Betty Boop (with dog's ears) is entertainer in a restaurant for dogs; a waiter joins the floor show to the neglect of patrons.
Barnacle Bill (Bimbo) is a sailor on a ship that has just come into port. As soon as he can get off the ship, he heads for Nancy Lee's (Betty Boop) house. When he gets there he begins knocking on her door. Bimbo and Betty begin singing the lyrics to a tame version of "Barnacle Bill the Sailor." The actions of the film follow along the song's storyline, with Barnacle Bimbo romancing Betty and then leaving her to go back to sea. Like many early Fleischer Studios films, this film was inspired by a popular song, a version of "Barnacle Bill" written in 1928 by Frank Luther & Carson Robison and performed by Hoagy Carmichael.
Betty is startled awake in her bed on a stormy night. She searches for the cause of the shock while she sings the song. Then, unexplainable phenomena start happening in the house. Mysterious Mose (Bimbo) appears, and sings part of the song. Bizarre cartoon creatures appear and, at first, sing and enhance Mose's "mysterious" image. Quickly, however, the antics become frightful even to Mose. The film escalates into chaos, which ends when Mose bursts, revealing him having been an automaton (full of cogs and springs) the whole time.
Bimbo prepares to rob a train that he has forced to stop. He then sings "The Holdup Rag." A ferocious bearded cowboy emerges, eats the barrel of Bimbo's gun, and, pulling off his beard and costume, reveals himself to in fact be his wife Dangerous Nan McGrew, whom he had abandoned. She then throws Bimbo into the locomotive, disconnects it from the rest of the train, and they drive off.
A Bouncing-Ball rendition of the title song features animated cats.
In a vaudeville act, Betty Boop (with dog's ears) sings "You're Drivin' Me Crazy;" Bimbo sneaks into the show and runs afoul of a stage hypnotist.
The surreal, nightmarish atmosphere of Bimbo's Initiation has made it one of the most renowned Fleischer Studios shorts. Bimbo is walking down the street when he suddenly disappears down an open manhole. He lands in an underground clubhouse of a secret society. The song Wanna Be A Member? is parody lyrics written to the 1919 song The Vamp (or Vamp A Little Lady).
A young dog calls on Betty but fraternity hazers kidnap him. With a Bouncing Ball, Rudy Vallee sings the title tune.
Betty Boop (with dog's ears) is moving; Bimbo comes with his moving van and is smitten with her. Songs: "Moving Day," "Hello Beautiful."
Bimbo's minding his baby brother, but neighbor Betty Boop (with dog's ears) wants him to come over and play.
Sun bonneted Betty Boop takes a train to "Rudy Valley" where she gains weight and Rudy Vallee performs the title song with Bouncing Ball.
Betty Boop is queen of the Masquerade Ball. She get annoyed by the king of the ball. Bimbo does Italian scatting to confuse the king. Bimbo and the king pull on Betty's arms. Her skirt goes up, showing her underwear and her two garters. But a little creature pins the dress. Then, Betty flips a coin to see if the king or Bimbo wins her affections, but doesn't really work. So the king and bimbo fight with wooden swords. Bimbo loses and is taken away by a knight, but Bimbo soon realizes it is Betty and asks him to marry her.
Bimbo climbs a beanstalk to find Betty Boop enslaved by the giant.
Betty Boop goes to Grandma's through the woods despite wolf warnings; but Bimbo follows and gives the old story a new twist.
The rag and bone man passes through Betty Boop's neighborhood.
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.
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!
Betty Boop and Bimbo run away from home, but that night they are scared by a chorus of ghosts singing the title song.
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...
Betty Boop and Bimbo take a wild streetcar ride to Crazy Town, where birds swim, fish fly, and everything else reverses normal behavior.
Daredevil sign painters Bimbo and Koko like what they see through the window of Betty Boop's Dancing School, and stay for a lesson.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Betty runs for the office of President against Mr. Nobody.
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.
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.
Betty, Koko, and Bimbo drive at the auto races; Betty has a cold, and her sneezes help her win.
In a circus tent, Betty, Bimbo and Koko demonstrate some gadgets reminiscent of TV ads; an animated sewing machine gets out of hand.
For customer Betty Boop, psychic reader Prof. Bimbo conjures up an adventure on a haunted tropical island in his crystal ball.
At Bimbo's Experimental Laboratory, Bimbo and Koko concoct a variety of compounds and elixirs. Their scientific experiments are interrupted when they see a bathing-suit clad Betty taking a shower on the roof of her penthouse. Distracted by Betty as she sings "Penthouse Serenade," the two fail to realize the chemicals they've mixed are still on the boil, one of which turns into a Frankenstein-style monster. The creature sees Betty, and crosses over the phone wire to menace Betty. Betty sprays the monster with flower spray, which turns him into a harmless dancing flower. Betty giggles and says, "You nutty dope fiend!"
