Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle is a 1932 Fleischer Studios Betty Boop animated short, directed by Dave Fleischer.[1] It is now in the public domain.

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle
Directed byDave Fleischer
Shamus Culhane (uncredited)
Produced byMax Fleischer (producer)
StarringMae Questel
Music byThe Royal Samoans
Animation byShamus Culhane (uncredited)
Seymour Kneitel
Bernard Wolf
Color processBlack-and-white
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
September 23, 1932
Running time
8 mins
LanguageEnglish

Betty's hula dance was a visual high point of this episode and appears to be closely modeled on the hula dancer that appeared in the opening live action sequence (though the dancer was not "topless" as Betty is). This is one of the more apparent examples of the rotoscope technique which the Fleisher Studio used for realistic animation. The hula sequence was later reused for Betty's cameo in 1933's Popeye the Sailor and in 1934's Betty Boop's Rise to Fame.

Plot

After a short live action performance by the Royal Samoans, Bimbo appears on screen playing a ukulele while riding in a motorboat. The motorboat goes faster and faster, until it crashes into a tropical island. Bimbo flies into the air and lands in another boat with a topless (except for a strategically placed lei) and dark-skinned Betty Boop in it.

Bimbo and Betty, after nearly falling down a waterfall, are flung from the boat into a clearing surrounded by hostile trees, who torment the two. A group of Samoans appear, but Bimbo disguises himself by painting his face and sticking a bone in his hair, a form of blackface. Bimbo is treated as an honored guest, and Betty dances the hula. A sudden rainstorm washes off Bimbo's disguise, and he and Betty are chased by the Samoans until they reach Betty's canoe and take off down the river. When it seems that they are alone, the two proceed to kiss in private behind an umbrella (with a convenient hole).

References
  1. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. pp. 54–56. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved June 6, 2020.


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