Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising. A caricature of a Jazz age flapper, Betty Boop wore a revealing dress that displayed her curvaceous figure. Despite having been toned down in the mid-1930s as a result of the Hays Code to appear more demure, she became one of the best-known and popular cartoon characters in the world.
A swingin' hurdy-gurdy man goes by Betty Boop's house; she wants to buy the monkey, which causes plenty of trouble for Pudgy the Pup.
Betty Boop quits her job as overworked short-order cook to run an automated baby-care center. Will she regret it?
Betty Boop (with dog's ears) is entertainer in a restaurant for dogs; a waiter joins the floor show to the neglect of patrons.
Betty Boop's Swing Band visits an Indian reservation. The Indians borrow all the musical instruments, but not knowing their real purpose, they find odd uses for them. Betty demonstrates the correct use of the kettle drum and teaches the braves the true meaning of 'rhythm.'
Betty is startled awake in her bed on a stormy night. She searches for the cause of the shock while she sings the song. Then, unexplainable phenomena start happening in the house. Mysterious Mose (Bimbo) appears, and sings part of the song. Bizarre cartoon creatures appear and, at first, sing and enhance Mose's "mysterious" image. Quickly, however, the antics become frightful even to Mose. The film escalates into chaos, which ends when Mose bursts, revealing him having been an automaton (full of cogs and springs) the whole time.
Betty Boop's stage show takes a new turn when Pudgy the pup and his feline enemy get into the act.
Barnacle Bill (Bimbo) is a sailor on a ship that has just come into port. As soon as he can get off the ship, he heads for Nancy Lee's (Betty Boop) house. When he gets there he begins knocking on her door. Bimbo and Betty begin singing the lyrics to a tame version of "Barnacle Bill the Sailor." The actions of the film follow along the song's storyline, with Barnacle Bimbo romancing Betty and then leaving her to go back to sea. Like many early Fleischer Studios films, this film was inspired by a popular song, a version of "Barnacle Bill" written in 1928 by Frank Luther & Carson Robison and performed by Hoagy Carmichael.
At Bimbo's Experimental Laboratory, Bimbo and Koko concoct a variety of compounds and elixirs. Their scientific experiments are interrupted when they see a bathing-suit clad Betty taking a shower on the roof of her penthouse. Distracted by Betty as she sings "Penthouse Serenade," the two fail to realize the chemicals they've mixed are still on the boil, one of which turns into a Frankenstein-style monster. The creature sees Betty, and crosses over the phone wire to menace Betty. Betty sprays the monster with flower spray, which turns him into a harmless dancing flower. Betty giggles and says, "You nutty dope fiend!"
Betty is the owner and operator of the Bizzy Bee, a popular lunchwagon in the city. Even though the only item on the menu is hotcakes, the place is always packed, thanks to Betty's cute face. A running gag centers around a hippo vainly requesting that someone "please pass the sugar;" in the end, he is inundated with sugar.
For customer Betty Boop, psychic reader Prof. Bimbo conjures up an adventure on a haunted tropical island in his crystal ball.
A magic mirror, with a face resembling Cab Calloway, proclaims Betty Boop to be "the fairest in the land", much to the anger of the Queen. The Queen orders her guards Bimbo and Koko to behead Betty. With tears in their eyes, they take Betty into the forest and prepare to execute her. Betty escapes into a frozen river, which encloses her in a coffin of ice. This block slips downhill to the home of the seven dwarfs, who carry the frozen Betty into an enchanted cave. Meanwhile, Koko falls down a hole and arrives at the same cave, where the evil Queen turns him into a grotesque creature, all while singing the St James Infirmary Blues. With her rivals disposed of, the Queen again asks the magic mirror who the fairest in the land is, but the mirror explodes in a puff of magic smoke that returns Betty and Koko to their normal states and changes the Queen into a hideous monster. The queen monster chases the protagonists until Koko grabs its tongue and, with one mighty yank turns it inside out. Betty, Koko, and Bimbo dance around in a circle of victory as the film ends.
Betty, Bimbo and Koko are the owners of a travelling medicine show. They are selling "Jippo", an all-purpose health tonic. Koko's contortionist display doesn't convince the local townsfolk to open their wallets, but Betty gets the whole town eager to buy their product. Even though it's only water, drinking the tonic causes everyone to exhibit strange side-effects, from unusual hair growth to rapid de-aging.
The surreal, nightmarish atmosphere of Bimbo's Initiation has made it one of the most renowned Fleischer Studios shorts. Bimbo is walking down the street when he suddenly disappears down an open manhole. He lands in an underground clubhouse of a secret society. The song Wanna Be A Member? is parody lyrics written to the 1919 song The Vamp (or Vamp A Little Lady).
Koko is recruiting customers for a 50 cent sightseeing tour of the museum. Betty is Koko's only passenger. Betty gets locked inside by accident. The skeletons from the displays come to life and chase Betty, until she is finally rescued by Bimbo.
A destitute Betty is evicted from her home. As she leaves, a for sale sign appears on the property. As the camera pulls back, more and more signs appear, until the whole Earth is for sale. The moon and the planets start bidding on the Earth, and argue over who has made the highest bid. An irate Saturn uses a magnet to eliminate gravity, pulling Betty and everyone on Earth into space.
After a live action introduction featuring Louis Armstrong and his orchestra, the short opens in the jungle, with Betty being carried on a litter by Bimbo and Koko. A horde of African savages descends on the trio, and runs off with Betty. Koko and Bimbo try to find the missing Betty, but end up in the cannibals' cooking pot. They climb a tree and escape, but are pursued by the enormous disembodied head of a savage (with the voice of Louis Armstrong). Koko and Bimbo eventually find Betty tied to a stake, surrounded by dancing natives. Koko and Bimbo help Betty escape by firing porcupine quills at the savages. The trio races off, hotly pursued by spear-tossing natives. The three finally reach safety after crossing a mountain, whose erupting peak flings the savages into space.
A door to door salesman visits Betty Boop's home with a long line of useless household gadgets.
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