Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle (1932)

Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle Review

Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle is a 1932 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is a very surreal, fun short.

On a south sea isle, Bimbo meets Betty in the guise of a hula dancer. This movie is obviously dated in its racially charged depiction of the Samoan natives, but it is a product of its time, so I personally don’t hold anything against it. The fact that it includes a soundtrack from a Hawaiian band itself was, on the other hand, culturally authentic and respectful. The score here is so good and very lively.

The animation is as surreal as ever while Bimbo got a terrific role in this short, being the protagonist basically. Betty needed a bigger screen time, but her hula dance was quite memorable. The movie functions as a romance, a musical and a travelogue with the highlights being the surreal comedic bits. Running away from the tribe was the funniest scene. They packed so much stuff into this one short, resulting in a lot of hilarity.

Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle is more a Bimbo than a Betty movie, but its surreal animation, great humor and a terrific soundtrack made it a winner.

My Rating – 4