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

A Betty Boop animated feature with Lili and Richard Zanuck, executive producing, Alan Ladd Jr, and Steve Leiva. Production for the film went on from June 1993 through September 1993 where it was then decided that the film would be canceled. 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)
Cheryl Ernst Wells (Lyricist)

Characters[]

Betty Boop
Baby Boop
Benny 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 estranged father Benny Boop. Sue Raney stands in for Betty and 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.

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) — 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 also 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 canceled after an administrative changeover at MGM. It was during this time that great research and sorting out of the original contracts were 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 intergalactic 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 fruition due to a conflict in budgets and licenses. Then, due to the great profits earned by Betty Boop products, Harvey Publications 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.

Lost Media Archive

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

Contents

Cast & Crew[]

Characters[]

Story[]

Auditions[]

Music[]

Trivia[]

See Also[]

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