Betty Boop

Betty Boop
Boop looking over her shoulder
A title card of one of the earliest Betty Boop cartoons
First appearance Dizzy Dishes (1930)
Created by Max Fleischer, with Grim Natwick et al.
Voiced by

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick.[3][4][5][6][7][8] She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising.

A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as: "combin[ing] in appearance the childish with the sophisticated—a large round baby face with big eyes and a nose like a button, framed in a somewhat careful coiffure, with a very small body of which perhaps the leading characteristic is the most self-confident little bust imaginable".[9] Despite having been toned down in the mid-1930s as a result of the Hays Code to appear more demure, she became one of the best-known and popular cartoon characters in the world.

Origins

A close-up of Kane with short black hair like Boop, making a sad expression
Betty Boop was originally a caricature of Helen Kane.
Betty Boop and Bimbo in Minnie the Moocher (1932)

Betty Boop made her first appearance on August 9, 1930, in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes, the seventh installment in Fleischer's Talkartoon series. Although Clara Bow is often given as being the model for Boop,[10] she actually began as a caricature of singer Helen Kane, who in turn gained fame by imitating the style of black singer Baby Esther Jones.[11]

The character was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle.[notes 1] Betty Boop appeared as a supporting character in ten cartoons as a flapper girl with more heart than brains. In individual cartoons, she was called "Nancy Lee" or "Nan McGrew"—derived from the 1930 Helen Kane film Dangerous Nan McGrew—usually serving as a girlfriend to studio star, Bimbo.

Within a year, Betty made the transition from an incidental human-canine breed to a completely human female character. While much credit has been given to Grim Natwick for her creation, her transformation into the cute cartoon girl was due to the work of Berny Wolf, Otto Feuer, Seymour Kneitel, "Doc" Crandall, Willard Bowsky, and James "Shamus" Culhane.[12] By the release of Any Rags Betty Boop was forever established as a human character. Her floppy poodle ears became hoop earrings, and her black poodle nose became a girl's button-like nose.

Betty's voice was first performed by Margie Hines, and was later performed by several different voice actresses, including Kate Wright, Bonnie Poe, Ann Rothschild (also known as Little Ann Little), and most notably, Mae Questel. Questel, who began voicing Betty Boop in Bimbo's Silly Scandals (1931), and continued with the role until 1938, returning 50 years later in Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Today, Betty is voiced by Tress MacNeille, Sandy Fox and Cindy Robinson[13] in commercials.

Although it has been assumed that Betty's first name was established in the 1931 Screen Songs cartoon, Betty Co-ed, this "Betty" is an entirely different character. Even though the song may have led to Betty's eventual christening, any reference to Betty Co-ed as a Betty Boop vehicle is incorrect although the official Betty Boop website describes the titular character as a "prototype" of Betty. There are at least 12 Screen Songs cartoons that featured Betty Boop or a similar character. Betty appeared in the first "Color Classic" cartoon Poor Cinderella, her only theatrical color appearance in 1934. In the film, she was depicted with red hair as opposed to her typical black hair. Betty also made a cameo appearance in the feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), in which she appeared in her traditional black and white and was voiced by Mae Questel.

Betty Boop was the star of the Talkartoons by 1932 and was given her own series that same year, beginning with Stopping the Show. From that point on, she was crowned "The Queen of the Animated Screen". The series was popular throughout the 1930s, lasting until 1939.

As a sex symbol

"The cartoon of Betty Boop illustrates some human features which are sometimes labeled as neotenous, such as a large head, short arms and legs relative to total height, and clumsy, child–like movements."—Barry Bogin[14]

Betty Boop is regarded as one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen;[15][16] she is a symbol of the Depression era, and a reminder of the more carefree days of Jazz Age flappers. Her popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences, and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements, particularly in the 1932 "Talkartoon" Minnie the Moocher, featuring Cab Calloway and his orchestra.

