Betty Boop Clocks

These are a couple of partially broken Betty Boop clocks from an antique store. I'm sure I could probably fix them, but who knows if or when I'll get around to it.

Even though the minute and second hands still work, the hour hand is stuck at six on the wall clock. The shelf clock is missing the hour hand altogether but still works otherwise and has these four jewel-like hearts at the base that rotate around like a carousel. The spinning hearts are my favorite aspect of it and make it extremely charming.

My favorite of the two is the shelf clock. It has a lot of interesting details to it and comes off as antique, although it's pretty cheap and has a 2009 date on the back (so it's no antique). It looks older than the wall clock which has a 1991 date on the back, so the wall clock is a lot older and sadly was working correctly until it fell off the wall one day.

While attempting to Google a Betty Boop cartoon that might be related to 'time' and 'clocks' to tie in to this blog post, I came across an American Screen Songs Fleischer Studios short cartoon from 1932 that has Betty Boop, or at least a Betty Boop-ish character, as a topless mermaid. It's called Time on My Hands and also features Ethel Merman singing the title song to the bouncing ball over the lyric captions. I did not know about this cartoon until now, even as a bonafide Betty Boop fan. So, there you have it. Topless Betty Boop. The rumors were true.

  

Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party (1933)

I haven't been to a Halloween party since 2007. I guess I just eventually reached an age when I decided to always be a homebody on Halloween and hand out candy... Actually it was grad school; I blame grad school for turning me in to a hermit. But I do know that I sure would be excited to go to Betty Boop's Halloween party if she invited me. Judging from her Halloween cartoon, Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party, which was released November 3rd, 1933 (nearly 83 years ago), it would be a rather trippy experience, with me and Betty being the only humans among a boat-load of Jack-o'-lanterns, anthropomorphic animals, phantoms, and a mean old gorilla antagonist who would eventually crash the party. It doesn't look like there would be any alcohol, with the entertainment consisting of such traditional party activities as singing, dancing (Betty would personally provide the music), and bobbing for apples.

Did you know that apple bobbing used to be a pre-marriage custom, where girls would find their future husbands by secretly marking apples? And the boy that would successfully catch the marked apple with his teeth would be the lucky soon-to-be husband? I wonder if Betty marked any of those apples.

I kind of feel like apples might have lost there place in Halloween nowadays, having been replaced by candy bars and corn syrup.  

This is a pretty standard cartoon with lots of traditional Halloween iconography, which I have to admit I never seem to get tired of. There's a popular GIF that goes around online at Halloween time showing Betty dancing and lighting three Jack-o'-lanterns that came from this cartoon. Oddly Bimbo and Koko the Clown aren't here, but that's not a huge problem, because this time Betty doesn't need Bimbo to save her. 

I personally prefer Mysterious Mose (1930) over Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party, but the two cartoons do make a great pairing on Halloween, as does Red Hot Mama (1934), Minnie the Moocher (1932), and another Fleischer Studios short Swing You Sinners (1930). Fans of Betty Boop and Fleischer Studios would do well to visit the aforementioned shorts on Halloween; they are easy to find on YouTube nowadays.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Dynamite Comics: Betty Boop - Issue#1

With all the comic book reboots of classic franchises and icons occurring lately, one can only wonder why it took so long for someone to finally get around to Betty Boop.

The first issue of the long awaited Betty Boop comic series finally arrived this month from Dynamite comics, and it turned out to be well worth the wait. There are eleven cover variants, and as you can see from the above image, I couldn't help picking up a few.

After reading through issue#1 for the first time, I felt suitably pleased by the appropriate noirish feel (Betty just belongs on stage in the smoke-filled 1930s nightclub) combined with the charm of the original Fleischer Studios cartoons. There's also something both fresh and classic to Giselle Lagace's art style, and I'm very happy with the look and feel she brings to the pages. Betty does look a little taller, which is totally cool with me. 

It is a lot of fun to read, with a surreal and lighthearted horror story, by Roger Langridge, called Enter the Lizard that introduces several funny antagonists, such as Lenny Lizardlips and Dolly, a sinister Gothic ghost witch from Hell. Fans of the original cartoons will be pleased to see Betty's Pre-code pals Bimbo and Koko the Clown, as well as Grampy and Pudgy and even the lesser known Sally Swing from the later days of the original cartoon series. I wouldn't be surprised if Little Jimmy or Betty's boyfriend for a time Freddy eventually make appearances. Lookout for Mister Natwick, an obvious tribute to Betty's original animator Grim Natwick.

