Boopers

Betty Boop: 23 Classic Cartoons

I was introduced to Betty Boop and Tom Mix and other old films when I was in elementary school by a show that ran on PBS called Matinee at the Bijou. The great thing about that show was that it gave historical background that helped contextualize these films so that by the time you got through Mack Sennett, Hal Roach and the old Republic serials you got a real sense of history. Matinee at the Bijou was my first introduction to the history of film. I miss it sorely. So whenever I think about Betty Boop, I think about Matinee at the Bijou and how it got me interested in the '20s and '30s and old films and enriched my notion of history in the process.

The surprising thing is that despite being such an iconic character there has been no great effort put into restoring a complete collection of the Betty Boop oeuvre.

The collections that are available on DVD now are a mixed bag, each having some that the others don't have while the quality of the transfers is inconsistent.

The collection in question here is a 2-disc collection of "23 Classic Cartoons" from Platinum Disc Corporation which, as luck would have it includes some rarities that aren't found elsewhere.

Now, here's what you need to know about Betty Boop: She was drawn by animator Myron "Grim" Natwick for Max Fleischer's studios as a combination of Helen Kane and Clara Bow. She was first created in 1930 as an animated poodle but finally became the human version we know in 1932. Although several actresses have provided the voice for Betty, the most famous was Mae Questel who took over the role in 1931 and made it her own.

The other salient thing about Betty Boop is that there were really two Bettys. The first was the jazz age flapper, an independent woman, a flirt, a real floozie. That's the iconic Betty Boop.

But after the Motion Picture Production Code of 1933 Betty was progressively tamed. From 1934 on she was turned into a proto-housewife-to-be, with longer dresses and tamer activities. Whereas she used to be a party girl, by 1934 she had settled down her ways. It's kind of disappointing to see the domesticated Betty, especially since in later cartoons she is often pushed to the sidelines and becomes a minor character in her own films. Thanks a lot, Legion of Decency. While watching Betty Boop perform domestic chores may be relatively wholesome, it's not like her adventures in Polynesia or singing and dancing were the stuff of anime pseudo-porn.

Is Betty Boop an icon of feminism? Is her independence and control of her own sexuality that threatening? Even the tamed Betty isn't domesticated to the point of getting married. It's hard, really to think of a character that would have been interesting enough to marry a firecracker like Betty. She's like Nora without Nick.

It's easy to dismiss Betty now as a big-eyed floozie with a disproportionate head, but as cartoon role models for women go, maybe she's not that bad.

Then again, there's a counter argument that Betty Boop is the creation of men and, as such, represents a male fantasy. And every so often, there's something about Betty that just makes you cringe.

At any rate, with that premble on the table let's see what's in store for us.

Vol. 1
1. Betty Boop’s Rise to Fame (1934)
Directed by Dave Fleischer

He liked to boop-oop-boop-e-doop.
But I never cared to boop-oop-boop-e-doop.
But he likes to boop-oop-a-doop, so that's my weakness now.

Dave Fleischer plays the role of a reporter asking Max Fleischer about the process of animation. And then Betty comes to life from the page where she's been drawn to do a sample of her routines for the interviewer and "Uncle Max." This is a good sampler of older Betty cartoons and I like how the pieces of paper that Max puts on his desk turn into full sets when Betty enters into them. Also, "Stopping the Show" isn't included in this set, so this is the only place where you'll see her doing impersonations of Helen Kane (which is a bit redundant) Fanny Brice "It's a goose, it's a goose, but I'm an Indian" and Maurice Chevalier. (I especially love seeing Betty impersonate Chevalier because it reminds me of that bit in Monkey Business where the Marx Brothers impersonate Chevalier in order to get onto a passenger ship.)

Maurice Chevalier's picture on an easel holding a bullhorn: Can you imitate me, Betty Boop? Yes?
Betty: I think so.
Maurice Chevalier's picture on an easel holding a bullhorn: Then do it. And do it right now.
That's a pretty pushy picture there, Frenchy.

