Rhythm on the Reservation (1939)

Rhythm on the Reservation Review

Rhythm on the Reservation is a 1939 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is a pretty dated cartoon.

In this short, Betty Boop visits the Native American reservation. She teaches them how to swing. Yes, this premise we have seen a couple of times before where she teaches the natives how to sing and dance, but here the depiction of the Indians was just horribly racist and caricaturist. Most people talk about the racism toward black people in these cartoons, but in reality Native Americans fared much worse.

With that being said, even though the voice acting and those depictions were terrible, the music was quite a lot of fun and there are some expected, but solid gags centered on instruments and their usage. The ending is also quite memorable and funny. This was the penultimate Betty Boop cartoon, but the final one starring her as a character.

Rhythm on the Reservation is a fun cartoon that is well scored, but dated in its racist depiction of Native Americans.

My Rating – 3.4