Betty Boop (Partially Found Production Material of Cancelled 1993 MGM/Zanuck Co. Film)

Betty Boop

Animated feature with Lili and Richard Zanuck, Executive Producing, Alan Ladd Jr, Steve Leiva. Production for the film went on from June 1993 - September 1993 where it was then decided that the film would be cancelled. According to information the film would have been released in 1994. Alan Ladd Jr stated "While our Betty will remain in the 30s, she will have a decidedly modern twist." In the title sequence Betty Boop grows up and can first be seen performing on stage with her father as a baby (Baby Boop) then as a 10 year old and then as an adult where she can be seen singing I Wanna Be Loved By You.

Cast & Crew

• Sue Raney as Betty Boop (Pilot/Storyboard)
• Bernadette Peters as Betty Boop (Cancelled)
• Jimmy Rowles as Benny Boop (Pilot/Storyboard)
• Fred Cline (Production Design)
• James Lopez (Development Artist) 
• Jerry Rees (Screenwriter)
• Stevan Wahl (Storyboard Artist)

Characters

• Betty Boop
• Bimbo
• Koko the Clown
• Leona (Referenced in Sequence 5)

Story

In 1993, the Zanuck Company began pre-production on a Betty Boop feature to be done through MGM Studios, Richard "Dick" Fleischer , who was the Son of Max Fleischer of the Fleischer Studios wanted to make a feature out of his father's star character "Betty Boop" but those plans were later canceled. Jazz was a major part of most of the old Betty Boop cartoon shorts. In the little storyboard in the link above Betty Boop performs a song called "Where are you" with her astranged father Benny Boop. Sue Raney stand's in for Betty & Jimmy Rowles stands in for Betty's father Benny Boop, Bernadette Peters was to have provided the voice for Betty in the film but before the recording sessions started the film was abandoned.

Storyboard of the scrapped film.

Auditions

People who had auditioned for the film were as follows, Chris Penn, Terri Garr,Bud Cort, Paul Reubens then recently Florida porn theatre arrest. Shelley Long, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Helen Hunt,Virginia Madsen, Ned Beatty. A Betty Boop impersonator even dropped in the studios.

Music

• Everybody Needs a Star/Where Are You? (Sue Raney)

The Betty Boop Movie, Where are You? (Canned Feature Film, 1993)

Trivia

•  In the storyboard art by Fred Cline Betty can be seen performing "Where Are You?" at the Roosevelt Hotel.
• Into the 1980's, the mantel was passed onto Richard Fleischer as his sister had become too ill to continue on with the enterprise. Richard, who was then retired from directing films, devoted the rest of his life to the continued expansion of Betty Boop products, which aslo included one more animated special, Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery, produced in San Francisco by Collasal Pictures. Betty was licensed for the acclaimed, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and a Betty Boop feature was planned, only to be cancelled after an administrative changeover at MGM. It was during this time that great reseach and sorting out of the original contracts was made to establish and formulate the ownership of Betty Boop.
• In 1996, Richard was shopping around a concept for a Betty Boop television series where she was an intergalatic flight attendant  at Fred Wolf Films during this time and saw the character design book which had been done in France, and it was very well drawn, yet faithful to the original style of the characters. But this never came to frution due to a conflict in budgets and licenses. Then, due to the great profits earned by Betty Boop products, Harvey Publication's attempted to sue for a percentage, claiming rights based on the original Paramount sale in 1959. They lost this suit.
• In one of the concept art sketches Betty Boop can be seen doing Marilyn Monroe's classic pose.
• Betty used to appear in MGM's Grand Theme Park  starting from 1993, the same year when the film was being produced and she is franchised at MGM's Grand Hotel.
• Betty Boop will be starring in a new film Betty Boop the Movie (2016) by Syco Entertainment and Animal Logic Entertainment.  According to a Wikileaks MGM were interested in buying the film as the character has a vast history with MGM.

See Also

• MGM And The Zanuck Co. To Bring Betty Boop To The Big Screen
• Zanuck Sets Animated ‘Boop’ Coup
• Boop Boop De Doop: MGM
• MGM To Make Betty Boop Movie
• The musical storyboard scene of the proposed film used to be archived at moorestudiosinc.
• Flipanimation  (Film Information Source)
• Fred Cline at Blogspot
• Betty Boop: The Movie (Future-Release) Change.org
• Betty Boop: The Movie (Future-Release) iPetition
• Betty Boop Feature Film