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 animation, as always, in 'The Scared Crows' is extremely good, being beautifully drawn, crisply shaded and meticulous in detail. The music is infectious, lush and dynamic.
In 'The Scared Crows', there are cute moments and some amusing ones too. Pudgy (one of the most used later Betty Boop supporting characters for a reason) is very endearing and the crows are suitably pesky. Margie Hines does well as Betty.
However, while pleasantly cute in places, parts of 'The Scared Crows' is so cutesy in places it can get on the wrong side of sweetly saccharine, enough to bring things down. This is further accentuated by this is practically the only emotion in the entire cartoon. There is a lack of laughs, which makes the lack of surreal, risqué or creative edge far less easier to ignore and forgive.
Even for Betty Boop, the story is thin and conceptually feels tired and routine. Unfortunately, on top of being significantly toned down Betty is basically a supporting character and one that's barely there, with little to do and she feels underused.
All in all, very average but watchable. 5/10 Bethany Cox