Betty Boop Encyclopedia
Marilyn Monroe!?
Does Betty Boop Over-Exploit Marilyn Monroe's Image:
Question to "Boopers," do you think it is okay for Betty Boop to appropriate and over-use Marilyn Monroe, a dead woman's image!? We get Betty came first, but that still doesn't give Betty the right to fully exploit Monroe's image.
She might as well change her name to Betty Monroe.
The Fleischer Studios claim that Betty is based on no one. If that is so, why is Betty always impersonating or copying someone!?
Clara Bow Was The Original Betty Boop
Clara Bow Was The Inspiration Behind Betty Boop:
A lot of people ask about Clara Bow the "It" Girl and Betty Boop!? Bow was partially the inspiration behind Boop. The Fleischer Studios have never admitted to stealing anyone's persona, but Paramount confirmed it to be true.
Betty Boop was created by Grim Natwick in 1930 not Max Fleischer.
Boop was introduced as a plump overweight Sugar Kane caricature. Kane was only used as an introduction to the character. Betty is not supposed to be Bow or Kane.
Turns out that Helen Kane was a Clara Bow copy-cat. Bow was the original jazz-baby and she originated that unique style and look. Paul Ash who discovered Kane, said that Kane was Bow's protégé.
Betty's frilly dress was based on Clara Bow's frilly dress. A lot of misinformed people claim "little black dress," no Betty's original dress established in 1931 was frilly.
Don't believe?
Watch "Silly Scandals," "Minding the Baby" and "Bimbo's Initiation". You'll notice after those cartoons the extreme frills on Betty's black dress kind of vanished...
Grim Natwick's version of Betty was very unique.
Everything Betty!? Is Grim Natwick!
Grim Natwick helped create and develop this character. He debuted her as a redhead, created her hair, he helped create her garter belt, he established Betty. But he left the studio without any kind of ownership.
The truth about the Fleischer Studios is just like Walt Disney Studios. They didn't know anything about pretty girls or pretty women. So it was Natwick who helped them.
Who else helped animate or create the concept for Walt Disney's character Snow White!? It was none other than Grim Natwick. Walt Disney saw his work, and knew that Natwick had created Betty Boop, and wanted him as of 1934 to help work on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
As Betty evolved by 1932 most of the frills on her dress were removed. But Grim Natwick's dog-woman Betty? She had a very frilly dress in 1931.
Natwick's Betty did wear garters. Though the Fleischers have lied, his Betty did wear them. So he clearly helped develop the rose garter belt, he even said so. Natwick will be give credit eventually, and honored for creating Betty Boop in 1930.
Kane went on to sue Betty Boop for her singing style, voice, image, haircut, and demeanor. When it was established that Kane did not invent any of the claims, she lost.
A lot of people don't know this but Peggy Bernier she was discovered by Paul Ash a few years earlier than Kane. Bernier went by "The Girl With The Baby Voice" when she first pulled off the baby vamp ruse. A lot of people were unaware that Bernier came first.
Who's idea was that!? Paul Ash.
Bernier used to sing in a baby voice and scat sing. Bernier!? Well it turns out that she was in the same McVickers theatre revue as Baby Esther Jones in Chicago circa 1926.
Paul Ash would later tell Ginger Rogers to emulate Kane. Rogers started her career imitating, and later felt that she needed to drop the act. So Ash had Kane emulate Bernier, then Rogers emulate Kane. Kane was not as original as she claimed.
But Paramount Pictures unlike the Fleischers just said that Clara Bow became the #1 inspiration to use to develop Betty and to create Betty's risqué persona.
So Betty sings similar to Helen Kane but is more or less emulating Clara Bow's look. Betty's voice belonged to Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe, Margie Hines and Little Ann Little, and allegedly June White, and Katherine Wright on radio.
Kane was suing for a voice she did not own.
People emulate others all the time. You don't go around saying, "I own your voice."
Like how Kane stole from Clara Bow and Peggy Bernier!? Did they complain about Kane stealing from them!? No they did not.
Allegedly Katherine "Kate" Wright was imitating Helen Kane on radio. So how she was involved with Betty Boop makes no sense. Her link to Betty, had something to do with a 1933 "Betty Boop Production" by the M. S. Bentham office, that opened in Pennsylvania.
She made a silly statement how she was going to "Boop" for the judgy-wudgy but never did...
Singing in a baby voice is nothing unique or special. If you look back in history you'll see redhead Irene Franklin sing in that manner.
