Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970 in Kensington, London), better kno… Read Full Bio ↴Alison Moira Clarkson (born 6 March 1970 in Kensington, London), better known as Betty Boo, is an English singer, songwriter and pop-rap artist. She first came to mainstream prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s following a collaboration with The Beatmasters. Her subsequent solo career spawned a number of chart-placing singles, most notably Doin' The Do in 1990.

Shy Guy
Betty Boo Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'Shy Guy' by these artists:

Aswad I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Aswad feat. Easther Bennett I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Bad Boys The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack featuring Diana King I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Bre Morgan Hey yeah Got your picture on my wall Along with all the…
Chazz Luck Ja Eiszeit über Deutschrap Sorbet-Land Chazz Luck is NEXT UP…
D. King I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Diana King I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Evelyn Thomas My baby loves me in so many ways I listen to…
Leslie Carter Spoken: This is a story about a shy guy But I…

Lyric McFarland I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
Mýa I don't want no fly guy, I just want a…
Nguru Bricks are on the street Windows are dropped by the fire…
Pink Elefants I need to lighten my chest I confess, I need to…
Sherlock Tones I seen her walk and bring a snail from up…
Smokie When you look my way Girl I'd like to say That I've…
Starlite Orchestra & Singers I don't want no fly guy I just want a shy…
The Refreshments Shy guy J. Arnell I´m as lonely as I can be I…
Tinashe What? What? Mmh, oh Mmh 3:33 and I'm up watchin' TV So it i…
Tinashe - Topic What? What? Mmh, oh Mmh 3:33 and I'm up watchin' TV So it i…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Betty Boo:

01 Where Are You Baby? (Ooh ooh ooh) I can't believe you've left me Don't know…
24 Hours I always knew No matter what you say or do Right by…
Close the Door I wanna play a game Don't wanna do the same These feelings…
Doin It's me again yes, how did you guess 'Cause last time…
Doin' the Do (7" Version) Betty Boo Betty Boo just doin' the do And you are through An…
doin' the do 22 It's me again yes, how did you guess 'Cause last time…
Don't Know What To Do Spent a long time lovin′ you, don't know what to…
Hangover I believed in everything you said to me. Disguised were the…
Hey DJ / I Can't Dance I can't dance To that rhythm that you're been playing That s…
I'm on My Way You're not dreaming. Yes, it's true: I wanna start my life…
Let Me Take You There I'm at work, I don't feel like working The sun is…
Skin Tight We get together and we love to boogie Gettin′ busy like…
Where Are You (Ooh ooh ooh) I can't believe you've left me Don't know…
Where Are You Baby? (7" Version) Where Are You, Baby? (Ooh ooh ooh) I can't believe you've l…

You and Me Song I'm at work, I don't feel like working The sun is…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS

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Comments from YouTube:

Realities in the Raw

2y↑206

I was a huge fan of early cartoons as a kid, especially the fluid, surreal Fleischer house style.. I recognized that Betty was meant to be sexy and found her endearing, but she didn't turn me into a deviant. That was left to the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues and scrambled satellite porn.

Lou

scrambled satelite what now

robert akerman

2y↑1

Wonder if She wore a "c" cup?(ha-ha)

Frank Califano

HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Friendly Neighborhood Jesus Freak

2y↑2

@Thoralmir Yeah. Betty Boop is basically proto-moe.

Thoralmir

2y↑3

@Friendly Neighborhood Jesus Freak I believe the anime crowd refers to that as "Moe".

6 More Replies...

Tim Tucker

2y↑67

I was born in 1952. As a kid, I watched and loved Betty Boop cartoons. The "deviants" were the Censors... Loved this. Thanks.

Kim Aglioti

2y↑1

Betty Boop was my sweet Mama's favourite cartoon character. Apparently my Mom had an album full of cuttings snd paraphernalia featuring Betty Boop. Wish I had found it.
I would have treasured it

Weirdcore kid♑️🌻

@chxrminq your not alone

Weirdcore kid♑️🌻

Your 60 or 50 something just like my grandma

chxrminq

2y↑2

am i young or smth

chxrminq

2y↑2

uh i was born in the 2000s

3 More Replies...

Matt Farah's Million Mile Lexus

2y↑196

The early Betty Boop cartoons are really bizarre, especially the haunted theme versions. But they are very entertaining, and richly animated in a way that can never be duplicated no matter the technology.

YOUR DEATH WILL BE KNOWN DUMBSVILLE BEROC!!!!

The oddest falls and rises.

From the First Furry Human to a Earless dynmaic BASED no chin and no ears Humanioid Human alien that would make Bayonetta and Tiki question their morales of Writters writing their age and being older than litteraly everyone before the 30's.

Age older than even Walt and Dinosaurs.

Human lore is a Analog Horror themed Anime.

The Edelweiss Pirate

I find a lot of cartoons from this period creepy!

