Actually, this is a case of a POC starting a trend in the 20s-30s but not receiving the credit until someone else's money was at risk. Just like with many things back then, it was a lot easier to steal things or not give proper credit. Now because of media the internet will always find the truth! 🎉🎉🎉
Known what… misinformation great. I wouldn’t advertise it. This is not accurate research. Thus has been debunked many times. It’s not a white conspiracy of someone is to keep this misinformation from anyone but an example of poor research and relying on inaccurate blogs and misinformation. Clara Bow and Helen Kane are the source of both the voice and look of the character. PBS who is the source of this false narrative issued a correction stating this is not supported by actual evidence. But as usual spend more time on a TikTok than research outside of garbage blogs as your “source”.
I learned that back when I was 15. As a young artist, I was asked to draw Betty because pinups was a favorite of mine. While researching photos I found that out. My friends kept calling me a liar until I printed out the info. Talk about different times to now, hardly any one checks the research themselves which is sad. Shout out to all my English teachers for teaching me to follow through with research.
I'm sorry this is misinformation! One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers. If you want to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories. These 2 women don't need Betty Boop. Their stories speak for themselves. Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. It's an interesting look about copyright and taking inspiration. If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9ableI would just like to let you know that Wikipedia isn't an accurate source anyone can alter Wikipedia at any time it's free to change so doing your research on Wikipedia isn't reliable. I also did one quick Google search that tells me she's based on a black jazz singer in Harlem Esther Jones however that is all the research I did one Google search feel free to prove me wrong by using reliable sources this time to explain why Betty wasn't based on just one black woman I find your explanation interesting though don't get me wrong I just wanted to let you know Wikipedia isn't 100% reliable.
@@Scaryanimall I get that sorry. Yeah Wikipedia isn't 100%, but it is at least accountable. There are editors who will call out bad citations, so they at least mean business. But the thing is the whole Betty Boop is based on a black woman is such a damaging myth. What's more is the fact that Esther Jones, the vaudeville performer who's always referenced, is almost treated as a myth too. It doesn't help that there's conflicting data/records of her too, especially because she was from that era. Black History month and generally history really should be treated with nuance. There is more to Esther Jones than the Betty Boop lawsuit fiasco, and definitely more to Betty Boop as a pop culture icon.
@@audrey9able"Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers" and then go on to contradict yourself to say "is Jewish-coded" ... lmaoo I wonder if you realize who made Jazz?! You reached a lot in a few of your claims; trying to say that the lawsuit is not a proof of Esther being the prime source which is literally a proof ITSELF btw, and then go on to state the most unproven claim ever about Betty Boop.
I'm a black woman. I'm 67 yrs old and this is the first time I've heard of this. Though I've never been a betty boop fan, I know someone who is nothing but Betty boop.! Thank you for the information.
I'm sorry this is misinformation! One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers. If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories. Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9able As far as I can tell, what you’re saying isn’t entirely accurate either. The Wikipedia article for Betty Boop states that she was “inspired by a popular performing style, but not by any one specific person”. However, there isn’t a citation for this specific claim, and just one sentence later the same article states that “Fleischer told his artists that he wanted a caricature of singer Helen Kane, who performed in a style shared by many performers of the day-Kane was also the one who sued Fleischer over the signature "Boop Oop a Doop" line”. This is cited from the court documents of the Kane v Fleischer (which I didn’t read through since they are thousands of pages long, so maybe it’s inaccurate but I cannot be bothered to do all that). So from what I can piece together, “Boop Oop a Doop” originated from Esther Jones, aka Baby Esther. Helen Kane took this line. Fleischer took this line and made a cartoon character inspired by multiple flappers, but mostly Helen Kane. Helen Kane sued Fleischer for the line, but lost as it originated from Esther Jones. (Feel free to correct me if this in inaccurate, I only spent about 10 minutes looking into this.) TL;DR: It seems Betty Boop was not (directly) based on a black woman. She was mostly based on a white woman that based her act on a black woman.