Minnie the Moocher defined Betty's character as a teenager of a modern era, at odds with the old-world ways of her parents. In the cartoon, after a disagreement with her strict parents, Betty runs away from home, accompanied by her boyfriend Bimbo, only to get lost in a haunted cave. A ghostly walrus (rotoscoped from live-action footage of Calloway) sings Calloway's famous song "Minnie the Moocher", accompanied by several other ghosts and skeletons. This haunting performance sends the frightened Betty and Bimbo back to the safety of home. "Minnie the Moocher" served as a promotion for Calloway's subsequent stage appearances and also established Betty Boop as a cartoon star. The eight Talkartoons that followed all starred Betty, leading her into her own series beginning in 1932. With the release of Stopping the Show (August 1932), the Talkartoons were replaced by the Betty Boop series, which continued for the next seven years.[17]

Betty Boop was unique among female cartoon characters because she represented a sexual woman. Other female cartoon characters of the same period, such as Minnie Mouse, displayed their underwear or bloomers regularly, in the style of childish or comical characters, not a fully defined woman's form. Many other female cartoons were merely clones of their male co-stars, with alterations in costume, the addition of eyelashes, and a female voice. Betty Boop wore short dresses, high heels, a garter, and her breasts were highlighted with a low, contoured bodice that showed cleavage. In her cartoons, male characters frequently try to sneak peeks at her while she is changing or simply going about her business. In Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle, she does the hula wearing nothing but a lei, strategically placed to cover her breasts, and a grass skirt. This was repeated in her first cameo appearance in Popeye the Sailor (1933). There was, however, a certain girlish quality to the character. She was drawn with a head more similar to a baby's than an adult's in proportion to her body. This suggested the combination of girlishness and maturity that many people saw in the flapper type, which Betty represented.

While the character was kept pure and girl-like onscreen, compromises to her virtue were a challenge. The studio's 1931 Christmas card featured Betty in bed with Santa Claus, winking at the viewer. Also in 1931, the Talkartoons The Bum Bandit and Dizzy Red Riding Hood were given distinctly "impure" endings. Officially, Betty was only 16 years old, according to a 1932 interview with Fleischer (although in The Bum Bandit, she is portrayed as a married woman with many children and with an adult woman's voice, rather than the standard "boop-boop-a-doop" voice).[notes 2]

Attempts to compromise her virginity were reflected in Chess-Nuts (1932) and most importantly in Boop-Oop-a-Doop (1932). In Chess-Nuts, the Black King goes into the house where Betty is and ties her up. When she rejects him, he pulls her out of the ropes, drags her off to the bedroom and says, "I will have you". The bed, however, runs away and Betty calls for help through the window. Bimbo comes to her rescue, and she is saved before anything happens. In Boop-Oop-a-Doop, Betty is a high-wire performer in a circus. The ringmaster lusts for Betty as he watches her from below, singing "Do Something", a song previously performed by Helen Kane. As Betty returns to her tent, the ringmaster follows her inside and sensually massages her legs, surrounds her, and threatens her job if she does not submit. Betty pleads with the ringmaster to cease his advances, as she sings "Don't Take My Boop-Oop-A-Doop Away". Koko the Clown is practicing his juggling outside the tent and overhears the struggle inside. He leaps in to save Betty, struggling with the ringmaster, who loads him into a cannon and fires it. Koko, who remained hiding inside the cannon, knocks the ringmaster out cold with a mallet, while imitating the ringmaster's laugh. Koko then inquires about Betty's welfare, to which she answers in song, "No, he couldn't take my boop-oop-a-doop away". According to Jill Harness of Mental Floss, these portrayals of Boop fighting off sexual harassment on the animated screen made many see her as a feminist icon.[18]

Helen Kane lawsuit

In May 1932, Helen Kane filed a $250,000 infringement lawsuit against Max Fleischer and Paramount Publix Corporation for the "deliberate caricature" that produced "unfair competition", exploiting her personality and image. While Kane had risen to fame in the late 1920s as "The Boop-Oop-A-Doop Girl", a star of stage, recordings, and films for Paramount, her career was nearing its end by 1931. Paramount promoted the development of Betty Boop following Kane's decline. The case was brought in New York in 1934. Although Kane's claims seemed to be valid on the surface, it was proven that her appearance was not unique. Both Kane and the Betty Boop character bore resemblance to Paramount top-star Clara Bow. On April 19, Fleischer testified that Betty Boop purely was a product of the imaginations of himself and detailed by members of his staff.[19][20]

The most significant evidence against Kane's case was her claim as to the uniqueness of her singing style. Testimony revealed that Kane had witnessed an African American performer, Baby Esther – whose name was given in the trial as Esther Jones, which was possibly a pseudonym for Gertrude Saunders,[21] using a similar vocal style in an act at the Cotton Club nightclub in Harlem, some years earlier, although she was presumed to be dead at the time of the trial.[21] Evidence also was presented establishing that even the signature line "boop-oop-a-doo" was created by Jones as a vocal jazz improvisation in the scat style for which she was known.[22] An early test sound film was also discovered which featured Baby Esther performing in this style, disproving Kane's claims. New York Supreme Court Justice Edward J. McGoldrick ruled, "The plaintiff has failed to sustain either cause of action by proof of sufficient probative force". The ruling concluded that the "baby" technique of singing did not originate with Kane.[23]

