TheLittleSongbird 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. That charm, sensuality and adorable factor is not lost anywhere here, nor her comic timing and she is very well supported by the ever fun Bimbo and the scary evil wolf. 'Dizzy Red Riding-Hood' to me is among the best of the early Betty Boop cartoons and among her better ones overall. It has all the elements that make her pre-Code cartoons so worthwhile and does do so much, almost everything, right and little wrong. Story-wise, it is slight but it is an example of an old story adapted many times in animation given freshness through some wonderfully wacky and racy humour and content.The animation is outstanding, everything is beautifully and meticulously drawn and the whole cartoon is rich in visual detail and imagination. Every bit as good is the music score, which delivers on the energy, lusciousness and infectiousness, great for putting anybody in a good mood.As hoped, the fun is ceaseless, with some very well timed and funny gags, and delivers on the creativity and imagination as well as (for Betty Boop especially) a surprising darkness and surrealism. As well as a raciness that one associates pre-code Betty Boop with. The voice work and such is good.In summary, Betty Boop fans will find a lot to enjoy here. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Dizzy Red Riding-Hood" is another black-and-white short film starring Betty Boop from the early 1930s, so this one has its 85th anniversary this year and it should not come as a surprise that Betty is not too known today anymore. I myself cannot say that this makes me too angry as I am not the biggest fan of her as a cartoon character. Here we see Fleischer's take on Betty as Red Riding Hood and using her as famous fairytale characters is not a rarity. She also has her own little Snow White version. As usual with Betty, the film runs for under 7 minutes and includes really more music than a truly funny or memorable tale in terms of drama. I liked the tune of "London Bridge" the most about this short film here I guess. Other than that, it is not really worth the watch sadly. Thumbs down.

Foreverisacastironmess Compared to some of the really fiery examples of spooky and surreal brilliance that the Fleishers were still actually allowed to do by the cartoon-code powers that be around the time that this was made, Betty's second 'fairy tale' themed loony adventure presents an oddly far more ordered kind of chaos than you may be expecting. But I really enjoyed this one, it's very charming in its own weird way, and has a great sense of classy olden days, kooky be-bob-a-rhythm to it! Things don't morph or stretch or squash at all, but there are a couple of good freaky sight gags that set the usual tone and take the viewer straight into a little realm very special weirdness right away. The trees are quite creepy, and the deep dark woods are a nice and suitably eerie backdrop for Betty to be finding herself hiking into typically unusual territory... I get a kick out of all the adorable little rhymes Betty says about things as she makes her merry way! She's sure one to talk, singin' about people with big heads! Her design in this still looked a little rough and off-model somewhere. I'm pretty sure she was still a dog at this point, even though you can't see her ears, her riding hood covers them. I liked the evil wolf, I thought he was a great little character. I liked the effect with his very scary pointy teeth! It was surprisingly nasty when Bimbo beats him up off-screen and steals his skin! Ah, but the wolf was probably just fine seeing as his skeleton did run away! It's a decidedly odd take on the classic story, with some very nice artwork. I loved all the rich detailed animation of the backgrounds, and the enchanting closing image of the star-filled night sky was just beautiful-no less so at all for being in black and white. Also of note, this is one of the raciest Boop shorts I've ever seen! The whole short is so filled with raunchy crackpot humour that it's never really scary at all. At their very best the Fleischers were all about the magic and fun of what they were doing. Some of these 30's animations have such timeless soul, and I for one won't ever grow weary of them. Many decades later they still endure, as does Betty...she's "still got it!"

MartinHafer Although cartoons were often re-shown in movie theaters, I can pretty much guarantee that "Dizzy Red Riding-Hood" was not seen after about mid-1934. That's because a very tough Production Code was enacted to make films more family-friendly. There were now LOTS of taboos and occasionally, older films were edited to 'clean them up' so they could gain approval in the US. However, I really can't see how they could have sanitized this particular cartoon as it has many things that were objectionable according to the new Code. There is a joke about homosexuality involving pansies that clearly would have been eliminated, as homosexuals were NOT to be in the Post-Code era. There also is a scene where Bimbo the dog grabs Betty by her breasts—and that would actually probably not be in films today since it was a cartoon intended for kids--ditto for the scene with Betty and Bimbo in bed together near the end of the film. The bottom line is that things were NOT as boring and sexless in the 'good old days' as most folks imagine today. Even cartoons could be a bit smutty, though the objectionable material is far tamer than what kids are exposed to on television today that are not cartoons! So is it worth seeing? Sure. The animation (as usual) is great and the anthropomorphic creatures and house are wonderful to see. Also, I do find it fascinating and enjoyable to watch many of the Pre-Code films, as they are a wonderful window into the past and are occasionally quite shocking.