Chess-Nuts (1932)

"♫Hel-lo, King-y! Mm-mm, King-y! Oh-oh, king-y! Hel-lo, King-y!♫" -Betty Boop

Conflict is a-brewin' in chessboard land. The black queen Betty Boop is being controlled and forced against her will to be courted by that lecherous-old-man (Old King Cole) antagonist again, who's got fire in his eyes for the Boop. Who is tasked with the daunting but rewarding duty of saving her? Bimbo the dog (the white king, I mean) of course! ♫B-I-M-B-O; ♫B-I-M-B-O, ♫B-I-M-B-O! ♫Bimbo is his name♫. And Koko the Clown is along for the ride, too.  

A live action/animated segment as well as a stop motion animation part with dueling chess pieces start things off. I do dig the whole chess-world theme, which I thought was mildly reminiscent of Through the Looking Glass (1871). Bimbo and Koko are fighting with Old King Cole in order to free Queen Betty from the tower, where Betty dances and sings in the window as a kind of cheerleader when the fight evolves from Chess to Bowling and then to Football. The segment when Bimbo runs for a touchdown with a lit-fuse-bomb in place of a football is funny and sort of exciting.

Chess Nuts, though perhaps lacking a little in the memorable music bits, embodies the best of Pre-Code Betty Boop cartoon shorts with humorous takes on mature themes that are admittedly in poor taste at times, but that is part of what makes this so peculiar. Plus the pacing is nice, with something comedic happening nearly every few seconds, and the brief 3D animation segments are a marvel even today. As usual, and understandable for a cartoon a little over six minutes long, things wrap up too quickly and too nicely, but Chess Nuts is still a grande little time in a surreal chess dreamland and a personal favorite Betty Boop cartoon of mine.

The Dancing Fool (1932)

"♫C'mon, baby, don't hesitate! C'mon, baby, cooperate! Gee, you're swell-o, hello, hello baby!♫" -Betty Boop

Nothing really seems to stand out to me in this cartoon that much, aside from when Betty shows up a little later to do her song and dance thing. I feel a bit remiss dismissing the rest of the episode so outright, but the cartoon just doesn't seem all that inspired until Batty takes over shortly before the four-minute mark, which is too long to wait for Betty, considering the cartoon is a little over seven minutes long.

Still, it is cool to see Betty, Bimbo, and Koko together, and more regularly at this point (I believe their previous adventure was Swim or Sink with the next one being Chess Nuts); that trio is Pre-Code legend. They are all good friends, but Bimbo and Koko sometimes compete for Betty's attention. Betty, Bimbo, and Koko's dancing at the end of the cartoon together literally brings down the house, er, I mean, brings down the building. Betty's dance school is high atop a skyscraper and is filled with none other than the ever lovable cartoon animals that populate Betty's world.

So, yes, Betty saves this one from being forgettable, as Bimbo and Koko's comedy routine at the beginning together just wasn't quite on the mark, but the magic happens when Betty joins and all three are together.

See you next time for Chess Nuts.

Crazy-Town (1932)

"♫Foolish facts, foolish facts, foolish things, and silly acts. But we have nothing else to do, so let's go crazy.♫" -Betty Boop

In this Talkartoon, Crazy-Town, Betty and Bimbo take an incidental trip to the bizarro world, where everything is pretty much backwards, giving the animators ample opportunity to explore a large number of gags where things occur opposite of how you'd expect. Even Betty and Bimbo's presence here seems a bit incidental.

I got to admit to being pretty ho-hum about this one, that is until the quick but morbid scene in the beauty parlor, where instead of having their hair styled by a qualified cosmetologist, women can just come into the parlor and decapitate themselves of their old heads (and toss it in the trash!?) and put on a completely new, beautifully made-over head, just like Princess Mombi from Return to Oz (1985), or rather Princess Langwidere from the book Ozma of Oz (1907) by L. Frank Baum, of which the film Return to Oz was partially based on. Like Dorothy, Betty even refuses to give up her head when a customer takes a fancy to her, resulting in Betty making a brief run for her life. At the end of the adventure, Bimbo gets a couple nice wet kisses from Betty.

