Cartoon Reviews

Monday, January 25, 2016

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).    

Monday, January 18, 2016

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.


Wednesday, January 6, 2016

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.



Saturday, January 2, 2016

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.