Under the Production Code

Betty Boop's best appearances are considered to be in her first three years due to her "Jazz Baby" character and innocent sexuality, which was aimed at adults. However, the content of her films was affected by the National Legion of Decency and the Production Code of 1934. The Production Code of 1934 imposed guidelines on the Motion Picture Industry and placed specific restrictions on the content films could reference with sexual innuendos. This greatly affected the Betty Boop cartoons.

The transformation from pre-Code to post-Code

No longer a carefree flapper from the date the code went into effect on July 1, 1934, Betty became a spinster housewife or a career girl who wore a fuller dress or skirt. Additionally, as time progressed, the curls in her hair gradually decreased. She also eventually stopped wearing her gold bracelets and hoop earrings, and she became more mature and wiser in personality, compared to her earlier years. Right from the start, Joseph Breen, the new head film censor, had numerous complaints. The Breen Office ordered the removal of the suggestive introduction which had started the cartoons because Betty Boop's winks and shaking hips were deemed "suggestive of immorality". For a few entries, Betty was given a new human boyfriend named Freddie, who was introduced in She Wronged Him Right (1934). Next, Betty was teamed with a puppy named Pudgy, beginning with Betty Boop's Little Pal (1934). The following year saw the addition of the eccentric inventor Grampy, who debuted in Betty Boop and Grampy (1935).

While these cartoons were tame compared to her earlier appearances, their self-conscious wholesomeness was aimed at a more juvenile audience, which contributed to the decline of the series. Much of the decline was due to the lessening of Betty's role in the cartoons in favor of her co-stars. This was a similar problem experienced during the same period with Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, who was becoming eclipsed by the popularity of his co-stars Donald Duck, Goofy, and Pluto, not to mention Fleischer's biggest success, Popeye.[24]

Since she was largely a musical novelty character, the animators attempted to keep Betty's cartoons interesting by pairing her with popular comic strip characters such as Henry, The Little King and Little Jimmy, hoping to create an additional spin-off series with her pairing with Popeye in 1933. However, none of these films generated a new series. When the flapper/jazz era that Betty represented had been replaced by the big bands of the swing era, Fleischer Studios made an attempt to develop a replacement character in this style in the 1938 Betty Boop cartoon Betty Boop and Sally Swing, but it was not a success.

The last Betty Boop cartoons were released in 1939, and a few made attempts to bring Betty into the swing era. In her last appearance, Rhythm on the Reservation (1939). Betty drives an open convertible, labeled "Betty Boop's Swing Band", through a Native American reservation, where she introduces the people to swing music and creates a "Swinging Sioux Band". The Betty Boop cartoon series officially ended with Yip Yip Yippy (1939). While "Yip Yip Yippy" appears at the end of the Betty Boop series, it is only a one-shot about a "Drug Store" mail-order cowboy "wannabe" without Betty. "Yip Yip Yipee" was written mainly to fill the release schedule and fulfill the contract.[25]

TV and DVD

In 1955, Betty's 110 cartoon appearances were sold to television syndicator U.M. & M. TV Corporation, which was acquired by National Telefilm Associates (NTA) in 1956. NTA was reorganized in 1985 as Republic Pictures, which folded in 2012, and became Melange Pictures, a subsidiary of Viacom, the parent company of Paramount. Paramount, Boop's original home studio (via Melange/Viacom), now acts as a theatrical distributor for the Boop cartoons that they originally released. Television rights are now handled on Paramount's behalf by Trifecta Entertainment & Media, which in turn were inherited from CBS Television Distribution, successor to various related companies, including Worldvision Enterprises, Republic Pictures Television, and NTA.

Betty Boop appeared in two television specials, The Romance of Betty Boop in 1985,[26] which was produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, the same creative team behind the Peanuts specials; and 1989's The Betty Boop Movie Mystery[27] and both specials are available on DVD as part of the Advantage Cartoon Mega Pack. She has made cameo appearances in television commercials and the 1988 feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. While television revivals were conceived, nothing has materialized from the plans.

