A little something different......
Some time ago, I came across a review of a Betty Boop DVD compilation that said the following, while trying to describe what the cartoons are like:
"
Inanimate objects come to life or imitate animals for no reason at all, as when a boat anchor momentarily becomes a "dog" to dry itself off. Anything can transform into anything. Betty, Bimbo and Koko the Clown become chess pieces in one cartoon. Anything that can morph into a form that can tickle, molest or simply ogle Betty will do so -- pulling up her skirt is the usual thing to do. After seeing a couple of these cartoons, with their marvelous jazzy soundtracks and completely demented content, one can see why they were a cult item with dopeheads of the '60s and '70s."
As if I didn't already need a reason to love Betty Boop cartoons!
It had long been one of my projects to go through ALL the Betty Boop cartoons (virtually all that are on You Tube), and find the tickles; this review kicked it into gear.
I did find a couple! I did not find as many as I'd hoped for, nor did I find a "holy grail" clip of Betty being tickled into hysterics (I was hoping the cartoon "Ha Ha Ha" would have something and, although she's definitely laughing hysterically, it's not because of being tickled). I also did
not find any clip of Bimbo "lasciviously" tickling Betty's "bare ribs", as described elsewhere by someone here on the TMF (there
is a cartoon where Betty herself holds up a picture of a skeleton, drags her pointer across the ribs and the skeleton breaks up laughing, but that's not what he described). The original TMF alert wasn't sure of the title, but guessed it was the Little Red Riding Hood cartoon. At the end, Bimbo does grab her by the waist (as many do throughout these cartoons) but he does not tickle.
I'm pretty sure I've seen all of the early cartoons with Betty and Bimbo and I did not find anything. I also did NOT venture too much into the post 1934 cartoons, after the Hays Code pretty much ended the party for Betty Boop fans!
So here's what I got:
1931 - Mask A Raid. Here, Betty is a queen or a princess, sitting on her throne next to a randy king. Betty is having none of it.
View attachment Betty Boop 1931-11-07 - Mask A Raid.mp4
I know this is a black & white thread, but here's the same clip, colorized years later. It looks like sugar water poured over a steak, but you get the idea...lol
View attachment Betty Boop 1931-11-07 - Mask A Raid color.mp4
1933: Betty Boop's Penthouse. Betty gets ticklish while drying herself off after a shower. According to Mae Questel (who voiced both Betty Boop and Olive Oyl), she would often improvise these kinds of lines and quips, so I wouldn't be surprised if she herself just threw that in as she was putting her voice; I'm not sure the tickling itself is reflected in the animation.
View attachment Betty Boop 1933-03-10 Betty Boop's Penthouse.mp4
Thanks to
MrTenacious who discovered this clip of Betty getting tickled by her puppy, Pudgy. This was when the studio made her more conservative; I didn't go through this era of her cartoons, so happy MrTenacious found this one!
View attachment Betty Boop and Pudgy - Little Nobody - 1935.mp4
I'm also not sure if foot fetishism extends to cartoons.....but if it does, then you'll probably dig this, both in the original black & white, and the colorized version.
View attachment Bimbo's Express 1931-08-22 Bimbo's Express.mp4
View attachment Betty Boop Bimbo-s Express (1931) (Colorized) (Spanish).mp4