Boop-Boop-be-Doop - 4K (Patreon)

I was going to write one of my usual stories with Betty and Bimbo, her canine boyfriend, but instead...  How about a cautionary tale of how NOT to market a cartoon character?

In 1930 Betty made her first appearance in Max Fleischer's 'Dizzy Dishes' as a not-so-sexy half-canine singer and dancer...instead of her trademark earnings she had floppy ears similar to a french poodle or a blood hound.  Not a good start.  Thankfully for Fleischer, renowned artist and animator Grim Natwick took the character under his wing and did away with the anthropomorphic aspect.  By 1931 he'd transformed her into the sexy, jazz-age flapper that we know today.

Things were going well for Betty, but in 1932 popular singer and actress Helen Kane filed suit against Fleischer and Paramount Pictures for exploiting her personality and image.  A popular myth is that Betty was modeled after actress Clara Bow, but Fleischer was (later) adamant that the character was in fact based upon Kane...without her knowledge or consent.  Kane rose to fame in the 1920s and was known as "The Boop-Oop-A-Doop Girl", her trademark singing style.  Sound familiar?  When her case went to trial in 1934 Paramount discovered that Kane had in fact plagiarized her "unique singing style" from an all but unknown 10 year old singer Esther Jones (aka Baby Esther).

Kane lost her case and you'd think things would've gotten better for Betty.  But no...

In 1934 the National League of Decency was formed.  It was a catholic church based organization that identified "questionable content" in motion pictures (including animation).  Additionally, the Production Code of 1934 (aka Hays Code) didn't help didn't help matters.  Joseph Breen, head censor for the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America, took a particular disliking to Betty...her winks and shaking hips were deemed "suggestive of immorality".

An American film or characters failure to meet the decency standards of the League and Hays Code would usually spell their demise...or rather, it's demise at the box office.  A hard  "R-Rating" would be the modern equivalent of a "C-Rating" by the League.  The 'C' was not a letter grade....it literally meant that a film was 'Condemned' by the League as being morally objectionable.  Thankfully, the Code became all but unenforceable by the late 1960s and the League closed up shop in 1980.

By 1938 Betty was a shadow of her former self.  Gone was the carefree 1920s flapper girl with her skimpy dresses, suggestive winks, and (sometimes) overt sexual innuendos.  She became a spinster housewife and (sometimes) career girl who had a human boyfriend and wore long(er) dresses.  Her hoop earrings (and most of her hair curls) disappeared altogether.

The 1920s jazz / flapper era ended in the mid-30s, replaced by the big band and swing era.  In a last ditch effort to 'modernize' Betty, they paired her with 'Sally Swing'....in effect, her eventual replacement.  It was a flop.  With her popularity waning, Fleischer and Paramont began to show less and less of her in her own cartoons, favoring towards other popular characters in hopes of a spin-off.  Fleischer's Popeye had far eclipsed Betty in popularity (and financial success) as early as 1934.

The last Betty Boop cartoon was released in 1939....Betty, however, wasn't even in it.

Original Art by Joel Adams

Colors and Edits by Phillipthe2