Frank Machin

2y↑1

yes - loved ‘Minnie The Moocher’ - it was a great haunted Halloween themed cartoon

Deadset Anime

Are you kidding me? You obviously don't work with today's tech if you believe that we cannot easily duplicate Betty Boop.

Libertariantranslator

You'd be surprised at what kids can do nowadaze with retro toon tech.

7 More Replies...

Eddie Little Bear

2y↑75

Back in the 60s, my dad managed to find 8mm films of all the old classics - Betty Boop, Popeye, Felix the Cat, Woody Woodpecker, and more. They had been redone like silent movies, with the dialog frames added. It was great fun watching them.

Geronimo

2y↑1

Sweeeet!

crazyfvck

2y↑84

I had NO idea that she was voiced by the original woman in Who Framed Roger Rabbit! That blew my mind :) It's really cool that she still had the same voice all those years later :) I also had no idea that the same woman voiced Olive Oyl :)

Colin MacKenzie

2y↑3

That the same voice actress should have done Betty Boop and Olive Oyl should not be any surprise. Voice actors often did lots of different cartoon characters. For example, June Foray did Rocky the Flying Squirrell, Hoppity Hooper, Nell Fenwick, Natasha Fatale, and just about any other female or child character in Rocky and Bullwinkle, Hoppity Hooper, and all the associated cartoons from Jay Ward. Also worked on animations of Dr Seuss, The Smurfs, Stan Freberg commercials, Disney, and and and... Started working in cartoons and radio in the 1930s. And, occasionally did live action movies and TV.

Lawrence Wheeler

2y↑3

In alot of pop eye cartoons Betty boop was black later she was changed to White.

Kevin Powers

2y↑19

The actress, Mae Questel, also played Aunt Bethany in Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase.

Howl along with Spot

2y↑46

We grew up washing a lot of the Fleischer cartoons, and they likely influenced our button art. It's important to note that the harassment wasn't just feminism but class view, the code attacked more than sex, but moved things into the non-urban, non-working class view point of leave it to beaver. Fleischer cartoon's were more likely to show cracks on the walls, light bulbs hanging from ceilings without globes or shades, are other signs of people living in less than medium income conditions.

tony borelli

@Lawrence Wheeler everything is about race, no? jeez. its hawaii. she has a tan

Marlin Pace

Actually in the early Betty Boops she was a DOG. She morhed to human. The dark skinned one I remember she was an islander doing the hula in a grass skirt

Carson M

2y↑2

@Lawrence Wheeler I have to imagine that was supposed to be a tropical tan.

Lawrence Wheeler

2y↑1

I reviewed many of the comments on Betty boop I was the only one who noticed when Betty was on pop eye she was and is black when she's on her own changed white.

R G

2y↑3

You're right. Even the few urban shows that existed in the 1950s (e.g. "The Goldbergs") more or less sanitized the world. Although the gritty quality of the Kramden apartment appalled me even as a child.

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bluebuzzdog

2y↑70

I grew up with Betty in reruns in the late 50s-early 60s. Her cartoons were my introduction to surrealism. I still love them.

catty

🗿

KKK Revolution

I watch betty boop reruns in the 90s I love betty boop, even had. abody pillow you know the long round ones.

Colin MacKenzie

2y↑1

I've heard that Ha! Ha! Ha! was banned for drug use (Koko climbs out of the inkwell, needs dental work, so Betty gives him Laughing Gas, which gets away and affects everybody and everything, very surreal!), but I remember seeing it on an afternoon cartoon show on TV in the 1950s. Also other early Betty Boops.

Bob Sanders

2y↑24

The voiceover comments, writing, technique and delivery are MUCH improved on this channel. A lot of good work has been done.

tony francesco

2y↑21

Betty gave me an obsession for flappers , I was never the same . I especially love the surreal acid like reality created . The true perverts are the censors who projected their own perverted desires

tony borelli

2y↑1

i believe that is the typical way things go

Michael Mumford

2y↑6

YOU SAID IT!

marlene singleton

2y↑48

Very interesting, I didn't know when Betty Boop was created. In the past I had seen pictures of her but didn't think much about it. Now I know who the cartoonist is that created her. Thanks for sharing.

Dick Richard

2y↑1

@michael mckenna She went from creepy to slightly less, but still creepy looking. 😆 The head shape combined with the disproportionate placement of the other features didn't really look good then and still doesn't now. It invokes feelings of tripping balls and to have that face on a relatively normal looking body is basically just grotesque.

michael mckenna

2y↑3

Betty Boop actually evolved, starting out as anthroposophical human/puppy until her floppy ears were replaced by earrings and her black nose was replaced by an upturned nose.

Sky Den

2y↑9

Along with my brother and sister, kids in the 1980's, we used to watch the compilation feature, "Hooray For Betty Boop," constantly. One of the most fascinating aspects of the cartoon was the inclusion of Cab Calloway and his song "Minnie the Moocher," which was an extra bonus since we were also fans of "The Blues Brothers" film which included the same singer and song.

