Kitty from Kansas City (1931) Online

This is one of the earlier Betty Boop cartoons featuring a celebrity artist: in this case, Rudy Vallee. Although it does not measure up to the three great Betty Boops with Cab Calloway, it is very amusing. Notice the use of the Bouncing Ball. This device dates from Fleischer's first musical talking cartoons in 1924!

This short is actually part of the Screen Songs series that were done by Fleischer Studios as part of the once extremely popular sing-alongs that were part and parcel of a night out at the movies, long before television. Think of them as early forms of today's music videos. Listen to the song Rudy Vallee sings, in particular to the spoken jokes between choruses. Some of the may surprise you! This is very early Betty Boop, so she doesn't look quite the same as she did later. This could accurately be described as a formative cartoon for Betty Boop. Well worth watching. In print and available. Recommended.

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 her role is handled beautifully and with surprising taste.

For me, 'Kitty from Kansas City' is, as said with 'Time on My Hands' among the better Fleischer/Betty Boop animation-mixed-with-live-action efforts. Not one of Betty or Fleischer's overall best by any stretch, but it is more imaginative and interesting than most of their cartoons featuring live-action and real life performers.

Admittedly, the story is flimsy, barely existent even and wouldn't have said no to more animation perhaps. The obesity jokes are generally far more tastefully handled than one would think, not all make the mark and are not as tasteful as others but on the most part it's not a problem and there is nothing really to be offended by.

'Kitty from Kansas City's' 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.

On top of these, 'Kitty from Kansas City' is very amusing and charming, the setting is vibrantly rendered and some of the material is surprisingly ahead of its time. The gags are rarely less than amusing and timed with a lot of energy. Rudy Vallee is an interest point here, he sings beautifully and brings a surprising earthiness. The title song is lovely if not quite a classic.

In summation. very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Kitty from Kansas City (1931)

*** (out of 4)

The Fleischer Studio produced a number of these animated short films where the "bouncing ball" would have audience members singing together. The story here has Betty Boop taking a train trip when she lands in Rocky Vally where she hears Richie Vallee playing over the intercom. When then flash to Vallee doing the title song and soon the bouncing ball comes out. KITTY FROM KANSAS CITY is actually a pretty good little film that manages to make you laugh with some of the lyrics in the song. Vallee certainly does a nice job delivering the lines and there's no doubt that it's always a blast seeing Boop do her thing. From the animated pieces that highlight has to be the scene where a bird decides to pinch Betty's butt.

"Kitty from Kansas City" begins with Betty Boop going to the train station to take a trip. She is dropped off in the town of Rudy Valley--at which point the crooner Rudy Vallee appears and sings an enjoyable but mean song by the same title as the cartoon. In this song, you hear about an obese, unattractive and very stupid girl named Kitty--and during the song Vallee tells jokes about just how incredibly dumb this lady is. There are lots of nasty jokes--though I must admit that this was a HUGE improvement over the typical cartoon like this by the Fleischer Brothers. So, in this case, following the bouncing ball as Vallee sang was enjoyable. Then, like other Talkertoons shorts, at the end the live action portion ends and there is a bit more cartoon. Oddly, we now see Betty again but this time very obese and lots of fat jokes ensue. Not at all nice but funny at the same time. I enjoyed this but felt a little guilty laughing at the lyrics!