While the animated cartoons of Betty Boop have enjoyed a renewed popularity over the last 30 years, official home video releases have been limited to the VHS and LaserDisc collector's sets in the 1990s. There were no such releases for the Betty Boop cartoons on DVD and Blu-ray, up until 2013 when Olive Films finally released the non-public domain cartoons, although they were restored from the original television internegatives that carried the altered opening and closing credits. Volume 1 was released on August 20, 2013, and Volume 2 on September 24, 2013.

On February 11, 2016, Deadline announced that a new 26-episode television series focusing on Betty Boop is in production, in partnership with Normaal Animation, Fleischer Studios and King Features and is set to air sometime in 2018. The show will be aimed towards the tween and teenage audience. The show's premise, according to the article, will "recount the daily struggles, joys and victories of young Betty Boop, who has every intention of being on stage and becoming a superstar".[28]

Comics

The Betty Boop comic strip by Bud Counihan (assisted by Fleischer staffer Hal Seeger) was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1934 to 1937. From 1984 to 1988, a revival strip with Felix the Cat, Betty Boop and Felix, was produced by Mort Walker's sons Brian, Neal, Greg, and Morgan.[29] In 1990, First Comics published Betty Boop's Big Break, a 52-page original graphic novel by Joshua Quagmire, Milton Knight, and Leslie Cabarga. In 2016, Dynamite Entertainment published new Betty Boop comics with 20 pages in the alternative American anime graphic novel style.

Bud Counihan's Betty Boop (October 23, 1934)

Contemporary resurgence

Betty Boop's films found a new audience when Paramount sold them for syndication in 1955. U.M. & M. and National Telefilm Associates were required to remove the original Paramount logo from the opening and closing as well as any references to Paramount in the copyright line on the main titles. However, the mountain motif remains on some television prints, usually with a U.M. & M. copyright line, while recent versions have circulated with the Paramount-Publix reference in cartoons from 1931.

The original Betty Boop cartoons were made in black-and-white. As new color cartoons made specifically for television began to appear in the 1960s with the spread of color TV sets, the original black-and-white cartoons were retired. Boop's film career saw a revival with the release of The Betty Boop Scandals of 1974, becoming a part of the post-1960s counterculture. NTA attempted to capitalize on this with a new syndication package, but because there was no market for cartoons in black and white, they sent them to South Korea, where the cartoons were hand-traced frame-by-frame in color, resulting in the degradation of the animation quality and timing. Unable to sell these to television largely because of the sloppy colorization, they assembled a number of the color cartoons in a compilation feature titled Betty Boop for President, to connect with the 1976 election, but it did not receive a major theatrical release; it resurfaced in 1981 on HBO under the title Hurray for Betty Boop.

It was the advent of home video that created an appreciation for films in their original versions, and Betty was rediscovered again in Beta and VHS versions. The ever-expanding cable television industry saw the creation of American Movie Classics, which showcased a selection of the original black and white "Betty Boop" cartoons in the 1990s, which led to an eight-volume VHS and LV set, "Betty Boop, the Definitive Collection". Some of the non-public domain Boop cartoons copyrighted by Republic successor Melange Pictures (Viacom's holding company that handles the Republic theatrical library) have been released by Olive Films under Paramount's license, while the Internet Archive currently hosts 22 Betty Boop cartoons that are public domain.

A display of Betty Boop collectibles

Marketers rediscovered Betty Boop in the 1980s, and Betty Boop merchandise has far outdistanced her exposure in films, with many not aware of her as a cinematic creation. Much of this current merchandise features the character in her popular, sexier form, and has become popular worldwide once again. The 1980s rapper Betty Boo (whose voice, image and name were influenced by the cartoon character) rose to popularity in the UK largely due to the "Betty Boop" revival.

There were brief returns to the theatrical screen. In 1988, Betty appeared after a 50-year absence with a cameo in the Academy Award-winning film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In 1993, producers Steven Paul Leiva began production on a new Betty Boop feature film for The Zanuck Company and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The script by Rees detailed Betty's rise in Hollywood in the Golden Age of Hollywood. It was to be a musical with music and lyrics by jazzman Bennie Wallace. Wallace had completed several songs and seventy-five percent of the film had been storyboarded when, two weeks before voice recording was to begin with Bernadette Peters as Betty, the head of MGM, Alan Ladd, Jr., was replaced by Frank Mancuso, and the project was abandoned.

Lawsuits and current ownership

Ownership of the Boop cartoons has changed hands over the intervening decades due to a series of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures (mainly involving Republic Pictures and the 2006 corporate split of parent company Viacom into two separate companies). As of the present, Olive Films (under license from Paramount) holds home video rights and Trifecta retains television rights.

