Betty Boop’s Little Pal (1934)

Betty Boop’s Little Pal Review

Betty Boop’s Little Pal is a 1934 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is a charming, but flawed short.

This short introduced Pudgy the Puppy to the series. He is Betty’s pet puppy and he is absolutely adorable. The animators gave him a lot of personality and his childlike behavior was inherently endearing. In this flick, he wreaks her picnic, so she sends him away. But he is then caught by a dog catcher. Eventually, the dogs escape on their own.

And that is my main problem with this story – Betty’s passiveness. She literally cried and sang a song to her dog instead of trying to rescue him. This made her a side character in her own movie and terribly unheroic. Still though, the dog made this short as enjoyable as it is. The animation was also lovely and quite polished. Another highlight is that song that she sings to her dog throughout. It was another catchy, fun number for the series.

Betty Boop’s Little Pal has a problematic characterization of Betty herself, but her dog was wonderful. The animation and the score are also terrific here.

My Rating – 3.6