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?
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| From Dizzy Dishes (1930) |
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