Betty's chipper singing (by Mae Questel) heard over the credits at the beginning is just too cute, particularly when she screams "crazy town!". As is usual, there are a few high quality song and dance numbers, with Betty performing a lovely rotoscoped dance (while singing Foolish Facts) with Bimbo on Piano in front of several enthusiastic Crazy Town denizens, towards the end.

The meowing rhino-hippo thing was kind of funny, but aside from the morbid beauty parlor, the bizarro (opposite world) gags just kind of passed by without much response from me. Crazy-Town is still a pretty weird episode that I just recently saw for the first time. It's got its moments that make it worth the near seven minutes of your time to watch it.   

I was playing around with the Betty Boop Snap and Share app on my phone, and I decided to edit a picture I took that commemorated my finally finishing the original Metroid on the NES Classic. Hooray! Unfinished childhood business complete!..
A meeting between Samus and Betty Boop? Now that's a universe crossover worthy of Crazy Town.

Swim Or Sink (1932)

"♫I'm the only shipwrecked female, and I'm lonesome too; I'm so scared, oh, I can't stand it, must be something we can do!♫" -Betty Boop

Another one of Betty's early Talkartoons escapades, S.O.S. (Swim Or Sink) is a high seas adventure cartoon with our favorite trio: Betty, Bimbo, and Koko. Although they aren't introduced until after their ship sinks when they are lost at sea floating on a piece of the wrecked ship. While floating along, ever the city girl, Betty laments the groups current problem of being shipwrecked with a delightful little song and dance performance before they are rescued by pirates, and things go from bad to worse. Since Betty is the only female on the pirate ship, the captain, aroused by Betty, orders that the prisoners, Bimbo and Koko, be sent below so he can have Betty to himself (some men can be real snakes).

It's all comical and lighthearted throughout despite their grave situation. As usual things workout, and the bad guys get theirs.

The songs in the cartoon are catchy, with the drinking song "What Shall We Do With a Drunken Sailor?" being the one you'll most likely walk away with, as it is repeated a few times and is quite upbeat.
 
Swim or Sink looks to have came out after Minnie the Moocher (1932), which is a tough act to follow. It isn't the greatest, but there's something fun about the 'Betty Boop versus the pirates' aspect to the short. The ship sinking gags at the beginning are rather forgettable, but things do get interesting once Betty enters the frame. She's the star, and as the Talkartoons show went on at this point, it became more and more apparent that the show belonged to her.

Boop Oop A Doop (1932)

"♫You can say my voice is awful, Or my songs are too risque. Oh, but don't take my boop-oop-a-doop away!♫" -Betty Boop

There's no denying the appeal of the old-fashion cartoon circus setting, especially for me personally because it always makes me think of Dumbo (1941), one of my favorite Disney animated films.

In the animated short Boop Oop A Doop, originally released January 16th 1932, Betty has a job at the circus as a lion tamer and a tight rope song and dance performer. She's great at what she does and is just so funny and darling when she entertains the circus audience. Not all is peaches and cream though, as later, after Betty's performance, while backstage in her tent, the ringmaster sexually harasses Betty, groping her leg and threatening her job if she doesn't give in to his advances. This is so terrible for Betty. She pleads with the ringmaster to leave her alone by crying and singing the song "Don't Take My Boop Oop A Doop Away!" Luckily Koko the Clown is nearby to lend much appreciated aid to poor Betty.

I do like the way this film goes from cute and silly to grave and serious before ending on a lighter note. Betty is in her top Pre-Code prime here, taming lions, performing two numbers, and ends up facing a serious problem that remains all too relevant to this day.

This is considered an essential Betty Boop classic cartoon by my self as well as in general, I imagine, since it was included on Volume 2 of Betty Boop The Essential Collection on Blu-ray.

Bimbo is on hand in a comical role as an irritating peanut salesman in the audience, bothering a baby that looks like Aloysius, his baby brother from the previous film Minding The Baby (1931). Boop Oop A Doop is also noted for being the first film to feature what would become an iconic running theme-song for Betty Boop "Sweet Betty," heard over the opening title card. 