Jack Watkins

2y↑22

As a kid in the late 50’s and early 60’s, Betty Boop cartoons were part of the mix of Saturday Morning cartoons on TV. It explains why I am fascinated by old Clara Bow films.

George Stiller

2y↑1

Me too! When I was five I loved to watch Betty Boop, Popeye, Felix the Cat and Bimbo cartoons. And of course Whimpy who always said " I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." He was what made McDonalds rise to fame because we grew up with Whimpy.

GoodDogNigel

2y↑1

Same here. I watched those reruns whenever they were on.

Paul Sto

2y↑43

Betty has always been my favorite cartoon character. And Max Fleischer let her kick the gong around with cab Calloway.
Perfection!

Marlin Pace

And I wouldn't be surprised if her and Cab Calloway had something to do with the Hayes act applied to her

Joel Stein

2y↑50

I watched them as a small boy in the forties and fifties. Believe me, I was very aware of her sexuality, even as a kid. I think she's one of the reason I am a devout heterosexual.

Aisha Valdez

2y↑3

Love this comment!

Golden Harbor Studios

2y↑2

Women I mean, I couldn't give a crap about men

X

2y↑25

My spouse and I enjoy "classic" films; especially pre-code movies, shorts, etc.
It seems even the cartoons were more interesting/entertaining pre-code.
Thanks for a thoughtful video about Betty Boop cartoons, birth through "re-birth".

Rodney Stanger

2y↑3

@traveler time WTF are you on about??

traveler time

"even the cartoons were more interesting/entertaining pre-code"
Just like before MAGA ?
Just saying ! : )

a1p tv

2y↑19

I loved Betty ever since I was a kid, she was always funny.

Steven Baer

2y↑14

I have to admit that she is actually the best cartoon character. I have seen that modern day girls have Betty Boop tattoos.

walter reeves

2y↑6

I saw my first Betty Boop cartoons in the late 1970s when they were released to theaters in a compilation containing the ones featuring Cab Calloway. They were a double revelation. I've been a fan ever since. Thanks for this long overdue appreciation!

grant solomon

2y↑7

As a kid the innuendo contained in Betty Boo went right over my head, the same goes for super chicken,Rocky the flying squirrel and Roger ramjet.

Dale Rowe

2y↑3

Someone has previously commented that they should release the whole collection of Betty Boop cartoons on DVD. I thoroughly agree, as they had been release back in the 1980's or 90's on Laser Disc. Approximately two albums worth! Betty BIoop is iconic, she is just as popular today, as she first appeared as a dog-like character with long floppy ears (which in later catoons became human ears with small hoop earings). We all must remember, many of the cartoons of that era were aimed at adult audiences, thus the very mature themes that pervade them. Even the Merry Melodies and Looney Tunes, you can see it in the early Bugs Bunny cartoons, his wise cracks and double entendre's were meant for adults. As a child even I didn't understand some of the jokes. Back then Betty Boop was the acme of sexy, long before Jessica Rabbit was ever dreamt up! It's a true shame that the cartoon series 'Drawn Together!' was banned after only one season, even the poster that appeared in New York Subway Trains were banned and removed!

dan farris

2y↑40

I work with a girl who would make a real life Betty. I had to show her the old cartoon as she didn’t even know about it.

David Wesley

Does she closely resemble Betty Boop ?

Henrik Harbin

2y↑25

My ate brother was mostly a Disney fan, but he also introduced me to older cartoons like Felix the Cat, early Popeye, Beany and Cecil, Hrrcules, and Betty Boop. It was particularly interesting when I found out, during research for a college paper, that Popeye was originally a guest in a Betty cartoon.

tony borelli

what college was that? Acme U?

Henrik Harbin

2y↑1

LATE... sorry, I'm legally blind and sometimes don't pick up on the mistrakes I make.

Mike theBike

2y↑2

🏍️ Who ate your brother ?

michael mckenna

2y↑2

Popeye started out even earlier as a minor character who first appeared in Segar’s Thimble Theater comic strip in 1929, ten years after the comic strip started. but his popularity took off until he became the main character and the first cartoon was in 1933.

P

2y↑1

"... the [shows] were steered towards a more juvenile audience. And the adult viewers gradually lost interest. The result was the decline of the series popularity and it's early cancellation."

This really describes every sequel, remake, and reboot. Especially in recent decades.

WLSlater

2y↑2

In the late 60's when I was very young, I remember seeing Betty Boop, Felix the Cat, Popeye and other Fleischer cartoons. They are classics that have always stuck with me ever since. My baby sister's best friend was/is obsessed with Betty. She even looks like her in many ways.

Kevin R.

2y↑9

Early Fleischer cartoons are bizarre and awesome. I love "I Heard", and "Mysterious Mose" but "Swing you sinners" and "Bimbos Initiation" are my favorite. They need to release all the early Talkertoons on DVD. Everything they did was awesome. I have all the Popeyes they put out and most of the Betty Boops. Are they all available on DVD? Seems like the Popeye DVDs only go as far as the 40s-50s era and as for Betty Boop, it seems every release has the same 20 cartoons despite there being many more.