I'm super pleased by the first issue, and I seriously doubt I will be let down by the coming releases. May Betty Boop reign supreme in this new comic form, and may the future hold many Boop-Oop-A-Doop surprises. Let the era of Betty begin.

Snow White (1933)

Fleischer Studios adapted to animation several classic fairy tales where they substituted Betty Boop in the leading role, such as Little Red Riding Hood (Dizzy Red Riding Hood 1931), Alice in Wonderland (Betty in Blunderland 1934), Cinderella (Poor Cinderella 1934), and Snow White, in what I believe is the first animated adaptation of the famed Brothers Grimm classic.

Betty Boop (voiced by Mae Questel), looking as vivacious as ever, visits her wicked step-mama, The Queen, only to be ordered to be taken away and executed by her guards, Bimbo and Koko the Clown in knight armor, after the magic looking glass proclaimed Betty the fairest in the land. Bimbo and Koko have always been in love with Betty, so of course things don't go as the Queen would like.

I like the way Betty's signature leg garter, in a way, substitutes the wild boar's heart from the original fairy tale, a remainder of Snow White to prove to the queen she was dead. Yes, in the book the wicked queen demands Snow White's heart after her execution. She ends up salting, cooking, and eating a boar's heart all the while thinking it is Snow White's. It's pretty messed up for a children's tale, so I grinned with glee when I read it.

Snow White is a fun and memorable musical cartoon adaptation, but I think most viewers stop caring about the plot when the movie climaxes into another smokin' Cab Calloway performance, a la Minnie the Moocher, during which the evil step mother turned witch transforms Koko into a moon-walking roto-scoped specter while singing a rendition of Saint James Infirmary Blues and dancing over a scrolling macabre background. Shortly after, the cartoon wraps things up with a chase scene before a hastened but joyful closeout.

The original Snow White fairy tale serves as the inspiration for the framework of the cartoon, but it is the music, visuals, and Betty's cute numbers that make this one of the best Betty Boop cartoons. It's definitely more of a multifaceted music video that is best viewed after a couple drinks.

Betty Boop Pen Holder

I didn't necessarily need a pen holder, but it was Betty's long trail white dress that sold it for me. This combined with her long pearl necklace that hangs down to her waist and pearl earrings is as classy as they come.

People are still surprised whenever they see that I write with my left hand, although when it comes to penmanship, I've never had the greatest handwriting. When I would frantically scribble notes during class sometimes even I wouldn't be able to read my own writing. I still remember when I would hand-write reports and then type them up afterwards. Nowadays, I've found much more comfort in typing, but when preparing for movie reviews I still hand-write notes. In fact, when I'm in movie review mode, what I usually like to call "writing mode," I carry a notebook and pen around with me, in case an idea or inspiration happens to hit me.

I've also never been great at drawing. There was a time when I was around twelve or thirteen when I aspired to be a comic artist. I was mostly interested in drawing superhero babes. I had crushes on Rogue, Psylocke, Witchblade, and even Veronica Lodge from Archie Comics. I would attempt to draw them but never thought they would look as beautiful as they were supposed to be. Even recently I attempted to draw Betty Boop, and let me tell you she is not as easy to draw as you'd think.

Morning, Noon and Night (1933)

Morning, Noon and Night was the first of two Betty Boop cartoons to feature music performed by  violinist David Rubinoff and his Orchestra, the other cartoon being Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (1933). Here the orchestra is performing Ein Morgen, ein Mittag und ein Abend in Vienna, an overture by nineteenth century Austrian composer Franz von Suppe, who's classical pieces, owing to their operatic nature, would be used quite extensively in cartoons, a lot of times uncredited.

This is probably one of the more age-appropriate pre-code Betty cartoons and would probably fit in nicely alongside Loony Toons. As there isn't much of a story, the symphonic music juxtaposed with the cartoon visuals is where most of the entertainment value comes from. There is a clear cut conflict that arises after the peace loving chickens living in a utopia are disturbed by the arrival of the tomcat antagonists. This story conflict reminds me of how my mom liked to attract birds to her yard with bird feeders and how it frequently had the unfortunate consequence of attracting cats as well, and sadly a number of birds would fall prey to the skilled felines.

