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Betty Boop has her moment

Fleischer Studios' Bimbo cartoons succeeded in 1930, but Betty Boop stole the show debuting in "Dizzy Dishes" singing "I Have to Have You." She starred in 100+ cartoons, undergoing makeovers due to censorship, per Emily Wishingrad.

By John Mark Ockerbloom

https://everybodyslibraries.com/2025/11/30/betty-boop-has-her-moment/

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The caption claims that Betty Boop was indeed based on Helen Kane. This was published before the lawsuit in May.

Photoplay, April 1932

This is an image from Photoplay magazine showing a side-by-side comparison. On the left is a black and white photograph of Helen Kane, a performer dressed in an elaborate ruffled costume with tiered skirts and decorative trim, posing against a curtained background. On the right is a drawing of Betty Boop in her iconic cartoon style - with her characteristic large round eyes, short curly black hair with a spit curl, and a short black dress showing her distinctive garter.

The caption below reads: "Folks, meet Betty Boop (right). You'll be seeing a lot of her because she is the new animated cartoon character who is trying to cut in on Mickey Mouse's popularity. Does she look familiar to you? Now look at little boop-a-dooper Helen Kane. Helen was the cartoonist's inspiration for Betty, the first time a real life character has been used for the popular jumping comics"

This is significant because it was published in April 1932, before Helen Kane filed her famous lawsuit against Fleischer Studios in May 1932, claiming that Betty Boop was an unauthorized use of her likeness and persona. The magazine's straightforward acknowledgment that Kane was the inspiration for Betty Boop provides important historical documentation of how the character's origins were publicly understood at the time.

https://archive.org/details/photo42chic/page/n491/mode/2up