Jack and the Beanstalk (1931)

Jack and the Beanstalk was originally released November 21st, 1931 and is the final cartoon in which Betty Boop is an anthropomorphic dog woman. What's also interesting is that Bimbo was given his older design again for this short, even though he had evolved into his most recognizable design in earlier animated Talkartoons shorts since The Herring Murder Case (1931), which makes me think this short must've been made earlier and possibly delayed, especially considering that Betty was given her human design for the first time in the preceding Mask-a-Raid (1931).

Bimbo declares war on that obnoxious giant in the sky, always littering on his farm. Bimbo has a can of beans under his hat that he plants intending to grow a beanstalk (apparently he's read Jack and the Beanstalk). Rather than Bimbo climbing the beanstalk, it raises Bimbo, as it grows, through the heavens right to his enemy. Bimbo gets sidetracked a little when he sees Betty Boop imprisoned and forced to prepare food for the giant. Like a gentlemen, he helps her stir the giant bowl of split pea soup.

Later, while Bimbo is busy annoying the giant, an anthropomorphic mouse (Mickey, is that you?) crawls out and grabs on to Betty, providing Bimbo with the dual objective of defeating the giant and saving Betty from asshole Mickey. Betty's sudden cries of "save me!" feel forced and are perhaps a parody of the damsel in distress theme. While she's shouting for Bimbo to save her, Betty's face strangely transforms into what looks like someone else's face.

Again Fleischer Studios managed to adapt another classic tale before Disney (I'm referring to Mickey and the Beanstalk from 1947). I was happy to discover a Jack and the Beanstalk Talkartoons short starring Betty Boop and Bimbo, as I had overlooked it for sometime, but I thought it was a little disappointing after I watched it, and it didn't seem to get better on repeat viewing. Betty is of course wonderful during the times she is animated on screen, but the cartoon is a little lacking otherwise. It is interesting to see Fleischer Studios apply their usual wit to a well-known fairytale, but it really could've been better. It is what it is though, and I don't hate it. To be fair, a lot happens in its near seven minute running time, and as usual the animation is charming and technically impressive for its time. I loved the numerous images of castles on the clouds as Bimbo makes his ascent riding the beanstalk. I have to admit to also thinking about the Super Mario Brothers hidden coin levels.

Minding the Baby (1931)

Way before Baby Herman from Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Bimbo's brother, Aloysius, did the smoking baby gag in the Betty Boop Talkartoons short Minding the Baby, which was theatrically released on September 26th, 1931.

What makes this cartoon notable is that on the opening title card Betty Boop gets top billing above Bimbo for the first time in what was essentially his show (if these characters were real would Bimbo be envious?).

This is also one of the first times Betty and Bimbo are already acquainted, as in most previous Talkartoons films it seems to almost always be a love at first sight meeting. Here, Betty calls over to Bimbo from next door and sends him a letter asking him to come over so they can be alone together since her "Ma" is out. This proves to be a problem since Bimbo has the responsibility of babysitting Aloysius.

The cartoon itself isn't necessarily the most memorable. Just when it starts getting good the film ends, with everyone hiding behind the couch from Bimbo's mother, who's furious after having been pulled up off the street and into the apartment with a cartoonishly powerful vacuum by the cigar smoking, newspaper reading baby.

The Bum Bandit (1931)

The Bum Bandit was released eighty seven years ago today. This is an early Talkartoons cartoon in Betty's filmography, during the time when she was more or less a product still in development, but don't let that deter you, because these are still some of the coolest; I'm especially looking at you Mysterious Mose (1930).

The Bum Bandit takes on the nostalgic western mise-en-scène, on a railway, probably some time around the late 19th century on the American frontier. Bimbo is the bum bandit, holding up and robbing a train, and Betty (here named Dangerous Nan McGrew) is the heroic foil, who out-toughs the tough guy, with the punchline joke of sorts being that she is Bimbo's wife looking to drag this bum bandit back home to what looks like their seventeen kids that he is neglecting (although I only counted ten in the photo Betty pulls out).

