Henry gives the cartoon some fun and he doesn't veer on the wrong side of annoying or freaky, if never really living up to the cartoon's deceptively hyperbolic title. The animation is beautifully drawn and detailed and the music infectious and dynamic. 'Betty Boop with Henry the Funniest Living American' is very cute with the animals, and there are amusing moments such as the lengths Henry goes through to get the birds back and some good imagination in the visuals and timing. In one of her cartoons made after the Production Code was put in place, Betty Boop stars with Henry in a cartoon that is nowhere near among her best (though certainly steps up from her previous cartoon 'Making Stars' which was very much a misfire), and she herself is past prime but cute and amusing enough with some inventive moments. Their visual style was often stunning and some of the most imaginative and ahead of its time in animation. Fleischer were responsible for some brilliant cartoons, some of them still among my favourites. While the later Betty Boop cartoons made after the Code was enforced are still watchable and exceptionally well-made, they are so toned down, with the risqué and surreal edge and creativity of the pre-Code cartoons gone, that they feel bland. A good deal of the pre-Production Code Betty Boop cartoons are daring and creative, with content that makes one amazed at what's gotten away with. This is going to be fairly similarly worded to some of my other reviews for the Betty Boop cartoons made after the Production Code, as they all have the same strengths and flaws pretty much. I loved him as a kid because I could enjoy him without being able to read. *Carl Anderson introduced this comic character in 1932 and he lasted in newspapers all the way up to 1979 and even later with reprints of old strips. After all, if this annoying bald freak was the funniest guy we had to offer, life must have really, really sucked! Simply put, he wasn't very funny. Or, it was an indication of just how depressing the Depression was. Perhaps this was a reference to the death of the humorist Will Rogers that same year. The title card for this short calls Henry "The Funniest Living American". However, I kept thinking why would you leave a mute bald kid with a HUGE head in charge of a pet shop?! In the end, Henry redeems himself and everyone is happy. However, he pretty much ruins the place and Betty is furious. He wants a dog (Pudgy) and Betty tells him he can have the dog IF he minds the store for her. The cartoon begins with the always mute Henry coming to Betty Boop's pet shop. However, judging from the results, I can see why Henry never became much of a movie star, as he's just kind of creepy and possibly brain-addled. I had no idea that Henry* was ever in cartoons and this was an interesting combination that occurred, probably because of Fleischer Studio's relationship with King Features Syndicate-the same organization that published the Popeye and Henry cartoons in the newspapers. This Betty Boop cartoon took me by surprise.
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