In the Betty Boop cartoons, it is used as code for her virginity.Ī vamp is also known as a woman who uses her charm or wiles to seduce and exploit men. “Boop-oop-a-doop” is a nonsensical phrase often used in some variation in scat music to substitute for a phrase or term one might not use in polite society. In Vaudeville performance, a vamp was a short introductory musical passage often repeated several times between verses. This first Betty Boop cartoon makes it clear that audiences should expect Betty Boop to be an innocent character, but one with a lot of sex appeal. As Betty leans out the window to heed the garbage man’s call for rags, the top of her dress slides down multiple times revealing her strapless bra. Any Rags features the dog Bimbo as a “rag man”-also known as a junk or garbage man. Her character is the headliner with Bimbo and Koko in supporting roles in the cartoon directed by Dave Fleischer.
Betty boop pictures full#
In his autobiography, Fleischer Studios animator James Shamus Culhane recalls that Betty Boop was “an instant hit.” He credits animator Grim Natwick’s talent for animation and skill in drawing the female figure with making Betty Boop “an alluring little sexpot,” whose provocativeness continued to grow in the early cartoons.Ĭulhane notes, “Unfortunately, the story department was never sophisticated enough to take full advantage of Betty.” He recalls the studio operated on the “flawed concept that action was more important motivation.” The scripts he says, “were like Vaudeville skits, sometimes veering dangerously towards burlesque.”īetty’s first appearance as a human in a cartoon in 1932’s Any Rags It is quite the introduction to the ditzy and dishy Betty Boop. The plots of the cartoons were wide-ranging, employing a variety of cartoon styles, technology and artistry developed by the Fleischer brothers and their team of animators working at Fleischer Studios. The Betty Boop cartoons of this period, most no more than eight minutes in length, were created for an adult audience. In the cartoons of this period, she is truly the “Jazz Baby”-a young flapper embodying an innocent sexuality. Adult audiences expected spicy entertainment, and Betty Boop cartoons delivered.īetty Boop’s best appearances are considered to be in her first three years-from 1932 to 1934. Like the feature films of the time, Betty Boop cartoons featured racy themes, provocative behavior, and lively musical numbers.
In the Pre-Code era, Betty Boop as cartoon character mirrored how many female stars of the Big Screen were portrayed.
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