Betty, er I mean Mrs. McGrew, is all kinds of awesome here, although not necessarily in Betty Boop character yet, which wouldn't really be established until a few Talkartoons films later with Silly Scandals (1931). It looks like she's wearing two thigh garters instead of her usual single left one. She still has her spit curls, hanging jowls, poodle ears, and she pelts a couple of mean tunes, a catchy piece called The Hold-Up Rag and the more aggressive Dangerous Nan McGrew. What was most distracting for me though was how different her voice sounds, as this is the only time she is voiced by Harriet Lee, not having the higher voice attributed to her by Mae Questel and Ann Little. It still isn't bad, but she doesn't sound like Betty, and it threw me for a loop the first time I heard it.

Of interesting note is that the character of Dangerous Nan McGrew was originally played by Helen Kane in the film Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930), and her performance of the song, which is different than the one in the cartoon, just made me a Helen Kane fan. 

Helene Kane - Dangerous Nan McGrew (1930), uploaded by YouTube user Aaron1912

Bimbo's Express (1931)

Bimbo's Express was released August 22nd, 1931. The incidental plot involves Betty's moving day, although she seems oblivious to it when the movers, among them Bimbo the dog and an anthropomorphic cat who resembles Felix the Cat, arrive to move her and her stuff out of her old, cracked home. When they arrive Betty is relaxing and cutting her toe nails with a pair of scissors, which I thought was a pretty amusing non-glamorous instance.

These were the days when Betty was still a dog and the cartoons were still attempting to establish a love connection between Betty and Bimbo through non-serialized encounters, in that with a lot of these cartoon shorts from this period, Bimbo seems to always be laying eyes on Betty for the first time and is almost always titillated (or at least experiencing a more comical version of love at first sight). Bimbo has the confidence to shout "hello beautiful," with all of the charm of a cat-caller. He eventually starts singing "Hello Beautiful" to her, to which Betty responds in song, "♫I'm not so beautiful; you only think I'm beautiful; you'll only think so for awhile♫," indicating that she doesn't buy in to his advances right away. Although while she's singing, in one of the more memorable moments (next to when she was clipping her toe nails), Betty strikes a brief but naughty pose, an early instance of a running gag with her famous leg garter (here on the right leg instead of the usual left) accidentally falling down her leg before having to be slid back up to its original position. Bimbo is pretty much here to stay with Betty now, as they depart with all of her stuff loaded into the horse-drawn carriage to eventually reveal that she is apparently only moving around the corner. They sing their way into a happy "HEY!" ending that might make viewers wonder what they just watched. There's at least some continuity in the next film, Minding the Baby (1931), where Betty and Bimbo already seem to know each other.

My thoughts at the end were that this was kind of pointless but so fun and charming. There's not a whole lot to note about this animated short though other than that it might be the first time Betty's leg garter falls down as well as a passive risque joke when Bimbo knocks at the door and Betty says she's in her nightie, and Bimbo responds with, "alright, I'll wait until you take it off"... Cute, but not as cute as when Betty's big toe comes to life as a smiley face satisfied with its new haircut after the toenail is trimmed thoroughly.

Red Hot Mamma (1934)

"♫Hell's Bells, ringing in my ear... ♫It's certainly hot, now isn't that swell; now somebody's got a hold of those bells. ♫They start to ring, they start to sing, and somebody YELLS! It must be Hell's Bells!♫" -Betty Boop

The 1934 Betty Boop animated short Red Hot Mamma sees Betty living alone in her own lovely three story rural home trying to sleep during the frigid snowy weather, which seems to me a very cozy setting. Although I've no idea why Betty would leave the windows open, as the icy wind blows over her making it impossible for her to sleep. Perhaps the snow came without warning, but in order to get her beauty sleep in this freezing cold house she closes all the windows, lights a warm fire and curls up under her blanket next to the fireplace. Betty then proceeds to have a fever dream where she enters a portal to Hell through her fireplace. Sounds spooky, but it is really a lighthearted blast through the underworld. No demonic forces can keep this girl down, as she lights the place up with song and dance. A few demons approach her, who are no match for her "cold shoulder," and another demon wearing a crown, who we can only assume is the lord of hell himself, is frozen to the core by the icy cold stare of our fierce and righteous heroine (this has actually made for a good "not today Satan" GIF that has been pretty popular on social media).

