Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Betty Boop vs. The Old Man of the Mountain
(Video link) In this 1933 cartoon, Betty Boop and a host of animals challenge the ultimate sexual predator: The Old Man of the Mountain.
At 3:15, note the unhappy victim with the three bearded babies heading down the mountain as Betty goes up. The sexual suggestiveness of the film drew enough protests to force the Fleischer Studios to tone down the Betty Boop character. By the time the Hays Code came into full force, she morphed into a modest career girl. The music was by Cab Calloway's Orchestra. Calloway's dance routine influenced the choreography of the Old Man, using the new rotoscope process that the Fleischer studios pioneered.
----
Wikipedia article about the film
Archive.org about the film
Minnie the Moocher, another Calloway/Fleischer collaboration
Wow! What were they smoking in the studio back them?
ReplyDeleteProbably all kinds of stuff. Drinking too.
ReplyDeleteProbably got away with all kinds of stuff that people can't do today and shouldn't.
I loved watching the whole betty boop series. The disturbing reality from 1920 to the 1940's are the one's to watch before the series was franchised. Watching the early popeye series there are very disturbing factors about the Pluto, Popeye and Olive's relationship. Which is worth noting the strange dynamics of the time period. Of domestic abuse, to umm... kidnapping? and more?
ReplyDelete