Riding the Rails (1938) User Reviews

Maybe Pudgy will be a lot happier if he just stayed home!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 11 April 2020]

The copy of "Riding the Rails" that is currently posted on YouTube is a very nice one...with a clean, crisp look to it.

Pudgy the dog helps wake Betty Boop up so that she can go to work. However, he misses her when she goes to work, so Pudgy follows her onto the subway train...where all sorts o mayhem and scariness ensues.

This is a cute little cartoon...one of Pudgy's better ones. Clever and fun from start to finish...and no singing!

He Should Have Stayed Home

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 26 February 2019]

When little Pudgy decides to follow Betty on the train, he finds himself in no end of trouble. He gets caught in the subway maze, almost killed on numerous occasions. Of course, it's Betty Boop and we know the little guy is going to be OK. The strong suit is that he gets a real lesson and she will never know the extent of it.

As anyone who has ridden the subway in a big U.S. city well knows . . .

[pixrox1 · 6/10 · 9 February 2020]

. . . these American "Tubes" have a history of "paying off" at a better rate than the typical casino (with the exception of those once run by the USA's current Game-Show-Host-in-Chief, which operated on the principle that "The House always loses"). It should come as no surprise, then, to see RIDING THE RAILS' underground train station's exit turnstile emit a mountain of coins as "Pudgy" is making a bee-line toward home at the end of this "Betty B." episode. This animated short emanates from a day in which few mutts (if any) roamed about in public wearing pants with pockets. Therefore, the bare-legged Pudgy is unable to "bring home the bacon" (or nickels) for his Mistress Betty. Tragically, to avoid awarding such tinkling windfalls to We Citizens of the 21st Century, most U.S. Public Transit Systems have switched their fare collection strategy from nickels and dimes to digital extortion. Nowadays your best hope of finding a Pudgy-sized pile of loot comparable to his RIDING THE RAILS jackpot is to regularly check the "reject" bins of your local "COINSTAR" machines.

Riding the Rails is another cute Betty Boop/Pudgy cartoon I watched on YouTube

[tavm · 8/10 · 11 December 2008]

This is another latter-day (read: post-Code) Betty Boop cartoon I watched on YouTube. It also features her puppy dog, Pudgy. Betty takes the train to work and tries to leave Pudgy behind but, unbeknownst to her, the dog goes along for the ride...Plenty of funny gags concerning automatic train doors, a woman hitting a man after Pudgy touches her leg, a heavyset man crowding some people on a bench, and the train itself making a face. There's also a thrilling chase concerning Pudgy and the train that results in one final gag in the present Betty gives him. In summary, if you don't mind the cleaned-up version of Betty here and can't get enough of her dog, I highly recommend Riding the Rails.

Taking the train to work with Betty Boop

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 19 February 2017]

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. She has not lost her charm and is fun to watch, even when toned down.

Even though not as risqué, daring or surreal as the pre-Code cartoons and even when light somewhat in story, 'Riding the Rails' is still entertaining and much better than the previous two Betty Boop cartoons 'The Foxy Hunter' and 'Zula Hula'.

The animation is beautifully drawn and detailed and the music infectious, toe-tapping and dynamic. Pudgy is as ever adorable without the cartoon being too over-reliant on his cuteness. The voice acting is well done.

While not always hilarious, 'Riding the Rails' is never less than amusing and often is more than that with some very clever gags throughout and Betty and Pudgy work so well together. So it's far from lacking in the laughs (or imagination for that matter) department. Plus it is very cute without being saccharine.

All in all, fun later Betty Boop cartoon. 8/10 Bethany Cox