Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Micransix Crappy film

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

TheLittleSongbird 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. She is definitely more interesting here than Bimbo, who is fun enough but is again stuck in a standard role with not much special to do. Do enjoy their chemistry though, that stops Bimbo from being completely bland.Betty, Bimbo and Fleischer have done much better than 'Barnacle Bill'. It's pleasant enough and is a decent cartoon, but it's not a great one and doesn't stick in one's head as much as other offerings of theirs. For me, while a long worst from being one of Betty's worst cartoons (pretty much all her lesser efforts being when the Production Code was enforced, the material became tame and Betty while still engaging lost her trademark identity), it is far from one of her best either.Admittedly, the story never was one of the best assets in a Betty Boop cartoons and it is very flimsy and predictable in 'Barnacle Bill' and the momentum is not always there.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.On top of these, 'Barnacle Bill' is amusing and charming with a delightful Betty and adorable and fun chemistry between her and Bimbo. All the gags are well-timed and fun, if not ever hilarious or creative.All in all, decent. 7/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer In the first decade or so of sound cartoons, studios tended to make their films with way too much singing and cuteness and way too little humor. So, I do understand the context for "Barnacle Bill"....but I also didn't need to like it, either. The film is sung from start to finish and really lacks humor and entertainment value when seen today. In fact, my score of 3 reflects the film when seen today--perhaps back in 1930 it would have earned a 5 or 6.So is the film worth seeing? Well, it all depends. If you are a huge Betty Boop fan or are a big fan of early animation, it's worth seeing--as it's one of the earliest incarnations of this and the Bimbo character. Now it might be hard to see this as being Betty at first--she has long doggy ears and is animated in a stretched out manner. Bimbo also is VERY different. As far as the story goes, well, there isn't much of one--just lots of singing. The only real plus doesn't surprise me--the background animations were first-rate--which is what you should expect from a Fleischer Brothers cartoon.

Mightyzebra I enjoyed this cartoon for what it is worth, as I do most of the cartoons of this era I watch. Here we have the second appearance of Betty Boop, released less than a month after her first cartoon, "Dizzy Dishes". In that and this cartoon, she is a dog (as one can tell from the dog ears). Here, she is not the main character, but she appears enough to glean more of her personality than "Dizzy Dishes". We have here the first appearance of Bimbo, who calls himself "Barnacle Bill", in this episode. He is an annoying character in the way that he is very arrogant.The episode starts in a cartoony way (normal for the time), where the crew are singing about being on the sea. The ship briefly docks and the captain calls all the crew (one of them looking suspiciously like Mickey Mouse) and tells them that they cannot leave the ship. Barnacle Bill, however, has other ideas...Later in the episode, Barnacle Bill meets Betty Boop as a dog and says some rather horrible things to her in his singing, which is why this cartoon is not particularly suitable for children (although I am not sure if this cartoon was directed at family, children or adults).It is a cartoon worth watching all the same and I recommend it to people who like old cartoons with singing pretty much instead of dialogue. Enjoy "Barnacle Bill"! :-)

theowinthrop An early Betty Boop cartoon, with Betty as the girlfriend of Bimbo (as Barnacle Bill) determined to flee his ship to have a tryst with her. Betty was drawn as a dog at this time - cut, sexy body and flapper hairdo - but dog ears. Since Bimbo was a dog too it did not matter, but this does lead to an interesting (if eventually dull) joke.The cartoon begins with the crew of the sailing ship that Bill is on taking it into port - and singing a chantey up to the dock. They are looking forward to getting off. By the way, the Fleischers do like to stick it to one of their artistic and commercial rivals: Walt Disney. One of the crewmen is a mouse who looks remarkably like Mickey did in the early "Steamboat Willy" cartoons.The ship captain tells the crew they can't leave the ship, but Bimbo/Barnacle Bill proceeds to do so, and knocks out the Captain when the latter tries to stop him. We see him trace the address of Betty (not under her famous cartoon name - and at an address close to the docks, suggesting what her profession may be). He arrives and rings at her door, and they start doing "Who's that knocking at my door?" and "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" in a long duet. He finally comes upstairs, and while they are alone on her coach she lowers the blinds.Here is that interesting, but eventually dull joke. Remember that both Betty and Bimbo are dogs. All the others in the building, and in the neighborhood are women who are cats, and who notice that Betty has lowered the curtain - and they proceed to "cattily" comment about Betty's behavior with each other. It took me a moment to notice it, but after awhile I felt the joke was milked for more than it was worth.At the end, love 'em and leave 'em Bill leaves a tearful Betty when he admits he'll never marry (as she wants). And he heads downstairs, right into a confrontation with his captain (who lives in the same building as Betty does). A chase and an odd resolution which is reminiscent of the movie SPLASH ends the cartoon. It is not a great Betty Boop cartoon, although the sexual relationship between Betty and Bimbo is interesting, and the use of lightning bolts in a fight at the end is creative. As said elsewhere on this thread, it is worth seeing once.