The cartoon does manage to take place over the course of morning, night, and day, as the title suggests, and is set on a chicken farm/haven run by Betty. All is well until the villains, traveling in a pack known as Tom Kats Social Club, arrive in their jalopy looking for chickens to prey on. Tomcat also means to pursue women promiscuously for sex, and this is kind of an in-joke that is figured into the conflict, in that the anthropomorphic cats are not just looking for chickens to eat but also a woman to have a good time with. This kind of puts Betty Boop in the same boat as the chickens. The situation is humorously exemplified in a sequence where Betty's head pops up over the fence in a line of chicken heads popping up to survey the onslaught from the feline invaders (I think this part is so cute and is the main reason I wanted to review this cartoon; it's also hilarious).

Morning, Noon and Night may not stand out as one of the most classic Betty Boop cartoons, but I do have a soft spot for it. It is a little disappointing in that I feel there is a wasted opportunity for Betty to be the hero of the story. Just when you think she's about to kick some ass, she is relegated to damsel-in-distress momentarily. Betty responds to the arrival of the cats as if she be saving the day, marching into battle as her theme song plays, but she is unfortunately overpowered and has to be saved, something I'll admit happens a little too often in Betty's cartoons. It's still a lot of fun when the fighting rooster shows those mean ol' cats who's boss.     

Barnacle Bill (1930)

The eighth Talkertoons animated short, Barnacle Bill, featuring the second appearance of who would later become Betty Boop, sees Fleischer Studio's lead star of the time, the cartoon dog who would later become Bimbo, as the rough and tough sailor who drinks his whisky from an old tin cup, Barnacle Bill.

The film is inspired by and features a clean version of an otherwise dirty and highly offensive drinking song about a fictional character referred to as Barnacle Bill the Sailor and his tryst with a fair young maiden. It seems to me an obvious attempt at a more adult version of Disney's Steamboat Willie (1928). I couldn't help noticing that Bimbo and the captain antagonist in Barnacle Bill have a similar dynamic to Mickey Mouse and Pete.

Barnacle Bill (Bimbo) slips away from his moored ship after a slapstick incident allows him to evade his captain. Once free, the sailor consults his little black book before deciding to pay Nancy Lee (canine Betty, voiced by Ann Little) a visit. Bimbo and Betty communicate operatically in a duet before a sexual tryst between the two is comically implied off screen by gossiping cat neighbors. The song recommences as Bimbo refuses Betty's suggestion of the two being wed, by showing off his tattoos of his various girlfriends whom he courts at every port. Bimbo abandons Betty before running into his angry captain and slapstick hi-jinks ensue until the conclusion.

It's meant to be played for gags, but it's actually quite offensive in that Betty was just practically courted for sex and subsequently left behind, which is completely not cool of Betty's future boyfriend Bimbo, but the narrative is nonetheless following the story of the source theme song.

Although there really is no continuity between animated shorts in the Talkartoons and Betty Boop series, Betty and Bimbo are more intimately acquainted in Barnacle Bill than their previous brief meeting in Betty's debut cartoon Dizzy Dishes (1930). It's distasteful, but it rather unprecedentedly pushes the boundaries of risque material in a cartoon. Betty is a lot more goofily animated at this point than the much more prestigious and graceful animation she would be given later, although the animation here is still technically impressive, especially a 3-D sequence where Bimbo ascends a stairway.

Barnacle Bill is a most peculiar time capsule in cartoon history but is still capable of arresting viewers today. It's weird, disturbing, bizarre, and delightful. It does contain the usual Fleischer head scratching conclusion scene that generally leaves you with little sense of resolve (this particular one being one of my favorites) that sees Bimbo dancing with mermaids at the bottom of the sea over a catchy song and a choir that includes Betty's distinctive high pitched voice. Oh and be prepared to have Barnacle Bill the Sailor stuck in your head every time you think of this cartoon.      

Betty Boop Flask and Betty Boop's First Emoji

A charming little Betty Boop flask is a novelty I can't turn away from. I've only drank from it twice, just for the experience, otherwise I envision the cheap sticker adhesion eventually peeling off due to the liquid seeping into it. I already damaged it a little when I rinsed it out.

I don't actually carry a flask with me in public though. I'm more of a dry red wine at home with a Paul Naschy movie kind of person.

