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Betty Boop Biography

Animated Character

Betty Boop was the cartoon cutie developed by Max Fleischer for Paramount Studio's Talkartoons cartoon series. Oddly, Betty Boop began life as a dog, but by 1930 she had evolved into a coy flapper whose innocent skirt-lifting and trademark line "boop-boop-a-doop" were sweetly suggestive of more than just singing and dancing. She made her debut on 8 August 1930 in "Dizzy Dishes," the sixth installment of the Talkartoon series. Boop was a big hit right away, and starred in over 100 cartoons from 1931 to 1939. Her design was altered several times in response to critics of her hubba-hubba look, and over the years she became increasingly less saucy (and less popular). Thanks to a Boop Renaissance in the 1990s, with her smiling image showing up on everything from jewelry to slot machines, Betty Boop has continued to have strong merchandising power into the 21st century.

Extra credit: Mae Questal, the voice of Olive Oyl in the Popeye cartoon series, also did Betty's.

Betty was one of the first in a long line of sexy cartoons. Read all about her, Olive Oyl, Jessica Rabbit and others in our loop Animated Babes.