The rights to the "Betty Boop" character were not sold with the cartoons by Paramount, and it was transferred to Harvey Films, inc. in 1958, according to a 2011 US Court verdict [30][31], a trademark on the name (but not legitimately the likeness) of Betty Boop is owned by Fleischer Studios, with the merchandising rights to that name licensed to King Features Syndicate.[32][33]

In the 2011 judgement, the US courts were unable to come to a majority decision concerning the ownership of the copyright, only agreeing that Paramount sold the copyright to Harvey Films Inc. in 1958.[34]

Recent events

The Betty Boop series continues to be a favorite of many critics, and the 1933 Betty Boop cartoon Snow-White (not to be confused with Disney's film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)) was selected for preservation by the U.S. Library of Congress in the National Film Registry in 1994. Betty Boop's popularity continues well into present day culture, with references appearing in the comic strip Doonesbury, where the character B.D.'s busty girlfriend/wife is named "Boopsie" and the animated reality TV spoof Drawn Together, where Betty is the inspiration for Toot Braunstein. A Betty Boop musical is in development for Broadway, with music by David Foster.

Betty was parodied on Animaniacs in "Girl with the Googily Goop", with the Boop character called "Googi Goop". The episode, which was made predominantly in black-and-white, is also a parody of Little Red Riding Hood, with the girl having to go to her grandma's house and ending up being kidnapped. Googi's voice was provided by one-time Betty Boop voice actress Desirée Goyette.

In 2010, Betty Boop became the official fantasy cheerleader for the upstart United Football League. She will also be featured in merchandise targeted towards the league's female demographic.[35]

According to Playbill.com, a musical based on Betty Boop is "in the works", with music by David Foster and book by Oscar Williams and Sally Robinson. No dates, theatre or cast are listed.[36]

In June 2012, Betty Boop was reportedly chosen alongside top model Daria Werbowy to star in a TV commercial for the Lancôme latest lash tool, Hypnôse Star Mascara. The commercial was released on July 2, 2012, and was directed by Joann Sfar.[37]

In March, 2017, Betty appeared with fashion designer Zac Posen in an animated promotional short produced by King Features Syndicate, Fleischer Studios (its subsidiary) and Pantone.[38]

Filmography

Betty Boop series

Note: see the Talkartoons filmography for Betty Boop's earlier appearances, and the Screen Songs filmography for additional Betty Boop appearances.

