Betty Boop was Mae Questel /ˈmeɪ ˌkwɛˈstɛl/
(September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998)
Mae, was an American actress and voice artist best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. She began in vaudeville, and played occasional small roles in films and television later in her career, most notably the role of Aunt Bethany in 1989's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.
In the original 1932 version of Betty Boop, created by Fleischer Studios, wasn’t even human. Rather, she was a talking, singing French poodle with long, floppy ears. But soon, Betty’s ears became earrings and she was reinvented as a human being. The new Betty Boop was a vivacious flapper.
Originally, Betty's voice was first performed by Margie Hines, and was later performed by several different voice actresses, including Kate Wright, Bonnie Poe, Ann Rothschild (also known as Little Ann Little), and most notably, Mae Questel. Questel, who began voicing Betty Boop in Bimbo's Silly Scandals (1931), and continued with the role until 1938, returning 50 years later in Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Today, Betty is voiced by Tress MacNeille, Sandy Fox and Cindy Robinson[13] in commercials.
Betty Boop is regarded as one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen, she is a symbol of the Depression era, and a reminder of the more carefree days of Jazz Age flappers. Her popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences, and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements, particularly in the 1932 "Talkartoon" Minnie the Moocher, featuring Cab Calloway and his orchestra.
From 1932 to 1934, Betty Boop flaunted her strange brand of innocent sexuality in high heels and a garter belt. Her theme song, “Pen and Ink," made no bones about why she was there: “There's a little queen, of the animated screen/ Wait ‘til you get a view of sweet Betty”. Besides being incomprehensibly racist and sexist by today’s standards, the Jazz-age Jezebel’s short films also featured adult themes. Lecherous anthropomorphic characters chased her around constantly, trying to peek under her skirt. In "[Boop-Oop-A-Doop," circus performer Betty had to fight off a pervy ringleader’s sexual assault, but was victorious. “He couldn't take my boop-oop-a-doop away!" she says. (Oof, right?) Let’s not forget she also liked to party. Remember the time she and Koko got into a tank of laughing gas and got L-I-T? By 1934, American censors had endured enough onscreen insinuated immorality.