William Lulay

I've been a Betty Boop fan for years (decades??!), and the major reason was the surrealism. I was totally entranced by the way the figures flowed, and one figure morphing into another one. It seems the Cab Calloway cartoons had more of that than other ones. But I hardly consider Betty sexual (yes, there was a lot of innuendo and flirting, but that is hardly indecent.), and I think the fact that the decency Gestapo found that objectionable, says more about them and their mindset than anything else.

Keith Halsey

2y↑7

As a child growing up in SD on a farm we had a galvanized steel silo. I was 9 in 1960. On the side of the old silo was a pencil drawn silhouette of Betty it was about a foot tall and expertly done. My father explained her significance to me when I had gotten older!!

Casey smith

2y↑1

Where in South Dakota? I have lived in Pierre (Pier) Since January 1, 2001.

Eddie Boggs

2y↑45

Betty started out as half human, half animal. The Hayes code came into existence and Betty wears more clothes.

DMSProduktions

2y↑4

1st FURRY icon?

Virginia Gobetz

2y↑3

I loved the Betty Boop cartoon where she portrayed Cinderella.

Night-X

2y↑13

I remember seeing a lot of merchandise in the 90's and early 2000's which the funny part is I figure out that Betty was a cartoon character but never watched any the shows because I could find any TV channels that would have it until about 20 years later when internet video sites got more functional to watch them.

Night-X

@Starsk25 Guessing the party girl thing is more better then a traveling prostitute or any other sex based name for that matter?

Starsk25

2y↑1

I asked my mom (who was born in 1935) what was "wrong" with Betty Boop? My mom said "she's just a party girl".

Brian Fretwell

2y↑1

The worst thing was "colorizing" them by sending them to be retraced and inked loosing (not using computers) a lot of the detail for re-release. I love the B&W orignals.

K M

I remember my mother introducing me to some really surreal cartoon about Betty Boop being chased by the devil, I think it might have even been a full length movie. I remember her appearing as she did in the more uncensored versions that you show, except that I am not sure if she still had the scampy outfit. I saw it in the 80s, it might have been on a VHS tape rented from Blockbuster or taped off of pay TV or something, I do't remember, but I remember we ended up with a copy of it on our own VHS tape and my brother and I would watch it sometimes. I found it pretty weird personally and wasn't sure what to make of it. I would probably appreciate it much more now if I watched it since I love weird, surreal and off-the-wall cartoons targeted at adults.

Artful Dodger

2y↑49

Betty Boop was based on Baby Esther. Look her up. She's a live action Betty.

Sboink The Leg Day

@kimberly brooks Sadder still, is that the illiterates here can't acknowledge "Betty Boop was a caricature of Helen Kane, who copied the scat singing she heard from child performer, "Baby" Esther Jones, who in turn was imitating others such as Gertrude Saunders. "

But, when Betty Boop was bringing attention to workplace harassment in 1934, all the Twitter artists still can't do anything but try to pretend they invented every idea in the world, for social credit and fame. You really should move to China and check out the equities there.

Chris Robinson

2y↑1

@kimberly brooks read ray pointer above

Artful Dodger

2y↑1

@kimberly brooks Thank you. Fist bump.

kimberly brooks

2y↑2

Sad you won't give blacks credit, the idea was of Betty Boop was from Ester Jones. The cartoon was made based on her looks and performance at the jazz club.

Ivan Rodriguez

I always thought of actress Joan Blondel as a live action Betty Boop.

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Alan Foster

2y↑30

Insignificant side note: that is a Tahitian hula Betty performs; not Hawaiian. Way faster, much faster hip movements, use of legs bent at the knee. At the time (1930's) nobody in the U.S. knew the difference(s).

Darknamja

I did notice that they darkened her complexion. 👀

David Anderson

2y↑1

On the other hand, she finally gets lei'd.

henri matisse

great insight, thanks!

Ed Ryba

Yes, I have seen the first Betty Boop cartoons, including the first appearance of Popeye. I thought they were great! The Fleischers always turned out a quality product, and as things progressed, they only got better. Take, for example, the earliest sound cartoons. The characters, even if they were standing in one place, couldn’t stand still. They’d bounce up and down, mostly at the tempo of the music, but sometimes not. Thankfully when animation in general and Fleischer in particular got past that bit of strangeness, the cartoons were immediately better. Character design also got better, as did character animation. You just know in the 1930’s, Disney and Fleischer were watching each other’s cartoons very carefully, and each would “borrow” ideas and technique from the other.

Jeffrey Slotnikoff

2y↑6

In the film, "Minnie the Moocher", that's obviously a Jewish yamulke resting on top of Betty's father's head. The Fleisher brothers, being Jewish themselves, tended to drop such visual gags in many of their early cartoons.