@@ionabab7274 Yes!! Exactly. Sorry I couldn't word it right. I feel like this Short was shortening (no pun intended) the interesting case regarding inspiration versus Kane's claims about her act being stolen by the Studio. By this time when she made this claim, she had fully embodied not just the Oop Oop Be Doop but also the whole childish persona on her performances. She has fans support her and must've only seen her signature act as The Signature act. That's why she's so adamant. But the Fleischer Studios has a defense that they're inspired by multiple performers. And this is where Esther Jones comes in. They give a recording of her singing (I can't recall if they even have film reels of her dancing) as proof that Helen Kane was no inventor of the act. Things get more convoluted because they even have to call managers from the club where Esther Jones dances, but these people's testimonies seem to only say that they may or may not have seen the whole Oop Oop Be Doop done by Esther Jones. These clubs and vaudeville don't seem to care about their performers that much. And what's more, there's lots of acts where Esther Jones works. They have likely copied one another. And Esther Jones is likely not even the only Black performer there. I do apologize that I'm citing Wikipedia. Wikipedia at least has accountable editors who are manually checking sources and that, unfortunately, takes time. So Betty Boop's article is still subject to change. My only point is how the myth of Betty Boop is inspired by one black performer erases a lot of interesting and complicated things that have happened in that era. I actually feel a little sorry for Helen Kane. This was a time where it's difficult to pinpoint who did who first, but also did it matter? Performance is always derivative. And vaudeville performances was already dwindling at Kane's time in the early 30s. I just have this hunch Fleischer Studios did Kane dirty, too, and to even bring in a random young black performer's recording who has nothing to do with their shenanigans, is just calling it a bit icky, even if Fleischer Studios had to clarify they're inspired by several performers, including Kane.
@@audrey9able "It's hard to pinpoint who did it first" Thought it was 'Jewish-coded'? 🙄 So typical of yall when you act like you're speaking straight facts just to do to a culture what you did to Natives' lands.
September 2021, PBS retracted a story that had been on its website for six years asserting that Baby Esther (Esther Lee Jones), a young African American performer, was the unsung and uncredited inspiration behind the cartoon character Betty Boop. The retraction, entitled Betty Oops, explains how and why PBS had not properly verified their sources and acknowledges that this led to the story becoming “a viral source” of misinformation, including a widely circulated photo of a woman misidentified as Baby Esther. Always do your research.
it is too late. damage done. black folk are psychologically traumatized. They will seize on any lie that paints them as victims. I been knowing the black betty boop was a lie. I merely sat back and let it play out.
neither of those are a picture of esther jones, at the time esther jones was still a child and she actually stopped preforming when she was a teenager. and she never dressed like betty boop. her singing was an inspiration for the character but the look of the character was inspired by helen kane
This should be the top comment. People are really trying to make this into a black and white issue (no pun intended...maybe) when it's actually more naunced than that.
Why should she make it a pin comment? Esther Jones wore a corset to exaggerate her already curvaceous figure & sang in that voice & mannerism & had a Boop Boop Be Doo catchphrase, the other woman then STOLE the likeness popularized it then when the cartoon was made then said it was her original character which in fact it was not….are you saying that in a time that black Americans were depicted as watermelon eating monkeys in cartoons that because the cartoon was white the credit should be given to the thief 🧐
Yeah it’s not stealing a style either (unless it’s a voice of style). Betty Boop’s LOOK was based upon Helen Kane, but her voice was definitely inspired by child Baby Esther
It absolutely is, if its within the realm of a particular style of music. This was not Caucasian music. Therefore she took from a whole race. Deal with it. CZcams DO NOT VIOLATE MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH BY DELETING MY COMMENT!