No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
1 Stopping the Show (with Fanny Brice and Maurice Chevalier) Roland Crandall
Rudolph Eggeman		 12 August BBEC Volume 41
2 Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee Seymour Kneitel
Bernard Wolf		 19 August BBEC Volume 22
3 Betty Boop, M.D. Willard Bowsky
Thomas Goodson		 2 September BBEC Volume 13
4 Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (music by Royal Samoans and Miri) Seymour Kneitel
Bernard Wolf		 23 September BBEC Volume 1
5 Betty Boop's Ups and Downs Willard Bowsky
Ugo D'Orsi		 14 October BBEC Volume 2
6 Betty Boop for President Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall		 4 November BBEC Volume 1
7 I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You (music by Louis Armstrong) Willard Bowsky
Ralph Somerville		 25 November BBEC Volume 34
8 Betty Boop's Museum William Henning
Reuben Timinsky		 16 December BBEC Volume 2
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
9 Betty Boop's Ker-Choo Seymour Kneitel
Bernard Wolf		 6 January Public Domain
10 Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions Ugo D'Orsi
Willard Bowsky
Bernard Wolf		 27 January Public Domain
11 Is My Palm Read? David Tendlar
William Henning		 17 February Public Domain
12 Betty Boop's Penthouse Willard Bowsky 10 March BBEC Volume 1
13 Snow-White (music by Cab Calloway) Roland Crandall 31 March BBEC Volume 4
14 Betty Boop's Birthday Party Seymour Kneitel
Myron Waldman		 21 April BBEC Volume 1
15 Betty Boop's May Party David Tendlar
William Henning		 12 May BBEC Volume 1
16 Betty Boop's Big Boss Bernard Wolf
David Tendlar		 2 June BBEC Volume 2
17 Mother Goose Land Roland Crandall
Seymour Kneitel		 23 June BBEC Volume 3
18 Popeye the Sailor Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall		 14 July PTS Volume 15
19 The Old Man of the Mountain (music by Cab Calloway) Bernard Wolf
Thomas Johnson		 4 August BBEC Volume 3
20 I Heard (music by Don Redman) Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman		 1 September BBEC Volume 3
21 Morning, Noon and Night (music by Rubinoff) David Tendlar
Thomas Johnson		 6 October BBEC Volume 2
22 Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party Willard Bowsky
Myron Waldman		 3 November BBEC Volume 1
23 Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (music by Rubinoff) William Henning
Seymour Kneitel		 1 December BBEC Volume 4
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
24 She Wronged Him Right 5 January BBEC Volume 4
25 Red Hot Mamma 2 February BBEC Volume 4
26 Ha! Ha! Ha! Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall		 2 March BBEC Volume 3
27 Betty in Blunderland 6 April Public Domain
28 Betty Boop's Rise to Fame 18 May BBEC Volume 1
29 Betty Boop's Trial 15 June BBEC Volume 1
30 Betty Boop's Life Guard 13 July BBEC Volume 1
31 Poor Cinderella 3 August BBEC Volume 4
32 There's Something About a Soldier 17 August BBEC Volume 4
33 Betty Boop's Little Pal 21 September BBEC Volume 2
34 Betty Boop's Prize Show 19 October BBEC Volume 2
35 Keep in Style 16 November BBEC Volume 2
36 When My Ship Comes In 21 December BBEC Volume 4
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
37 Baby Be Good 18 January Public Domain
38 Taking the Blame 15 February Public Domain
39 Stop That Noise 15 March BBEC Volume 3
40 Swat the Fly 19 April Public Domain
41 No! No! A Thousand Times No!! 24 May Public Domain
42 A Little Soap and Water 21 June Public Domain
43 A Language All My Own 19 July Public Domain
44 Betty Boop and Grampy 16 August Public Domain
45 Judge for a Day 20 September Public Domain
46 Making Stars 18 October Public Domain
47 Henry, the Funniest Living American 22 November Public Domain
48 Little Nobody 18 December Public Domain
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
49 Betty Boop and the Little King 31 January Public Domain
50 Not Now 28 February Public Domain
51 Betty Boop and Little Jimmy 27 March Public Domain
52 We Did It 24 April Public Domain
53 A Song A Day! 22 May Public Domain
54 More Pep 19 June Public Domain
55 You're Not Built That Way 17 July Public Domain
56 Happy You and Merry Me 21 August Public Domain
57 Training Pigeons 18 September Public Domain
58 Grampy's Indoor Outing 16 October Public Domain
59 Be Human 20 November Public Domain
60 Making Friends 18 December Public Domain
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
61 House Cleaning Blues 15 January Public Domain
62 Whoops! I'm a Cowboy 12 February Public Domain
63 The Hot Air Salesman 12 March Public Domain
64 Pudgy Takes a Bow-Wow 9 April Public Domain
65 Pudgy Picks a Fight! 14 May Public Domain
66 The Impractical Joker 18 June Public Domain
67 Ding Dong Doggie 23 July Public Domain
68 The Candid Candidate 27 August Public Domain
69 Service with a Smile 23 September BBEC Volume 3
70 The New Deal Show 22 October BBEC Volume 3
71 The Foxy Hunter 26 November BBEC Volume 1
72 Zula Hula 24 December BBEC Volume 4
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
73 Riding the Rails 28 January BBEC Volume 4
74 Be Up to Date 25 February BBEC Volume 3
75 Honest Love and True N/A 25 March UCLA
76 Out of the Inkwell 22 April BBEC Volume 3
77 The Swing School 27 May BBEC Volume 4
78 The Lost Kitten 24 June Public Domain
79 Buzzy Boop 29 July Public Domain
80 Pudgy the Watchman 12 August BBEC Volume 4
81 Buzzy Boop at the Concert N/A 16 September Lost
82 Sally Swing 14 October BBEC Volume 4
83 On With the New 2 December Public Domain
84 Thrills and Chills 23 December BBEC Volume 3
No. Film Animated by Original release date Availability
85 My Friend the Monkey 28 January Public Domain
86 So Does an Automobile 31 March Public Domain
87 Musical Mountaineers 12 May Public Domain
88 The Scared Crows 9 June Public Domain
89 Rhythm on the Reservation 7 July Public Domain
90 Yip Yip Yippy 11 August Public Domain
  • 1 Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 4 – Blu-ray and DVD, released September 30, 2014
  • 2 Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 2 – Blu-ray and DVD, released September 24, 2013
  • 3 Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 1 – Blu-ray and DVD, released August 20, 2013
  • 4 Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Volume 3 – Blu-ray and DVD, released April 29, 2014
  • 5 Popeye The Sailor, Volume 1 (1933–1938) – DVD, released July 31, 2007

