With the Depression raging on, she is just what audiences were looking for an escape into whimsical characters and slapstick plots.
BETTY BOOP DOLL VALUE MOVIE
The cartoons were popular as movie shorts in theaters because they were light and funny. The style of baby talk and sexy innuendo was popular at the time, and Kane herself was not the only performer of that style. The prevailing opinion is now that vaudeville singer Helen Kane, known for a breathy baby-talk voice and flirty performances, was likely one of the inspirations for the character. Still, the PBS “listicle” that alleged the link to Jones was not taken down or retracted promptly and still lives on in cyberspace, even though no firm connection was ever legally established. The connection was the source of a court battle in 1934, which Fleischer won.
After some confusion over the origin, PBS acknowledged that it had not adequately researched an image and a theory emerged that Betty was based on a black jazz singer, Baby Esther Jones. WHO WAS BETTY?Īnother confusing part of Betty’s history is the inspiration behind the creation of the character. King Features Syndicate licenses all the character merchandise via the Fleischer estate. Fleischer still retains the rights to the films and the characters’ trademarks. Fleischer would later lose a lawsuit against AVELA, which created objects from the movie poster images. Images from the movie posters created in the 1930s were never copyrighted as stand-alone items by anyone, even though Fleischer trademarked the character of Betty. What’s important to remember is that these rights apply only to the cartoons not yet in the public domain. Eventually, it was Harvey Cartoons and Alfred Harvey and his brothers in 1980. From there, the rights went to Harvey Films, who began licensing the character in 1960. The studio that created Betty, Fleischer Studios, assigned the film rights to Paramount in 1941. She remains a famous icon, with fans across all age groups, but does anyone own her? Well, sort of. BUT FIRST, THE LEGAL BATTLESĪ short search of auction sites shows a plethora of Betty Boop collectibles including, dolls, figurines, accessories, jewelry, and home furnishings. Some have entered the public domain, and some have not, which is complicated when it comes to merchandise and licensing.
BETTY BOOP DOLL VALUE SERIES
Between her debut in 1930 the last film in the Betty Boop series in 1939, there are 90 cartoon shorts featuring her. Still, she would eventually evolve into fully human form, in a skimpy dress and a baby voice, boop-boop-a-dooping in movie theater features. In this film, the character is an anthropomorphic dog with long ears.
Betty Boop, an iconic theater cartoon from the Jazz Age days of the 1930s, is one such example.Ĭreated by animator Max Fleischer at his studio Out of the Inkwell Films, Betty premiered in 1930 in a cartoon called Dizzy Dishes. Of course, as creative works age, they eventually fall into “public domain,” where copyrights and trademarks are no longer valid, leaving the field wide open for anyone who wants to create merchandise. Betty Boop, with her flirty red dress and infectious giggle, was a mood lifter during the Depression.Ĭopyrights, trademarks, and public domain, oh my! Today, it’s standard practice that when a movie or television show premieres, everything associated with it is covered in legalese and sewn up tight with licensing agreements and product placement deals.
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