Crazy-Town (1932)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blistering performances.

The acting in this movie is really good.

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. The supporting characters are deliciously kooky.'Crazy-Town' is not one of the best Betty Boop cartoons by all means, but certainly not among the worst, her lesser efforts all being when the Production Code was enforced, things became tame and what made the early pre-Code cartoons so good was somewhat lost. This said, it has all the elements that make her pre-Code cartoons so worthwhile and does do so much, almost everything, right and little wrong. The weak link is the story, which is basically events strung together.However, 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, and delivers on the creativity as well as the imaginative surrealism. There are more risqué Betty Boop cartoons around, but there is still evidence of that. 'Crazy-Town' is one of the weirder Betty Boop cartoons, but in a good way. The voice work is fine.On the whole, a lot of fun and a great watch visually and in entertainment. 8/10 Bethany Cox

First off, you should probably know that I don't particularly like Betty Boop cartoons and have no idea why there is some sort of retro love affair with the character. My assumption is that the people who buy Boop merchandise has mostly not seen the cartoons because they tend to be rather insipid little films. Sure, the animation is excellent compared to other studios of the time, but the stories and characters are a bit on the lame side. Sorry, but that's just my rather abrasive opinion.This one is an odd one. Betty and Bimbo end up in a strange place where everything is just bizarre--like the town is on drugs or something. For example, bald people go to the barber and the more he cuts, the longer the hair grows! And, at the beauty parlor, women pick the head they want and pop off the old one! There's a lot more to the oddness than this and at least this sets it apart from most Boop cartoons--making it strangely watchable and entertaining....well, that is until Betty starts singing. Mae Questel's ultra-high pitched singing isn't something my cats or I appreciate! Overall, despite the singing, still much better than usual for Betty and worth a look.

Crazy Town (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Betty Boop and Bimbo travel to Crazy Town, a place where everything happens in a way it's not suppose to. Birds swim. Fish fly. Lions are pets. Mice are dangerous. This was included on a "crazy cartoons" collection and doesn't really feature too much crazy or controversial things but it's a nice little short none the less. Fleischer has a nice imagination at work as we get all sorts of things not working or acting the way they should. This makes for some nice visuals but I never really laughed at any of it. Boop certainly is the highlight here as she sings and dances a few times in the film.

The Fleischer brothers liked to experiment with animation. They were also rather weird.This is the marriage of those two worlds, sprinkled with the genius that the Fleischers brought to animated cartoons. CRAZY TOWN can be easily seen as an inspiration for Clampett's PORKY IN WACKYLAND, though WACKYLAND is superior in the fact that there is actually a cohesive plot. A plot (barely) exists in CRAZY TOWN, as Betty Boop and company weave through the most far-fetched, perception-shattering and bizarre scenes imaginable.A description just cannot be justly done, without sounding insipid or insane. A film that HAS to be experienced to be understood.