There’s a really good video on here by a channel called Forgotten Lives. “Remarkable Black History Tales You’d Probably Never Heard Of”. It’s a very well researched essay on not only “Baby” Esther Jones, Joice Heth, who was enslaved and made a “curiosity” by PT Barnum with his wild claims that she was a 161 year old former wet nurse of George Washington. Alice of Dunks, who not only worked by operating a ferry, was also one of the earliest oral historians of American history with an unparalleled memory. Mary Fields- American kick ass mail carrier of the Wild West. The channel also has a lot of other amazing stories about famous or infamous people you either heard of but didn’t know their story, or haven’t heard of but should have. I believe Esther Jones is the fourth story if you just want to skip the others.
That is NOT cultural appropriation, throwing that term around when it's not relevant diminishes it. Yes she stole her act, but that's the work of one person not a cultural act.
Can we please stop using those images of "baby esther" like the one used in this video!? That isn't the actual women that is just a costume of Betty boop!!! Please show the actual woman! It feels wrong to try and educate people about her and her story tied to Betty without actually showing her, but instead some other woman 😐
its because people arent actually intrested in her legacy and life. Its just a entertaining tiktok video that we can all use to sound smart about this womans life . We can be like "did you that betty boop" you get to sound smart while doing literally no research at all and just putting full trust on a randoms tiktok
the video is mostly true but tiktoks shouldnt be your only source especially since even "correct" tiktoks leave out tons of info and fake pictures because this isnt something the user is usually knowledgable about . Its something they looked up on google 5 min ago or even worse just saw another tiktok and copied. Ive seen 100s of these same tiktoks or shorts whatever about the orgin of betty boop for years.
If you’re actually the expert here then why don’t you come with receipts? Show us your archive on her, show us what she really looks like all knowing one
@@StarsongzzDo me a favor and look up her name Esther Jones on Google. The first image you will see is of the ACTUAL woman! That is why videos like this bother me the girl in this video (and I'm not saying she's doing this to be malicious or anything and she is definitely not the only person who does this) looked over any images of the actual woman she's trying to give credit to, and instead chose an image of a girl in a betty boop cosplay with a vintage filter. I am no expert nor did I clame to be, but if your going to make a point of telling a story about a girl who had her ideas taken from her and profited off of with little to no credit we should probably show the real woman because otherwise it feels kind of ironic.
@@nataliewood2554I totally agree with you but the first image you find in Google when looking up Esther Jones is of the actual woman, so it feels especially lazy to me. That's why it bothers me lol. And unfortunately because many don't think about how people don't do a lot of research they end up spreading false information which I find very sad because I think things like this should be shared if for no other reason than enjoying history and getting a better understanding of where our entertainment comes from!
THAT PHOTO IS NOT OF ESTHER JONES. PLS DO YOUR RESEARCH. that is a ukranian model cosplaying betty boop in a photo shoot in 2008. these images have been spread uncritically around the internet as supposed photos of esther but that’s not the case. it’s pretty obvious that it’s a modern photo and model if you know about fashion history. esther was a real person and photos of her exist but 80% of the supposed photos her being circulated online are of this white model and it’s a real shame.
@twilightinparis of course! i'm a historian so i take this stuff very seriously hahaha. social media is absolutely RIFE with misinformation of all kinds, unfortunately. while this video was clearly made with good intentions, i do wish influencers in general were more discerning with their sources when they present things as fact. i'm glad i'm not the only one that caught the mistake though!
Ya know, this comes off as a real slap in the face considering this person had no ill-intentions. And bold of you to assume she didn’t do her research, I didn’t know you had cameras in her house. It’s really hypocritical to say in one breath that the internet is filled with misinformation and in the other imply she didn’t look for any information in it at all. I mean, even though I in no way believe you, even if she WAS mistaken that doesn’t mean she didn’t do research. Where are YOUR sources anyway. It’s easy to just say “no you’re lying” buddy. This reeks of condescension. Like sorry we all haven’t had our noses in peer reviewed articles that are gate kept by paywalls for the last 60 years or whatever. Like get out of here hater you’re obviously just here to “dunk” on non-history professionals and not actually share info in a welcoming way.
