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. While the later Betty Boop cartoons made after the Code was enforced are still watchable and exceptionally well-made, they are so toned down that they feel bland.
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. The good news is that she has not lost her charm, despite being significantly toned down, she is still cute and her comic timing is good.
The gadgets are a lot of fun and serve a good purpose, as the supporting characters try to find old uses for the new gadgets.
On top of that, the animation in 'Be Up to Date' is as to be expected extremely good, being beautifully drawn, crisply shaded and meticulous in detail. The music is infectious, lush and dynamic. There are some amusing moments and it is cute without being too saccharine. The voice is reliably good.
'Be Up to Date' is practically plot-less however, more an excuse for singing, dancing, testing the gadgets and seeing how others react. Again, much prefer the cartoons with a risqué and surreal, as well as more creative and more consistently humorous, edge.
To conclude, for post-Code Betty Boop 'Be Up to Date' is agreed pretty good and fares favourably, just that it is lacking the extra ingredients to make it a great cartoons or one of her best. 7/10 Bethany Cox