Betty Boop

Betty Boop, flirtatious, seductive cartoon character of 1930s animated short films produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave Fleischer. Modeled on the sexy, coy flapper of the 1920s, in particular singer Helen Kane, Betty Boop has huge eyes, long eyelashes—which she bats frequently—and a distinctive high-pitched voice, provided by various actresses, notably Mae Questel. Betty frequently punctuates her sentences with the exclamation “Boop-oop-a-doop!” She wears strapless short-skirted dresses and, on her left thigh, a fancy garter, which she sometimes snaps coquettishly.

Origins

Animator Grim Natwick originally drew the character as a poodle, and she first appeared as a supporting character in the animated short Dizzy Dishes (1930) in the cartoon series Talkartoons (1929–32). Beginning in 1932, Betty was all human and the star of her own series, as artists replaced her poodle ears with hoop earrings and her snoot with an upturned nose. Though Betty was voiced by a number of actresses in the first couple of years, Mae Questel’s playful, squeaky delivery became the character’s definitive voice starting in 1931. She remained Betty’s voice until the character’s last official on-screen appearance in 1939. She later voiced the character in a cameo for the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Popularity and censorship

At their peak, Betty Boop cartoons were hardly fare for children, often straying into bawdy humor. The character herself—officially only 16 years old—often fended off unsolicited male attention. Because of her independent nature and her self-aware sexuality, she has been hailed by many as an early feminist icon who embodied the flapper not only in fashion but also in her subversion of traditional gender roles as an independent working woman; in one 1932 short, she is even elected president of the United States. However, some critics argue that her characterization was more reflective of the male gaze than sexual liberation. Whatever the case, Betty Boop cartoons were very popular with the American public; among the best films of the series were Dizzy Dishes, I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You (1932), The Old Man of the Mountain (1933), Snow-White (1933), and Red Hot Mamma (1934). Fleischer Studios used the attention her series received to introduce other characters to the screen, most famously the spinach-loving sailor Popeye.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

Britannica Quiz

Saturday Morning Cartoons and More

Betty’s overtly sexualized image made her the first cartoon character to be censored by the Hays Office, the Hollywood industry body that enforced the Production Code (also known as the Hays Code) starting in 1934. The code excised the cartoon’s adult themes and forced the studio to water down Betty’s image as a sex symbol. Betty, a risqué and free-spirited Jazz Age rebel, was reimagined as modest and domesticated. Perhaps because of the radical shift in her characterization, Betty’s popularity declined, and the series was discontinued in 1939.