Betty Boop comes to life from an ink drawing by animator Max Fleischer, much like Fleischer's earlier cartoon star Ko-Ko the Inkwell Clown would come to life from Max's drawings in the popular "Out of the Inkwell" films of the 1920s.
The live-action character of the reporter is sometimes erroneously identified as Dave Fleischer, longtime director of Inkwell Studios and Fleischer Studios cartoons produced by his brother, Max Fleischer. Dave Fleischer did appear on-camera with his brother in a number of "Out of the Inkwell"/"Inkwell Imps" films starring Ko-Ko the Clown, such as Ko-Ko Plays Pool (1927), Ko-Ko Hops Off (1927), Ko-Ko the Kid (1927), and Ko-Ko's Haunted House (1928).
The special effects shown here were done in the times before CGI and green screens.
Betty is briefly shown attached to the very latest model of a hair-styling permanent wave mechanism.
Betty's Bamboo Isle hula costume was just this side of the newly emerging Production Code. It got past the censors somehow and became one of Betty's most famous depictions.