Kick that gong around

If you’ve heard of Cab Calloway, you probably know his hit, “Minnie the Moocher.” You might not know, though, that there’s a terrific and bizarre cartoon of it, starring, incongruously, Betty Boop. Before I saw the video, I’d always assumed that Betty Boop was just a boring, ditzy character. Maybe she got stupid later on, but the awkwardly drawn girl in this cartoon is as far from bland as she is from conventionally erotic. Also, who knew Betty Boop was Jewish?

The actual story of this cartoon has little to do with what makes it worth watching. Betty Boop and her doggy friend Bimbo run away from home, and then the insanity begins. Their host to psychedelia is Cab Calloway, the walrus: he’s rotoscoped over the earliest known footage of Cab Calloway. Calloway, it seems, was a dance phenom, as well as the inventor of David Byrne’s big suit and the best-dressed man before Andre 3000. There’s a wonderful variety-show movie from 1943 called Stormy Weather that features some great dancing and singing from Cab Calloway, Bill Robinson (a.k.a. Mr. Bojangles), and a whole lot of other greats; it’s well worth checking out. You can download other Boop/Calloway collaboration, or get them on DVD. “Snow White” is especially strange and wonderful.