Betty Boop-famous sexy cartoon character

It seems that this classic cartoon character is a native of Wisconsin Rapids, or at least her creator is. Myron “Grim” Natwick was born August 16, 1890 in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin where I presently live. He was a top animator at Flescher studios in New York City where Betty Boop was born. He had worked for a number of top animation studios, such as Disney, Walter Lantz and others. He was part of the team that started the Betty Boop.

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character which appeared in Talkartoon, and the Betty Boop series of films starting in the 1930’s. The cartoon character was different because of an overt sexual appeal that filmgoers liked. Later with the advent of movie codes the films had to be toned down because of overt sexual innuendo. However she still seems popular and there are collectables for those so inclined.


Her first appearance was on August 9, 1930 in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes, in the sixth installment of the Talkatoons series. She was modeled after popular singer Helen Kane famous popular singer of the 1920’s and Clara Bow, a popular actress of the 1920’s.Oddly Clara Bow did not do well in talking pictures because of a Brooklyn accent, but it became a trademark for Betty.

Betty was in the first “Color Classic” cartoon Poor Cinderella where she was depicted with red hair. In her only theatrical color appearance in 1934, according to Wikipedia.She had a cameo appearance in the cartoon feature Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Screen.” The series lasted until 1939.

IN 1932 she had become a Talkartoons star. And had her own series. She became “The Queen of the Animated Screen.

Betty Boop is known as the first and one of the most famous sex symbols on the animated screen” from Wikipedia.. She was also a Depression ear symbol to remind people of the carefree days of the Jazz Age flappers. Adult audiences were the base of popularity and the cartoon contained sexual/psychological elements.

In Minnie the Moocher her character was defined as a teenager rebelling against her parents. She runs away runs away and get lost in a haunted cave with her boyfriend Bimbo. A ghostly walrus sings the famous song “Minnie the Moocher,” along with ghosts and skeletons, the two teenagers return back to the safety of home.

No cartoon character of the period presented as much of a sexualized woman as Betty. She wore short dresses, high heels and a grater belt. Her breasts were suggested by a low contoured bodice that showed cleavage. Male characters tried to sneak peeks at while she is walking along. In Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle she does a hula topless. Which was repeated in a cameo in the first Popeye cartoon, Popeye the Sailor? The animators kept her pure on screen but there were always challenges to her virtue.


According to Wikipedia in the 1931 The Bum Bandit and Dizzy Red Riding Hood were given distinctly “impure” endings.

In the first three years, due to he “Jazz Baby” character and innocent sexuality aimed at adults were considered her best appearances. Restrictions were put on content and from the mid-1934 she became a husbandless, housewife, career girl wearing a fuller dress or skirt.

The cartoons were tamer and aimed at a younger audience. But it led to the decline of the series. There were attempts to retain interest by pairing her with popular comic strip characters such as Henry, The Little King and Little Jimmy. None generated a new series, except for Popeye some time before.

Home video

No DVD’s have been released. Some are available on VHS and LaserDisc collections of the 1990’s. More recognition has been achieved through merchandise license.

King Features did a comic strip by Bud Counihan from 1934 through 1937 with help from Fleisher and Hal Seeger. From 1984 through 1988, a revival strip with Felix the Cat, Betty Boop and Felix was produced by Mort Walker’s sons Brian, Neal, Greg and Morgan, according to Wikipedia.

Wisconsin Rapids is having a Betty Boop festival August 5-8, 2010. Anyone close by might wish to go to it. Many events are free.

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