Justin Diego

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The Dark and SHADY History of Betty Boop

The Dark and SHADY History of Betty Boop

May 4, 20225 min read

Betty Boop is the animated ravishing cartoon, icon created in the early 1930’s, that many people around the world adore, but very few of us know the truth about the inspiration behind this iconic character or why some people think the original Betty Boop was black.

Dark History| Part One

I decided to explore some bingeworthy topics that I otherwise would never get to discuss on my platform. It was important to me during this series to find a balance between sharing meaningful stories all while remaining just as entertaining as I am when I get into pop culture news. That led me on the journey of uncovering some really interesting information about our beloved Betty Boop.

The Stolen Identity of Betty Boop

When Max Fleischer of Fleischer Studios first debuted Betty Boop in the 1930’s the character looked quite different. Yeah Betty Boop was originally a dog. Overtime her look continued to evolve where her child-like big head and over-sized eyes along with her fashionable clothes and small frame somehow brought all the boys to the yard.

Before long Betty Boop became well know for her cute catchphrase. Betty Boop continued to grow in Popularity and stared in over 100 cartoons where she stood out as a stark contrast to her contemporaries like Mini Mouse. People just couldn’t get enough of her unique portrayal of women and her creator Max Fleischer was cashing in big time.

This is where the tables turned. Around this time American Singer and actress, Helen Kane was going thru financial hardships and was envious of Max Fleischer success with Betty Boop. Apparently it was common knowledge that the Betty boop character was in some ways a parody of Helen Kane’s entire swagg. From the look, the way she sounded all squeaky, babyish, and with Betty Boop’s iconic boop-oop-a-doop being inspired by Helen’s very on boop-ation, So after a while, Helen went full out Karen on Max and notoriously sued Fleischer Studios in 1932 for allegedly stealing her singing style and catchphrase, which she claimed she had invented.

The Court Case That Revealed Who Really Inspired Betty Boop (Boop Vs Boop)

This case is extremely high profile and everyone thought that the case could not get any more ridiculous as these white folks were really in here arguing about a cartoon character. Then the bomb dropped: it was revealed that Helen Kane had actually stolen the identify of a Black up and coming Harlem singer named Ester Jones AKA Baby Ester who was the originator of the sound, image, and Boop oop isms that Helen had the nerve to be trying to defend.

Unfortunately, Ester had been forgotten by history and Helen Kane furthered pushed Baby Esther into the shadows by falsely claiming to have invented the baby-like singing style and famous catch phrase, Boop-oop-a-doo. In reality, Helen Kane had regularly seen Baby Esther performances in the Cotton Club and copied her technique of singing. Just like that Helen had updated her style and singing pattern and never thought anyone would find out.

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:22 Was Betty Boop Originally Black?
3:15 Betty Boop’s Stolen Identity
4:20 Boop Vs Boop (Betty Boop Lawsuit)
5:08 Hellen Kane Sues for $250,000
6:09 Epic Plot Twist Exposes Hellen’s Lies
6:40 Hellen Kane Loses Betty Boop Case
7:45 The Forgotten Black Woman Behind Betty Boop
8:57 Remembering Ester Jones
9:26 Is Betty Boop Black?
10:25 Chloe Bailey Honors Black Origins of Betty Boop