In a 1938 cartoon, we get an old Fleischer concept in the title—Out of the Inkwell. Actually, Betty doesn’t come out of the inkwell. She goes into it at the end.
The short also has live action and stop motion. A janitor in Max’s office reads a conveniently-place book on hypnosis and puts Betty on a background drawing in his spell.
He causes her to flip around. There are nine drawings on a cycle.
The drawling, lazy janitor is pure Stepin Fetchit.
Tom Johnson and Otto Feuer are the credited animators.
The Fleischer studio did what it could to freshen the Betty Boop series. Which apparently included taking her out of her comfort zone (part of Betty's charm was being in control of whatever situation she found herself in while still maintaining her daintiness; she could finesse unwanted suitors with "You keep your hands to you, that's what you are") and not even drawing her very well.
ReplyDeleteThis seems to have been their plan for Popeye as well.
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