Studio: Fleischer Studios
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Produced by: Max Fleischer
Short Synopsis
The whole animal population of Fleischer-land has turned out for a motor race. The cars, humanised, wait in stalls like horses; the judges are three blind men. Bimbo and Koko are among the drivers, but the favourite is Betty Boop, who is late, and her car, which speaks with a Yiddish accent, has no idea where she is. When she arrives she explains in song that she has a cold in her nose, and her sneezes punctuate the rest of the film. The race is a cartoon thriller of crashes, shortcuts and leapfrogging cars, with the spectators joining in and catching Betty's cold one after another, so that the grandstand sneezes in chorus, and Betty, sneezing herself across the line, wins.
Why It Matters
- The racing-car cartoon was a Fleischer speciality, and this one is notable for its oddities: the talking Jewish car, the blind judges, a heroine whose only problem is a head cold, and a gag structure in which the sneeze is both the running joke and the engine of the plot.
- The film is in the public domain in the United States, and it is one of the few Betty Boop cartoons with three credited Bettys, Bonnie Poe speaking the lines while Mae Questel sings; Margie Hines supplies other voices. Johnny Green, later a Hollywood music director, is among the composers.
Notes and Trivia
- Claude Reese voices Bimbo, a rare credit for the character's voice.
- Betty's cold-in-the-nose song was recorded with the actress holding her nostrils shut.
- See also: Betty Boop's Museum (1932), Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions (1933), Is My Palm Read (1933).