Ozwald Gardner

2y↑10

I did see Betty Boop cartoons on reruns as a kid
I even got to see a scene that was censored in a documentary. A sentry was sleeping on the job with an alarm clock on his belt. Betty walk wound the hands of clock until the alarm went off. It was censored because she "wound up his clock", which was concidered sexual innuendo back then.

GP Jensen

I remember that one, too!

PJ Parkwood

2y↑1

I remember watching a kids' program on a local tv station, back in the 1950s, that showed the pre-code Betty Boop cartoons, along with the early Popeye and company. The artwork was amazing.

Nunya Bizness

2y↑4

You do great work, sir. Entertaining but always informative.

Monte Smith

2y↑27

I’m a Boomer, grew up watching Bett Boop, Our Gang, Three Stooges, Bowery Boys, Tarzan, Popeye ect.
Did not become a racist, sex crazed serial killer ect. There is way too much worry about the impact of Sex and violence in entertainment. I doubt that the great majority who play GTA will go out and hijack a car. It probably says more about the people who worry so much about this stuff than the item of entertainment itself.

grant solomon

Absofuckinlutely

Michael Mumford

2y↑1

You said it!

leahsodyssey123

2y↑3

I rediscovered them in the 90s when my then only daughter discovered them and we both enjoyed watching them. She even had a Barbie like Betty Boop doll with a big head, maybe that inspired the Bratz.

Mathew Thornton

2y↑20

Personally, I like Betty Boop. I think her cartoons were very interesting. And they definitely have their charm.

tony borelli

@Mathew Thornton i see. does this mean that sometimes you offer up the opinions of others?

Mathew Thornton

@tony borelli It means its my personal opinion and view point.

tony borelli

what do u mean personally?

Mark Mccoy

2y↑1

I do agree with that but i have seen Betty Boop on YouTube i never seen her on tv i do love her voice but i do like to see her on tv

Steve Oromaner

All these cartoons were shown in tv when I was a child. I have always loved the Fleisher Bros. animation. All these early cartoons were hand drawn. I was amazed at the way there was always a shadow with the characters. This was art work for sure. I enjoyed early Disney but not like these toons. The themes made me think that the animators were in some sort of acid trip. The Fleisher Brothers also invented, “follow the bouncing ball. “ I really appreciate the people that have uploaded these great cartoons for new generations to enjoy.

Nicky Naime

2y↑16

I grew up watching the sexy BB in the late 50s and 60s cartoons on TV. They were more popular than the restricted mandated ones that got a lot less air time.

traveler time

Oh THAT"S where I saw them ! : )

Kent M

2y↑4

I had a crush on Betty since I was 5 years old. Sixty-five years later, and her cartoons are still my favorite.

Trici Venola

I am from the LSD generation, been watching Betty Boop cartoons my whole life, and didn't know some of the stuff in your video, so thanks. The Fleischer cartoons are what we associated with acid trips: total stream-of-consciousness imagery with heavy sexual and cultural content. They are absolutely adult. I mean, skeletons turning black? Ghosts in electric chairs? An undulating walrus? Intelligent surrealism! Friends raised their kids on Max Fleischer only, no Disney. I'm delighted to see this stuff so huge now, deservedly so.

Butters

I watched all the episodes from episode 1 to the last one when I was 3-7 and always had it as my favourite black and white cartoon other than Popeye the sailor 💀 this is in 2013 to 1017- I watched it on DVD players and I thought the show was very wholesome not knowing she was censored 💀

Shovel Man

2y↑5

Betty Boop is the most powerful cartoon character of all time she quite literally gave hell her cold shoulder and the devil her icy stare and completely sent all of Hell into a deep freeze even Thanos could not do that with The Infinity Gauntlet

Kim Aglioti

Absolutely bloody ridiculous. Insane how they twisted Betty Boop's sweet ways having 'sexual' innuendos.

Richard Reinertson

I have loved Betty Boop cartoons since I was a kid in the late 50s and early 60s. Her uber-cuteness and blatant sexuality combined with the bizarre, surreal storylines were genius. Too bad the code killed her...thank God she re-emerged. Betty forever!

psychospacecadet

Betty Boop and most of the Fleischer cartoons were favorites of my family and still are. Walt Dizzy cartoons were just static and boring, but Betty was alive and all the wackiness was and still is captivating

Charles Fason

2y↑5

It's really stupid for a few to have the power to do away with a cartoon when many loved her.

RobertM

2y↑2

Watch Betty Boop cartoons? Oh, yeah! When I was a kid growing up near New York City in the 60s, I distinctly remember all those 1930s Max Fleischer cartoons on local TV. Love them all. Betty Boop, Popeye, Koko the Clown. But one of my all time favorite Betty cartoons was the one in which Koko sings the St. James Infirmary Blues. Great fun!

