Betty Boop

On August 9, 1930, Fleischer's studio released the sound cartoon Dizzy Dishes , the sixth in the Talkartoon series . Leading animator Grim Natwick presented, among other characters, a poodle dog singing in a lively voice imitating singer Helen Kane (like Fleischer, Kane worked on a Paramount contract). The characteristic tongue twister of this character in the future was inherited by Betty Boop, and actress Mae Questel took over her voice acting. Subsequently, after the success of the Betty cartoon films, Kane sued Fleischer and lost.

Helen Kane

In 1932, Netvik humanized a singing dog; In the new image, the features of the former were preserved - a hairstyle and long earlobes. In the first ten films, Betty Man served as a sidekick , sometimes under the names Nancy Lee and Nan McGru . Among these ten episodes are two single color films featuring Betty. Apart from the episode in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), all of Betty Boop's latest films are black and white.

In 1932, Dave Fleischer, Max's brother, finalized the image, making it frankly sexy. For the first time in the history of animation, the main feature of Betty's image was her femininity. It is often believed that Betty's character was borrowed from Clara Bow ^[1] , who also worked for Paramount. With the release of the short film Minnie the Moocher , in which Cab Callowey and his orchestra sang, a new name was established - Betty Boop. This name was inspired by the skate boop-boop-a-doop Helen Kane in the popular song “That's My Weakness Now” ^[2] . According to Minnie the Moocher, Betty's parents are Orthodox Jews , but in 1936 it turned out that her grandfather was a real old-fashioned American from the “wild west”. According to the official version of the authors, "she was always 16 years old." Minnie the Moocher and the next eight films were released in the Talkartoon series ; after the release of Stopping the Snow in August 1932, the release of a new series - Betty Boop (90 films) began.

In 1934, the Hayes Code came into force - a set of rules adopted by the film industry on what can and cannot be shown in the movies. The current image of Betty did not comply with the new rules and was subjected to radical self-censorship. The skirts became longer, the frank neckline disappeared. Betty herself in the second half of the thirties is no longer a free girl, but a “lonely housewife”. The character lost his charm, and with it the audience’s interest. To support the box office in the films with Betty, new characters were introduced (including the Popeye Sailor ), but this did not return the audience, and in 1939 the project was closed.

In the 1950s, Betty films were released on US television screens, with altered captions. In the 1960s, National Television Associates acquired the rights to colorize old tapes. In 1974 and 1980, feature films were released - compilations from Fleischer fragments. In 1988, Betty "starred" in the episode of " Who Framed Roger Rabbit. " In the film, she tells Detective Valiant that “since color has come into fashion, things have been going very tight. But everything you need is still with me! ”

Five years later, Jerry Reese wrote a full-length Betty movie script for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ; due to the change of leadership of MGM, the film did not reach the production stage. In 1994, the Library of Congress added one of the series, Snow White (1933), to the national registry of historical films.

The rights to Fleischer’s old films changed hands many times. Under US law, 22 of the 90 episodes are in the public domain and are available on the Internet Archive . Lions Gate Home Entertainment owns the rights to release video for home viewing, and CBS Paramount Television owns the rights to television rental. Betty image and trademark copyright King Features Syndicate and Fleischer Studios.

In 2013–2014 Studio “Olive Films” under the name “Betty Boop: Essential Collection” released four collections (respectively 12, 12, 12 and 13 cartoons in each) ^[3] . For this project, the company scanned negatives in 4K resolution and released the product on Blu-ray and DVD . Despite the fact that the collection is incomplete, re-digitization and release of the remainder of the films is not planned.

• In the cartoon " Multreality ", the Tutsi character is a parody of Betty, in particular, a change in the ideals of beauty is parodied.

• Moultin Leonard . About mice and magic. The story of an American hand-drawn film = Of Mice and Magic. A History of American Animated Cartoons. - M .: Publishing house of Dedinsky, 2018 .-- S. 128-180. - 640 s. - ISBN 978-5-6040967-0-3 . Translated by Fedor Khitruk

• Official site