I bought this globe in I know it sounds odd to be in love with a cartoon character but I was only nine at the time and she does have all the attributes of the perfect woman. Mind you, I’m still a little in love with her today, despite being grown-uppish these days
Betty Boop was created by Max Fleischer in the 1930’s. She started out as a poodle dog character without a name. She was an immediate hit with the public and when I saw her in ‘Minnie the Moocher’ back in the sixties on TV she was an immediate hit with me – my heart went out to her.
Betty's love interest was also a dog character named Bimbo. As Betty's popularity grew, she went through a transformation, losing her dog characteristics, but Bimbo remained as her boyfriend despite the fact that he remained a dog. Her little pet dog ‘Pudgy’ was introduced in 1931 - that’s him waiting for Betty to get out of the bubbles by her pink, pearlescent bath.
Betty was based on one of two real women – the silent film actress Clara Bow (the It-Girl) or Helen Kane, an American popular singer whose signature song was "I Wanna Be Loved By You" (boop-oop-a-doop). Both Helen and Clara bore a strong resemblance to Betty and whilst I have a soft spot for Helen, Clara was my second love – well, in my mind they are one and the same person, and interchangeable in my imagination. Either way I’d be any of their dogs – Pudgey, Bimbo, even the Great Dane in Clara Bow’s rather risqué, ‘Call her Savage’.
So my secret is out – I want to be Betty Boop’s dog.
Not your usual ambition I agree, but pretty harmless, and as Betty would have said "Nobody can take away my boop-oop-a-doop" for dreaming my own dreams.
Philip Morgan commented on Facebook:
ReplyDeletePhilip wrote
"If any child was born looking like Betty Boop they'd be signed up for reconstructive facial surgery as soon as their bones stopped growing."
Most of our problems start when we dream other peoples dreams rather than our own. One day you will be Betty Boop’s dog and I will swing from building to building, and we'll still be as we are, when all the fools that doubt us fade away.
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