@@Starsongzz bro she obviously just saw something on internet and mindlessly repeated it. It’s not hard to find out the truth, it took me 5 minutes to look it up. Honestly, stop praising ignorance
@@Starsongzz Do… Do you actually want the resources? Or are you just asking for some sort of a gotcha move to discredit the credibility of a professional historian?
@@wolfkit2826 that person is borderline idiotic, don’t waste your time time on them. I just read their comment for the second time and now I’m brain dead, it sucks😭😭
Exactly! There aren't actually a lot of surviving records of Esther Jones, the one that was used as evidence against Helen Kane. The ones being used here are of another performer, I think, and is misidentified a LOT as Esther Jones. Another is Esther Mae Jones, who is also misidentified as the Esther Jones in the early 30s. But Mae Jones is a performer in the 40s to 50s, so she's not the same person.
The woman who's voice was inspired by her was black (esther jones). Esther jones had nothing to do with bettys look. Her voice was inspired and helen kane liked to use the same baby voice. She didnt give esther voice credit thus bringing helen kanes trial where bonnie poe, majorie kane, and mae questal testiefied against her. Now however helen kane had bettys look. Bonnie poe and mae questal definitely had bettys look and voice along with marjorie kane. As for the picture of esther jones; that picture isn't actually her apparently nobody knows who the beautiful black woman is in the photo of her sitting with her fingers to her chin smiling.
I’ve ALWAYS thought that Betty was NOT white. Now I’m a curvy white woman and as a teen I was shocked to see Betty in color and pale I would have bet money on her being African American. This makes me happy.
To burst your bubble: Betty Boop was a dog first, white woman after. She was never a black girl at all. Her VOICE is inspired by a teen black girl, Baby Esther, but her look is based off of Helen Kane (but Helen Kane’s look at the time wasn’t unique to her.), a white woman. Betty Boop as a character was never intended to be black… and she isn’t.
Those aren’t even actual photos of Esther Jones. And how is singing like a baby specific to African American culture? Not exactly cultural appropriation. And Esther was not the only one performing with this style at the time. History gets so mixed up on the internet it’s crazy, by the time it reaches a reel like this it has been retold and mixed up and altered to fit certain agendas so much that its hard to tell what’s real 😔
no one said singing like a baby was specific to african american culture, the point is that helen shoulda quit stealing while she was ahead. she can get away w/stealing from a black woman in those times but not a major company with lawyers. she got greedy and then got exposed.
No fr give her the credit she deserves but that’s not cultural appropriation 😭 bc doing shows in bars wasn’t just a black women thing. So it can’t be cultural appropriation maybe just appropriation but not cultural
Black people say this for everything these days while constantly appropriating white culture in thei everyday lives, instead of wearing their black tribal clothes, yes ya'll everything you use and see was invented by white people.
Betty Boop was actually a dog first. This is why her boyfriend is Bimbo the dog. The first time she ever appears is in a Bimbo cartoon, and she has floppy ears and a black nose like a dog. Fletcher later on decided to make her into a human when she got popular.
None of those photos resemble (Baby/Little) Esther Lee Jones. From Wikipedia (check site for source links and more info): “In 2021, a 2015 article by PBS, which had been used as "confirmation" of the "Baby Esther was the original Betty Boop" story by many people, was removed from the PBS website. PBS retracted the story, admitted that the "Baby Esther" portion of the article was never true, and apologized for spreading misinformation.”
Ms. Jones must have been a marvelous to watch. However, while the lady didn't deserve all the credit, being inspired by someone isn't cultural appropriation. Many of the phrases Baby Esther used were common during the Roaring 20s, and used almost common language. It was actually Ms. Jones' high baby voice that was so compelling, which was also a common thing among female entertainers. Not cultural as much as a truly charming and unique style of being the cute little girl so popular at the time.
