Problematic “Betty Boop” cartoons are listed below. Some of these cartoons were initially banned on TV, but they were later redistributed to on DVD and Blu-ray after being remastered. For the improper references, The Fleischer Studios have issued many apologies.
Whether new or seasoned viewers, it seems that many of the Betty Boop fans are uninformed of the character’s history or key storyline points.
Despite the fact that African-American artists were included in several Fleischer Studios cartoons, the original Betty Boop series contains a lot of racial gags and racism. Racism is an important aspect of history that must never be forgotten. Hiding it will just assure that it occurs again. Although it is less prevalent now than it was then, racism still exists. In those days, black people had few rights.
Black History Month today celebrates all Black individuals throughout American history. It also brings awareness to historical racism. It should be noted that some individuals are racist, but not all.
I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You
(November 25, 1932)
Louis Armstrong and his band are portrayed as racially stereotyped savages. The Fleischers depicted these African American performers as monkeys or gorillas.
Yes, even Louis Armstrong…
Betty Boop’s Up’s and Downs
(October 14, 1932)
One of the minor characters is shoveling coal. He ends up doing blackface. Betty thinks he’s a Black man, and this makes her uncomfortable. So she squeals “Ooo” and quickly moves away from him. Though Betty Boop enjoys singing with Black performers. She sometimes is depicted as biased. Which can be explained more in the “Out of the Inkwell” cartoon. So it doesn’t matter how many Black singers she sang with.
Betty Boop was created as a white woman, so I assume the gag here, is that Black men are dangerous.
Black people were not perceived well back then in media and real life. So most of the jokes are stereotypical. In Betty’s case, you can appropriate a culture and still be a little racist. So regardless of her singing with Cab Calloway it doesn’t matter. They made Louis Armstrong look like a “GORILLA” so what does that say?
Popeye the Sailor
(July 14, 1933)
Popeye, Bluto, and Olive Oyl participate in a racial carnival game. They target a stereotypical African-American character with the balls rather than a wooden African head.
Popeye and Bluto face off, with Popeye coming out on top. The unfortunate black man suffered severe injuries. Betty Boop and Bimbo dolls are awarded as prizes.
In real life this was a real game. An African-American man would poke his head through a curtain and try to avoid baseballs or eggs hurled at him by players. Despite the evident savagery of smacking someone in the head, it was a well-liked carnival game from the 1880s until the 1960s.
Serious injuries were frequently sustained by the black victims.
The Old Man of the Mountain
(August 4, 1933)
Cab Calloway’s hermit-like character, the old man of the mountain, an African-American character is portrayed as a sexual predator. The notion that all black men are sexual predators is the basis for this racial stereotype. To understand this in more context, read Emmett Till’s biography.
Because they used to lynch black men and boys over fabricated sexual assault claims, this is a racist stereotype. Of course when Cab Calloway saw his first cartoon Minnie the Moocher with Betty Boop, he fell off his chair with laughter and delight.
This is unfortunate because the old man of the mountain is meant to be a parody of Cab Calloway.
Betty Boop’s Penthouse
(March 10, 1933)
Koko the Clown puts on blackface and is disgusted because his face has turned black. His face slips off and it screams the stereotypical phrase MAMMY.
Betty Boop’s Rise to Fame
(May 18, 1934)
Betty does blackface. Unlike the previous cartoon Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle, in which she appears as a legit Polynesian, in this version Betty uses the ink from the inkwell to change the color of her skin.
Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle
(September 23, 1932)
Despite the The Royal Somoans being rotoscoped, and one of the dancers “Lotamuru,” “Mari” or “Meri” serving as model for Betty Boop, the Samoans in Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle, were made to look like monkeys.
A quick note, the Fleischers didn’t appear to understand the distinctions between an African Zulu Native and a Hawaiian South Seas Native. A later Betty Boop episode included a similar incident.
Did I forget to mention that Bimbo does blackface?
Betty Boop’s Trial
(June 15, 1934)
Fearless Fred does blackface and says something in a stereotypical black voice.
No wonder Betty dumped this “Art Jarrett Jr.” reject.
Making Stars
(October 18, 1935)
Betty reveals new baby stars in Making Stars. Betty Boop yells MAMMY while singing about new stars. The Colorful Three, a trio of stereotyped African-American triplets, are introduced by her. The triplets perform a Cab Calloway tune with scat singing.
The Colorful Three’s African-American mother and sibling enter in the audience, and the baby screams for a watermelon. To quiet the infant, the mother stuffs watermelon into the baby’s mouth.
A Chinese baby appears and entertains the crowd as a marksman. The scene is offensive because the Oriental riff is playing, and the boy has a pigtail.
Pigtails on old stereotypes of Chinese stereotypes are reference to the “Pigtail Ordinance” a disgraced Chinese man.
In 1873, the “San Francisco Board of Supervisors” established the “Pigtail Ordinance,” which required San Francisco convicts to shave their hair to within an inch of the scalp for hygiene reasons. This law disproportionately affected male Chinese immigrants, who were ordered to cut off their queues, or waist-length braided pigtails. Queues were a crucial identifying marker for many Chinese immigrants, and they were required for men to be able to return to China during the Qing dynasty. Losing one’s place in line was considered a sign of dishonor.
These scenes were later removed from various TV, VHS and DVD prints. But when the series was remastered, they were restored for modern DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Zula Hula
(December 24, 1937)
Zula Hula, if not the worst, is one of the most offensive and racist Betty Boop cartoons.
As said above, the Fleischers’ didn’t seem to recognize the difference between a Hawaiian South Seas Native and an African Zulu Native, as Native behaviors are identical to Betty Boop’s Bamboo Isle.
A Hula is a Hawaiian dance form invented by Polynesians in the Hawaiian Islands.
The Zulu Tribe of Africans are depicted as monkeys.
Grampy swiftly charms the Natives with music while repairing the plane, the song is pretty catchy.
While singing you can hear one of the Zulu scream out the stereotypical phrase MAMMY. The cartoon is very offensive to say the least.
Out of the Inkwell
(April 22, 1938)
Betty comes to life in Max Fleischer’s workplace, believing that the African-American janitor is lazy. Three outdated stereotypes of African-Americans include lazy, dumb, and industrious.
Betty Boop’s personality is really bad in this cartoon, she’s that of a Karen. It is weird in comparison to the earlier Betty Boop jamming with Cab Calloway and other black stars.
Betty informs him angrily that he must get to work. As a result, she bleaches him white with a spell. After turning him white, he becomes energetic and cleans the Fleischer Studios office.
Rhythm On The Reservation
(July 7, 1939)
Rhythm On The Reservation is terribly racist. Betty wins over a hostile group of Native-Americans in this episode by teaching them how to play musical instruments. Betty refers to the Indian chief as Mr. Red Skin, he flirts with her throughout the episode making his squaw jealous.
Of course in 1930, Grim Natwick’s “Betty” was a Native-American maiden, but that was more or less a one-shot cartoon. Betty being fictitious, her race doesn’t really matter, because she doesn’t really exist.
There are plenty further jokes like these in previous Fleischer cartoons that I may have missed. Numerous Betty Boop animated series have “Yiddish” Jewish parodies. However, that was funny in comparison since Jews made fun of themselves and were employed by the Fleischer Studios.
Boop-Boop-Be-Doop ♥ 