Poor Cinderella (1934)

In her only color cartoon, Betty Boop goes to the ball thanks to the good fairy; later, only her foot fits the glass slipper.

Director:

Dave Fleischer

Stars:

Bonnie Poe

Cast

Uncredited cast:
Bonnie Poe	...	Betty Boop (voice) (uncredited)

Storyline

In her only color cartoon, Betty Boop goes to the ball thanks to the good fairy; later, only her foot fits the glass slipper.

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Plot Keywords:

betty boop | glass slipper | ball | singer | rotoscoping | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1934 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fleischer Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

11 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Color (Cinecolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title is based on the classic French fairy tale "Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" about a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune.

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Connections

Version of Cinderella (1961)

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Soundtracks

"I'M JUST A POOR CINDERELLA"
Written by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher, Jack Scholl
Performed by Betty Boop (voice of Mae Questel)
Played by Phil Spitalny and His All-Girl Orchestra (as Phil Spitalny & His Orchestra)

User Reviews

Max and Dave & co. at their finest and funniest, twisting a classic story and the voice of Mae Questel into a stunning Fleischer Style Pretzal

Max & Dave Fleischer & co. were among the very best of the creators of novel and surprising applications of animation from the late teens through the entire decade of the 1930's. For "Poor Cinderella", they must have noted Disney's stunning "Flowers And Trees", produced in 1931 and released the following year. The latter is generally credited as being the first full color process American cartoon, as opposed to two strip color which emphasized either blues or greens at the expense of certain shades that were lost to the lesser and less costly techniques of the day. For budgetary reasons, the ever inventive Fleischer Bros. developed their own "Cinecolor" approach, which was a variant on the two-strip color format. Although it apparently never quite caught on, they had applied for a patent while releasing their astoundingly beautiful and hysterically surreal and laugh-laden Boop masterpiece in 1934, the only Betty Boop color cartoon.

Combining their proprietary Rotoscope technique along with other dimension enhancing toolkit tricks, few cartoon shorts have ever matched this effort for sheer entertainment value. They did try saving money on the color, as mentioned, but the whole production was obviously a very expensive endeavor, when all its components are considered in sum. The results offer a lasting tribute to the art and magic of 1930's animation.

As a Depression-era vehicle, good jobs were scarce but the Fleischer team's uproarious talent sported young and brash animators who were willing to push the envelope of sensibilities and censors alike, much to our delight. Even the closing sequence is incredibly absurd, and gems like this will forever prevail.

Betty had already helped launch the Popeye series a year earlier, so by 1934 the Fleischers had their distinctly urban stamp firmly planted under two cartoon banners aimed as much, if not more, at adults as the kids. If that weren't true, they wouldn't have always had to play "duck and cover" with the ever-present Hays commission, censor gavel at the ready. Thanks to the Fleischer folks and all involved parties, for the guts, the creative ambition, the sheer genius, and the uncompromising quality of whichever production standards were chosen to collectively coalesce into a cartoon gem for the ages. This is a must see.