Lemme complete the information: actually Betty Boop IS inspired on the white woman who tried to sue, which is quite obvious, but they used Baby Esther as an argument to say that all that didn't belong to her, It wasnt original from her. So Betty Boop is inspired on a white woman who stole and changed a black GIRL's gimmicks, that's right, Baby Esther was a child performing in an adult place... Baby Esther didn't look anything like Betty Boop, and instead of "boop-oop-a-doop" she did things like "boo-boo-boo" or "doo-doo-doo", the boop-oop-a-doop was the version the white woman did after she saw Baby Esther performing, she stole it and changed a bit. That's how you know Betty was not inspired on Baby Esther directly, but on the peraon who stole her gig.
Yes! People need to actually read this. Baby Esther was used as an example of how Betty Boop was not inspired by Helen Kane, not a "No but it was actually Baby Esther". People have really ran with this information lol
Betty Boop was NOT inspired by Kane..Betty Boop was originally inspired by a FRENCH POODLE and you can see that very clearly by looking at early incarnations of Betty Boop. The Betty Boop character was originally based on a French poodle not on Jones. The character first appeared as a white woman with a long poodle like face, and drooping ears, and only later developing into a woman.
I remember my grandmother telling me about this. Back when I was a kid, I loved Betty Boop. My grandma was all about telling me the history of certain cartoons and things that I was into.
The photo you use second to last is not actually Esther Jones. The first and last photos that look uncannily like Betty Boop are Olya Gussy in cosplay in 2008 and the portrait second to last is a 1930s photo by James van der Zee.
Any photo of an adult woman claiming to be Lil Esther is not of her since she quit performing as a teenager. There are sometimes photos of a different Ester Jones but again, not actually her.
Races weren’t made by God. That was created by a white man to separate us and put the people that skin was white as superior. God did not see race, he seen us all equal and race separated us and still does.
I’ve seen this floating around a lot. It would be inaccurate to say Betty Boop was based on anyone but Helen Kane. It would be very strange considering Baby Esther was a child performer and stopping performing when she was a teenager. There’s a lot of photos of her as an adult floating around (especially the ones shown in the video), none of which are actually Esther Jones. The recording shown at the court case is lost, but if it were real it would only prove that Helen Kane copied Baby Esther, and that Betty Boop was not stealing a trademark style, since “Helen Kane’s style” was not unique. Betty Boop was intentionally made as a caricature of Helen Kane who popularized a style stolen from a black performer, that’s the most you can say. “Betty Boop was based on a black woman,” is just not accurate unfortunately.
I'm also really tired of the nonsense. When I first heard about it, I thought wow, but then did some research and discovered the whole inaccuracy of the statement. Betty Boop herself was inspired from the white girl. If They want to claim the white girl was inspired by a black girl, that's fine, that's true. But that black girl was also just a copy of another black girl. It wasn't terribly unique if they just copying one another.
@@janaecatt2407Esther never dressed as Betty boop she was a child/teenager who performed her voice is what inspired Betty boop so the statement that the character Betty boop is black is also not true and Helen was the one who inspired Betty boops actual look you can research about it it's quite a nice read
Ah, in the context of back then? I'd say it's more so true. GO ahead and research other famous women of that time period, many were not white either, but they masqueraded (forced) as such. Makes more sense that she is "black in all ways except what we see" because she wouldve never made it this far otherwise. -
@@eeperton her skin is pretty dark grey compared to the usual pure white in her debut but that depends if you consider her dog design her actual debut or her human design. physically shes based on helen kane audiblly she has a black voice/accent (stolen by helen kane) i wouldn't be surprised if Josephine Baker influenced Bettys design too, she is the poster child of the roaring 20s after all.
The upcoming Betty Boop musical on Broadway has cast a black actress as Betty and damn does it feel like the longest full circle moment in entertainment.
i hate the comments on videos addressing this. they’re either “i knew that” “no! she was white” “well she used to be a dog” or “these white people smh she was a black woman”
How is she black when her mother was white? Let biracial people claim the fullness of who they are. There's nothing wrong with being biracial. Ww CANNOT make Bw. It's science.