Grandma jane

I saw a couple of them at the movie theater. Years and years ago. I loved them. I remember one when she was going to fall off a cliff and someone saved her. Betty Boop and then Zorro, were short subjects we saw with our Saturday afternoon matinee

Oddz-Modz

I remember when I was a young kid (I'm 41 now), there was a store in the old mall that had a little movie theater that 2 kids could sit in for a quarter lol. The first was Mighty Mouse, then Heckle and Jeckle, then Betty Boop. Great memories from childhood

Dennis Logan

2y↑1

As a boy in the 80's I saw Betty Boop in "Old Man on the Mountain" and was as shocked. That wasn't a kids cartoon. But as a adult I enjoyed it.

Buaile Bawns

2y↑153

The National Institute of Decency need to be investigated for indecency.

Vic T

2y↑1

Give it time. Looks like we're headed back to those days.

Lewis Gordon

2y↑1

@Tucker Gary I think the first couple to share a bed was their daughter Gloria & her husband Michael from “All in the Family”. I heard it was considered revolutionary at the time. (I was born in ‘74 & first saw it in reruns @ ~ 10)

BRENTFILM

2y↑1

And that censorship continued until the mid to late 1960’s when the Hays code finally died and the MPAA developed the ratings system in which it gave filmmakers the freedom to include sex scenes, four-letter words, etc.

ramirezannette0

2y↑2

The hypocrisy of those people,
Please, she was adorable

gorillaau

2y↑7

Investigate those that preach "Think of the children" first.

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Santa Ray Bradshaw

2y↑1

A true icon. I love the model sheets presented here, thank you.

TampaDaves

2y↑2

Good thing the censors didn’t know that, in lyrics, “jelly roll” does not refer to any type of pastry.

Pit Snipe

2y↑3

As a boy always looked forward to a Betty Boop cartoon. When I hit puberty I realized why. 😉

Lars M

In August 1978, I went to a party in Stanwood Washington that lasted three days, and guests spent the night in a barn where the owners of the Egyptian Theater in Seattle showed Betty Boop cartoons. One of the hosts (I think) was the owner of Shelley's Leg Bar in Seattle. I got invited to this party by someone I met in a bar in Seattle, but I forget which one. I was hitchhiking to Vancouver from San Francisco at this time, and so I had the time to spend at a three day party.

Scooter Tramp

2y↑1

When I was in elementary school back in the 50's they used to show Betty Boop cartoons along with Popeye and assorted others every day for 1/2 hour at lunch time. This was followed by 1/2 an hour of the Three Stooges immediately after school.

A Kayfabe

2y↑1

In the 1980s my father showed me a bunch of old Betty Boop and Felix and also Popeye and other early cartoons by playing them on a projector
then later I saw them with sound. I was never interested in how they were created until I was an adult, I never knew about the glass and actual peoples movements drawn. This reminds me of some kind of early version of what they do now on video games where they have people act things out with censors on and green screen then digitally make it into an animation.

Renshen1957

2y↑1

Steve Allen did a documentary on Betty Boop in which he pointed out subliminal subjection and sometimes more apparent sexy back lighting which displayed her frame. The Hula grass would display for one frame either hair or genitalia. In another short a frame’s worth of a side view of a half naked view of Betty without a underwear of Betty in the air. These frames one only be subconsciously noticed, but might have added a unknowing spice to the adults in the audience. A very poor copy used to be on YouTube as if someone had used a videotape camera to copy a live broadcast or a friends video tape as there is hum noise from other viewers and low resolution to the video uploaded.

Angela Carleton

2y↑2

I always loved Betty Boop and love to hear her sing and watch some of her old cartoons too

Robin Howlett

2y↑2

I love the idea of Betty Boop as a prototype feminist, that's right up my street.

Debra Girard

I was little, and watching the pre 1934 Boop cartoons, I didn’t get the strong sexual connotations at all. Wow. And she fought back. Plucky girl. I do remember her doing that. And the films showed that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. Of course she had to be rescued by Koko, or some other male, but she was a tough one, lol

M RC

2y↑3

We always thought Max was on acid when creating the cartoons and enjoyed them very much.

Jason Blalock

2y↑3

So Betty Boop wasn't out of work "since Toons went to color," but because she was censored into oblivion. Sad.

DPF

I loved the early animated cartoons. I know they were painstakingly made but they looked almost humanlike at times. One Betty Boop short that stands out is called Crazy Town from 1932 I believe. It was a really trippy short but she sang a song that went, Foolish facts foolish facts foolish things and silly acts. The animation made her look almost human like the way she moved. The animation of the 30s and 40s was the best, I my eyes anyway.

doug craft

I was always thrilled by saturday morning cartoons. Aways got up early so as to not miss any. Betty was not oe of my faves but watched with anticipation for the next cartoon to come on.

Zo Birss

2y↑4

Have you seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye? The titular character is a huge Betty Boop fan, and has some of her mannerisms.

Terrance Norris

2y↑1

All of her feature cartoons were cute and entertaining and always will be an icon in animation...