After that Betty goes behind an inkwell to undress and get herself in brown-face (and body) makeup to play the hula girl in Bamboo Isle and then undresses again behind a pile of books for Old Man of the Mountain. All this dressing and undressing is a good example of the kind of stuff that the Legion of Decency and the Animated Morality Society would have a problem with and maybe they had a point.

At any rate, the Old Man of the Mountain comes out of the set and chases Betty who jumps into Max's inkwell to escape (and splashing the reporter's face and notebook with ink while managing to not stain herself in the process, curiously enough.) This is significant because the creation has to seek refuge with the creator and the source of her creation in order to be saved. Chew on that for a moment while we move on to the next one.

2. I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You (1932)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Willard Bowsky and Ralph Somerville

We go from the opening credits to a live action jazz ensemble. That's Louis Armstrong on trumpet. That just made my day.
Betty is "assisted" in this cartoon by her sidekicks Bimbo and Koko. They start off by carrying a slightly tan Betty through the jungle on a litter. They're all wearing pith helmets. It helps protect them from pith. They are being stalked by some monkey-like natives who cart off Betty leaving her assistants to try to track her down. Then they themselves are captured and have to escape. As they're running away the native chasing them transforms into a giant floating head who starts to sing the lyrics to the title song. Thus it is a giant floating cartoon jungle Louis Armstrong head chasing Bimbo and Koko and singing "I'll be glad when you're dead, you rascal you."
Kids, don't try this at home.
As if that isn't enough, the head transforms to a live action floating head of Louis Armstrong.
Boy, I brought you into my home
You wouldn't leave my wife alone
I'll be glad when you're dead you rascal you.
And that's why we won't see this cartoon on Nickelodeon any time soon.

The speedometer on Koko's tail when he's running away goes from numbers to a question mark, an exclamation point and finally the word כּשר.

We get another live action sequence with the orchestra. Then Bimbo and Koko torture a porcupine to fling its needles like arrows which cut Betty free from her bonds. Then the trio escape over a volcanic mountain and the pursuing natives are hurled into the air and we cut back to Louis Armstrong and the live action orchestra.

Needless to say, the equation of the cannibal natives with the jazz musicians is a bit uncomfortable, but then it's also just such a nonsequitur since the song they're singing is about a man who will be happy once the man who cuckolded him is dead.

So, this is a great short film if you're a fan of Louis Armstrong, but I think I'd have to drink a bathtub full of bootleg gin to make any sense of what the film is about (or to be drunk enough to not care about its lack of logic.)

3. Snow-White (1933)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Roland C. Crandall

Made of pen and ink, she can win you with a wink
Ain't she cute, Boop-oop-a-doop...our Betty
The opening credits already win with "Vocal Chorus: Saint James Infirmary Blues sung by Cab Calloway."
The queen is like an older used up version of Olive Oyl singing "Magic mirror in my hand who's the fairest in the land?"
I like how Betty walks into the castle out of a snowstorm wearing a tiny strapless black dress that barely covers her upper thighs and the garter belt. Seriously folks, it's a snowstorm. Give the poor girl a coat or something. When the magic mirror tries to make out with Betty the evil stepmother queen sends Betty off to be beheaded.
Always in the way
I can never play
My own mama would never say
I'm always in the way.

The executioners (Bimbo and Koko) can't do their jobs and Betty escapes only to wind up frozen in a block of ice that is taken up by the Seven Dwarfs.
Meanwhile the evil queen realizes that Betty is still alive and gives chase.
Cue the musical interlude with Koko coming out of his suit of armor revealing his commedia outfit and he does a shuffle in the snow (rotoscoped from a live action Cab Calloway performance) to the "Saint James Infirmary Blues." The interlude in the Mystery Cave has some of the best background detail. The ending is, again a bit nonsensical, but hey I'll forgive a lot if you've got Cab Calloway singing for you.

4. Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle (1932)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animation by Seymour Kneitel, Bernard Wolf and Shamus Culhane

This one starts out with a live action hula dancer and The Royal Samoans doing a number. The hula dancer's moves were rotoscoped for Betty's number.
The opening is a bit of a nautical fun culminating in a boat with Bimbo and a tan Betty. Betty's outfit consists of a grass skirt and a lei. That's it. So, by posing as a Polynesian girl Betty can pretty much get away with wearing a garland of flowers and some hay. And if her head and eyes weren't so completely out of proportion this would be even more awkward.
Anyhow, the rest of this one is a series of Polynesian headhunter cliches that culminates in Betty and Bimbo escaping to smooch on a boat ride in the domestic tranquility of the Mississippi River. Did I mention that Bimbo is a vaguely dog-like creature? If you're turned on by the thought of topless Hula Betty making out with a pug on a rowboat then please seek help.

5. Morning, Noon and Night (1933)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Thomas Johnson & David Tendlar

Another live action opening here, this time with Runinoff and his orchestra.
The sun rises in the morning with a dreadful hangover. "I don't feel so hot today." A series of meandering bucolic scenes with birds follows, including a cure fledgling learning to fly. Betty owns a farm/animal sanctuary which is terrorized by the arrival of a bunch of hard-drinking cats in a car. The Tom Kats Social Club is not to be messed with. They chop down trees, chase after chicks and even force Betty to dance with them and when it looks like they'll do even worse Betty is rescued by a rooster with boxing gloves. The rest of the birds in the farm show organize to defend themselves and finally by nightfall Betty and her friends have defeated the cats. Betty speaks all of four words in the whole thing. A little disappointing.

6. Chess-Nuts (1932)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by James H. Culhane and William Henning

I should mention that this short is a "Talkartoon" which was a Fleischer series that ran from 1929-1932.
It starts with a live action chess game where a bit of cigar ash from one of the players drops on the queen and turns it into Betty. There's a bit of live action stop motion followed by the animation proper. This is one of the classic rudimentary bits of animation from the time period. The black king goes on a rampage against the white pieces (make your own joke here) rolling some bowling ball bombs toward the white pawns who fall like bowling pins and then the whole thing turns into a football match of white vs. black with Bimbo, playing for the white team running one of the bombs back toward the black endzone. Meanwhile Betty cheers from the tower of a castle. There's an interesting closeup sequence of Betty's legs here which is worth a groan. The black king now tries to kidnap Betty and do unspeakable things to her and with her and in her general direction. Bimbo shows up to rescue her. There are a couple of times when Betty's dress heads north revealing her undergarments including once when some sort of creature helpfully pulls her dress back down and she thanks the creature. If you were ever wondering if the marijuana menace of the 1930s was real, you only need the nonsensical aspects of this cartoon to prove it. It's like the Adult Swim lineup of 1932.

7. The Old Man of the Mountain (1933)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Bernard Wolf and Thomas Johnson

This is one of the classics of all time. It's another teaming of Betty Boop and Cab Calloway (the earlier one had been 1932's Minnie the Moocher, a Talkartoon.)
It starts off with a live action sequence of Cab Calloway and his orchestra in white suits doing a chorus of hi-de-his and then the animation starts. The Old Man of the Mountain is in some way scaring the town folks into running away. Betty, a tourist, needs some explanation about the Old Man of the Mountain, so an owl gives her a few verses of character description. So, Betty goes up the mountain to give the Old Man a piece of her mind. She sees an hippo like woman pushing a baby carriage and Betty asks her what's wrong and she says "The Old Man of the Mountain" and points out her 3 children who are clearly little versions of the Old Man. Betty and the Old Man do a hi-de-ho shuffle in the Old Man's cave and then the old man chases after Betty and is beaten up by some woodland creatures for his trouble. Thus we have something of a running theme of men who try to get into Betty's boop and find that she's not as easy as she looks and that she has lots of little friends who will beat you up if you step out of line. Again, I'm not exactly sure of what I just watched, but it did sound nice and the background of the cave was well drawn.

8. Betty in Blunderland (1933/1934)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Roland Crandall and Thomas Johnson

Betty is putting together an Alice in Wonderland jigsaw puzzle and falls asleep, only to have a waking dream of chasing the rabbit from the puzzle into a mirror and thus through Wonderland. This is one of the best Betty Boop cartoons. The animation of wonderland is great, Betty makes a really cool stand-in for Alice and it's got one of my favorite Betty songs "How do you do?" which she sings to the gang at the tea party. This is definitely one of the best old cartoons of all time.