Sadly, I am allergic to beer. It causes a delayed allergic reaction where my nose turns into a runny faucet, my chest itches, and my airways tighten. Not fun... (Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, I'm allergic to white wine but not red wine, hmmm) 

I only drink spirits on special occasions like on holidays or as a celebratory drink, or two. I mostly enjoy sipping J&B Scotch straight or a smooth vodka like Sloop Betty, which has no affiliation with Betty Boop, but the bottle (right side of the image) still reminded me of her. After finishing up a new review to post on my other site, At the Mansion of Madness, I like to celebrate with a Tangueray and tonic. During outdoor barbecues for some reason I like whisky with Pepsi.

Speaking of Pepsi, the first Betty Boop emoji was created in time for World Emoji Day (today, July 17th) and is available on the #PepsiMoji smart phone app. I don't know if this is an issue with the Android app, but currently the emoji can only be used as a shared image, which I find disappointing. I love the image, but I really would like to use it in text messages and in social media text (not just as a sticker, but a text character). I hope the folks at #PepsiMoji eventually make that possible. That or I just don't know how to use the #PepsiMoji Keyboard right.

Flapper Betty Boop Figurine

Ain't she a beauty. With its ornate detail, red flamboyant headband feather, and glitzy vibrance, this treasure is probably my favorite Betty Boop figure so far. 

Comparing what she is wearing to the more common flapper dresses of the era, I can't help thinking that Betty's impossibly short dress here would seem excessively brash even during the more liberal roaring '20s. It's so short that there's no way nothing underneath wouldn't be revealed. Betty's even suggestively covering herself with her left hand, as if to conceal her nudity. It reminds me of the naughty sort of humor that Betty broke out on the screen with in her first ever cartoon Dizzy Dishes (1930). At the time, she was created and animated by Grim Natwick, at Max Fleischer's request and guidance, as a girlfriend for the studio's star creation at the time (and I like to think Mickey Mouse competitor) Bimbo the dog, although not yet named Bimbo in Dizzy Dishes. In this particular Talkartoons short, Betty was voiced by Margie Hines, was portrayed as a dog cartoon, and was not yet named Betty Boop, but certain Betty Boop characteristics were being seeded during this film, such as her charismatic flapper stage presence, spit curled hair style, risque sexual humor, and Boop-Oop-A-Doop scat line. During a couple split second shots during her performance, Betty Boop's dress rises to reveal that she is in fact wearing no underwear, and Bimbo's resulting perverted expression is priceless. This was Betty and Bimbo's first meeting. Was it love at first sight, or fleeting lust?

From Dizzy Dishes (1930)

Betty Boop Doll on Valiant's Desk

Betty Boop (in a reprised voice role by Mae Questel) has a couple of brief appearances in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), the most memorable being when she meets up with Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) while she's working in a noirish 1940s nightclub selling cigars and cigarettes; as she puts it, "work's been kinda slow since cartoons went to color." Both Betty and Eddie are presented like has-beens suffering financially in their current economic climate, which is quite poignant considering that Betty had her own hugely successful long running show the decade prior. Eddie and Betty seem well acquainted with one another. It isn't addressed, but it's interesting to wonder what kind of past Eddie and Betty might've had together, especially considering that Eddie has a prejudice contempt for "toons," since one apparently killed his brother by dropping a piano on his head, but he's still quite friendly with Betty, nonetheless. Are they close old friends or did they perhaps have a past fling? Er... Could humans have flings with toons?

I didn't notice until The Nostalgia Critic brought it up in the What You Never Knew About Roger Rabbit episode, but Betty also makes a quick, easy-to-miss, Easter egg appearance in the film as a doll decorating Eddie's workstation. Looking at it, you can see that the Betty doll is on Eddie's deceased brother Theodore's side of the desk, its dustiness revealing that Eddie left his brother's workstation untouched. From this, I would guess that Theodore was quite the Betty Boop fan. Perhaps he and Betty were old friends as well.

The doll on the desk is a Vintage Betty Boop Jointed Porcelain Doll, a rare Betty Boop collectible from the 1930s. I really, really want one. 

From Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)

The Betty Boop Limited (1932)

"♫Ain'tcha kind of glad, and ain'tcha kind of gay, when you hear me say I loooves ya? Aww, tell me, baby, aw ain'tcha? Boop-Oop-A-Doop♫." -Betty Boop

Ever wonder what goes on during the train rides with the traveling troupe of performers for Betty Boop's show? Me neither, but The Betty Boop Limited affords us the opportunity to see behind the scenes and just how Betty motivates her cabinet of curiosities to rehearse one last time before the big show. Apparently, they are not afraid to risk life and limb to rehearse the finale by dancing on top of the moving train. (Since I'm just coming off of it, I am reminded a little of American Horror Story: Freak Show for likely no good reason.)

