Betty Boop
Betty Boop’s name is notoriously synonymous with a phrase that pervades the mind of any cartoon fan, “Boop-Oop-a-Doop!” She is the creation of Max Fleisher and his associates, a dazzling, surreal image of their ideal woman: curvy, sexy, scantily clad, and, yet, childlike. Fleisher created Betty Boop as an image to be looked at, not so much to be watched, for her cartoons consist of shaky story lines, dehumanized women, and domineering men. Through an analysis of Betty’s physical appearance, her flaky story lines, and demoralizing image in her early years (1930-1932), Fleisher’s apparent distaste and disregard for women becomes all too clear.
Betty Boop didn’t start out as the sex symbol that she would become; she developed slowly into her more popular persona over a two-year period, from 1930 to 1932. Originally sketched by Fleisher artist Grim Natwick, Betty’s first appearance was in 1930’s “Dizzy Dishes.” Natwick intentionally modeled Betty after Paramount contract actress Helen Kane (though, when Kane takes Fleisher to court over her plagiarized image, she will lose distastefully)—short dark hair, crispy, coiled curls, large innocent eyes, and a coy, small smile would be her characteristics found within Betty. Still, Betty started with some traits that Kane would have been highly offended to have been associated with her: a circular black nose, loose, floppy ears and a whine that mimics that of a small Pomeranian. Natwick claims that because Betty (who is not yet coined as “Betty” at this point) was appearing with Bimbo, a dog character that Fleisher’s artists had created to rival Disney’s Mickey Mouse, she needed to have those canine characteristics as well. A poodle, more specifically, would be Natwick...
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... be redrawn (post-censorship in 1934) to look far less risqué, and she leads to her own demise in 1939 (she featured Popeye in one of her cartoons, stamping out her success for his). Yet, thanks to Fleisher, she continued to be remembered as a sexy starlet with the keenly adorable voice and sprightly attitude caught in constantly challenging, sexually provoking situations.
Works Cited
“Barnacle Bill.” Dir Dave Fleisher and Prdr Max Fleisher. 1930. videocassette.
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Cabarga, Leslie. The Fleisher Story. New York: DaCapo. 1988.
Cohen, Karl F. Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators in
America. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. 1997.
Kanfer, Stefan. Serious Business. New York: Scribner. 1997.
“Mask-A-Raid.” Dir Dave Fleisher and Prdr Max Fleisher. 1931. videocassette.
Republic, 1996.
Alison Bechdel's graphic memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, documents the author's discovery of her own and her father's homosexuality. The book touches upon many themes, including, but not limited to, the following: sexual orientation, family relationships, and suicide. Unlike most autobiographical works, Bechdel uses the comics graphic medium to tell her story. By close-reading or carefully analyzing pages fourteen through seventeen in Fun Home one can get a better understanding of how a Bechdel employs words and graphic devices to render specific events. One can also see how the specific content of the pages thematically connects to the book as a whole. As we will see, this portion of the book echoes the strained relationship between Bruce Bechdel and his family and his attempts to disguise his homosexuality by creating the image of an ideal family, themes which are prevalent throughout the rest of the nook.
Mary MacKillop was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne on January the 15th 1842. She was the first child to Alexander MacKillop and Flora MacDonald. Mary was one child out of 8 and spent most of her childhood years looking after and acting like a second mother to her siblings. The MacKillop family were quite poor so at the young age of 14, Mary got herself a job as a governess and as teacher at a Portland school. All the money Mary earned went towards her families everyday living. While working as a governess, Mary met Father Julian Tension Woods. By the time Mary had reached the age of 15 she had decided that she wanted to be a nun. She also wanted to devote her life to the poor and less fortunate. So upon meeting Father Julian Tension Woods she told him her hopes and dreams, and together they decided to set up a school. In 1861, they worked together and opened Australia's first free Catholic school. At the time only the rich could afford schooling. But at the school Mary opened anyone was welcome. Mary was a great teacher and became very popular within the community. Although Mary was very pleased with her work she still felt a religious calling. So Mary and Father Woods started their own order, 'The Sisters of St. Joseph.' In 1867 Mary then moved to Adelaide where she opened another school. Before long there were 17 schools open across Australia. Mary's followers grew and by 1909 she had followers all over Australia. Mary later died on the 8th of August 1909.
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Stone, Tanya Lee. The Good, the Bad, and the Barbie: A Doll's History and Her Impact on Us. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print.
Saenger, G. "Male and female relation in the American comic strips" in The funnies: An American idiom M. White & R.H. Abel editors, The Free Press, Glencoe IL, 1963, p. 219-223
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