A magic mirror, with a face resembling Cab Calloway, proclaims Betty Boop to be "the fairest in the land", much to the anger of the Queen. The Queen orders her guards Bimbo and Koko to behead Betty. With tears in their eyes, they take Betty into the forest and prepare to execute her. Betty escapes into a frozen river, which encloses her in a coffin of ice. This block slips downhill to the home of the seven dwarfs, who carry the frozen Betty into an enchanted cave. Meanwhile, Koko falls down a hole and arrives at the same cave, where the evil Queen turns him into a grotesque creature, all while singing the St James Infirmary Blues. With her rivals disposed of, the Queen again asks the magic mirror who the fairest in the land is, but the mirror explodes in a puff of magic smoke that returns Betty and Koko to their normal states and changes the Queen into a hideous monster. The queen monster chases the protagonists until Koko grabs its tongue and, with one mighty yank turns it inside out. Betty, Koko, and Bimbo dance around in a circle of victory as the film ends.
It's Betty's birthday, but she's in the kitchen washing dishes and wishing she had a man. Betty's pals, including Bimbo and Koko, throw her a party.
An elephant punctures a rubber tree, whose spraying sap turns the whole town rubbery. Betty and the gang use their new found limberness to dance and sing.
Betty responds to an ad for employment ("Girl Wanted--Top Floor--Female Preferred"), along with an enormous group of fellow applicants. When the interviewing manager asks Betty what she can do, Betty replies in song that she can't type or take dictation, but that she can provide other benefits. The businessman sends the other applicants away via a trap door, and hires Betty. Betty is happy with her new job, but the boss soon takes liberties with his employee. Scared, Betty calls for help. The police arrive on the scene, making several futile attempts to enter the building. They finally whittle down the skyscraper by firing machine guns into it. Betty and her boss appear in silhouette behind the window shade, but when the shade is raised, the two are locked in an embrace. Betty exclaims "Fresh!" and pulls the shade back down for some privacy.
Betty, while reading a book of Mother Goose stories, wishes she visit sucha a wonderful place. Betty's wish is granted when Mother Goose appears, and gives her a tour of Mother Goose Land. Betty has a wonderful time until Little Miss Muffet's spider chases her, with lecherous ends in mind.
While on shore leave, Popeye takes Olive Oyl to a carnival, where he is challenged by Bluto in various games. Later, while Popeye is dancing on stage with Betty Boop, Bluto seizes the opportunity to kidnap Olive, forcing Popeye to come to her rescue.
As the cartoon proper begins, a lion on roller skates (made of rabbits) rushes from his guard post atop a mountain, racing into a nearby village crying "Look out! The Old Man of the Mountain!" The lions warning sparks a mass exodus of the other animals who pack up their things and start to flee as the lion continues to warn "Look out! The Old Man of the Mountain!" In time, Betty Boop emerges from a guest house in order to find out what is going on. She confronts a passing owl, who in song describes the Old Man of the Mountain, a predatory hermit who threatens the livelihood of the villagers, particularly the women. Despite the owl's warnings, Betty is curious and declares, "well, I'm going to see that old man of the mountain", and starts a trek up the mountainside. She passes several people fleeing from the Old Man, including a woman pushing a carriage with her triplets--who look suspiciously like the Old Man of the Mountain. When Betty gets to the top of the mountain, the Old Man of the Mountain emerges from behind a rock. Over twice as tall as Betty, the Old Man backs the girl into his cave and, as Betty fights off his advances, begins to sing with her a duet of (Calloway's) "You've Got to Hi-De-Hi." Betty loosens up and joins in, and the two begin to flirt with each other. After his first verse, the Old Man looms menacingly over Betty. "Whatcha gonna do now?" Betty asks, frightened. "Gonna do the best I can," the Old Man replies, launching into a jazzy dance routine. The Old Man and Betty continue to dance together, but when the song is over, the Old Man makes a lustful grab for Betty, who runs for her life back down the mountainside. The Old Man makes chase, and grabs Betty just long enough to catch hold of her dress, which Betty jumps out of. As Betty finds refuge behind a large tree in her underwear, her dress comes to life and slaps the Old Man before running back to its owner. Betty climbs the tree to apparent safety, but as the Old Man comes
The miners at Never Mine go to Betty Boop's Tavern (a jazz-jumpin' place) for lunch; back in the mine, Bimbo delves into weird realms.