I'm sorry but this is misinformation! One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers. If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories. Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
Yeah but Wikipedia has people that filter out false info and there should be source links at the bottom of page where you can see where they got there information
betty boop was actually based on the white woman but she stole her act from esther jones so yes technically but also it wasn’t directly modeled after esther
Soooo none of those photos are of baby Esther. The boop boop bee doop is what was taken from Esther who was a child at the height of her fame. She actually retired as a teen and we have no clue on what happened to her after that.
And the actual boop boop bee doop was NOT what Baby Esther would say. Thats what it was changed to, so they’re saying it was “inspired by” not stolen from her.
That’s not baby Esther at the beginning, that is a Russian model Olga. The drawing of Boop was based off of Helen Kane but voice was based off baby Esther. Look up baby Esther and you’ll see they are not the same person and she has no physical resemblance to Boop..
I would rather say that Esther Jones was the originator of the style but not the direct (I am using direct because of who was referenced for the character rather than who came up with the performance) inspiration. Although I believe there are a few performers who should be credited with creating cultural context/reference for the Betty Boop type, Jones and Kane are certainly the most influential. Helen Kane was the direct inspiration for Betty Boop as she was who was requested and referenced for the role even though Esther Jones is certainly well deserving of credit.
I'm sorry but this is misinformation! One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers. If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories. Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
It's crazy how blck people keep trying to rewrite history. They claim to be the first to create everything and it was stoln. If that was true blk people wouldn't have pushed so hard for integration because whte people would have nothing to offer them.
Betty Boop is not blасk. Helen Kane’s signature singing style was “inspired” by Esther Jones, but Betty Boop is not based on _her,_ she’s based on Helen Kane and for a long time, people thought she was also based on Ann Dvorak because she looked more like her than Helen Kane. Esther Jones’ singing style was popular in the 1920s and there’s other artists who also did it, like Annette Hanshaw. You can clearly see in pretty much every depiction of Betty Boop that she’s a whitе woman. The first color animation of Betty Boop (“Poor Cinderella”) was in the 1930s and she had red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Her hair was later darkened but everything else was the same. If you’ve ever watched any silent films or films/cartoons depicting _any_ POC, you’d see how incredibly rасist they were. There were hardly any POC performers who were “accepted” by contemporary audiences and the few that were often played lowly characters, “exotic” characters, and if they were whitе-passing enough, they _might_ play whitе. Josephine Baker was really the only blасk performer who achieved pretty good success but even so, she had less success in the U.S. than she did abroad because of her skin color. I get that people want to have an icon like Betty Boop but people need to be for real and stop acting like the entertainment industry has always been inclusive or like thousands of color depictions of Betty Boop don’t exist. There’s no way that studios would’ve made a cartoon starring a blасk woman for white audiences in the 1930s and just because there’s a connection to Esther Jones it doesn’t mean that she’s based on her.
No one is saying she is black but based on a black person. Just like starfire. Just like dazzler. Because of the racist times they made the finished product white. Ex: dazzler was originally supposed to be based on grace jones. Type in dazzler from marvel comics and see what comes up. Not an ebony goddess.....
A quick google search will show you there are no photos of Esther Jones. The character design was indeed taken from the white singer that copied Baby Esther. You can claim the singing style but saying Betty Boop was black is a stretch.@@OCallMeSpookyO
bro she took a unique look that was not hers, made money and gained fame from it, and then claimed she created it herself when there is factual proof she did not. that is literally stealing.
For anyone mentioning Helen Kane pls explain why there was a time Betty boop skin was dark? Eventually they changed her dark skin to white if she wasn't inspired by Esther or a black women at that pls explain why that change was made to her you can look it up she's wasn't originally white at first.
Yeah I didn't know Betty was originally a black girl. Btw my favorite pretty black girl toon character is the princess from "The Princess & The Frog" movie.
