Cartoon a Day: Betty Boop's Halloween Party

Betty Boop's Halloween Party
1933
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Maybe I should call this "Cartoon a Month." Oh well, a few weeks late here is a Halloween cartoon staring the one and only Betty Boop! Thanks to YouTube and the fact that Betty Boop resides in the public domain these days, here is the cartoon in it's entirety.



Betty ends up being somewhat of a minor character in this one, but once again she offers a great example of why the Fleischer Studio stood apart from the other animation studios. You just didn't see these kind of gags in other toons. A favorite in this one is where the gorilla runs through the wall...of course he leaves a gorilla-shaped hole, but to have the hole move across the wall and go out the door is just icing on the cake!

On a side note, I wish I had known about Betty's method for hollowing out a pumpkin two weeks ago. I'll have to try that next year.

Cartoon a Day: Popeye the Sailor

Popeye the Sailor
1933
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: Popeye the Sailor Vol. 1

I had a great Easter weekend, but busy. My parents were in town and we did four puppet shows at four Easter services, thus the break in blogging. However, with my birthday just a few weeks away, my parents gave me some early gifts. One was the first DVD set of Popeye cartoons, so I think we'll focus on the one-eyed sailor this week.

This is the very first short to feature Popeye, it is technically a part of the Betty Boop series even though she only makes a cameo. The basic premise that would direct most of the Popeye films for years to come is in place right from the beginning. Popeye and Bluto compete for the affections of Olive Oyl, a fight ensues, Popeye eats some spinach and wins Olive.

Popeye is a unique character in animation history. He wasn't born on film, but came from comic strips. But his film career only added to the popularity of the character. One of the commentators on this DVD set describes him as being the first superhero, and I suppose that 's true.


He's also a somewhat absurd character that perfectly fits the outlandish style of the Fleischer studio. It's interesting note in this first cartoon that Popeye, Olive, and Bluto are the only human characters. The other characters are anthropomorphic animals, which is something that would not continue as the series progressed.

It has been so long since I really watched the Popeye shorts. They were daily viewing as a kid, but I must admit I have avoided them as an adult as many of the showings on Cartoon Network in recent years have been colorized abominations (curse you Ted Turner). It's going to be fun looking at these shorts again!

Cartoon a Day: Mask-A-Raid

Mask-A-Raid
1931
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Time for another Betty Boop short. These are quickly becoming some of my favorite shorts. Thanks to YouTube and the public domain, you can enjoy it in it's entirety.



In "Mask-A-Raid," Betty is at a masquerade ball where Bimbo and some grumpy old guy are battling for her attention. Part of why these shorts are becoming favorites of mine is that they are just so original. This short is 78 years old, yet there are gags that are so strange that they weren't copied by the other studios over and over again. The way that every single thing in a Fleischer cartoon can be alive never ceases to amaze me. The Fleischers also didn't care about being polite, and I'm not just talking about the scene where Bimbo stares at Betty's legs. Check out those mice carrying the train of Betty's dress at the beginning of the short...they look an awful lot like Mickey Mouse. But what's great is when Betty tells them to, "Go on, Scram!" It's as if she's saying, "News flash folks, no mouse will rule cartoons while I'm around." Of course, Mickey Mouse became infinitely more popular than Betty ever did, but it just fits her character, doesn't it.

Cartoon a Day: Betty Boop's Penthouse

Betty Boop's Penthouse
1933
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

I had to not blog for several days, due to a puppet festival and a very sick child at home. So here we go again, enjoy "Betty Boop's Penthouse," courtesey of YouTube.



From the very first frame you can tell this is going to be a creative short. The broken smoke stack haphazardly repaired with smoke that twists around as it comes out is such an original gag, it sets the tone for what's to come.

The short doesn't actually spend that much time at Betty's penthouse. Bimbo and Koko's science lab is a source for a lot more humor. Their experiments at the opening of the film are classic Fleischer and have a great progression as the gags build on each other. When they discover Betty on the roof of a building across the street, well, it's a perfect example of just how risque Miss Boop could be. As they watch her cool herself off with a garden hose I couldn't help think of David watching Bathsheba.

My only complaint with this short is that the ending is a bit abrupt, otherwise this is a great Betty Boop short.

Cartoon a Day: I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You

I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You
1932
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Today's cartoon is a Betty Boop short featuring a great song performed by the one and only Louis Armstrong. Once again, thanks to the public domain, here is the short in it's entirety.



Betty Boop cartoons are just so much fun. Though, this one doesn't featured much of the lovely Miss Boop. Bimbo and Koko take up most of the time in this one, but they manage to carry the short well despite usually being in the shadow of their costar. Some of the visual gags are classic Fleischer...both the fun ones such as the palm trees becoming giant legs for our heroes, and the bizarre ones such as the floating disembodied head of Louis Armstrong. The Boop cartoons just never fail to put a smile on my face.

Cartoon a Day: Dizzy Dishes

Dizzy Dishes
1930
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

"Dizzy Dishes" probably wouldn't have become a notable cartoon except for one little thing, the first appearance of a character who would become the one and only Betty Boop. You should know by now that Miss Boop's cartoons are in the public domain and thus legally available on YouTube...so enjoy "Dizzy Dishes"



The short focuses on a waiter at a club of some sort. There are a few good gags and it is certainly in the style of the Fleischer studio, but nothing spectacular happens. Until...midway though the main character, and the audience for that matter, becomes completely enthralled with the boop-boop-ee-dooing singer. She's not quite herself yet, besides the fact that the animation is pretty crude she's also sort of a dog like creature (with those strange floppy ears). Still, notice how her sequence just stands out from the rest of the film. It's also interesting to see some other gags in this sequence that would pop up in cartoons for ages to come...specifically the waiter's heart jumping out of his chest as he watches Betty. It's the Betty sequence that makes this short enjoyable and it's easy to see why the Fleischers realized they had a new star on their hands.

