Bimbo's Initiation | |
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![]() Bimbo undergoes a trial | |
Directed by | Dave Fleischer |
Produced by | Max Fleischer |
Starring | Margie Hines Walter Van Brunt [1] |
Music by | Sammy Timberg |
Animation by | Grim Natwick Jimmy Culhane (uncredited) Al Eugster (uncredited) |
Color process | Black-and-white |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Paramount Publix Corporation |
Release date |
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Running time | 6 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Bimbo's Initiation is a 1931 Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Bimbo and featuring an early version of Betty Boop with a dog's ears and nose. [2] It was the final Betty Boop cartoon to be animated by the character's co-creator, Grim Natwick, prior to his departure for Ub Iwerks' studio.
During the opening credits, a chorus of college fraternity brothers boasts how easily they will induct Bimbo. Bimbo walks down the street whistling "Go In and Out the Window" and suddenly disappears down an open manhole. A Mickey Mouse look-alike quickly locks the manhole after him. [3] He slides down a long chute into the underground clubhouse of a secret society. The leader asks Bimbo if he would like to be a member, but Bimbo refuses and is sent through a series of dangerous trials. After each trial the leader repeats the invitation, but Bimbo still refuses. Finally the leader removes his costume to reveal Betty Boop, who charms Bimbo with a dance. Bimbo accepts the invitation, and the other members of the society reveal that they are also Betty. They all celebrate by dancing to the tune of Byron Gay's "The Vamp".
The surreal, nightmarish atmosphere of Bimbo's Initiation has made it one of the most renowned Fleischer Studios shorts. Leonard Maltin described it as "the 'darkest' of all" [4] the Fleischers' cartoons. In 1994 it was voted #37 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation industry. [5]
The cartoonist Jim Woodring identified Bimbo's Initiation as "one of the things that laid the foundation for my life's philosophy". [6]
The film's copyright was renewed in 1958. [7]
Snow-White is a 1933 American animated short in the Betty Boop series from Max Fleischer's Fleischer Studios. Dave Fleischer was credited as director, although virtually all the animation was done by Roland Crandall, who received the opportunity to make Snow-White on his own as a reward for his several years of devotion to the Fleischer studio. The resulting film, which took six months to complete, is considered both Crandall's masterwork and an important milestone of the Golden age of American animation.
Fleischer Studios was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of its films. In its prime, Fleischer Studios was a premier producer of animated cartoons for theaters, with Walt Disney Productions being its chief competitor in the 1930s.
Max Fleischer was a Polish-American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios, which he co-founded with his younger brother Dave. He brought such comic characters as Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Popeye, and Superman to the movie screen, and was responsible for several technological innovations, including the rotoscope, the "follow the bouncing ball" technique pioneered in the Ko-Ko Song Car-Tunes films, and the "stereoptical process". Film director Richard Fleischer was his son.
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She was featured in 90 theatrical cartoons between 1930 and 1939. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising.
Talkartoons is a series of 42 animated cartoons produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1932.
Koko the Clown is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer. He first appeared as the main protagonist in Out of the Inkwell (1918–1929), a major animated series of the silent era. Throughout the series, he goes on many adventures with his canine companion "Fitz the Dog", who would later evolve into Bimbo in the Betty Boop cartoons.
Tom and Jerry are fictional characters that starred in a series of early sound cartoons produced by the Van Beuren Studios, and distributed by RKO Pictures. The series lasted from 1931 to 1933.
Myron "Grim" Natwick was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop.
Color Classics are a series of animated short films produced by Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures from 1934 to 1941 as a competitor to Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. As the name implies, all of the shorts were made in color format, with the first entry of the series, Poor Cinderella (1934), being the first color cartoon produced by the Fleischer studio. There were 36 shorts produced in this series.
Bimbo is a fat, black and white cartoon pup created by Fleischer Studios. He is most well known for his role in the Betty Boop cartoon series, where he featured as Betty's main love interest. A precursor design of Bimbo, originally named Fitz, first appeared in the Out of the Inkwell series.
The Old Man of the Mountain is a 1933 American pre-Code live-action/animated short in the Betty Boop series, produced by Fleischer Studios. Featuring music by Cab Calloway and his Orchestra, the short was originally released to theaters on August 4, 1933 by Paramount Pictures. Calloway voices all of the characters in the cartoon save for Betty herself. Calloway and his orchestra also perform all of the music in the cartoon, including two songs Calloway co-wrote.
Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle is a 1932 Fleischer Studios Betty Boop animated short, directed by Dave Fleischer.
Betty Boop's Museum is a 1932 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Koko the Clown and Bimbo.
Betty Boop's Ker-Choo is a 1932 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Koko the Clown and Bimbo.
Dizzy Dishes is an animated cartoon created by Fleischer Studios in 1930, as part of the Talkartoon series. It is noted for being the first cartoon in which Betty Boop appears. Under current United States copyright law, the short will enter into the public domain in 2026.
Any Rags? is a 1932 Pre-Code Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Bimbo, and Betty Boop, with a brief appearance by Koko the Clown.
The Dancing Fool is a 1932 Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Betty Boop, Bimbo, and Koko the Clown.
Minnie the Moocher is a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures.