Betty Boop's Trial

Today I am posting a cartoon that I had glossed over for years: Betty Boop's Trial (1934). By this point in the series Betty was beginning to tank. This came out around the time of all those disastrous team-up cartoons (Little King, Henry, Little Jimmy) and those infamous yawners (in my opinion anyway) "No No A Thousand Times No" and "She Done Him Wrong". The Waldman credit doesn't exactly encourage curiosity either. So I always skipped over it. Imagine my surprise when I discovered what a filthy (and freaky) little gem this is. If you are checking back regularly you may notice that I sometimes change the text of my posts. That's simply because I'd like this blog to be more about images and video than pontification (which I stink at anyway). So, enjoy the cartoon and may the judge character and his little piggy legs haunt your nightmares for years to come!

A doctored publicity photograph reflected a more demure Betty. The lower image hails from 'Betty Boop's Movie Cartoon Lessons'. By Betty's transitional outfit (see cycle below) I'm guessing the book was published in 1934 - the same year as "Betty Boop's Trial". Incidentally I would say both photos practically define "exquisite".

One Note: There is a brief black-face gag (an Amos N' Andy parody) in "Betty Boop's Trial". I try and avoid such images here (they are covered on other blogs in detail anyway) but sometimes can't as here. The film is kind of a forgotten Betty Boop (and Youtube has only the re-colored version) - so I wanted to post it. And now the cheap jokes...

Yes, this is what you think it is.

Welcome to the Court of Perverted Opinion!

Perverted documents have been drawn ...

What do you say about scary drawings like this?

Perverted Democracy at work (thumb licking optional).

Betty Walk Cycle

This week I am posting the last of the three cycles to appear in "Betty Boop's Movie Cartoon Lessons": a rare 1930's promotional booklet designed to demonstrate some of the rudiments of animated cartoons. Curiously while the cycles of Bimbo & Koko seem to animate quite naturally on 1's at 24 fps, Betty seems to be moving really fast while on twos she seems to be moving way too slow. For interest I have included both. Of added interest is Betty's transitional outfit narrowing the publication date (unlisted in the actual book) as roughly 1934/35.

On 1's (24 fps)

On 2's (24 fps)

Click here to see the Koko the Clown flip book from "Betty Boop's Movie Cartoon Lessons"

Click here to see the Bimbo Flip Book from "Betty Boop's Movie Cartoon Lessons"

A Study In Animated Cartoons

Here's a weird item from my collection, bought when I was flush ... and possibly a little drunk: Division 11 of The Federal Schools mail order course on animation. While some of the Federal School books (particularly those on newspaper cartooning) contained actual examples of well known cartoonists' work,  this particular volume was illustrated entirely by mystery man Roy Olson.  I have no idea who he is or if these frames represent an actual film that played somewhere. Evidently the eager student was to pin this to the wall so it's frightening visage could inspire mutant cop and possibly (likely) dancing meat drawing perfection.