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I kind of feel like apples might have lost there place in Halloween nowadays, having been replaced by candy bars and corn syrup.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