2001

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Betty Boop, the cutie with long lashes, is remembered for her long legs and Boop-oop-a-doop slogan. In the festival Betty flirts with the audience in two screenings.

Austrian brothers Max and Dave Fleischer made Betty the most popular cartoon character of the day. Betty was not wholly their creation, but was based on an outline by their co-worker Grim Natwick, who envisioned Betty as a dog. Betty's first appearance was in Dizzy Dishes (1930), in which she played a dog, who sang in a night club and had her eye on Bimbo, who in turn was a very popular canine character of the Fleischer's studio.

Boop-oop-a-doop

Betty quickly stole the centre of attention from Bimbo and became an individual little temptress, the first animated counterpart to the classic vamps like Mae West and Jean Harlow.

The real life model for Betty was the popular starlet Helen Kane, Betty's chirpy voice was Mae Questal. All of Betty's movies had sound, and they were black and white, except Poor Cinderella (1934).

Betty Boop was the centre of her own show, who just sung and flirted regardless of anything that happened around her. Such star musicians as Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Don Redman and Rubinoff made music with her in the show.

Playing With Adult Traumas

The Fleischer brothers respected the total freedom of animation, one could do anything provided that it was entertaining to the audience. Despite the innocence of their heroine, Betty Boop cartoons were often quite brazen. In a time when Disney toyed with the fears of children, the Fleischers used Betty to illustrate the insecurities of the adult audiences.

Betty Boop movies >>

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