This was the last Talkartoons episode before Betty would fully take over as the lead and have her own show, and it's a harmless bout of surreal madness that is more about the music, song, and dance performances than any sort of plot. Betty gets the ball rolling, exemplifying her one of a kind charisma, by singing an appropriately Betty Boop-ish song "Ain'tcha" that will stay with you.

It's apparent Betty runs the show now at this point, despite that it was previously Bimbo's show in the earlier episodes, as Bimbo doesn't do much but a short juggling act. A rotoscoped Koko the Clown does a cute soft-shoe dance that is technically impressive but a long way from his St. Infirmary Blues performance in Betty Boop's Snow White (1933). There's a Running gag with a warbling cat crooning the lyrics from the song Silver Threads Among the Gold "darling I am growing oldeeer" who I'm pretty sure is Mae Questel pretending to sing bad. These lyrics are revisited in Betty Boop, M.D. (1932).

All in all, a worthy finale to the Talkartoons series.

Mysterious Mose (1930)

Although her character was still in the early developmental phase, with puppy ears and a darker complexion, the atmospheric and haunting Mysterious Mose was the fourth Talkartoons animated short to feature Betty (voiced here by Margie Hines), but she was not yet known as Betty Boop at this point (she would not be named Betty Boop until the episode Silly Scandals in 1931). She's nameless here, but she was referred to as ?Nancy Lee? in a previous episode, Barnacle Bill (1930).

Mysterious Mose is one spooky, fun episode with a bit of a gothic horror slant to it. Part of its success as an eerie cartoon comes from the ghostly sound effects at the beginning, with Betty being awoken at night by a serious haunting. The cartoon takes a stylish turn when spooked Betty slips out of bed in her nightgown to explore the dark house with a lit candle. The antics ramp up when Betty breaks into the episode's theme song, before being joined by ghostly Bimbo and other midnight spooks.

Mysterious Mose would definitely pair well with Betty Boop's Hallowe'en Party (1933) and has been noted for brief flashes of quasi-nudity a couple times when Betty cartoonishly has the shirt scared off of her, which was most risque for the time.

Betty Boop Socks

Socks can be pretty unexciting, unless they're Betty Boop socks. It's too bad I can't show off in these manly knee-highs around my friends, as the socks appear to be too small, and I don't want to risk stretching out and damaging them.

Betty's image on the gray pair is charmingly pixelated, which I imagine is for ease of manufacturing, but as someone who grew up on classic Nintendo, it makes me wonder why we never had a Betty Boop game on the NES. There's a couple of recent mobile game apps featuring Betty Boop that I enjoyed, including Betty Boop Bop, Betty Boop Beat, and Dress Betty Boop. In Betty Boop Bop there is a classic gaming homage level that's also kind of Tron-ish called Biterial Girl that contains some rocking chip-tune music. Check it out if you can.

From Keep In Style (1934)

Betty Boop, M.D. (1932)

The topic of Betty Boop, M.D. is an odd one for the pre-code trio of Betty, Koko the Clown, and Bimbo, but it raises an issue that is still significant today: the snake oil peddler and the quack M.D. that endorses it. Miracle potion charlatans have come in many forms over time to promote their fraudulent health products/supplements to people with enough money and credulity, and this zany Betty short makes a farce of the matter. It kind of imparts the lesson of not falling for an unscrupulous sale just because a babe in a small dress is trying to sell it to you. Although, knowing me, I'd probably still be inclined to buy a bottle of Jippo from Betty.

A rundown caravan carts into town with the product Betty Boop's Jippo advertised on its side, and after the crowd is not convinced to buy Jippo after Koko's little contortion number, Betty instead tantalizes them with a dance and song number, and suddenly everyone's a lot more interested in Jippo. Despite coming from a fire hydrant, the product has a number of cartoony effects on the people that try it, which I'm guessing is a satire of the supposed miracle and misguided placebo effect that the nominal "cure-all" health potion might induce.

The cartoon climaxes when Bimbo takes a drink of Jippo and breaks into the classic jazz/pop song Nobody's Sweetheart Now (1924). I didn't catch at first that it was referencing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but Betty Boop, M.D. probably has one of the freakiest and most mind-numbing closeouts in cartoon history. Overall, it's an unethical episode but all in good fun.

