040-Betty Boop-Popeye the Sailor Man & Betty Boop -1933

Betty only once appeared in a Fleischer Brothers cartoon alongside Popeye, & it was for Popey's debut film, Popeye the Sailor (1933). The full title was intended to be Popeye the Sailor with Betty Boop but "with Betty Boop" appears on a separate title card & only on the working script as the full actual title.

It was presumed that Betty's established popularity would help sell Popeye. How ironic that his popularity would eventually eclipse Betty's, with his cartoon adventures produced well after hers had ceased.

She sings the final verse of the Popey themesong behind the opening title card, not the more famous theme but the one that begins "Strike up the band for Popeye the Sailor/ Cash in his hand right off a whaler."

The more famous theme is sung by Popeye himself in the first scene, which announces in the newspaper that the King Features sailor was going to be starring in a movie. As he sings, he performs some feats of strength like punching a ship's mast into wooden clothespins.

He's got shoreleave. He meets Olive Oyl on the docks, punching a few mashers including Bluto who had harrassed her as she waited for her man.

Olive & Popeye head off to the carnival for a date, with crude Bluto stalking them. There follow a number of gags in which Bluto proves how strong he is but Popeye follows up with much grander strength.

For example, Bluto easily rings the bell with the enormous mallet, but Popeye crunches up the mallet into sawdust by rubbing it in the palms of his hands, then hits the gong by pounding the plank with his fist.

Betty Boop shows up as the hoochie-koochie dancer recycling & adding to the rotoscoped hoola dance from Bamboo Isle (1932) against a new backdrop of circus posters, & singing a new song.

Popeye leaps on the stage & dances with her. While Popeye's flirting with Betty, Olive Oyl gets kidnapped by Bluto who runs off into the hills with her. Betty warns Popey, "Oh, looky!"

That's it for Betty's cameo, as Popeye heads off to save Olive from the railroad tracks Bluto bound her too. Bluto stands in the way & they're fighting something awful as the train barrels down on Olive.

Popeye's not getting the worst of it at all, but he has to speed up the fight, so he downs a can of spinach, knocks out Bluto in a single punch & a tree that turns into his coffin, then stands in front of the train wrecking it to save Olive.

Mae Questal the famed voice of Betty Boop created another voice for Olive, & continued to do her voice for some while after Betty was discontinued.