#Betty boop cosplay

[dahlialiketheflower]

I grew up with Betty Boop and now I get to be her!

Instagram.com/dahlianicole_

[lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks]

fun fact, for every good cosplay you pump out

there will always be a secret failed cosplay

in which my attempt at cosplaying Betty Boop ended up becoming Tina Belcher cosplaying Betty Boop

[luckylunatix]

(Reupload cuz I realized an error in my previous attempt to post, it was small and barely noticeable but it still bothered me personally)

I was thinking a lot about Betty Boop last night and got an idea I just had to draw

I think this style suits Marvin rather well, don't you think?

[itsyoungvictory]

Betty boop💋

[crimsonglow-art]

All day #volunteer for #sdccmuseum

I loved the Becoming Betty boop exhibit and the Cosplay Masquerade exhibits. This was so cool

[tiffanybam]

Betty Boop

[obiwan-kirk]

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A post shared by Anna Faith (@annafaith)

[gothwizardmagic]

fantasia is such a sweet person but im begging the boulets to get out of her ass and roast her for her boring looks

[laceddoll]

I wanna be loved by you 💋

[omgcrazyfangirlblog]

I’m getting use to sharing at least one post with a cosplay I have done, so here you go, have betty boop

[contemplatingoutlander]

Cosplay Run Amok

Oops. @soberscientistlife and @her-rightful-place it looks like none of the above is true. From the annals of Don't believe everything you see on Tumblr, it appears that the photos above are NOT Esther Jones. Instead, they are of Ukrainian model Oyla, who was photographed cosplaying Betty Boop by Retro Atelier (see more below).

But there is a real tie-in with Esther Jones, although it is a questionable one, via a white singer, Helen Kane, who was likely the model for Betty Boop.

Transcript of text from the above Photoplay(April 1932) article: Folks, meet Betty Boop (right). You'll be seeing a lot of her because she is the new animated cartoon character who is trying to cut in on Mickey Mouse's popularity. Does she look familiar to you? Now look at little boop-a-dooper Helen Kane. Helen was the cartoonist's inspiration for Betty, the first time a real life character has been used for the popular jumping comics.

But at the trial where Kane sued the creator of the Betty Boop character (Fleischer Studios) for exploiting her act, the Fleischers provided evidence that Kane's act was modeled on the child performer Esther Jones (aka "Baby Esther"), so they claimed that Kane's act wasn't original. The Fleischer's won the case. However, reportedly the scholar Robert O'Meally made a case for the Fleischers having provided false evidence regarding Kane's connection with Baby Esther; it was also reportedly claimed that the Fleischers later acknowledged that Betty Boop was modeled on Kane.

Below is some of the evidence for all of this.

This is from the Betty Boop fandom (who knew Ms. Boop had a fandom?🤷🏻‍♀️):

Model Oyla is a Ukrainian model who is best known for her 2008 photoshoots as Betty Boop by Retro Atelier. Her photograph first surfaced on HelloBeautiful's official website crediting the photos as Esther Jones, however the lifestyle editor Danielle Young who posted the images on the website had claimed that they were of Jones without researching the origin of the photographs, the photos are vintage tribute cosplay photos. The photos later made their way to MadameNoire and then went viral on Tumblr, Facebook and social media worldwide. Trivia *Images of Olya dressed as Betty Boop are classed as cosplay and are often mistaken for Baby Esther Jones and sometimes Helen Kane. *Sometimes the model is claimed to be Russian. *Oyla is not to be confused with the model Olga Alberti, they are complete different people.

Sure enough, photos of Oyla doing her cosplay can be found at the LiveJournal retroatelier website:

And then there is this debunk by Ray Pointer.

In spite of failed attempts at a return to the screen, the image of Betty Boop continues to be of interest. In 2008, a series of Betty Boop photographs taken in the style of the 1930s were made of the Russian model Olya by the Retro-Atelier Studio. These photographs hit the Internet via Instagram, erroneously claiming to be Esther Jones, Helen Kane, and ''the Black Betty Boop," entertaining the concept of Betty's origins in Black culture. While intended to honor the memory of Miss Boop, they have been the source of further historical inaccuracy.

Pointer, Ray (2017). The Art and Inventions of Max Fleischer: American Animation Pioneer. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. p. 282. ISBN 147666367X.

[edited]

💔💔💔💔💔

[thevioletscout]

Did you know!

Betty Boop was based on an African American jazz singer named Esther Jones, pictured below!

Despite this, Betty Boop has been consistently portrayed as white, and Esther Jones' likeness was used without her permission. 

And if you've actually read this far and not just nodded and scrolled on, congratulations! I was lying to you, that entire thing was bunk.

Esther Jones, better known as Baby Esther or Lil Esther, was only a child when Betty Boop made her debut, her exact age is a mystery due to a lack of records. That image I showed you before? That's of a model named Olya P. for the magazine Retro Atelier in 2008. Also Olya’s not even black, she’s white and either Russian or Ukrainian.

Betty Boop was indeed visually based off a jazz singer and actress, but it was Helen Kane, a white woman. Clara Bow, another white singer, is also sometimes cited as an inspiration, but with less evidence. 

It was Helen Kane who found out her likeness was used without permission and filed a lawsuit against Max Fleischer and Fleischer Studios for it. While he would later wholeheartedly admit it, he denied the likeness as part of his testimonies. In the process, he argued that Kane had taken most of her songs and style from Baby Esther. However, according to Wikipedia it’s possible a lot of the evidence for that was fabricated in an attempt to discredit Kane.

So to be more precise, Betty Boop was based off a white woman who might have based her image off a little black girl.

Also, the topic of Betty Boop's intended race gets a little silly regardless given that she was first conceptualized as an anthropomorphic poodle. While it's not exactly unheard of for the 1930s, I don't think they were really focusing on coding her as a specific race at that moment.

