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

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "Barnacle Bill" is a black-and-white sound cartoon from 1930, so this one had its 85th anniversary last year. It was made by animation legends Dave and Max Fleischer and is another Betty Boop cartoon. The title character here may have the same initials, but it is another character. Barnacle Bill is actually Betty's frequent co-lead Bimbo who poses as a sailor in here and has dog's ears just like Betty. At 8 minutes, it runs for slightly longer than cartoons regularly did back in the day, but the premise is similar to many other works from back then. There is a main character, his love interest and a main antagonist, something you also know from Warner Bros. or Disney. But the difference here is that these Betty Boop cartoons are much more absurd and bizarre and this one here is no exception. Also there is lots of music as usual. All in all, nothing really good or bad to see here, I give it a thumbs-down. Only worth checking out for Betty lovers.

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"! :-)

boblipton Betty Boop starts to take more form in this, the second cartoon in which she appeared, although she still has floppy spaniel ears.... yes, Betty was a real dog when she was young!This is one of the animated song cartoons that Fleischer did, and the gags fill out the singing of 'Barnacle Bill'. Not bad.