To the tune of Rubinoff and his orchestra, Betty Boop and feathered friends try to save a baby bird from the booze-swilling Tom Kats Club.
Betty Boop hosts a Halloween party with aid from a scarecrow, but an uninvited gorilla threatens havoc.
An action figure of Betty Boop drops in on a small toy shop; the other toys come to life and crown her their queen. But there's a big rag doll of King Kong... Based on the titular classical music.
Betty Boop appears on stage with Freddie in an old-fashioned mortgage melodrama.
Betty Boop, sleepless on a freezing night, builds a nice hot fire which proves too much of a good thing; in a dream she visits Hell, sings "Hell's Bells, " and makes Hell freeze over!
Betty Boop and Koko dabble in dentistry, complete with laughing gas.
The White Rabbit materializes from a jigsaw puzzle and leads Betty Boop through the looking glass into Wonderland.
A reporter interviews Max Fleischer about his creation, and Betty illustrates with excerpts from three prior cartoons.
A traffic cop tries to make time with Betty; she speeds to get away, is arrested, and undergoes a musical trial.
Betty takes a trip to the beach and needs the assistance of a big, hunky lifeguard when she rides her rubber horsy out too far!
In her only color cartoon, Betty Boop goes to the ball thanks to her fairy godmother; later, only her foot fits the glass slipper.
Betty Boop recruits for the Army by offering inductees a kiss. The recruits march off to war with a force of giant mosquitoes!
Pudgy the Pup makes a mess of Betty Boop's picnic, is sent home, and runs afoul of the dog catcher.
In a melodrama at the Slumbertown Theatre, Freddie is the sheriff and Betty is a school-marm desired by outlaw "Phillip the Fiend."
Betty Boop puts on a musical show of new inventions and styles; her creation of "ankle skirts" sweeps the nation.
Betty Boop wins the Irish Sweepstakes, and fantasizes about what she'll do with the money.
Betty Boop tells naughty Little Jimmy a corrective fairy tale (with herself as fairy). Part of the action is replayed in reverse.
Betty Boop brings home a cat as playmate for Pudgy, but the cat is a bully who only gets Pudgy into trouble.
To escape her noisy city apartment, Betty Boop retreats to her country home, but the insects are against her.
Betty is the best of things: she wants to bake a cake. But then a fly appears and makes it white hot.
Betty Boop and Freddie appear on stage in a melodrama, wherein Betty sings the title song to the villain.
Betty Boop tries to give Pudgy the Pup a bath, with slapstick results.
Betty Boop takes her stage act on the road, and plays in Japan to great acclaim.
Two piano movers, a fireman and a traffic cop all drop what they're doing to join Betty Boop at the contraption-happy Grampy's eccentric party.
Betty Boop, annoyed by 'public pests' like backslappers, gum parkers, and mud splashers, imagines what she'd do to them if she were a judge.
Betty Boop emcees a stage show presenting "future stars"...performing infants (including racial stereotypes).
Henry, comic strip character, gets a job at Betty Boop's pet store.
Betty Boop gives Pudgy the pup a pep talk when he's called a nobody.
The Little King, comic strip character, meets Betty Boop.
A caterwauling cat annoys Betty Boop and Pudgy; the latter tries cat-chasing, but bites off more than he can chew.
Betty tries a regime of exercise, but her weight loss gets out of hand. She sings "Keep Your Girlish Figure."
While Betty Boop is away, the kittens get into mischief. Will Pudgy the Pup take the blame as usual?
At Betty Boop's Animal Hospital, various species have appropriate ailments. Morale becomes a problem; Professor Grampy to the rescue!
In a return to the 'Out of the Inkwell' format, Betty Boop invents a 'pep' formula to speed up lazy Pudgy, but it escapes into the 'real world' with rapid results.
Pudgy the pup tries to emulate a tough bulldog, but Betty Boop sings him the error of his ways.
A stray kitten called Myron wanders into Betty Boop's house, gets sick on candy, and is cured with catnip by Betty and Pudgy the Pup.
Betty Boop is training a flock of pigeons, but one stray leads Pudgy the pup on a precarious chase over the rooftops.
Betty Boop and Little Jimmy are prevented by a thunderstorm from going to the carnival; the inventive Grampy devises a substitute.
Betty Boop is incensed at her farmer neighbor's cruelty to his animals. But the inventive Grampy knows how to teach him a lesson.
Pudgy the pup takes Betty Boop's advice ('Go Out and Make Friends With the World') to heart and befriends various wild animals.
House cleaning blues are just what Betty Boop has the morning after a wild party. Grampy to the rescue!
