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So Does an Automobile (1939)
At Betty Boop's Auto Hospital, the cars are treated for various humanlike ailments. Director:Dave FleischerStars:Mae Questel |
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Storyline
Betty is a nurse in a hospital for sick and injured automobiles. She is both nurse and a mechanic as she ministers to her patients, who go through all the actions and complaints of human patients. Betty sings as she restores broke-down taxicabs, high-price limousines and restores a police car with sore and flat feet (tires)back to perfect condition again. Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
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Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
31 March 1939 (USA) See more »Company Credits
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I'm not a fan of Betty Boop, but 'So Does an Automobile' is one of her more enjoyable cartoons. It features Betty in a storyline that doesn't require us to accept her as beautiful or voluptuous. (Honestly: if you saw a real woman who looked and sounded like Betty Boop -- that gigantic head, that tiny mouth, that perpetual whimper -- would you actually be pleased? More likely, you'd scream and run away in disgust.)
In this cartoon, Betty is running a service garage for anthropomorphised cars that look like Benny the Cab from 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit': really more of a car hospital than anything else. As she ministers to the cars, Betty sings a very catchy tune, every verse of which ends with the song's title, and all the verses make comparisons between humans and cars. A person needs some sympathy, and 'so does an automobile'. And so on.
In addition to the very pleasant song -- which keeps Betty from doing her usual breathy whimpering -- there's also an extremely funny payoff gag, which should be easy to figure out if you look at this movie's title while considering the Fleischer studio's penchant for risqué gags. Still, by Fleischer standards that last gag is quite clean. I might even call it "auto" erotic. I'll rate this delightful movie 9 in 10.