The judge then watched footage of Fleischer cartoons and Kane performances. Some of the testimony became almost hilarious. All claimed they hadn’t imitated Kane and did their Betty Boop voices to prove it.Įventually, the court stenographer threw up his hands. The press was thrilled with the idea that a performer was trying to legally protect her popular “boops.”Īt the beginning of the court hearings, Fleischer presented three women who had voiced Betty Boop. It seemed like Kane had a legitimate case and her lawsuit made it all the way to the New York Supreme Court.
#The original betty boop trial
He gathered his Betty Boop voice actors on camera to make fun of the lawsuit during a newsreel, and not long after, Betty Boop herself appeared in a cartoon called “Betty Boop’s Trial.” Betty on Trial However, Max Fleischer, owner of Fleischer studio, would not budge. Kane claimed that phrases like “boop, boopa doop, or boop-a-doop or similar combinations of such sounds have been part of her babied vamp act since the beginning.” She sought $250,000 in damages (equivalent to $4.7 million in 2020) for mimicking her look, mannerisms and voice without getting a dime. When she experienced economic hardship due to Paramount’s layoff, she took legal action against Fleischer’s animation studio. The cartoon character, as a clear parody of her, delivered a spot-on imitation. Of course, Kane found out about Betty Boop. They found a perfect sound-alike in Margie Hines, who initially voiced Betty, only to be replaced by several other voice actresses until Mae Questel took over the role in 1931. The Fleischer brothers were eager to match that baby voice as closely as possible. New York Times called the singer “the most menacing of the baby-talk ladies,” a reference to the vaudeville phenomenon also utilized by Fanny Brice and Irene Franklin. Much like the vaudeville performers before her, Kane used her little-girl voice to deliver lyrics that would have been shocking in another singer’s mouth. Her signature, “boop-boop” style became a theatrical staple. The jazz singer’s slinky vocals and baby-like manner of singing made Kane one of the most beloved performers on stage. Two years before Betty Boop debuted, Kane gained fame with the song “That’s My Weakness Now”, which used the term “boop-boop-a-doop” as shorthand for sex. The Baby Talk LadyĪccording to some sources, Fleischer requested a caricature of Helen Kane, a singer who had a similar style to many performers of the day. Her wide gaze and sexy looks won her a strong following among the depression-era audiences.īetty Boop is thought to have been modeled in part on Paramount star Clara Bow, who was popular when Fleischer began developing the character. New Betty Boop was an upbeat flapper known for driving a car, dancing popular dances, and showing lots of skin. Within a year, Betty made the transition from an incidental human-canine breed to a female human character. The character was initially created as an anthropomorphic French poodle with long, floppy ears. Some of the studio’s most iconic characters included Koko the Clown, Bimbo, Popeye the Sailor, and Superman.īut it was Betty Boop that was going to be the ultimate breakout hit for the studio. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Fleischer ran Fleischer Studios with his Brother Dave Fleischer. The device and the associated process was used to make it easier for animators to draw the frames for animated films and laid the ground for production houses like Disney. In 1917, he was granted a patent for his invention, the rotoscope. He later worked as a technical illustrator, catalog illustrator, and art editor.
Her creator Max Fleischer is considered as one of the most important innovators in the history of animation.įleischer was an American cartoonist who gained notoriety as the developer of the rotoscoping technique. He was also the mastermind behind Popeye the Sailor Man, and the two cartoons are often confused with each other.įleischer was born in 1883 in Kraków, Poland, and enjoyed drawing as a child. Immigrating to the United States in 1887, his family chose to make New York City their new home.įleischer began his career at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, where he advanced from errand boy to staff cartoonist. The flapper-era cartoon star is known for her curvy figure, sexy voice, and signature red-bow lips. The origin story of Betty Boop is a fascinating tale that takes us all the way back to the Jazz Age and the first-ever animated cartoon star. Boop was the first cartoon character ever to have a bra-burning scene in a cartoon!) Since her creation in 1930, Betty Boop has gone from being a sexy cartoon vamp in the 1930s to an iconic symbol of feminism in the 1980s. Betty Boop is a cultural icon that has held a place in millions of Americans’ hearts for nearly 90 years.