Michael O'Brien

some years ago I was walking through a suburban car park when I was confronted by a car that had been given a Betty Boop makeover. Every possible accessory bore the BB image and name! Never saw anything like it before or since.

J. Morrison

2y↑1

In the 50's as a young kid, I watched her rerun cartoons. I recall taking notice of the 'from dog like to full human' but at the time didn't see the sexual lead ons. Only when I hit puberty did i notice that, but by then the reruns died out and with no computers in those days, didn't watch her again until the 90's. I did recall the characters & names, cab Calloway , the 'ghost' who portrayed him and that electrocution toon as well. I'm now in my 70's and am amazed how much I can remember from my childhood, but forget what I ate yesterday.

FusionAero

I saw one where Betty flew her own airplane all the way to Japan, and was greeted by throngs of adoring fans who were much better portrayed than was the norm for cartoon Asians in the pre-war era.
After the war, when Japan was being rebuilt, the leggy, saucer-eyed, cute-yet-naughty "waifu" became an iconic "figure" of Japanese cartoons. You don't need to be a genealogist to figure out who their common ancestor was.

varanid9

2y↑11

The first 2 Weissmuller Tarzan films, "Tarzan the Ape Man" and "Tarzan and his Mate" were pretty kick-ass but, after the Hayes Code was passed, they had to cut out some of the more brutal violence and put more clothes on Jane for subsequent installments. Also the reason most of the original "King Kong" editions viewed are the edited one.

David Anderson

In "Tarzan and his Mate" (1934), Maureen O'Sullivan is swimming around underwater, without a stitch of clothing, for a few minutes. The camera work is a bit murky, but you can see enough to know it isn't fake. By the way, Maureen was about as hot looking as it gets. Now we know why Tarzan yelled like he did.

futatorius

@Britta Kriep Hedi Lamarr was in a short nude scene (more like part of a shot) in the Czech film Ecstasy in 1933. She also did an O-face in that film. Nothing like that was being shown in US films, even pre-Hays code.

varanid9

2y↑1

@Lenny King yup. And she was hot!!

Britta Kriep

@Lenny King : As i noted, i am german in my mid 50s. In early 1950s ( 51/52?) a german movie was produced, for two or three seconds, you can see a painter and a nude woman, for current standarts : Nothing. A number of years ago, i somewhere saw a picture, assumingly from wwll. A soldier with Stahlhelm and a long baton standing before civilians. But not a wwll picture, a Westgerman riotpoliceman in front of a cinema, which showed the noted movie.

Lenny King

2y↑2

Yeah , Jane was really skinny-dipping !

3 More Replies...

Michael Mumford

2y↑2

I Loved them!
WISHED they were BACK.
We NEED them Now.

Meanderings

2y↑1

I watched Betty Boop in the late 50s, early 60s and loved her then and still - the early, sexy version of course.

Kevin Angus

2y↑1

Betty Boop was the greatest: she was Cab Calloway's co-star ( he literally wrote "The Hepster's Dictionary"!).
Mae Questel was also in commercials for both Scott and Bounty paper towels, and in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
I was a huge fan when I was little ( early 60's), and watched all her cartoons. I loved the Cab Calloway musicals, of course . 😁

David Damico

2y↑1

It's my understanding that "baby talk and acting" was popular in the 20's. Betty may simply have gotten her personality of baby-like innocence from the fashion of the times.

Sam M

2y↑1

My mom's name was Betty and, apparently, her nickname from her youth was "Betty Boop".

Jerry Gillespie

2y↑3

I also liked the later BB cartoons for the 3 d effect. This was emphasized in the House Cleaning Blues cartoon of 1937

Douglas Jackson

2y↑1

Since first seeing Betty Boop cartoons as a kid on TV in the 50s, I've been a fan ever since.

John Baker

2y↑2

Grim Natwick, the real creator of Betty Boop, never made a dime off her
popularity. Thanks to Dave Fleischer who promised Grim he would participate in
profits but never did anything.

Mary Mastromauro

2y↑1

I watched betty boop as a 6 year old child. What did I know. I loved her!

Ed Ryba

I watched the original Betty Boop cartoons when I was a kid. It turned out my MOM was a Betty Boop fan! Many of her friends gave her things with Betty’s picture on them. I gave her an 11” tall figure of Betty that lives in a glass cover, with Betty on top of a piano, about to sing a song, with a pretty fair rendition of an RCA 44 microphone in front of her. You may not know that mic by name, but if you’ve ever seen a photo of President Roosevelt making a radio address with at least a dozen microphones in front of him, at least two of those mics were RCA 44’s. I remember watching Betty and Popeye on Los Angeles TV by 1956. Hanna-Barbara (the folks who brought you Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Yogi Bear, and literally DOZENS of others - and the ones I’ve given you here and many more were all voiced by ONE MAN - my friend Daws Butler!). That’s not to say that Daws voiced ALL of Hanna-Barbera’s characters were voiced by Daws… they weren’t. A number of other voice actors worked on H-B cartoons, many of them brought in by Daws! When he passed away in the late 1980’s, it took something like 16 guys to replace him! If you’re in the Los Angeles area, Daws is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. But we’re getting away from my subject, which is Betty Boop. A lot of busybody housewives with nothing better to do came up with all these “Morals” objections to Betty Boop, and managed to pretty much RUIN the character by insisting she be put into in long dresses with high collars, accusing Betty in her original form of being obscene. To this malarkey I say “Bah! Humbug!”. Betty was DRAWN in pen and India ink. Anything obscene about that existed solely in the twisted minds of the twisted viewers. SHE WAS A FICTIONAL CARTOON CHARACTER, FOR CRYIN’ OUT LOUD! Anyone who ever looked at her as anything else is sick in the head. Betty Boop was NEVER anything but an animated cartoon character.

