Ann Little

From the A&E "Biography" series, a review of the birth, development and cinematic history of Betty Boop, the flapper cartoon character who has been a popular icon since the 1930s.

Betty and Bimbo, as Queen and King of the May, host a giant outdoor party that gets sprayed with rubber. Koko appears briefly.

The Round Towners Quartet sings the title song with a Bouncing Ball. Cartoon sequence: Betty Boop and Bimbo go ice skating.

Betty Boop and friends meet Louis Armstrong on a jungle safari.

Everyone loves the wheat cakes served by short-order cook Betty, but they have a drawback. With Bimbo and Koko; no bee is involved.

Koko the Clown and Bimbo overhear Betty Boop singing about how much she wants a fur coat. That's enough for them. Now they're off to bag themselves a moose, a bear, a fox, a lion, a leopard. It doesn't much matter as long as a fur coat will bag Betty. But neither of them are especially competent at the sport. Koko has to put up with a moose that fires back; while Bimbo suffers the wrath of a lion who multiplies after being shot. And neither hunter accounts for Betty's fickleness or her kind heart.

In the circus, Betty Boop is the lion tamer, sings the title tune on the high wire, and fights off the lecherous ringmaster.

A sinking ship leaves three survivors on a life raft: Bimbo, Koko and Betty Boop. Good news/bad news: they're rescued by a pirate ship…

The rag and bone man passes through Betty Boop's neighborhood.

Betty Boop goes to Grandma's through the woods despite wolf warnings; but Bimbo follows and gives the old story a new twist.