Cartoon a Day: Minnie the Moocher

Minnie the Moocher
1932
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Well folks, I'm sorry for the big gap in my cartoon a day posts this past week. I was at the Children's Pastor's Conference in Nashville, which I figured might make time to post slim, but I sure didn't count on the awful internet service. This is the second year in a row that I've been able to stay at a friend's time share, it was nice but the internet service was so undependable. Even when I could get on I didn't think the signal was strong enough to upload anything. So far, I've gotten better internet service at most Super 8's than I got in these fancy time share joints.

Anyway, on with the cartoon. Since it's a Betty Boop short, here it is thanks to YouTube...



The opening live-action sequence of this film shows exactly why rotoscoping was an important part of this movie. There you get to see the actual Cab Calloway, it would be a challenge for any animator to match his moves. It makes perfect sense to rotoscope him as was done later in the film.

This film continues the creative, if not bizarre, nature of the Betty Boop films. The premise is a bit weird...Betty doesn't like the food she's getting at home so she runs away with Bimbo and ends up in a haunted cave where a walrus like creature sings "Minnie the Moocher." Seen it a thousand times before, right...yeah right.

The closing sequence where the ghosts chase Betty and Bimbo out of the cave was the highlight for me. There is some great animation and character design, and one can't help but think that Disney's artists may have looked at this sequence when planning 'A Night on Bald Mountain' from "Fantasia." I think the whole film would've been a bit stronger if there had been more interaction between Betty and the ghosts, but it's still a fun short.

Cartoon a Day: Betty Boop, M.D.

Betty Boop, M.D.
1932
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Here's another Betty Boop cartoon available for viewing in full thanks to YouTube and the public domain. Enjoy.




This is a truly bizarre cartoon featuring Betty, Koko, and Bimbo as part of a medicine show. By the time this cartoon get rolling, their wonder product, Jippo, has got people's skeletons jumping out of their skin, babies turning into monsters and all sorts of other weird stuff. The cartoon is almost psychedelic.

It's pretty weird, but it is a great example of the originality that went on at the Fleischer studio. Whereas many cartoons from this era are repetitious in their animation, this is anything but. We don't see the same gag, not to mention the same animation, over and over. This cartoon quickly moves from bit to bit.

I've certainly seen some Betty Boop shorts over the years, but I guess I've never looked at them as closely as I am now. There is really a lot of innovation in them. I finding the Fleischer studio to be one of the under appreciated gems of early animation.

Cartoon a Day: Poor Cinderella

Poor Cinderella
1934
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Once again, thanks to the lovely Miss Betty Boop's cartoons being in the public domain, we can embed the entire cartoon right from YouTube. So enjoy!



"Poor Cinderella" may be the most ambitious of the Betty Boop cartoons and it is her only color cartoon. And, as odd as it may seem to us today, she is made a redhead. Though this cartoon clearly shows some Disney influence, it's also very possible that this film had some influence on Disney when they made their version of Cinderella 16 years later.

You can really see what made Betty such a likable character, and I'm not just talking about her physical features, though the animators don't exactly hide those qualities in this cartoon.

The sequences at the ball are the real highlight of this short. The backgrounds are really beautiful and the dance between Betty and the prince is so graceful. It's probably rotoscoped, but it's so well done it made me think of the dance in "Beauty and the Beast."

Cartoon a Day: Snow-White

Snow-White
1933
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Available on: YouTube

Well, I'm behind again on Cartoon a Day after a late night out last night seeing "High School Musical: The Ice Tour." It was a long way from the Ice Capades I saw growing up. Anyhow, we're playing catch up today. Now earlier today I saw and episode of the show "Biography" that was about Betty Boop. So I felt like doing some Betty Boop cartoons, however, I don't own any Betty Boop DVD's. But, since the Betty Boop cartoons are pretty much all in the public domain, it is legally available on YouTube. So we'll just embed the whole cartoon below and you can watch it yourself.



Betty Boop seems to be often ignored in the grand history of animation. Her film career wasn't that long, 1932-39, and all but one of her cartoons were in black and white. Yet Max and Dave Fleischer (her creators) were incredibly innovative and her cartoons do have great historical significance. Not to mention that they are a lot fun to watch. This short is considered by many to be the best Betty Boop film.

In this film, Betty plays the role of Snow White while her frequent co-stars, Koko the Clown and Bimbo, play two of the queen's guards. It's not quite the Snow White story we're used to, but that's ok.

The Fleischers were somewhat known for having cartoons that featured regular everyday objects come to live, that is certainly present here. The use of rotoscoping is also worth noting here. In the second half of the film, Koko launches into a Cab Calloway song, which was rotoscoped, and beautifully so, using footage of Calloway himself. I'm usually not a fan of rotoscoping (like in Ralph Bakshi's "The Lord of the Rings") but here it works really well. The Fleischers invented the technique, so I guess they knew how to use it.