Barnacle Bill (1930)

Barnacle Bill Review

Barnacle Bill is a 1930 animated short film from the Talkartoons series.

Sailor Bimbo jumps ship with his little black book and visits his lady friend, Betty Boop. This was the best Talkartoons short released up until this point. The premise consists of just the titular popular song adapted for a short film, which did lead to an overly simplistic storyline, but the execution is phenomenally energetic, leading to such a fun time.

The highlight here was that typically inventive Fleischer animation with fantastic, unhinged character designs that are odd and unlike anything else in animation then or now. Betty is here and she was quite sexualized while Bimbo is his reliably goofy self. The captain character was also memorable. The main song is fun and the movie is consistently entertaining and full of chaotic energy that made it striking.

Barnacle Bill has a simplistic plot, but the energetic execution, strong score and inventive animation made it stick out at the end of the day.

My Rating – 4.2