A Song a Day (1936) Online

This is one of the most enjoyable Bette Boop cartoons I have watched. I just loved it. Betty is the owner of "Betty Boop's Animal Hospital." In the place, we see some odd - and corny - sights and messages, such as "Billy Goat" who can't sleep because he swallowed an alarm clock; a herring who drinks too much and is "pickled;" a giraffe who has a big pain in the neck, assorted other animals in slings and ice bags on their heads, etc.

Betty then goes into a song about the joys of giving. The lyrics are fantastic: very profound statements in there. Really!

All of a sudden, all the animals are howling and ailing so Betty calls "Professor Grampy" for help. This old guy is a hoot. You should see his gadget home and the remedy he has for the animals - hilarious!! This is just big-time fun to watch and the music is super.

This is a nice little cartoon, with some real snappy music. The music was done by the Hoosier Hot Shots, though they were not credited. The name of the song is called " San ". In my opinion it is also one of her better cartoons after the Hays Office ordered Paramount to tone down Betty's sexuality.

This delightful Betty Boop cartoon not only features the excellent early artistry of Max Fleischer, it also includes funny scenes and fun music. The main song, I feel, is the instrumental performed by the Hoosier Hotshots, who were in the same musical vein as Spike Jones. For this scene, the final of the cartoon, Betty and Grampy dance, and Grampy certainly knows how to cut a rug. So very clever and funny, this is sure to make you smile. It's one of my favorite Betty Boop cartoons, and the perfect example of a cartoon with everything good going for it. For anyone wishing to introduce a newcomer to the charm of Betty Boop, the superb artistry of Max Fleischer cartoons, and the fun music of the Hoosier Hotshots, this is the real deal.

There's very little in the way of story here, scarcely any to provide a solid foundation for a climactic musical number. But there are a few things that make me want to watch it repeatedly, curiously enough. I guess I'm just a sucker for cute cartoon animals, and their pain is very palpable and believable. My favorite gag is Harry Hippo, who has a case of indigestion because he swallowed a grand piano. The poor pets' agony suddenly builds to such as level as to make Betty despair and call in to Professor Grampy's upstairs shop to help out. His familiar thinking-cap and inventions routine immediately kicks in, and that's it. I suppose it's the utter ecstasy on the animals' faces, as they tear off their slings and spontaneously join in the male background chorus, that charms the hell out of me. Just a softy, I guess.

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, she is still cute and her comic timing is good.

While it was said in the first paragraph that the later Betty Boop cartoons were bland in comparison to the pre-Code ones there were exceptions. 'A Song a Day' is one of those exceptions, and even though not as risqué, daring or surreal as the pre-Code cartoons it does fondly remind one of back when the Betty Boop cartoons had more oomph than after the Code was enforced. Along with 'Betty Boop and Grampy' it is one of the best Betty Boop cartoons made after the Code was enforced.

The animation is beautifully drawn and detailed and the music infectious, toe-tapping and dynamic. The song is unforgettably catchy and thankfully not in an irritating sense at all.

On top of being very cute and charming, without going overboard like a Betty Boop cartoon like 'We Did It' did, 'A Song a Day' is also one of the funniest and most inventive (in visuals and gags) cartoons, not many later Betty Boop cartoons hold the distinction of me having a blast with them but that distinction is deserving here. The voice acting is good.

In summary, great cartoon and much better than many of the Betty Boop cartoons from this period. 9/10 Bethany Cox

It is ironic that I watched this Betty Boop cartoon when I did. Just a few minutes earlier, I watched her in "So Does an Automobile"--in which Betty is a nurse at a hospital for sick cars. Here in "A Song a Day", she's a nurse in a hospital for sick animals! But, since it is a cartoon, these are not necessarily normal animals but include pigs, hippos and monkeys! When all the animals seem very sick and depressed, Betty calls Grampy for help. As usual, Grampy comes up with an invention to help--and he rigs up a contraption that plays a zippy jazz tune and all the animals dance about merrily. While it might sound a bit stupid, it actually works because the tune is so infectious. Enjoyable but a cartoon with practically no plot at all.