Source:[39]

Planned feature film

In 1993, there were plans for an animated feature film of Betty Boop but those plans were later canceled. The musical storyboard scene of the proposed film can be seen online.[40] The finished reel consists of Betty and her estranged father performing a jazz number together called "Where are you?" Jimmy Rowles and Sue Raney provide the vocals for Betty and Benny Boop. On August 14, 2014, it was announced that Simon Cowell's Syco and Animal Logic are developing and producing the feature-length film based on the character.[41]

Legacy

  • In 2002, Betty was voted in TV Guide's 50 greatest cartoon characters of all time, ranking #17.
  • In 2004, Betty Boop was voted among the "100 Greatest Cartoons" in a poll conducted by the British television channel Channel 4, ranking at #96.
  • In March 2009, a UK newspaper voted Betty Boop the second sexiest cartoon character of all time, with Jessica Rabbit in first place and the Cadbury's Caramel Bunny in third.[42]
  • In August 2010, the inaugural Betty Boop Festival was held in the city of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, and the second Festival was held in July 2011.[43]
  • One of the main characters of the 2012 film American Mary is a woman who has had extensive plastic surgery in order to resemble Betty Boop.

References

Explanatory notes

  1. ↑ "Grim Natwick in New York – Part One: The Early Years", an exhibit of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, a 501(c)3 museum and archive. (November 3, 2007) Quote: "One day, Dave Fleischer handed Grim a photograph of singer, Helen Kane and asked him to design a caricature. Fleischer had found a sound-alike, and planned to use her in the upcoming Talkartoon, "Dizzy Dishes". Grim exaggerated Kane’s wide eyes and rosebud mouth, creating a slightly coarse, but strikingly original design. A few weeks later, Dave asked Grim to design a girlfriend for Bimbo to star as the "fair young maiden" in a cartoon adaptation of the popular song, 'Barnacle Bill the Sailor'. Grim streamlined and refined his caricature of Kane for the part. But Dave Fleischer objected, insisting that since Bimbo was a dog, his girlfriend should also be a dog. Grim quickly sketched Betty Boop’s head on a four-legged canine body. He held up the drawing next to the pretty girl design, and asked, 'Which would you rather have as your girlfriend? A girl? Or a dog?' Dave laughed and agreed that the pretty girl was the right choice."
  2. ↑ Ben Zimmer notes that the syncopation of "goo-goo-ga-joob" in John Lennon's song I Am the Walrus from The Beatles' album Magical Mystery Tour and "coo-coo-ca-choo" from Simon & Garfunkel's song "Mrs. Robinson" on their album Bookends is the same as Boop's "boop-boop-a-doop" or "boop-boop-be-doop". The same pattern was used in the sung "la-da-di-dah" introduction to the "Laugh-In Looks at the News" segments on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Zimmer, Ben (November 2011) "The Delights of Parsing the Beatles' Most Nonsensical Song" The Atlantic