Although Red Hot Mamma was still Pre-Code era (the first post-code film with Betty Boop was Betty Boop's Life Guard released on July 13th 1934), the hammer of the morality code was already starting to come down on Betty, with one of the earliest changes being the axing of Bimbo, Betty's anthropomorphic canine boyfriend (Bimbo's last film was I Heard (1933) from the previous season). Koko the Clown would see his last appearance in the cartoon immediately following Red Hot Mamma known as Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934). By this time, the role of Betty's love interest had already been given to the hunky boyfriend caricature Freddy, seen in the previous film She Wronged Him Right (1934)). I wish Bimbo never had to leave, but one refreshing aspect in a Betty Boop film like this is that Betty doesn't have to be the damsel in distress, so it was awesome seeing her overpower the demons of hell, literally causing it to freeze over. Portraying a place like Hell in a humorous light did cause the cartoon to be considered blasphemous, and it was banned in the UK as a result. Despite being lighthearted, there is still some impressively imposing demonic artwork featured in the background during Betty's initial walk down the passage to Hell while in a nightgown that is showcased in a way that is reminiscent of the gothic horror heroine.

Red Hot Mamma isn't necessarily a Christmas film, but the snowy weather and jingling bells heard outside make it appropriate for the holiday season, and it is my recommendation for a holiday related Betty Boop cartoon. It also features the theme to the popular hit song of the time Did You Ever See a Dream Walking and Betty performing a shining version of the 1932 hit Hell's Bells by Art Kassel.      

Mask-A-Raid (1931)

Um, Bimbo? Betty's eyes aren't down there...

Most noted for being the first Talkartoons animated short where Betty Boop is portrayed as a human and not a French poodle (by making the slight adjustment of turning her dog ears into hoop earrings), Mask-A-Raid is a jumbled mess of amusing hijinks that center around Bimbo's effort to court the queen of the masquerade ball, Betty Boop.

Bimbo is conducting the music act at the ball, and while on stage he spots Queen Betty entering. Bimbo's attraction to Betty is so obvious that she notices right away, and in a bout of cartoony coquetry, she exposes a little shoulder and displays her unique talent of making her shoulder dance like a serpent for Bimbo's gaze. This titillation is enough to make him fall in love instantly, giving him the gumption to approach the queen on her throne and take her heart and her hand. Alas, true love is never met without resistance, as the masquerade king vies for Betty's heart as well. With Betty's suggestion and apparent approval, Bimbo and the king must duel for her affections.

I do like the way the battle escalates in to all out chaos between a heap of anthropomorphs; no one knows who's fighting who and for what purpose anymore. It's like a bar fight brawl in a western.      

This is the first instance of a recurring antagonist type for Betty, the lecherous old man (although to be fair, Bimbo is kind of lecherous too). It's done for gags, but it really is in poor taste. At least Betty thwarts the antagonist and ends up saving Bimbo, and she also breaks sexist tradition by asking Bimbo to marry her, an early instance of female empowerment in cartoons. Got to love the Boop.

Although the music Betty, Bimbo, and the king sing in trio is quite catchy, especially the 'AH-AH-AH' part, it still loses points for sorely outdated use of ethnic jokes.

Betty would go one more round as a poodle in the next Talkartoons film Jack and the Beanstalk before staying in human form for good starting with Dizzy Red Riding Hood.

Silly Scandals (1931)

"♫I'm burning like a flame dear, well, I'll never be the same dear; ♫I'll always place the blame dear on nobody but you. ♫Yes, you-ou-ou-ou, you're driving me crazy. ♫What did I do♫? What did I do♫?" -Betty Boop

Bimbo is broke and cannot get into Betty's show, so he resorts to various shenanigans and eventually gets into the theater to enjoy Betty's sensational performance singing "You're Driving Me Crazy" before an illusionist takes the stage to deliver a comeuppance to the mischievous Bimbo.

