NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Kidskycom 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.

Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

TheLittleSongbird Van Beuren cartoons are extremely variable, especially in the number of gags and whether the absurdist humour shines through enough (sometimes it does, other times it doesn't), but are strangely interesting. Although they are often poorly animated with barely existent stories and less than compelling lead characters, they are also often outstandingly scored, there can be some fun support characters and some are well-timed and amusing.There may be worse Aesop's Fables/Van Beuren cartoons than 'The Farmerette'. That doesn't stop it from feeling bland and cheap, with very little engaging about it. It tries too hard to be cutesy which Van Beuren have rarely been successful at, and there is very little of the absurdist and surreal humour that can be seen in their best efforts, or at least it's not done right. There are a couple of decent things but they are far overshadowed by everything else that 'The Farmerette' does badly wrong.Best asset about 'The Farmerette' is the music score, pretty much the best thing consistently of Van Beuren's output. Sometimes even the only good thing. It is so beautifully and cleverly orchestrated, is great fun to listen to and full of lively energy, doing so well with enhancing the action. Margie Hines (one of the voice actresses for Betty Boop, the reason why the voice sounds so similar) does a good job as the titular character. Didn't care for the character herself, but Hines is very game as her voice. Some neat sound effects here and there.Coming onto the numerous criticisms, the animation is not good, in fact it is downright bad most of the time with erratically sloppy character designs in particular while the simplistic background detail and lack of fluidity and crispness are just as difficult to ignore.Story is very slight to the point of non-existence and suffers from very sluggish timing on the most part. The pace was in serious need of a kick in places especially in the middle where it was especially aimless. It is not as disjointed and makes more sense than many Aesop's Fables/Van Beuren cartoons, but it just feels dull and bland.Likewise with endearing or memorable characters, the lead character is a blatant Betty Boop imitation with a little of her sex appeal but with none of her charm or likeability. The animal characters have very little personality.Generally the cartoon is very low on laughs, actually none of it is remotely amusing and it all feels rather disorganised. Nothing is inventive, never rising above the forgettable and there is not much absurdist about them. As said it tries too hard to be cute in places, to the point of being saccharine, and it sucks out the energy and humour. Overall, there is worse in the series and from the studio but there is not much to recommend. 3/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer While I am usually quite hesitant to watch any of the Van Beuren Studio cartoons (since they are usually pretty awful), I decided to give "The Farmerette" a look. Why? Because from what I'd read, it was a deliberate ripoff of the Betty Boop cartoons and even featured one* of the voice actors (Margie Hines) who voiced Betty! So is this a ripoff? Well, yes. I think it's pretty obvious. The voice clearly is Betty and the character is rather similar. Interestingly, the character is a cat--and originally, Betty was a dog (yes, she really was a b---- in a few of the original cartoons).More importantly, is this cartoon any good? Well, no. It's absolute crap. The animation quality is so bad that Van Beuren really should have hired some professional artists instead of letting a precocious monkey do the animation! Well, at least it LOOKED that quality. And, additionally, the cartoon just isn't funny or worth your time. Of interest only for animation freaks like myself who are curious about these things. Not the worst cartoon ever made but certainly one I'd have been ashamed to have been associated with in any way! *Margie Hines, Ann Little, Mae Questel and Bonnie Poe all did the voice for Betty in the original Fleischer Brothers cartoons. Interestingly, the Fleischers didn't appear angry that Hines did "The Farmerette" and used her quite a few times after 1932 for more Betty Boop cartoons. I have never understood, however, why so many ladies did the voices--especially since Questel (who did the most Betty cartoons) also was working for them doing the voice of Olive Oyl for MOST of these Popeye cartoons (145). Who did the rest? A few were done by Bonnie Poe (6) and Margie Hines (33)!

Michael_Elliott The Farmerette (1932) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Decent animated short from RKO has a farmer hiring a sexy lady to come to the farm to try and get the animals to work better. The lady, looking like a cat, uses her swing and jazz moves to motivate the animals into working. THE FARMERETTE is a rather bizarre cartoon because you have to wonder why the filmmakers weren't sued by the people who owned Betty Boop. The female character here sounds exactly like her and I guess it should come as no shock since Maggie Hines did the vocal work here. Even more shocking is that the cat clearly has the facial structure and eyes of Betty Boop so you have to wonder how they got away with it. Either way, I think that bizarre little situation actually makes the film a lot more entertaining than it would have been otherwise. For the most part I liked the lead character and thought she brought some fun to the picture. I thought the animation for the most part was very good but I think it would have helped had the actual animals been a bit more entertaining. The final joke with the hay on the tractor was a good one though.

ccthemovieman-1 There was no information on the film nor here on the title page of IMDb about who did the voicework, but I swear it's the same voice as the woman who did "Betty Boop," but since it's a rival company it had to be someone imitating her. At any rate, it's a great imitation of Mae Questel because this voice is a dead-ringer for our famous Bette.VanBeuren apparently were looking for someone to compete with The Fleischer Brother's Betty Boop character. Here, it's a cat who applies for the job of "farmerette." She has the big eyelashes, the short skirt, and the famous Boop giggle. She announces herself to the farmer with, "Here I am, big boy!" He points to all the animals on his farm who are lazily snoring away everywhere. "Can you put this farm back on its feet," he asks her."Can I? Watch me!" So, we do. We watch the feline Betty Boop strut her stuff. Less than a minute after she sings, all the animals are so pumped they go back to work and help the farm. In the end, this is "okay," but please - there is only ONE Betty Boop and that's the way it ought to stay!