Antonio Verdad

2y↑2

Betty Boop wasn't bad. She was just drawn that way! (Like Jessica Rabbit!)

Guy Trimble

2y↑1

I was taught that sex is dirty, discusting, and demeaning. I like to keep it that way. ( what Mel Brooks said sort of)

Animalntelligence

2y↑4

I am not sure I ever saw a cartoon in which Betty starred -- I think maybe I saw her as a minor character in cartoons. I do not know if her cartoons were not shown in the 1960s (when I was a kid) because of censorship or lack of interest. What I do know is that if cartoons were censored, it was not due to violence: the old Popeye cartoons were amazingly violent as were the 3 Stooges. To watch one of the really violent Stooges or Popeye cartoons is quite shocking -- I had forgotten just went on in the 1930s, not just violence, but gratuitous and graphic violence and I ashamedly must say, I laughed my head off at a Stooges as a young adult, never laughed so hard when I was a kid.

Jeff Miller

@Patrick Drazen I just watched it on youtube. Future cartoons would be extremely racist during ww2 but not this.

Patrick Drazen

2y↑1

Betty did a short in 1935 called "A Language All My Own", in which she was invited to give a concert--in Japan. She sings the title song in both English and Japanese, and--despite the kimono--still comes across as a slinky Jazz Age idol!

GP Jensen

I remember watching Betty Boop cartoons. I am 70 now but I can remember quite well how I watched her, not knowing why I liked her cartoons so much but knowing that I did.

islandgyrl73

2y↑1

There's no mention here that Helen Kane lost her lawsuit when it was discovered that Helen stole her "style" and song from Baby Esther Jones who was a Harlem jazz singer. Somehow Esther never received credit or compensation. So...talk about character inspiration. Look her up.

R G

I grew up on Fleischer cartoons running on local TV in the 1950s. At the time, I thought I could marry Betty Boop. Popeye was my role model. I conducted an imaginary orchestra for some of the music-only cartoons played (I vaguely recall a farmer always dealing with mice and cows). Thanks for the nice stroll down memory lane.

T P

2y↑1

Betty Boop was 30 years prior to my birth, but in my early teenager years I got up a few times to catch a few episodes of Betty in reruns that was shown on local tv late into the night. Since it was a school night, I was able to get away with it only a few times. But they were her more pre1934 ... but a few did have post1934 tone down .... actually it was title something like the best of Betty Boop, which to slip a few of her more revealing ... the poodle Betty was shown which I didn't like at all. In one, I remembered see the her dress falling down, but they edited the scene to break to a commerical and when came back on, Betty was finishing the song as the final credits.

I have never found her series on DVD, and a few used copies I found were labeled out of print - and the dealer wanted $59.98 for one 30 minute disc which was apart of a complete series set. Apparently, he purchased the entire set and each disc down individually and sold each at $58.98. Which nobody want the last, not even I.

reXdownham

I've been a big fan of Fleischer Studios for a very long time. In the 80s & 90s, when I worked in Miami, I drove by their building all of the time. This is an interesting look into their Betty Boop years.

John Levin

2y↑1

Born in 51 I grew up watching these classics. They were great and put today’s cartoons to shame. If these were shown regularly today, the woke radicals would blow up.

hebneh

In the late 1950s and early '60s I thought the really early sound cartoons like these were overly weird when they were shown on TV. I already preferred Disney, Warner Bros. and other more visually sophisticated animation. This was also when the limited-motion cheaper Hanna-Barbera cartoons were first being released, like "Huckleberry Hound" followed by "The Flintstones" and "The Jetsons", and this obviously inferior quality also annoyed me.

Mistress Kixen

2y↑5

So basically Censorship Killed Betty's career back then. So sad big time sad.

Paul Newton

I've seen the originals on you tube and wondered where and when they were around. Was great to stumble across this a learn here origins. I thought must have stopped because children got nightmares 😕

THEJR1948

I was born in 1948, my first crush was Betty Boop. At 74 years old I am stallion love with her. She was the greatest carton character ever. She must have aroused millions of hormonal boys.
Me included. I often wished she was real, I wanted to meet her too. How sad is that. Love you Betty.

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