9. Be Human (1936)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Lillian Friedman and Myron Waldman

You know this is a later Boop because she's definitely more conservatively dressed (she's got sleeves.) The film is basically a public service announcement for the ASPCA. Betty's neighbor pretty much spends his day whipping his dog and punching his cow and otherwise torturing his farm animals. Betty sings the titular song which is all about how treating animals well is the essence of being human. Betty is upset so she calls her old friend Professor Grampy who runs Prof. Grampy's Animal Aid Society. Grampy is an eccentric inventor, something of a forefather of Inspector Gadget. He shows up and makes short work of Betty's neighbor carting him off to a torture dungeon where he's treated to a little of his own medicine. The evil neighbor is put on a treadmill, driven with an automated whip while a recording instructs him to be human. Betty and Grampy laugh at the tortrued neighbor and enjoy some of Grampy's other contraptions. "It's futile to be brutal." Anyhow, at least Grampy gets some smooching from Betty as his reward for a job well done. Way to go, Grampy! Not bad for a bald geek with a big white beard.
On the other hand, I can't help feeling disappointed by the conservative Betty who doesn't even get to be the lead in her own cartoon. Then again, even in the earlier ones it seems like Bimbo or Koko were always there to provide some form of rescue plotline.

10. Betty Boop’s Big Boss (1933)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Bernard Wolf and David Tendlar

This is one of the last cartoons where Betty is voiced by Little Ann Little a 4'10" girl with a squeaky voice who was much like a real life version of Betty Boop that Fleischer sent her out on the road with artist Pauline Comanor and she would pose while Pauline drew sketches of her as Betty.
This is also one of the best examples of the bizarre but salient issues that Betty Boop raises. Betty is looking for a job and basically uses her looks to land a job as a secretary despite having no skills at all. Betty soon learns to type and is enjoying her job when the boss decides to call her on her flirting and chases her around the office. (Which is what you do when you're in a room with Betty Boop, after all.) Betty calls the police and soon the army shows up as well as a squadron of planes and a flotilla from the navy to go after the evil boss who's trying to sexually assault Betty. There's a big shootout with the cops who eventually bring down the entire office skyscraper by machine gunning it down inch by inch until the top floor office is on the ground. That's when we get the reveal of Betty making out with the boss and she looks over at all the cops, calls them fresh! for peeping at her and the boss, pulls the shade and continues where she left off in silhouette.
???!!!
What the hell do you do with a message like that? Wow, that is both so wrong and so not entirely impossible to believe. It's hard not to find this one exasperating. I have to admit that it's the ultimate conversation starter, but I can't imagine I want to sit through many of those conversations. Alright, now at least I have a sense of the classic Betty Boop as coy floozy character.

11. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (1933)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Amimated by Seymour Kneitel and William Henning

Another live action opening with Rubinoff and his Orchestra. I can't say I care for Rubinoff or his orchestra. He's not bad, but I would rather be watching Louis Armstrong or Cab Calloway.
Here we have a toy factory that delivers a toy version of Betty Boop to a toy shopwhere she is greeted by a parade of wooden soldiers and wooden elephents and a pirate with a peg leg. After the tremendous social implications of Betty Boop's Big Boss this cartoon is something of a snoozefest. The tension in the cartoon is provided by a large stuffed King Kong doll who proceeds to take Betty to use her head as a replacement for the head on another toy. The resolution is swift and the King Kong reference is the best part of the whole thing.

12. Not Now (1936)
Directed by Dave Fleischer, Animated by Hicks Lokey and Myron Waldman

This is another later cartoon with Betty Boop (conservative Betty) and her dog Pudgy. Betty can't go to sleep because there's a cat on the fence below meowling through the night. Not Now is an annoying song. I don't care if the cat has nine lives, he should quit the singing. Pudgy heads down to take out the cat but little Pudgy ends up only exacerbating the problem as, after a long chase sequence the end result is a whole host of other cats forming a chorus of meowlers outside the window. This is an early and prescient metaphor for the problems of counter-insurgency.

Tune in for Volume 2, featuring 11 more Betty Boop cartoons.