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Betty Boop started out in the early 1930's as a dog character, primarily
as the love interest of a dog character named Bimbo, in the Talkartoons
series produced by Dave & Max Fleischer. She was featured in several
cartoons as this dog character through 1930. It didn't take long for Betty
to surpass Bimbo in popularity, and become the main character in the
cartoons. (From: Starring Bimbo, featuring Betty, To: Starring Betty,
featuring Bimbo.) In many of her cartoons Bimbo was portrayed either
as her boyfriend, or at least a wanna-be boyfriend. As Betty's popularity
grew, she went through a transformation, losing her dog characteristics.
(Although her dog ears hung on for a little while, before becoming earrings)
Before long she became the cute and sexy character that we Betty Boop
fans have grown to love. Her body was modeled after Mae West, and her
voice was done by Mae Questal. There were more then one hundred Betty
Boop cartoons produced, including, "Betty Boop for President" (1932),
"Bamboo Isle" (1932), and "Riding the Rails" (1938), which even received
an Oscar nomination.
One of the favorite characters in her cartoons is Grampy, the eccentric
inventor who, after putting on his thinking cap, seems to be able to solve
any problem.
Grampy's way of doing things, was always fun, and to say the least, unique.
Another character that showed up occasionally was Koko the clown,
although he usually appeared as nothing more then an "extra" in Betty's
cartoons. And then there's Pudgy, Betty's little dog .
He's featured in many of her cartoons, in fact there seem to be a couple of
cartoons that he is the primary character.
Betty Boop cartoons include: "Poor Cinderella" (1934),
"A Language all my Own" (1935), and "Betty Boop and the Little King"
(1936). Betty's popularity began to decline after her creators were forced to
"clean her up" under the Hays Code. Gone were the short little skirts with
her garter showing. Her hemline moved down to her knees, and her character
took on more of a school teacher persona. Since it was the "cute" and "sexy"
characteristics that made Betty popular, eliminating them meant the beginning
of the end of Betty's popularity. During her prime, it was not uncommon to see
big name musical guests making appearances in her cartoons. Some of these
were: "I'll be glad when you're Dead, You Rascal You" (1932), featuring
Louis Armstrong, "Minnie the Moocher" (1932), featuring Cab Calloway,
and one of my favorites "Snow White" (1933) featuring Cab Calloway doing
the song "Saint James Infirmary Blues".
In the 1930's, Betty Boop was made into dolls, toys, and other collectibles.
Her popularity declined for several decades, but then,
in the 1980's she began to become popular again. Now, as she becomes more
popular, there are many products and collectables available. Some of the items
I have are dolls, ceramics, T-shirts, posters, watches,and more. Almost
anything you can think of, is now available. Betty is as popular now, as
she has ever been.
In many ways, Betty was the first truly feminine animated
character. Up to this point, cartoon females had essentially
been males with long eyelashes, high-heeled shoes and a few
dainty gestures. Ms. Boop had a decidedly female shape and,
more importantly, a convincing feminine grace to her movements.
Betty's femininity was reflected in her considerable sex appeal. In
"Is My Palm Red?" (1933), Bimbo sneaks around to peek at her
silhouette as the light shines through her skirt. A frightened Betty
jumps out of her clothes, revealing frilly undies, in "The Old Man
of the Mountain" (1933), and she does a hula in "Betty Boop's
Bamboo Isle" (1932), wearing only a lei and a grass skirt.
The popularity of the character led to a spate of merchandise.
Betty Boop dolls, soap, candy, scarfs, tea sets, tablets, flipbooks,
etc., soon appeared in stores. A daily comic strip ran in 1934-35
and a Sunday panel continued through 1937. There was even a
Betty Boop and Bimbo Club, although it failed to achieve the
success of Disney's Mickey Mouse Club.
Unhappily, Betty fell victim to the smarmy Production Code of
the mid-1930's, said to have been adopted in response to the
success of Mae West, another sexy Paramount star. A collar,
sleeves and a demurely lowered hemline were added to Betty's
short, strapless dress; the garter vanished from her left leg.
The irresistable flapper became a respectable
bachelorette/hausfrau. The lecherous admirers and goggle-eyed
specters were replaced by the overly cute little dog, Pudgy, and
the gadget-happy Grampy. Cabarga suggests that Grampy
reflected the Fleischers' own interest in inventions and tinkering;
he was certainly more interesting than most of the new co-stars.
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