Betty Boop for President

Last updated

Betty Boop for President
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Produced by Max Fleischer
Starring Mae Questel
Music by Sammy Timberg
Animation by Seymour Kneitel
Roland Crandall
Bernard Wolf (uncredited)
Color process Black-and-white
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • November 4, 1932 (1932-11-04)
Running time
7 mins (one reel)
LanguageEnglish

Betty Boop for President is a 1932 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. [1] It was released by Paramount Pictures on November 4, 1932, four days before that year's presidential election day.

Contents

Plot

Betty runs for the office of President against Mr. Nobody. Both candidates state their platform through song and dance.

In answer to various problems and political issues, Mr. Nobody consistently promises that "nobody" will solve the problem:

Who will make your taxes light?... Mr. Nobody!
Who'll protect the voters' right?... Mr. Nobody!
Should you come home some early dawn,
Find a new milkman is on:
Who cares if your wife is gone?... Mr. Nobody

Betty's promises for improvements are shown, including door to door trolley stops, improved conditions for keeping the streets clean, and even a giant umbrella to protect the whole city from rain. Betty also promises to tame a split and incorrigible Congress made up of donkey Democrats and elephant Republicans, and offers a simple solution for prison reform: she will transform each hardened criminal into a limp-wristed sissy.

Betty's campaign promises win the crowd over, and she is voted into the White House by a landslide. A large parade is held in the new President's honor, as she thanks one and all. The film ends with a static shot of a glass of beer, possibly indicating that Betty will also end prohibition.

Notes and comments

Remake

There is a film called Hurray for Betty Boop made in 1980, based on this short's running-for-office premise. [2] Record producer Dan Dalton took scenes from over 30 Korean-colorized 1930s Betty Boop cartoons and wrote a connecting narrative to make this feature. He employed the voice-acting talents of Tommy Smothers and Victoria D'Orazi, and songs by Debby Boone, Cab Calloway, and The Association. Dalton claimed "it was difficult to keep the continuity" to Fleischer authority Michael Dobbs. Dalton explicitly asserted in 1982 that New Line Cinema's lack of promotion was from the film's failure to receive a theatrical release.[ citation needed ] It only made its home video release by Warner Home Video in 1984 before it was stored away in obscurity resulting its overwhelmed negative reception.

This 90 minute film finally received a DVD release in 2004, under the name Betty Boop for President, on the Brentwood Home Video imprint. Despite this, Dalton uploaded the abandoned compilation film on social media in March 2016.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<i>Snow-White</i> (1933 film) 1933 film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olive Oyl</span> Character from Popeye

Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip Thimble Theatre. The strip was later renamed Popeye after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a main character for a decade before Popeye's 1929 appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fleischer Studios</span> American animation studio

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Fleischer</span> American animator and inventor (1883–1972)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Betty Boop</span> Animated cartoon character

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mae Questel</span> American actress (1908–1998)

Mae Questel was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop, Olive Oyl and numerous others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grim Natwick</span> American artist, animator and film director (1890–1990)

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.

<i>Popeye the Sailor</i> (film) 1933 American film

Popeye the Sailor is a 1933 animated short produced by Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Publix Corporation. While billed as a Betty Boop cartoon, it was produced as a vehicle for Popeye in his debut animated appearance.

Betty in Blunderland is a Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, which was released on the 6th of April in 1934. Also known as Betty in Flunkerland.

Betty Boop's Rise to Fame is a 1934 Fleischer Studios animated short film, starring Betty Boop.

Betty Boop, M.D. is a 1932 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Koko the Clown and Bimbo. The animated short is certainly one of the more surreal entries in the Betty Boop filmography.

Betty Boop's Ker-Choo is a 1932 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop, and featuring Koko the Clown and Bimbo.

<i>Poor Cinderella</i> 1934 Fleischer Studios-animated short film

Poor Cinderella is a 1934 Fleischer Studios-animated short film featuring Betty Boop. Poor Cinderella was Fleischer Studios' first color film, and the only appearance of Betty Boop in color during the Fleischer era. It was the first Paramount Pictures animated short in color.

Betty Boop and Grampy is a 1935 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop. The short features Grampy in his first appearance.

Betty Boop and Little Jimmy is a 1936 Fleischer Studio animated short film, starring Betty Boop and featuring newspaper comic strip character Little Jimmy.

Olive Oyl for President is a 1948 entry in the Popeye the Sailor animated short subject series, produced by Famous Studios and released on January 30, 1948 by Paramount Pictures. The short is a reworking of a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon, Betty Boop for President, and depicts what Popeye imagines the world would be like if Olive Oyl were president.

<i>Popeye the Sailor</i> (film series) 1933 American film

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of short films based on the Popeye comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios, based in New York City, adapted Segar's characters into a series of theatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, Popeye makes short work of the villain.

Bonnie Poe was an American actress, best known for providing the voice for the Fleischer Studios animated character Betty Boop beginning in 1933, starting with the Popeye the Sailor series and featuring in a dozen cartoons. She voiced her in a live-action segment on the special Hollywood on Parade No. A-8, performing a skit with Bela Lugosi providing a portrayal of Count Dracula.

<i>Minnie the Moocher</i> (film) 1932 film

Minnie the Moocher is a 1932 Betty Boop cartoon produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures.

Events in 1938 in animation.

References

  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 54–56. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  2. 1 2 Saavedra, Scott (August 2020). "Cartoon Characters for President". RetroFan (10). United States: TwoMorrows Publishing: 13.