The Fleischer Studios did somewhat plagiarize. But at least Paramount were honest enough to tell the truth about how Betty was marketed and promoted.
For those unaware, Clara Bow was the original Marilyn Monroe of the 1920s.
Betty Boop was Mae Questel, there is no one else. After Questel established Betty, the character was supposed to have been an impersonator. So Betty in earlier cartoons would take on traits of other people, like Fanny Brice for example.
Betty did often emulate people such as Mae West, Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. You can also see a lot of Mae West in a later Betty Boop.
You can see Betty parody West's popular "She Done Him Wrong" film.
Betty Boop And Clara Bow Comparison:
The Betty Boop Radio Show
The Betty Boop Radio Show:
Someone asked me a question relating to the Betty Boop radio show in a message.
This will be shared publicly. So the truth is that his blog only knows very little about the show. As much information has been shared as possible.
Transcripts to episodes did exist. It is more or less obtaining those transcripts. The radio website that owns the scripts, they did not want to share. So instead, some of the episodes are listed in old archives and Paramount or general 1930s news articles.
In the same year, Pauline Comanor and Little Ann Little (who was hired in 1933) were both touring in a live-action show. So Betty not only had a radio show, but was touring in person by a Betty Boop character impersonator.
Sadly no one has a copy today of the radio show.
Only half of the credits exist, because some transcripts have no cast credits.
There was a seller during the 1990s to the 2000s that was selling this radio show online for an expensive fee. All traces to his website no longer exist. He is likely deceased.
Other collectors possibly have the show. They do not want to share it.
People need to understand that there were earlier radio shows featuring Betty Boop. One called "Betty Boop on Air," and "Betty Boop's Gang," which weirdly intertwined with the 1933 NBC show.
The 1933 NBC show was called "Betty Boop Fables" and "Betty Boop Frolics," and sometimes they removed the (s) and it became "Betty Boop Fable" or "Betty Boop Frolic" which is quite confusing.
A fable means a short story. The Bamberger Broadcasting System carried the weekly fifteen-minute coast-to-coast Betty Boop radio show.
KOA, KPO, KSD, WBEN, WCAE, WCKY, WEAF, WEEI, WFBR, WJAR, WJDX, WMAQ, WMC, WSB, WSM, WSMB, WTAG, WWJ, are all the radio stations of which aired the show.
People are asking what stations? Well mainly WEAF (660 kc.), WENR (NBC), and KSD (FM).
Who were the cast? Mae Questel started out as the leading role of Betty Boop. Questel was pregnant, and she was giving birth to her son or had. So they hit up Bonnie Poe (Clara Rothbart) to replace her. Poe also replaced Questel in the animated cartoon series for a short time.
Billy Boop, Betty's little brother was voiced by the latter.
People often wonder why Billy is not a popular character? Well it has more to do with his character design, it is not very appealing. So he's obviously not going to stand out. He has a dog-boy like appearance, and in reality should look more like Betty.
He has no personality other than that of a toddler. Sometimes he's a cute babbling baby, other times he's a rough kid from Brooklyn who hates sissies. Make up your mind.
No, Betty is not Black. She is now on Broadway but not the original cartoon Betty.
Looking at Betty you see a Caucasian white Jewish girl or woman. But knowing what we know now, nobody cares that Betty was white. She's Black to most people...
The Fleischers and others have tried gatekeeping but it never worked in their favor. You can't really control the masses. Instead they can make money off of it. With faux-Black History Months, and all that faux-ness. They have no Black people on their team by the way.
If you watch "Out of the Inkwell" from 1938, you can see Betty bully a Black janitor.
(This is not to hate on Betty, but we can't hide the truth. Racism!)
William Billy Costello aka Red Pepper Sam, Cookie Bowers and Bradley Barker were the other three voice actors. David Rubinoff and mainly Vic Erwin supplied the music.
Rubinoff was listed once? But I think Erwin did most of the music.
Bowers who was also on the show, he did more than just voice-over. He also arranged the episodes for the WBEN Betty Boop radio series.
Margie Hines claimed in a 1934 interview that she was on the 1933 radio show. If Bonnie Poe wasn't Billy Boop, then Hines likely was. For those that are unaware, Questel, Poe and Hines all shared the same character roles. They were all Olive Oyl and Betty Boop too. Of course they would also fill in the the other characters too.
Take the female animal characters on the radio show? Who else would be able to voice women? But women. Of course Bradley Barker did some of the female voices. Cookie Bowers was well-known for his female voice impersonations, and was once the voice of Betty Boop on his vaudeville tour in Europe. Yes, Cookie Bowers did Betty Boop's voice.
So Betty would sing popular songs on her radio show.
One time Betty Boop sang "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from Walt Disney's popular Silly Symphony cartoon called "Three Little Pigs".
What Characters Made Appearances?
Pretty much the unpopular Fleischer animal characters. Had the Fleischers invested time and effort into their characters, they could have been like Disney.
Bimbo and KO-KO (perverted clown) are popular but not as popular as Boop. Grampy, Pudgy and Fearless Fred were not created until after 1933, so they didn't exist.
People ask, why don't you call out Bimbo? He's 16 like Betty. So when Bimbo and Betty dated, there was no issue. They are both teenagers, the same age.
KO-KO however is a grown man. So what does that indicate!?
Never forget that though Betty is 109 in age, and 94 in years counting. She is canonically a teenager age 13 to 16. But she is from a different era, and people thought a little differently back then. So when most girls or women were 16, they were dating men.
For example Ginger Rogers who took on the role of Puff Randolph!?
That character "Puff," she is 16 in the film. She's dating grown men, while at the same time imitating a sort of earlier Betty Boop incarnation. Rogers was older than 16, but she was playing 16. The film in question was filmed and set in 1930 in New York City.
If you watch some old films featuring her. You'll see her sing and talk in a baby voice, and she also does a little alternative scat-singing similar to the "Boop" routine.
For anyone that doesn't know Ginger, she was going to be the next Betty Boop singer. But she dropped the "Boop" act, and created a whole new persona by 1933.
She didn't want to live in the shadow of someone else. Good for her.
In the original Betty Boop series, the majority of male characters were deviants. There is no need to cover that anymore. Watch some of the old cartoons and see for yourselves.
Betty Boop Radio Show Characters:
Bimbo the Dog
Betty Boop
Billy Boop
Ko-Ko the Clown
Dora the Duck
Daisy the Cow
Harry the Horse
Stella the Stork
Bessie the Beaver
Kitty the Kitten
Charlie the Camel
Brownie the Bear
Paul the Pelican
Ferdinand the Frog
Celia the Centipede
Victor the Lion
Kasper the Kangaroo
Molly the Mule
Oscar the Octopus
Gus the Gorilla
Harold the Hippo
Betty Boop Radio Show:
Below are some of the episodes. If someone knows more, they can likely fill in the blanks. This blog clearly has been through every listing. If there are no credits, that is because there were none listed. Radio transcripts of this show do exist, hopefully people are aware.
May:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 9:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Wednesday, May 17, 1933) | (Mae Questel, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 9:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Wednesday, May 24, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 9:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Wednesday, May 31, 1933) | (Mae Questel, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin)
June:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 9:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Wednesday, June 7, 1933) | (Mae Questel, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Thursday, June 29, 1933) | (Mae Questel, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin)
July:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Thursday, July 6, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:35 p.m. | WENR (NBC) | (Saturday, July 8, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, July 14, 1933) | (Mae Questel, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, July 21, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 5:15 p.m. | KSD (FM) | (Friday, July 21, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, July 28, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe, Red Pepper Sam and Vic Erwin's Band)
Announcement made on Saturday, July 22, 1933, was that Bonnie Poe the radio voice of Betty Boop has been the voice of the screen Betty Boop for the last four months.
August:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:15 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, August 4, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, August 11, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, August 25, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
September:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 1, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 8, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 15, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 17, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 7:30 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 22, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:45 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, September 29, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe, Billy Costello and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 5:45 p.m. | KSD | (Friday, September 29, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe, Billy Costello and Vic Erwin's Band)
On Saturday, September 2, 1933, the New York news gave a review that they have grown more accustomed to the absence of Mae Questel. And that Bonnie Poe more than fits the bill as Betty Boop. She's a cute bit of but the arrangements of Vic Erwin's orchestra were not as good as they used to be.
October:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:45 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, October 6, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 5:45 p.m. | NBC-WEAF | (Friday, October 13, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:45 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, October 20, 1933)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 5:45 p.m. | KSD | (Friday, October 20, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe, Billy Costello and Vic Erwin)
- Betty Boop Frolics, NBC at 5:45 p.m. | WSM (650 kHz) | (Friday, October 27, 1933)
November:
- Betty Boop Frolics at 6:45 p.m. | WEAF (660 kc.) | (Friday, November 3, 1933) | (Bonnie Poe, Billy Costello and Vic Erwin's Band)
- Betty Boop Frolics at 3:45 p.m. | KYA (San Francisco's 1260) | (Friday, November 17, 1933)
That is about it. If people really wanted this show you would probably have to dig in archived radio archives, particularly WEAF. This blog will probably never be able to hear the show, and that's okay, that is fine. Some things were not meant to be.
Boop Boop A Doop! Oop!
What Happened To Black Betty Boop? (2024)
Black Betty Boop:
Black Betty Boop was a spin-off of the Betty Boop franchise only she was Black.
Shay Levister created her own character called "Betty Boo," based on Betty Boop.
She created "Betty Boo" of all races to empower all women. She opened her "Black Betty Boop Shop" in 2018, she began to see that her Black Betty Boop brand was being supported and purchased by consumers.
One day the Jewish-owned company Fleischer Studios and Betty Boop patent holder Mark Fleischer came across her work, and they decided to send her message in the mail. The Fleischers asked Levister to be part of the "Betty of The People" initiative program to celebrate diversity.
They saw Levister's diverse Betty Boop project, and wanted to use it to diversify Betty Boop.
2023 saw the official unveiling of Black Betty Boop following four years of development. "Shay's love for Betty Boop and passion to make Betty more accessible to her community is truly inspiring," said Max Fleischer's grandson Mark Fleischer, chairman & CEO of Fleischer Studios.
According to Levister, the Fleischer Studios were planning to steal her idea at first, but they ultimately chose to collaborate with her. The Fleischers claimed that their goal in seeking out organizations was to maximize Betty's universal ideals' variety and inclusivity.
For PR, image, and promotion, Levister spent over $10,000.
They found out through their market research that a lot of Black Betty Boop knock-offs are being sold online. Furthermore, Levister and Mark Fleischer found via their analysis, that Black consumers generally don't care if Black Betty Boop is real or not, they will still buy it.
She was pressured by the Fleischer Studios to create "Black Betty Boop LLC," and her company's launch was postponed until the Fleischer's approved of the name change. They told her that she was not allowed to use the "Betty Boop" brand name and that it had to be "Black Betty Boop" by Shay.
Levister said, "Throughout this partnership the Fleischer Studios wouldn't even put the Black Betty Boop banner up on their website."
They got into dispute because the Fleischer Studios declined to support the promotion of Black Betty Boop. They refused to promote the Black version of Betty Boop on the official Fleischer Studios or Betty Boop websites.
She said that the Fleischers' decision to not extend an invitation to her for "The Betty Boop Musical" was a sign of their opinion of her. She informed her lawyer that she had given up on the partnership.
In an attempt to find a solution together, the Fleischers stated that they wished to discuss it. Her manager conveyed the worries and provided some illustrations. Fleischer Studios was indifferent to listening, in addition to not listening at all.
They had an argument and Baby Esther Jones came up in the discussion. She said that the Fleischer Studios betrayed her trust, by refusing to promote her brand, or show her collection to shops over the duration of their partnership.
Mark Fleischer told Levister, "Remember YOU were the one that was appropriating OUR Betty Boop, using an image that wasn't yours."
Levister started to laugh and said, "Are we really doing that? If you sent me a cease and desist from the start, if you felt I was infringing on your image. I would have gladly moved on. But prior to invent over $10,000 to make this happen."
She was not happy that she had to spend more than $10,000 in order to make Black Betty Boop. "Betty Boop is mine, and we're doing YOU a favor by not sending YOU a cease and desist," Mark Fleischer told her.
After conducting business with the Fleischers, Levister realized that, as a professional businesswoman, she had violated intellectual property rights and was obliged to take down her websites and concept ideas. She then dissociated herself with the company.
Levister realized that the PBS criticism was the reason the Fleischer Studios decided to collaborate with her. After they had Jasmine Amy Rogers debut as a real Black Betty Boop in the Broadway musical, they no longer was interested in a Black animated version of Betty Boop.
She cautioned other Black business owners to exercise caution before entering into any agreements or contracts with the Fleischer Studios by sharing her personal experience on social media.
An artist by the name of Savannah Alexandra said you don't have to do any kind of partnership with the Fleischers. You can use Betty as a muse, but you can create your own concept.
Best of all you don't have to pay Jane Fleischer or Mark Fleischer a dime.
GALLERY:
LINKS:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)