I'm sorry but this is misinformation! One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers. If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories. Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@selfryed I gotta say it's effective this way. We all know me trying to give a nuance take and trying to veer everyone to facts or at least research deeply, is going to be buried in the comments. Especially in this misinformative Short.
If the claim is that the cartoon character Betty Boop is black because it was inspired in part by a black girl, then clearly the cartoon character Tiana is white because that whole movie is inspired by the European fairy tale "The Frog Prince" wherein the princess is indeed a white girl. Or maybe people draw inspiration from multiple sources and do their own thing with it.
She was inspired by both a black and white woman, so she's technically mixed! (Baby Esther & Clara Bow) (Edit was I accidentally spelled "she" wrong + names of the 2 women)
These pictures are not of Ms Jones but the story is true. Half true. The sound was used. Baby Jones started the baby singing and was copied then the cartoon came out.
How is it cultural appropriation if it has nothing to do with culture tho? I get a black woman had an idea and a white woman copied it, but that's how it is in the show business
This is true, however it's sad that you didn't do enough research to realise that's a cosplayer and not Ester. I've watched plenty of videos on this topic and that's been debunked a long time ago.
How does that make her black? In official coloured renders since then she has been portrayed as a white woman, it just means she was inspired by a talented black woman.
"When it comes to Betty Boop, once you start hearing recordings of Esther Jones' voice, it's unmistakable that Betty Boop's creator, Max Fleischer, received his inspiration for the character from her. Some speculated that Max, perhaps, saw Helen Kane's act, which was similar to Esther's. Both women incorporated the use of a "baby" voice, and Esther Jones would employ the use of scat-talk in her jazz performances. That's where the "boop boop de doop" originated from. The US Court agreed. 😂
As a little girl Betty boop always reminded me of a black women , before I knew she was black,it was how she was shape,talk,walk & wore her hair and how she dress ,it gave me black women vibes
Honestly what does it matter what she was. Why y'all always with this cultural racism trash. Can't we just love these fictional characters for who they are as the character not for their race smh and just so you know I'm not black nor am I white so don't call me racist 😂😂😂 cause that's an overstatement
The look was inspired by Clara Bow. Betty Boop originally had red hair, and you can see it in the first colored appearance. The first image was not baby Esther, it is a modern recreation.
I did know because ive loved betty bop since my teens, im currently 46 & still. Just a heads up for everyone,most of the things you like 99% comes from black peoples creativity, spirit & survival. Lets keep it real. Jesus loves you all. Seak him🙌🏽💜
I’ve known this for a while but this was something that needed to be said! Thank you for addressing this for those who didn’t know!
sorry for a super unrelated question but who did the art in your icon? :00 it’s so cute!!
Actually, this is a case of a POC starting a trend in the 20s-30s but not receiving the credit until someone else's money was at risk. Just like with many things back then, it was a lot easier to steal things or not give proper credit. Now because of media the internet will always find the truth! 🎉🎉🎉
Known what… misinformation great. I wouldn’t advertise it.
This is not accurate research. Thus has been debunked many times. It’s not a white conspiracy of someone is to keep this misinformation from anyone but an example of poor research and relying on inaccurate blogs and misinformation.
Clara Bow and Helen Kane are the source of both the voice and look of the character.
PBS who is the source of this false narrative issued a correction stating this is not supported by actual evidence.
But as usual spend more time on a TikTok than research outside of garbage blogs as your “source”.
@@alice.the.adder.960yep!!
@@deaddawgzhaha I actually forgot but I still have a bunch of their art. I’ll search up their name for you !! ❤
I learned that back when I was 15. As a young artist, I was asked to draw Betty because pinups was a favorite of mine. While researching photos I found that out. My friends kept calling me a liar until I printed out the info. Talk about different times to now, hardly any one checks the research themselves which is sad.
Shout out to all my English teachers for teaching me to follow through with research.
I'm sorry this is misinformation!
