she’s falling was hilarious as was her amazement at the jam that popped up there. Most of the gags and imagery in the first half were terrific.

The animation is also wonderful, detailed and quite strong overall. But my problem lies with the second half. This is where the short stumbled as the ending was totally forgettable and uninspired. How many times are we going to see Betty being kidnapped by some creature? It was so repetitious. The score was also nothing to write home about.

Betty in Blunderland has a terrific first half, but a weak second one. It’s well made, but it needed to have been even better as it had so much more potential. It’s also notably for being the only cartoon where Betty has long hair.

My Rating – 3.7