Segments of Betty Boop for President and Polly Tix in Washington

Duration:

Year Published: 1933

Creator: UM&M TV Corporation and Blackhawk Films

Complete Record: #1: Betty Boop's 36th cartoon (1932) is rich with political references. DOGs have privacy booths around their fire hydrants; and this is the first appearance of Grampy, an old fellow who works for the weather bureau. Grampy is fast asleep, and when the rain starts to fall, it activates a fancy sequence of events resulting in him awakening. He hearkens to the weather, and raises a giant umbrella over the city. The invention designed to wake him up and the unlikely solution to the problem of rain (the giant umbrella) are all characteristics of Grampy.) We are shown Betty Boop's correctional facilities, a ribbon-bedecked prison where a big thug is being escorted to the electric chair. There is a flowered pillow on the chair, where the thug sits and is strapped in. When the switch is thrown, the thug gets a make-over, with hair parted neatly, lipstick and mascara, ribbons, and a new slender figure. When released, he has morphed into Betty Boop look-alike and flounces off happily, and exclaims in a falsetto, "Goodness gracious me!" Betty sings: Oh, when I'm the president, When I'm the president, I'll give you all a great big kiss When I'm the president! The next scene shows Times Square in New York City; all the billboards proclaim that Betty Boop has been elected; there are fireworks and a tickertape parade. And at the end... superimposed over the parade scene is a huge, foaming mug of beer! Prohibition is not yet over at the time this cartoon was made, but the Democrats had made the end of Prohibition part of their platform, so they are either celebrating the anticipated end of Prohibition now that Roosevelt had won, or they are campaigning for Roosevelt, depending on exactly when this cartoon was released. This is a segment only. #2: The Burlesks were satires of major motion pictures and current events. All of the performers were preschool-aged children. They were costumed as adults, except for their giant diapers with pins, and given mature dialogue. Filmed in 1931-32, before the Hayes Code was actively enforced, the series is considered dated and exploitative by many modern viewers and film critics because of its depictions of young children in adult roles and situations. In this outing, 4-year-old Shirley Temple plays Polly Tix, a high-priced call girl who is sent by corrupt officials to influence a backwoods politician. There are racial stereotypes, racy dialogue and a cake fight. Little Shirley sashays across the screen in a seductive manner. Despite the lewdness of these little films, they give a glimpse of a time when people thought differently about the use of child actors in the industry. Segment only.