The Scared Crows (1939)

The Scared Crows Review

The Scared Crows is a 1939 animated short film from the Betty Boop series. It is a pretty underrated cartoon.

Betty Boop and Pudgy, doing the spring planting, are plagued by crows. I may be biased in this instance, but this movie was quite strong to me as it was relatable. I was attacked by a crow a couple of years ago and I’ve feared them ever since, so the movie worked for me. Yes, it’s one of those movies where Pudgy is a bigger star than Betty herself. It’s an animal-centric flick for better and for worse.

But it worked for me because it was one of those 30s cartoons that so clearly depict their villains as over-the-top and irredeemable with the crows being absolutely obnoxious. It is so easy to root for poor Pudgy against these manipulative and conniving crows who only use Betty’s kindness against the two. Betty gets to save the day through the use of the scarecrow, which was also hilariously old-fashioned.

The Scared Crows is simplistic, but it works because the crows are such memorable villains. It’s such a fun and underrated, though undeniably silly cartoon.

My Rating – 3.7