

In the mid nineteen fifties, Paramount Studios sold the rights to most of Betty Boop. Finally, just as Betty had given up all hope, her fortunes changed again. Despondent and left on her own, she hung around the animators ink well, hoping for a break. The next 20 years would be tough for Betty. She knew she was a star, but her star had faded.

The Three Stooges became the genius well of slapstick humor and Betty Boop fell further from the limelight.īetty Boop, her career now in shreds, languished around Hollywood, pining for the good old days. Live action shorts released by Columbia Studios featured three very physical comic actors. The gags were not sexual in nature but the viewer needed to have a good grasp of current events. The themes and jokes were quite sophisticated and geared towards a distinctly adult audience. Looney Toons, which included a host of other legendary toon characters, became popular as short warm up features, shown before a feature film. Born in the studios of Warner Brothers a wascally wabbit named Bugs became a marquee idol. Hollywood films were becoming sophisticated and Betty knew she had more competition. The heyday of Betty Boops film career began to fade during the late nineteen thirties.
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Popeye dropped Betty flat when he was offered his own series of toons. Sailors have acquired a reputation for not staying long and Popeye was no exception. A salty sailor named Popeye became her new beau and the two were said to be quite an item.
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Her goofy innocence has always been part of her charm and movie goers ate it up with a spoon.Īfter quietly ending her relationship with her first boyfriend, Bimbo, Betty did not stay unattached for long. Heart of gold yes, but Betty was a little short on the up take so to speak. In spite of having to dress down to please the censors, Betty Boop continued to be the girl with a heart of gold. Her dresses got longer and the cleavage gradually became less obvious. But because Betty was human, or at least looked like one, she was forced to abandon her racy wardrobe for a more modest look. Short dresses and a modest bit of cleavage added to her sex kitten image. Poor Betty would not be so lucky.īetty Boop clearly favored a more revealing dress code. Censors would ignore the fact that Minnie knickers were exposed. Minnie was given a short skirt that did not do very much to conceal her unmentionables. Minnie Mouse is a great example of how animators would put animals in the roles of humans. Most female cartoon characters of the day were based on caricatures of animals. Betty Boop was among the first female cartoon stars to look like a human being. By the time the new Betty Boop emerged, she would have a new look, new voice and, for the time, a very risque personality.Ĭensorship of films was prevalent during the nineteen thirties and poor Betty was singled out for her outwardly sexual appearance. Her transformation from ugly duckling to alluring sex kitten came when a new group of animators gave Betty her first makeover. She must have felt a little awkward at first but as time went on, Betty found herself, growing into a real beauty and charming millions of people along the way.

Little did anyone know that the homely girl with big ears would go on to star in over ninety cartoon shorts during the nineteen thirties. Just when America needed her most, along comes an overtly sexual cartoon character who would change the face of animation for decades to come.īetty Boop began her career as somewhat of an ugly duckling. The country was in trouble and people were in a collective funk.Īmid the suffering and human tragedy of the times, something spectacular was about to happen that would bring a smile to millions. The drought resulted in huge, choking dust storms that stripped the land of topsoil rendering large areas of the Plains unfit for farming, or anything else for that matter. The drought that struck the central Plains states resulted in the displacement of untold numbers of people, triggering a mass migration to the West. Millions of people were out of work, many of the rich suddenly became poor, and the masses of people turned to soup kitchens and bread lines. In nineteen thirty, American was in the throes of the Great Depression. Betty Boop was an instant success and became all the rage during the decade. The creation of animator Grim Natwick, Betty was first introduced in nineteen thirty. Just when Americans needed something to laugh about, along came the irascible and alluring Betty Boop.
