![]() Her recording of ''On the Good Ship Lollipop,'' in Betty Boop's voice, sold more than two million copies in the 1930's. Questel doing her boop-oop-a-doop routine in 1931, he signed her to take over the cartoon voice of Betty Boop in more than 150 animated shorts, until Fleischer retired the character in 1939. When the animator Max Fleischer heard Ms. She appeared in acts alongside many other performers and also as a ''single,'' using her flexible vocal cords to sing and do imitations of Maurice Chevalier, Fanny Brice, Rudy Vallee and Marlene Dietrich. Questel was signed by an agent that night and soon was performing on the vaudeville circuit, including numerous stints at the Palace Theater. Questel was 17 and living in the South Bronx when she won a local contest to find the girl who most resembled Helen Kane, a popular singer known as the boop-oop-a-doop queen. Throughout history, there is a trend, now often brought to light as social and equity justice movements increase, of minorities, especially Black minorities, not being credited for their work in multiple fields.Mae Questel, a rubber-voiced veteran of stage, screen and vaudeville who played Woody Allen's mother in ''New York Stories'' and was the cartoon voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, died on Sunday at her home in Manhattan. Mae Questel the voice of Betty Boop, Olive Oil, and Minnie Mouse The actress brought to life 3 of the most popular animated characters ever plus many more. In "The History of Animation," author Charles Solomon, argues "Fleisher won the case by proving that a black entertainer named Baby Esther had previously used the phrase before either Kane or Questel." Betty Boop herself plays a part in also increasing the interest in Jazz music at the time. ![]() ![]() As for Jones herself, there is no evidence suggesting she testified at the trial since her manager at the time could not pinpoint her location.Īlthough she may not have personally been active in the case, Jones' influence within the jazz community can be found through the development of scatting. admitted that Kane served as a visual model reference for the animated character known as Betty Boop, but verbal inspiration stemmed from Esther Jones. did not publicly acknowledge Jones' influence on Betty Boop outside of the trial. Shortly after, Fleischer and Fleischer Studios Inc. also brought out the first recordings of Jones' vocal performance, now evidence that had been deemed as lost, which lost the case for Kane During which Fleischer and Fleischer Studios Inc. The leering Cab Calloway character is voiced by guess who. Here she becomes judge for a day and gets to suitably punish all the pests who bother her. The trial consisted of other witnesses, including those who produced the recorded voices of Betty Boop, testifying inspiration did not stem from Kane but rather from other figures. Betty Boop may be a sex object and a woman in a man’s world, but she is a liberated female. Walton had coached Jones on how to scat, allowing her to develop her own vocal signature. Lou Walton, Jones' manager, testified in the case claiming that Kane had seen Jones' performance and developed her rendition of "Boop-oop-a-doo." ![]() Kane filed a New York Supreme Court lawsuit in May of 1932 against Max Fleischer, the Fleischer Studios, Inc., and the Paramount Publix Corporation.Īs the lawsuit's popularity grew and Helen Kane's fame drew attention, Esther Jones was cast aside alongside her influential work. Kane was an American singer and actress in the 1920s, famously known for her song "I Wanna Be Loved By You," which features a similar rendition of Jones' " Boop-oop-a-doo." This signature "Boop-oop-a-doo" expression landed Betty Boop in a court trial in the 1930s- the plaintiff being Helen Kane. Jones used scat, a singing technique used in jazz composed of dynamic and nonsensical syllables instead of words, which can, at times, sound similar by comparison to create the " Boop-oop-a-doo " performance. Yet, her child-sounding voice and popular " Boop-oop-a-doo " performance at Harlem's Cotton Club landed her a recognizable role in the musical community. Jones' musical compositions fell under the growing Jazz community. Esther Lee "Baby Esther" Jones, a Black Chicago woman and well-known singer of the 1920s, is the initial inspiration for the cartoon character, Betty Boop, who first appeared in the 1930s.
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