This animated short film is noted for being the first time Betty (here voiced by Mae Questel) is named Betty, although she is not yet ever referred to by her first and last name, Betty Boop, in the cartoon. Just like in her first appearance in Dizzy Dishes (1930), Betty is emphasized as a stage performer, which would essentially become her primary element to this day. I personally always envision the 'noirish' smoke filled night club when thinking of Betty Boop, which might be because the first time I ever saw her was in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) selling cigarettes in a nightclub, where she was also voiced by Mae Questel.

Of course, these were the days when the show mostly belonged to Bimbo, but it becomes obvious in this animated short that Betty should always be the headline. It loses steam after Betty's performance before the illusionist takes the stage. The performance order should've been flipped. How could anyone perform after Betty?

Early Talkartoons cartoons like this one offer an interesting look at Betty becoming Betty Boop, an evolution of sorts. She's starting to look a little more on the human side despite still having her dog ears, and her physique was starting to take on a more slender but still hourglass shape. The seed had been planted in Dizzy Dishes, and here she is really starting to sprout and show more promise, which would continue with every film she was featured in. Bimbo was also evolving too, and he would take on his most recognized form in the next film The Herring Murder Case (1931), where Koko the Clown would come out of retirement. Betty's next film with Bimbo would be Bimbo's Initiation (1931), one of my favorites from the Pre-code Talkartoons era next to Mysterious Mose (1930).

 

Dizzy Red Riding Hood (1931)

I have such warm memories of the fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood, most particularly because when I was in Kindergarten we put on a classroom play about the story, and I remember that I got to play The Huntsman. I basically stood by and waited for my cue to save the day by coming out on the stage and cutting the big bad wolf's head off, feeling like a hero. Strange that I had such a lucid dream only a couple years ago about that Kindergarten play, where I was a kid again and was oblivious to the life I led after that, as if my whole adult life was a dream and returning to my childhood self was the real reality.

The pre-code Betty Boop cartoon Dizzy Red Riding Hood is a playful spin on the Brothers Grimm tale Little Red Riding Hood that stars our favorite classic cartoon leading lady Betty Boop (voiced by Ann Little) in the role of Little Red Riding Hood. Sadly, my childhood heroic alter ego, The Huntsman, is absent, but in a way Bimbo sort of plays him, as he disposes of The Big Bad Wolf early on, saving Betty's life in the process, unbeknownst to her. Mischievous Bimbo skins the wolf and uses the skin to pose as the wolf. Bimbo also rushes off to Grandma's house while Betty is distracted in the woods, and since Grandma is away finding herself a young stud at The Fire-men's Ball, Bimbo also dresses up as Betty's Grandma, while also still dressed as the wolf. Once the gig is up, Betty and Bimbo seem happy to see one another and they are magically whisked away to the moon, and they start to get swung around by the living trees in a celebratory manner while an enchanting Disney-like castle looms in the background. It's a rather pointless ending that I kind of like for some reason.

The musical numbers have a certain nursery rhyme feel that kids will easily pick up on and start humming and singing along to, making this seem very kid-like on the outside but rife with sexual content clearly visible just barely below the surface, giving it that cartoony but risque classic Talkartoons vibe. It's a mildly entertaining diversion that isn't really all that funny, just weird and surreal, with gags like a walking, talking forest planting itself around Betty's path, which had previously been straight and clear-cut, making the conflicts along the way to Grandma's seem like obligatory yet trivial story elements. The animation is so technically impressive for its time and is really quite charming, most particularly the 3-D landscapes with the Wolf following Betty as Bimbo watches from behind the trees. The scene with Betty and Bimbo in the bed at the end is so sexually suggestive that I pretty much assume the rocking moon scene is basically telling us that Bimbo took Betty to the moon with the erect phallic symbols making up the castle in the background saying the rest.