Video of "Nobody's SweetHeart Now" Juxtaposed Over Silent Movie Stars: From YouTube User Shabanni:
   

Betty Boop Wine Figurine

Westland Giftware probably has some of the most detailed, and coolest, Betty Boop figurines. This wine-themed Betty figurine was a pleasant surprise. I came across it at Hasting's in a fully opaque box that was labelled "Wine A Bit Figurine," so I wasn't sure what it was going to look like, possibly some sort of Betty wine glass / figurine hybrid. It actually turned out to be a classy Betty statue holding a glass of wine, with the inscription "wine a bit, you'll feel better" (words to live by). It's white wine though, which I oddly enough happen to be allergic to. I am therefore a red-wine-all-the-way kind of person, preferably a dry Cabernet or Merlot, but I do love a good Zinfandel sometimes.

Thanks to this figurine, I couldn't help noticing that Betty's top most spit-curls almost look like devil horns, so I thought to complement the perceived devilish trait by posing Betty next to one of my Garbage Pail Kids Mystery Minis, Hot Scott (Westland Giftware actually does have a Naughty Betty Figurine with an actual devilish theme, with a spade tail and all). Now don't get me wrong, despite her status as a sex icon, I've always perceived Betty as completely innocent, but those top spit-curl horns seem awfully suggestive. In the Betty Boop cartoon Red Hot Mama (1934), Betty does take a trip through Hell, and she lights the place up with song and dance, as Betty usually does.

From Red Hot Mama (1934)

         

Betty Boop Coffee Mugs

What's better than morning coffee? Morning coffee in a Betty Boop mug...

I love coffee. I always have since High School. In fact, I had my first serving in the 2nd grade. Back then I used to use a lot of Sweet'N Low and non-dairy creamer, which just sounds unappetizing now, but today I mostly take it with a small amount of milk and no sweetener. Sometimes, I'll add a little half n half, or if the mood strikes me, black is just fine too.

I frequently use the red Betty mug in the morning, because it holds nearly four standard servings. Yes, that is what you call 'a cup of Joe.' I received it around Christmas time, and I've been trying to keep it clean, but the brown coffee stains are starting to inevitably appear on the interior. Bummer...

The travel mug is super cool, but I refrained from taking it to work because of the risque image of Betty, paying homage to her pre-code days, flashing her underskirt. It probably qualifies as NSFW in its own way. It has an unfortunate design flaw that I noticed when I first washed it, where water leaks in at the top through the connection between the transparent plastic exterior and the black rim, which damaged the underlying design. Double bummer...

Something interesting involving Betty Boop and coffee happened to me on Monday morning, before work. I was in line at the Starbucks drive-through, and when I pulled up to the window, the employee handed me my cafe latte and a receipt and said, "the driver in front of you paid for your coffee because you like Betty Boop." It took a while for me to comprehend; I just kept holding out my debit card, not knowing what she was talking about. I wasn't paying attention to the driver in front of me, so I have no idea who they were, but in the off chance they might read this: thank you! That was kind of you and it did make my day. I guess my Betty Boop license plate is cooler than I thought. ;)    

Minnie the Moocher (1932)

Minnie the Moocher, probably the most recognized Betty Boop cartoon episode, and for good reason, is a cool, jazzy experience with supernatural, surreal animation sequences involving ghosts, skeleton cats, and a rotoscoped dancing, scat singing, spectral walrus voiced by Cab Calloway. The technical ingenuity and macabre creativity combined with the jazz music makes this Talkartoons animation short an all time cartoon classic.

This was the first of three cartoons with Betty Boop to feature Calloway, the other two being Snow White (1933) and The Old Man of the Mountain (1933). It is also noted for containing the earliest filmed footage of Calloway, where he can be seen with his band dancing and doing what has been referred to as a proto-moonwalk.

Having Betty runaway from home with Bimbo after fighting with her parents does deliver a never-runaway-from-home message, with the creepy show in the cave being a kind of scare lesson that drives Betty and Bimbo back to home-sweet-home (I first got a similar lesson from Fleischer Studios as a kid with the short cartoon Small Fry (1939)).

It's Betty Boop's story, but the main focus and attraction is the haunted cave and the showy phantasmagoria that transpires within. For anyone checking out Betty's cartoons for the first time, Minnie the Moocher is no doubt the perfect episode to start with.  

