Comments on: Betty Boop’s Big Boss

By: Pandarsson

Pandarsson — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:14:44 +0000

No, it wasn’t made for kids any more than the Three Stooges or any other short subject stars were. It was made for adult movie goers to view before the feature film. This is why Betty Boop (at least before the Hayes Act) was always (not just in this cartoon) sexy, a middle-aged sailor named Popeye smoked, drank and got into fights, and the Three Stooges did all sorts of ill-advised things and beat each other up pretty regularly. Yes, some cartoons (especially those made by Disney) were aimed at kids or were at least kid-friendly, but many animated shorts were shown before films made for adults. The fact that kids later became the sole focus of animation was mainly due to the influence of Disney. Thankfully, this has somewhat been reversed in recent years with great examples such as the gritty animated films of Ralph Bakshi (such as the screen adaptation of “Fritz the Cat”, “Wizards”, “Street Fight” and “Heygoodlookin’”) which deal with everything from sexual exploration, gang violence and racism and get downright pornographic at times. And then there’s the Simpsons and all the Simpsons-inspired animated series. Don’t forget two movies inspired by stories from the magazine “Heavy Metal”. I won’t even go into the explosion of popularity for Japanese animation except to say that if you think animation is for kids and can’t otherwise provide an engaging, thought-provoking story that can keep you on the edge of your seat, watch “Akira”. So, please, don’t pick on sweet Betty.

By: samrees

samrees — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 10:24:02 +0000

this was made for kids?! not one of my faves….

By: David G.

David G. — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 18:12:20 +0000

The tune of “Jesus Loves The Little Children” was originally written by George Root during the Civil War as a Northern marching song called “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp”

By: Christine Hennig

Christine Hennig — Tue, 10 May 2005 19:58:58 +0000

ItÃƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚?s the height of the Depression, so when Betty Boop sees a Ãƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚?Girl WantedÃƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚? sign, she comes on hard to the boss in order to get the job. After she gets hired, the boss comes on hard to her, but before you can say Ãƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚?sexual harassment,Ãƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚? sheÃƒ?Ã‚?Ãƒ?Ã‚?s called out not only every cop in town, but the army and navy, too. This is a wonderfully weird and silly Betty, with anthropomorphic inanimate objects aplenty, and side jokes that you almost miss, such as the cops who are determined to arrest the boss for bad acting. Great fun.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: *****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: *****.

By: Little Nemo

Little Nemo — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 12:40:47 +0000

Pretty outrageous – Betty gets a depression-era job with her overt sexuality and hints, then is horrified when the boss comes on to her, then gives in to him just when most of the nation’s military forces have been mobilised to defend her honour!
As usual, inanimate objects are the funniest, like the door.