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (1932)

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle was one of the first five Betty Boop cartoons I had ever watched, and what I remember most was when, early in the film, Bimbo crashes his motorboat and gets tossed into Betty's canoe, and she responds with a startled "Holy Smacks." It's the G-rated version of "holy shit," but the way Betty says it is funny and a little coquettish. I also mostly remember the ending, after Betty and Bimbo escape the island tribe in Bimbo's boat, when it would seem Bimbo gets lucky but perhaps only so lucky as getting a big wet kiss from Betty, and not the other thing. She is innocent after all despite her status as a sex symbol.

This cartoon is of course one of the most iconic animated shorts due to Betty's rotoscoped hula dance. The dance is impressive and is modeled after the live action dancer from the intro to the cartoon that features The Royal Samoans, who also provide an excellent soundtrack to the film. The dance is quite sensationally scandalous because Betty is essentially topless with a thin lei just barely censoring her nudity.

Bamboo Isle is a fun, classic, pre-code film, although sorely dated from Bimbo resorting to a racial gimmick to save himself from the island tribe. A time capsule of a bygone era that still holds up as an entertaining, memorable short, Bamboo Isle is a great eight minute diversion.        
  

The Old Man of the Mountain (1933)

The Old Man of the Mountain is a classic, bizarre, and sexy Betty Boop cartoon with another smoking soundtrack from Cab Calloway and his Orchestra; in fact this one has Cab Calloway throughout the entire film, voicing all of the characters except for Betty Boop. Like in Minnie the Moocher (1932) and Snow White (1933), Cab's rotoscoped dance and song number come at the climax shortly before everything falls apart with a big chase scene. This one does a good job at building up to the appearance of the Old Man of the Mountain (a recluse residing in the mountain who everyone fears for no clear reason) with a lot of foreboding, as well as a creepy and, if I'm interpreting it right, distasteful joke with Betty meeting an unhappy female walrus anthropomorph coming down the mountain with a baby carriage containing triplets resembling the Old Man of the Mountain.

This cartoon apparently caused the biggest stir among the moralist communities at the time because of the sexuality used. This, as well as Hays Code enforcement, had an unfortunate result of Betty eventually being toned down by 1934. Woefully enough, Jazz music would become excluded from her cartoons too. Boo!   

What I find pretty cool here is that Betty is not as frightened by the Old Man as she was the Spectral Walrus from Minne the Moocher, taking him on in a sing and dance off (that had an influence on The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)), and it is terrific. All in all, the cartoon is a proto-music-video in a similar vein to Minnie the Moocher, although I like to think of Betty as older and more mature by this point, as she's not running away from home this time but working at a tourist center and doesn't act frightened but is rather brave, attempting to ascend the mountain and confront the old man, despite the whole town fleeing in fear.

I also absolutely adore Betty's outfit in this one. Her pointed collar reminds me a little of Vampirella or maybe even Caroline Munro's character from Starcrash (1978).

Any Rags? (1932)

"♫Stick out your can, here comes the Garbage Man♫." -Betty Boop

The first Talkartoons animated short of 1932, Any Rags? was released January 2nd and features an adaptation of the title song Any Rags, a classic Schottische hit, originally composed by Thomas S. Allen and later recorded by Arthur Collins. 

I'll admit to not knowing anything about the song Any Rags before first seeing this cartoon. I like to believe that Betty's enduring popularity is beneficial to vintage music preservation. A lot of classic music from bygone eras that would otherwise seem forgotten are continual reintroduced to new generations thanks to the timelessness of Betty's cartoons, and I'm grateful for that.

I've listened to the original song Any Rags, and I noticed that it does not have my favorite line from the cartoon: "stick out your can, here comes the garbage man." I love it when Betty (voiced by Ann Little) sings this catchy line. You can hear her distinguished voice among the choir, and it is catchy and memorable.

The cartoon itself works as a short entertaining distraction, when the mood strikes for something from the early phase of the golden age of American animation. Bimbo is the main character, but Betty steals the show. Talkartoons would end that year and virtually be replaced with Betty Boop's own show, with the pre-code trio of Betty, Bimbo, and Koko still intact. It just made much more sense to give the show to Betty. She's the real reason the Talkartoons films with her in them still endure.

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.