Citations

  1. ↑ "Finding Her Voice". Fleischer Studios Incorporated. Fleischer Studios, Inc. and TM Fleischer Studios, Inc. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  2. ↑ Heather Halley [@heatherhalley] (May 17, 2014). "Betty Boop Dance Card Trailer: (link: youtu.be/5ZFFcqYJ8OY) youtu.be/5ZFFcqYJ8OY via @YouTube Honored to be voicing Betty Boop. This May 2014 iPhone/iPad game app" (Tweet). Retrieved July 7, 2014 – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ Fleischer, Richard (2005). Out of the inkwell: Max Fleischer and the animation revolution. University Press of Kentucky. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-8131-2355-4. he, Max Fleischer, was the sole creator ... acknowledged that many animators contributed ... not just Natwick, but also Seymour Kneitel, Myron Waldman, ...
  4. ↑ Kenner, Hugh; Jones, Chuck (1994). Chuck Jones: a flurry of drawings. University of California Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-520-08797-2. with the Max Fleischer people, ... creating Betty Boop
  5. ↑ Yoe, Craig (2007). Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings. Last Gasp. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-86719-653-5. great contribution ... Betty Boop, created for the Fleischer Studios.
  6. ↑ Worth, Stephen (3 November 2007). "Exhibit: Grim Natwick In New York". ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Los Angeles: ASIFA-Hollywood. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  7. ↑ Pointer (2017)
  8. ↑ Associated Press (October 10, 1990). "Myron Natwick, 100; Animated Betty Boop". The New York Times. p. B-24. Retrieved July 1, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Fleischer Studios v. Ralph A. Freundlich, Inc., 5 F. Supp. 808, 809 (S.D.N.Y. 1934)". Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  10. ↑ See, for instance, the passing mention in McGuire, Carolyn. "Will Betty Boop Be A Big Hit as 'It?'" Chicago Tribune (March 20, 1985), a blurb for a television program
  11. ↑ "The "Boop" Song Is Traced: Witness in Helen Kane's Suit Says Negro Girl Originated Style". The New York Times. May 2, 1934.
  12. ↑ Pointer (2017) p. 116
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-26. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  14. ↑ Barry Bogin (6 May 1999). Patterns of Human Growth. Cambridge University Press. p. 159. ISBN 978-0-521-56438-0.
  15. ↑ Betty Boop – Boop Oop a Doop (1986) from Rotten Tomatoes
  16. ↑ Barboza, David (19 January 1988). "Video World Is Smitten by a Gun-Toting, Tomb-Raiding Sex Symbol". The New York Times. p. D3. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  17. ↑ Variety
  18. ↑ Harness, Jill. "Happy Belated Birthday, Betty Boop!". mental floss. Retrieved July 21, 2015.
  19. ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune, April 19, 1934
  20. ↑ The Paris News, April 19, 1934
  21. 1 2 Zimmer, Ben (November 2011) "The Delights of Parsing the Beatles' Most Nonsensical Song" The Atlantic
  22. ↑ Bellot, Gabrielle (March 15, 2017) "The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop" New York
  23. ↑ The Mansfield News, May 5, 1934
  24. ↑ Coletta, Charles (2002). "Betty Boop". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Archived from the original on 2012-07-10.
  25. ↑ Pointer (2017), p.111
  26. ↑ The Romance of Betty Boop on IMDb
  27. ↑ The Betty Boop Murder Mystery on IMDb
  28. ↑ http://deadline.com/2016/02/betty-boop-animated-series-max-fleischer-1201700613/
  29. ↑ Strickler, Dave (1995). Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, Calif.: Comics Access. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1. OCLC 33053636.
  30. ↑ Fleischer Studios, Inc. v. A.V.E.L.A., Inc., et al., No. 09-56317 (9th Cir. 2011)
  31. ↑ [http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/02/23/09-56317.pdf Fleischer Studios, Inc. v. A.V.E.L.A., Inc. Transcript of the verdict - US Courts - page 7
  32. ↑ Fleischer Studios, Inc. v. A.V.E.L.A., Inc., et al., No. 09-56317 (9th Cir. 2011)
  33. ↑ [http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/02/23/09-56317.pdf Fleischer Studios, Inc. v. A.V.E.L.A., Inc. Transcript of the verdict - US Courts - page 7
  34. ↑ [https://www.courthousenews.com/court-says-right-to-betty-boop-is-anyones-guess/ Court says right to Betty Boop is anyone’s guess
  35. ↑ UFL PR: Betty Boop Official Fantasy Cheerleader of UFL – Alternative League Access – Alternative League Access Archived 2013-12-15 at the Wayback Machine.
  36. ↑ "Schedule of Upcoming Broadway Show: In the Works" on Playbill.com. Accessed: June 19, 2012
  37. ↑ Betty Boop, Daria Werbowy Team for Lancome Ad. elle.com. Retrieved 2013-04-19.
  38. ↑ Zac Posen Is the Star of New Animated Betty Boop Video, Promoting New Dress Collection
  39. ↑ Mackey, Dave (10 May 2009). "Fleischer Sound Cartoons Filmography". Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  40. ↑ Moore Studios Archived May 12, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  41. ↑ McNary, Dave (August 14, 2014). "Betty Boop Movie in the Works With Simon Cowell". variety.com. Retrieved August 15, 2014.
  42. ↑ "Caramel Bunny Among Sexiest Cartoons", Edinburgh Evening News, Johnston Press, 3 March 2009, retrieved 2017-01-01
  43. ↑ Betty Boop Festival Wisconsin

Bibliography

  • Pointer, Ray (2017) The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer North Carolina: McFarland Books. ISBN 978-1-4766-6367-8
  • Solomon, Charles (1994). The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings. Outlet Books Company.
  • Betty Boop: The Definitive Collection, Volumes 1–8 (VHS)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.