The cartoon Minnie the Moocher (remember this) would even depict Betty Boop as coming from a German immigrant family. Many speculated she was even Jewish due to this as well as the Fleischer brothers and her voice actress Mae Questel both being Jewish, but Benjamin Ivry of Forward pointed out that her family's meals were not Kosher so this was unlikely. 

Now you might be thinking; okay but what's the harm in portraying Betty Boop as black? Can’t black people reclaim this one character for themselves? And honestly, I kinda agree. Personally I think Betty Boop is one of those characters that can be ANY race, not just white or black, given her ambiguous and stylized features. I love seeing black women cosplaying Betty Boop or her being portrayed as black in art.

However, the reason I bring this up is because I personally think false or misleading information does not make for good representation. Especially when it leads to situations where artists have to explain themselves for giving Betty Boop light skin when the reason cited otherwise is blatant misinformation. Though thankfully the one interaction I have had about it before posting this was very polite.

Not to mention, this kind of thing maybe not necessarily buries but distracts from the very real contributions and accomplishments of black people in Betty Boop's history.

Let's talk Cab Calloway, for example.

Cab Calloway was a singer and bandleader acclaimed for mixing jazz with vaudeville. He was the first African American to sell one million copies of a single record, and collaborated with Fleicher Studios for three animations, Minnie the Moocher, Snow White, and The Old Man of the Mountain. In these, he would perform a song, the first and last even being directly named after his music, and he was even directly rotoscoped while dancing. 

I can't find any sources for who approached who for these collaborations, but I feel its needless to say there's an inherent respect for Calloway and his work in these cartoons. For a black man in the 1930s. And they didn’t even hide it, Minnie the Moocher and The Old Man of the Mountain features live footage of Cab Calloway and his very visibly black band.

These cartoons bleed passion from both the singer and the animators. And if you’ll excuse the sidenote, I watched those cartoons as part of my research and even today his music is still absolutely enchanting. 

And Calloway was not immune to racism just because of his success either. He and a friend, Felix H. Payne Jr. were even victims of police brutality by officer William E. Todd in 1945 when they were attempting to visit Lionel Hamptom at the whites-only Pla-Mor Ballroom.

His work matters. Betty Boop was only one small part of his career, the man did a lot in his time, but he brought something truly amazing to the table.

There are real people whose accomplishments deserve to be recognized, but I feel they often get pushed aside in the efforts to make up representation that was never actually there under the false belief that there was none in the first place.

Hell, this entire thing is a discredit to the real life of Esther Jones herself!

She was a literal child who’s date of birth and especially death are unknown. She gained fame in her hometown Chicago which led to her becoming an international celebrity, touring Europe as an honored representation of African Americans alongside Josephine Hall. Then she basically retired as a teenager and disappeared from the public eye.

And what is her memory nowadays? As a sexy flapper that supposedly inspired Betty Boop’s creation.

Even knowing this was false, I had to fight back so much misinformation while making this. This photo right here? I was led to believe this was a photo of an adult Esther Jones, but it’s not! We don’t have photos of her as an adult! This is a completely different, unidentified, woman photographed by James Van Der Zee!

And quite frankly, as a white woman I feel like a jerk having to be the one to tell black people that actually no Betty Boop was based on Helen Kane, not Esther Jones.

So in conclusion, STOP MAKING SHIT UP.

[Sources:

Betty Boop - Wikipedia

Cab Calloway - Wikipedia

Baby Esther - Wikipedia

Модель Оля | BETTY BOOP Wiki | Fandom

Dizzy Dishes (1930)

Minnie the Moocher (1932)

Snow White (1933)

The Old Man of the Mountain (1933)]

[crushedsweets]

I know it’s a bit early but what would they dress up for Halloween? 

jack and kate would only dress up cuz nina made them match with her. and i think nina could convince clocky and toby to match pretty easily...

so... THEYRE ALL COWBOYS. ALL OF THEM.

nina might also try to do red riding hood and the wolf with one of those four...

lazari would wanna be an angel... awkward.

tim and brian dont really dress up anymore, but they'll throw on a (non-proxy) scary mask if they gotta. something like jason or ghostface or whatever.

jeff would just. well. ok listen. he knows he's fucking scary. but if he's going to bars and trying to fuck around or whatever, he'll also throw on a rando mask.. just smth from spirit halloween

ben... is .. done with dressing up. the amount of cosplay comments he gets is sick. he's tired. LMFAOOO

sally would wanna be some character in a show she watched growing up. minnie mouse, maybe?

jane would make a cute betty boop.. or she'd match w sally and be daisy duck. mary would be donald duck. LOL

liu would probably be some guy from some obscure movie wearing a simple basic outfit. everyone would assume he didnt dress up, unless he says 'yeah im xyz from this one film made in 2001... what do u mean u dont know what im talking about'

ann, lulu, and dina wouldnt dress up cuz theyre all messed up

[imeverywoman420]

Hi Emily can you post some examples of the teehee face? I have been trying to understand the concept, but I haven't had any success

i was going to make a longer post but heres a good explanation: its like our generations “duck lips” but worse

its like a betty boop, trying to be cute but sexy face. VERY unnatural. Its like the polar opposite of “bedroom eyes”. Where ur trying to portray childishness and innocence.

Purposely trying to look vacant. When an OF model is acting like an idiot in little maid costumes, thats the teehee face. When you see a tiktok girl make one of those “some bitch wanted rights 100 years ago now i have to go to work :(“ tiktoks… thats the teehee face. its HUGEEEE in cosplay communities.

[katlimeart]

Daisy cosplaying as Betty Boop/Cinderella from Poor Cinderella