Betty Boop Season 1932, Episode 3: The Robot

1

Any Rags

The rag and bone man passes through Betty Boop's neighborhood.

8 min

2

Boop-Oop-a-Doop

Betty works in the big top as a lion tamer and a tightrope walker. Another of the other circus attractions is Koko the Clown. While performing on the highwire the villainous ringmaster lusts for Betty as he watches her from below, singing "Do Something," a song previously performed by Helen Kane.

8 min

3

The Robot

Bimbo is a mechanic whose girlfriend (not Betty) agrees to marry him if he wins a fight against "One-Round Mike." Quick as a wink, he transforms his car into a robot to help him in the ring!

8 min

4

Minnie the Moocher

Betty Boop and Bimbo run away from home, but that night they are scared by a chorus of ghosts singing the title song.

8 min

5

Swim or Sink (S.O.S.)

A sinking ship leaves three survivors on a life raft: Bimbo, Koko and Betty Boop. Good news/bad news: they're rescued by a pirate ship...

8 min

6

Crazy-Town

Betty Boop and Bimbo take a wild streetcar ride to Crazy Town, where birds swim, fish fly, and everything else reverses normal behavior.

8 min

7

The Dancing Fool

Daredevil sign painters Bimbo and Koko like what they see through the window of Betty Boop's Dancing School, and stay for a lesson.

8 min

8

A Hunting We Will Go

Amorous hunters Bimbo and Koko set out to bag some furs for coat-loving Betty Boop, but things don't turn out the way they'd planned...

8 min

9

Chess-Nuts

A live action chess game becomes a chaotic, animated quest for the favors of Betty Boop. Betty comes to life as the black queen and Bimbo becomes the white king. The black king, Old King Cole, wants Betty for himself and carries her away to his castle. Bimbo must come to her rescue, with the assistance of Koko and the other chess pieces. When Bimbo breaks into the castle, he engages Old King Cole in a fight, which results in King Cole's death, with Bimbo, Betty, Koko and the other chess characters parading along the chess board. The two men playing chess are shown to have been playing the game for so long that they grow large beards with a spider in a web between the two beards. The battle contains elements of chess, bowling, football and boxing. Koko appears briefly as part of Bimbo's team of animated chess men.

8 min

10

Admission Free

Koko and Bimbo visit Betty Boop's penny arcade, Bimbo to flirt with Betty; but his turn at the shooting gallery becomes a hunting trip.

8 min

11

The Betty Boop Limited

On a special train, Betty's show troupe rehearses: Betty sings, Bimbo juggles, and Koko does a soft-shoe. The train itself also does tricks.

8 min

12

Stopping the Show

Betty Boop appears on stage in a vaudeville theatre. Her act consists of imitations of real-life singers, including Helen Kane, Fanny Brice and Maurice Chevalier. The cartoon audience enthusiastically cheers and applauds.

8 min

13

Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee

Betty is the owner and operator of the Bizzy Bee, a popular lunchwagon in the city. Even though the only item on the menu is hotcakes, the place is always packed, thanks to Betty's cute face. A running gag centers around a hippo vainly requesting that someone "please pass the sugar;" in the end, he is inundated with sugar.

8 min

14

Betty Boop, M.D.

Betty, Bimbo and Koko are the owners of a travelling medicine show. They are selling "Jippo", an all-purpose health tonic. Koko's contortionist display doesn't convince the local townsfolk to open their wallets, but Betty gets the whole town eager to buy their product. Even though it's only water, drinking the tonic causes everyone to exhibit strange side-effects, from unusual hair growth to rapid de-aging.

8 min

15

Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle

After a short live action performance by the Royal Samoans, Bimbo appears on screen playing a ukelele while riding in a motorboat. The motorboat goes faster and faster, until it crashes into a tropical island. Bimbo flies into the air and lands in another boat, this one containing a topless (except for a strategically placed lei) and dark-skinned Betty Boop. Bimbo and Betty, after nearly falling down a waterfall, are flung from the boat into a clearing surrounded by hostile trees, who torment the two. A group of savages appears, but Bimbo disguises himself by painting his face and sticking a bone in his hair. Bimbo is treated as an honored guest, and to a performance of Betty dancing the hula. A sudden rainstorm washes off Bimbo's disguise, and he and Betty make a hasty escape from the angry savages. After another rapid boat ride, Bimbo and Betty ride up the Mississippi River, where they attempt to kiss in private behind an umbrella (with a convenient hole).

8 min

16

Betty Boop's Ups and Downs

A destitute Betty is evicted from her home. As she leaves, a for sale sign appears on the property. As the camera pulls back, more and more signs appear, until the whole Earth is for sale. The moon and the planets start bidding on the Earth, and argue over who has made the highest bid. An irate Saturn uses a magnet to eliminate gravity, pulling Betty and everyone on Earth into space.

8 min

17

Betty Boop for President

Betty runs for the office of President against Mr. Nobody.

8 min

18

I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You

After a live action introduction featuring Louis Armstrong and his orchestra, the short opens in the jungle, with Betty being carried on a litter by Bimbo and Koko. A horde of African savages descends on the trio, and runs off with Betty. Koko and Bimbo try to find the missing Betty, but end up in the cannibals' cooking pot. They climb a tree and escape, but are pursued by the enormous disembodied head of a savage (with the voice of Louis Armstrong). Koko and Bimbo eventually find Betty tied to a stake, surrounded by dancing natives. Koko and Bimbo help Betty escape by firing porcupine quills at the savages. The trio races off, hotly pursued by spear-tossing natives. The three finally reach safety after crossing a mountain, whose erupting peak flings the savages into space.

8 min

19

Betty Boop's Museum

Koko is recruiting customers for a 50 cent sightseeing tour of the museum. Betty is Koko's only passenger. Betty gets locked inside by accident. The skeletons from the displays come to life and chase Betty, until she is finally rescued by Bimbo.

8 min