Betty Boop became a sex symbol during the Depression.

Her character was that of a teenager who was not in good terms with her parents. She ran away with her boyfriend Bimbo and got lost in a cave. She was portrayed basically as a “flapper.”

All this changed, however, when the Production Code Censorship came into the picture. Her character turned from flapper into a housewife cum career girl – albeit with no husband. When the Depression ended, it seemed that Betty’s career also came to an end.

Grim Natwick’s Betty Boop first hit the screens in 9th August 1930.

This was in Dizzy Dishes, a cartoon which was part of the Talkartoon series. The ‘fully human’ Betty Boop didn’t come out till 1932 in Any Rags, another animated cartoon.

All except one of Betty Boop’s theatrical appearances have been black and white. Her only theatrical color appearance is in Poor Cinderella in 1934.

However, in 1955, Paramount sold her films for syndication and her career was given a new lease on life. In fact, Betty Boop’s popularity extended to outside of the United States to as far as Asia. The main problem that beset Betty Boop cartoons is the fact that they were in black and white. With the arrival of color TV and film, there was simply no market for her cartoons.

Today, one can find about 22 public domain cartoons of Betty Boop at the Internet Archive. This is all well and good for Betty Boop fans of all ages as there really has been no modern release of any of her cartoons.

Though Betty Boop has not seemed to last with respect to film, her merchandise has become popular all over the world. In fact, Betty Boop merchandise – featuring the sexier version – can be found in most any country. These products include anything from bags to purses to wallets to pencil cases.