Very Cool!!!

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

As said many times, Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation.The character of Betty Boop, one of their most famous and prolific characters, may not be for all tastes and sadly not as popular now, but her sex appeal was quite daring for the time and to me there is an adorable sensual charm about her, all of those evident here. The Fleischer brothers also make an appearance here, and are both interesting and delightful.Criticisms for 'Betty Boop's Rise to Fame' are few, though for my liking the clips from 'Stopping the Show', 'Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle' and 'The Old Man of the Mountain' could have been longer and a couple of the transitions from the end of the clips could have been a tad cleaner and slightly less abrupt.Once again the animation is outstanding, again as always rich in detail and invention. The music and songs are wonderfully jazzy and infectious, putting one in a good mood, the highlight being the Betty Boop and Cab Calloway scene from 'The Old Man of the Mountain'.Along with the very funny and clever ending, that clip is agreed for me the highlight of the cartoon. The clips chosen however were very good choices and give a real sense of nostalgia, while the Fleischer scenes were a really nice, affectionate touch that added a good deal. The voice acting is very good.In conclusion, a very nostalgic look at the rise to fame of Betty Boop. 8/10 Bethany Cox

"Betty Boop's Rise to Fame" is a 9-minute (pretty long) black-and-white cartoon from 1934, so this one is over 80 years old already and yet it is not from the early days of the Fleischer Studio's title character at all. This one started off nicely with an interview with Fleischer about little Betty, but then it became very generic and uninteresting. Betty's stage performance is not carried by the brief cameos of famous stars and the rest is basically a collection of scenes from previous Betty cartoons. Nothing new anymore. The live action ending again also was not too entertaining. You can see that Betty was already an established and very famous character by 1934 because she lost her dog looks and looks like a hut young woman. But looks are not enough to let me recommend this fairly disappointing Betty film. Nowhere near her best.

Betty Boop's Rise to Fame (1934) ** 1/2 (out of 4) This short starts off with Max Fleischer being asked a few questions by a reporter who basically wants to know a few things about Betty Boop. We then "see" some examples of her, which are just clips from three previously made shorts (STOPPING THE SHOW, BETTY BOOP'S BAMBOO ISLE and THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN). This short works best when we actually get to see Fleischer drawing up Betty and getting to answer a few questions about her. I thought this here was the highlight of the film but there's no question that the clips are also good enough for what they are. I'm just the type who hates to see editing down things and I just think all three clips would have been better watching them in their entirety. Since all three are available it's easy to see them so that leaves this one here worth watching for the interview footage. The best joke actually happens towards the end when we're back in the studio and Betty jumps into some ink and causes another mess.

This is a bit different in that the famous Max Fleischer, who drew and produced these great animated shorts, interacts with Betty. It's all set up by a reporter (played by Max' brother Dave) wanting an interview. Max draws Betty (very quickly) and she suddenly comes to life. She calls him, "Uncle Maxie."What we wind up seeing are some clips from a few other of Miss Boop's cartoons, such as the one she imitates a few singers, such as Fanny Bryce, and then imitates a Hawaiian Hula dancer. This was right before the censors put a little more clothing on her. All she's wearing on top is a lei, and, yes, they draw her breasts in there, albeit not prominently displayed. Her hip movements were pretty sexy, too.To me, however, the highlight was when Cab Calloway sings with her in a clip from "The Old Man Of The Mountain." The song Cab and Betty do is fantastic, and elevates this short from so-so to good.