Betty Boop

Betty Boop
A title card of one of the earliest Betty Boop cartoons
First appearance	Dizzy Dishes (1930)
Created by	Max Fleischer, with Grim Natwick et al.
Voiced by	Margie Hines (1930–1932, 1938–1939) Ann Rothschild (1931–1933) Harriet Lee(1931) Mae Questel (1931–1938, 1988) Kate Wright (1932, 1938) Bonnie Poe (1933–1934, 1938) Victoria D'orazi (1980) Desirée Goyette (1985) Melissa Fahn (1989, 2004–2008) Cheryl Chase (2002) Sandy Fox (commercials) Cindy Robinson (official-commercials)

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising.

A caricature of a Jazz Age flapper, Betty Boop was described in a 1934 court case as: "combin[ing] in appearance the childish with the sophisticated — a large round baby face with big eyes and a nose like a button, framed in a somewhat careful coiffure, with a very small body of which perhaps the leading characteristic is the most self-confident little bust imaginable." Despite having been toned down in the mid-1930s as a result of the Hays Code to appear more demure, she became one of the best-known and popular cartoon characters in the world.

Betty Boop made her first appearance on August 9, 1930, in the cartoon Dizzy Dishes the seventh installment in Fleischer's Talkartoon series. Although Clara Bow is often given as being the model for Boop, she actually began as a caricature of singer Helen Kane. The character was originally created as an anthropomorphic French poodle. Betty Boop appeared as a supporting character in 10 cartoons as a flapper girl with more heart than brains. In individual cartoons, she was called "Nancy Lee" or "Nan McGrew" – derived from the 1930 Helen Kane film Dangerous Nan McGrew – usually serving as a girlfriend to studio star, Bimbo.