[Dixielandjazz] Betty Boop

[Shortuba at aol.com]

Hello all -

Even though I'm in my 50's now, I only had contact with Betty Boop cartoons 
by way of clips that were occasionally shown on TV.  Yesterday at Best Buy I 
was looking at the cheap DVD bin and found a double set for $5.99.  Imagine my 
suprise when I saw some of these!  They used a mix of filming of real people 
and animation, and one of them (I haven't looked at all of them) has Louis 
Armstrong and his band in 1933.  I don't really recognize anybody in the band, but 
the sax players DO look familiar.  Does anyone know who these folks were?

Another cartoon has Cab Calloway from 1931.  Both cartoons were demeaning in 
the way they portrayed blacks, and especially equating Louis' group with 
cannibals in the animation.  Of course, it didn't bother most of the whites 
watching it at the time - consider when it was made.  And I'm sure they jumped at the 
chance to be seen by millions of "mainstream" viewers (to apply a modern term 
to something from that period).  Can't wait to see the rest of them and see 
who else is there!

Mike Short
Des Moines, IA
Red Rose Ragtime Band (Chicago)