Bimbo's Initiation (1931)

Released July 24th, 1931, Bimbo's Initiation is an early animated short film from the Talkartoons series of cartoons, which starred Betty's love interest Bimbo the dog, before Betty had her own cartoon. The cartoon features Bimbo finding himself being menaced by an occult secret society, putting him through a series of frightening fun-house gag situations, occasionally breaking off to ask Bimbo in song: "wanna be a member? wanna be a member?" to which Bimbo continually replies with a firm rejection, that is until Betty appears and her dancing hips seem to hold more sway.

These were some enthralling times in the pre-code era, with one of the weirdest and darkest Fleischer cartoons I can recall (next to Minnie the Moocher), and Betty, although still a dog anthropomorph at this time in her career, is risque as ever. The 3D environments giving dynamic to Bimbo's nightmarish journey through the fun-house are amazing even for today. This is one of my favorites. Be sure to watch for a clever Mickey Mouse cameo.

Although Betty is the secondary character here, she makes quite an impression. Towards the end when she starts to dance for Bimbo, I couldn't help sensing some sort of proto-twerking, or at the very least an early instance of booty-shaking for seductive and/or titillation purposes (this wasn't a thing until the '90s, people).    

A Small Comic-Con Load

The amount of Betty Boop merchandise I came across at the Comic-Con last weekend in Albuquerque was very little, my purchases consisting of three cute little inexpensive items: a Betty Boop million dollar novelty bill, a pink ice cream button pin, and a Betty Wizard of Oz themed sticker, which got me a little excited since I've been hooked on L. Frank Baum's colorful Oz books; I'm coming up on Rinkitink of Oz. It's too bad there wasn't a Betty Wizard of Oz cartoon adaptation (at least I don't think there was), as Betty did get the Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, and Cinderella treatments. Early on at the convention, I came across a Biker Betty Boop magnet, but not being a biker, I thought I'd hold off and possibly pick it up later, but I ended up not returning to the particular booth. I was kind of hoping to get a picture with a Betty Boop cosplay model but no such luck (I was hoping for Vampirella too). It's not that surprising that Betty Boop would not be a big thing at a comic-con, as she has not appeared in comics in a long time. The only ones I know about were comic-strips, drawn by Bud Counihan, originally printed in the newspaper back in the 1930s, which have recently been consolidated and reprinted by Titan Comics in The Definitive Betty Boop: The Classic Comic Strip Collection graphic novel (more on that in a future post). Dynamite Comics recently dropped an intriguing hint about Betty returning to comics.

From left to right: my dear friend Amanda, Samantha (Jem) Newark , and me.

A couple other awesome finds at the convention that were a bit more pricey was the second issue of Sabrina the Teenage Witch from 1972 (I'm a big Archie Comics fan) and the 6th issue of Katy Keene from 1959 (thanks to those giallo films I gush about at my other blog, I've developed a thing for vintage glamour). I also got to meet Samantha Newark, the original voice of Jem, from a cartoon series I ended up liking more as an adult than as a kid (thank you, Amanda); I really do like the new Jem and the Holograms comic series from IDW, and, believe it or not, I kind of liked the live-action movie.

Betty Boop Rubbish Bin

I didn't think much of it at the time, but I'm a little bummed out that I passed on buying this two sided Betty Boop garbage can. Oh well, at least I took pictures. It has a little bit of a retro charm to it, but I'm not sure how old it really is. I think it would make a classy piece of decor in a bar or in a bathroom. Note the Boop-Boop-A-Doop at the bottom, which is spelled out with two Boops instead of the more common Boop-Oop-A-Doop.

Betty in Blunderland (1934)

Watching Fleischer Studios' take on Wonderland, Betty in Blunderland, with their very own Betty Boop substituting Alice, is a nice way for Betty and Wonderland fans to get a quick fix. The cartoon aptly references numerous events and characters from both of Lewis Carroll's AIW books. Along with the obligatory animation hijinks sequences, Betty sings and dances for many well known Wonderland denizens. And I swear, in this particular cartoon, I think Betty intentionally pronounces her iconic scat line as "Poop-oop-pee-do poop!" Eventually a conflict arises in the form of the Jabberwocky snatching up Betty, prompting a chase scene that leads up to a cute, harmless ending. It's a charming animated interpretation, although it's not quite Jan Svankmajer's Alice / Neco Z Alenky (1988), and should not be missed by either Betty Boop or Alice in Wonderland fans.