Betty Boop's runt of a suitor thinks he'll have better luck if he takes cowboy lessons at a dude ranch; slapstick results.
A door to door salesman visits Betty Boop's home with a long line of useless household gadgets.
Betty Boop's stage show takes a new turn when Pudgy the pup and his feline enemy get into the act.
Betty Boop is so delighted with her new fox fur that Pudgy the Pup grows jealous, then thinks he's killed it...
Betty Boop is baking a cake, when Irving the practical joker comes for a visit. Betty becomes the victim of such pranks as shaking a false hand and getting squirted in the face. Betty calls on Grampy for help and he quickly rigs his apartment to counteract Irving's pranks and send him on his way. Irving gets the last laugh, when Grampy lights the candle on the cake. Irving replaced the candle with a firecracker before he left.
Against Betty Boop's orders (and to his own discomfiture), Pudgy the Pup accompanies a dalmatian fire dog to a fire.
Betty Boop campaigns for Grampy for Mayor; he wins by one vote, but finds politics is no picnic. Urban renewal is parodied.
Betty Boop is desk clerk at the Hi-De-Ho-Tel ("Food Served with Every Meal") where the guests have many legitimate complaints. Fortunately, Grampy's inventions fix everything.
Betty Boop emcees a show of pet-aid gadgets. Object: a "new deal for pets." Some ideas copied from Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions (1933).
Junior and Pudgy slip away from Betty Boop's care to go hunting with a pop-gun
Disabled in a thunderstorm, Betty Boop and Grampy's plane lands on a tropic island where Grampy soon re-invents the comforts of home... until hostile, racially-stereotyped natives intrude.
Betty Boop goes to work on the subway (Trample 'Em R.R. Co.); Pudgy the Pup follows her and gets more ride than he bargained for.
Betty Boop's Traveling Department Store comes to Hillbillyville; the mountain folks find old uses for the new gadgets.
Betty Boop is a poor-but-honest-actress in the Gay 90s who, hungry and cold, gets a job as a singer in a dance-hall saloon. The villainous owner makes unwanted advances, annoys and slaps her around a little, until a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman shows up.
At the Fleischer studio, a black janitor, learning to hypnotize, conjures Betty Boop out of the inkwell and tries some suggestions on her. But two can play at that game...
At Betty Boop's Music School for Animals, Pudgy the dog doesn't do so well, but puppy love triumphs.
Betty's dog, Pudgy, finds a hungry kitten outside and brings it home. Myron the kitten and his mother, from a previous Betty Boop cartoon called Happy You and Merry Me make a return appearance.
Betty Boop's cousin, Buzzy, takes the train to visit Betty. While riding the train, she is "helpful" to other passengers in a mischievous kind of way.
Betty Boop hires a feline professional "Mouse Eradicator" to take over from Pudgy the Pup who makes friends with mice. But after initial successes, Mr. Al E. Katz gets drunk on the job...
Betty Boop and her little cousin Buzzy attend the opera recital of "Madame Shrill, Soprano Supreme". Buzzy isn't a fan of the high-brow stuff, though, and turns it into a swing fest.
Betty Boop, auditioning bandleaders for a college swing dance, "discovers" a cleaning woman who resembles Betty Grable.
Betty Boop quits her job as overworked short-order cook to run an automated baby-care center. Will she regret it?
Betty Boop and Pudgy take the train to a ski resort and enjoy the winter sports while Betty evades a masher.
A swingin' hurdy-gurdy man goes by Betty Boop's house; she wants to buy the monkey, which causes plenty of trouble for Pudgy the Pup.
At Betty Boop's Auto Hospital, the cars are treated for various human like ailments.
Betty Boop runs out of gas while driving through hillbilly country. When she goes up to a nearby shack to ask for help, the locals appear suspicious of the stranger, but Betty wins them over with her dancing. Soon, the entire clan is making music and dancing. Betty's new friends help her on her way by filling her gas tank with a jug of "corn dripp'ns".
Betty Boop and Pudgy, doing the spring planting, are plagued by crows.
Betty Boop's Swing Band visits an Indian reservation. The Indians borrow all the musical instruments, but not knowing their real purpose, they find odd uses for them. Betty demonstrates the correct use of the kettle drum and teaches the braves the true meaning of 'rhythm.'
A drugstore cowboy reads a dime novel and imagines himself as an Old West cowboy battling a cattle rustler.
Fire chief Bimbo is called to a house on fire, and rescues the Boswell Sisters and their piano, who start performing "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" - the movie audience is supposed to sing along too, helped by the bouncing ball.
Photo gallery of various Max Fleischer cartoons!