One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers.
If you want to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories.
These 2 women don't need Betty Boop. Their stories speak for themselves.
Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop. It's an interesting look about copyright and taking inspiration.
If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9ableI would just like to let you know that Wikipedia isn't an accurate source anyone can alter Wikipedia at any time it's free to change so doing your research on Wikipedia isn't reliable. I also did one quick Google search that tells me she's based on a black jazz singer in Harlem Esther Jones however that is all the research I did one Google search feel free to prove me wrong by using reliable sources this time to explain why Betty wasn't based on just one black woman I find your explanation interesting though don't get me wrong I just wanted to let you know Wikipedia isn't 100% reliable.
@@Scaryanimall I get that sorry. Yeah Wikipedia isn't 100%, but it is at least accountable. There are editors who will call out bad citations, so they at least mean business.
But the thing is the whole Betty Boop is based on a black woman is such a damaging myth.
What's more is the fact that Esther Jones, the vaudeville performer who's always referenced, is almost treated as a myth too. It doesn't help that there's conflicting data/records of her too, especially because she was from that era.
Black History month and generally history really should be treated with nuance. There is more to Esther Jones than the Betty Boop lawsuit fiasco, and definitely more to Betty Boop as a pop culture icon.
@@audrey9able"Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers" and then go on to contradict yourself to say "is Jewish-coded" ... lmaoo I wonder if you realize who made Jazz?! You reached a lot in a few of your claims; trying to say that the lawsuit is not a proof of Esther being the prime source which is literally a proof ITSELF btw, and then go on to state the most unproven claim ever about Betty Boop.
Ooh look fighting😊
The fact that she thought she got away with biting thinking nobody would know 😂
It's lovely when She say Betty boop soo cutee ahh I want to die in cuteness ahhh
That “boop boop be boop” is directly from Ester Jones, which is pretty cool! :)
She said gay
@raullopez992 which means "happy "
@@raullopez992it means happy 😐
@@raullopez992grow up
Miss Esther along side Miss Josephine are both staples for a lot of fashion icons/models.
I'm a black woman. I'm 67 yrs old and this is the first time I've heard of this. Though I've never been a betty boop fan, I know someone who is nothing but Betty boop.! Thank you for the information.
Should look up “operation mocking bird”
I'm sorry this is misinformation!
One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers.
If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories.
Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop.
If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9able As far as I can tell, what you’re saying isn’t entirely accurate either.
The Wikipedia article for Betty Boop states that she was “inspired by a popular performing style, but not by any one specific person”.
However, there isn’t a citation for this specific claim, and just one sentence later the same article states that “Fleischer told his artists that he wanted a caricature of singer Helen Kane, who performed in a style shared by many performers of the day-Kane was also the one who sued Fleischer over the signature "Boop Oop a Doop" line”. This is cited from the court documents of the Kane v Fleischer (which I didn’t read through since they are thousands of pages long, so maybe it’s inaccurate but I cannot be bothered to do all that).
So from what I can piece together, “Boop Oop a Doop” originated from Esther Jones, aka Baby Esther. Helen Kane took this line. Fleischer took this line and made a cartoon character inspired by multiple flappers, but mostly Helen Kane. Helen Kane sued Fleischer for the line, but lost as it originated from Esther Jones. (Feel free to correct me if this in inaccurate, I only spent about 10 minutes looking into this.)
TL;DR: It seems Betty Boop was not (directly) based on a black woman. She was mostly based on a white woman that based her act on a black woman.
@@ionabab7274 Yes!! Exactly. Sorry I couldn't word it right. I feel like this Short was shortening (no pun intended) the interesting case regarding inspiration versus Kane's claims about her act being stolen by the Studio. By this time when she made this claim, she had fully embodied not just the Oop Oop Be Doop but also the whole childish persona on her performances. She has fans support her and must've only seen her signature act as The Signature act. That's why she's so adamant.
But the Fleischer Studios has a defense that they're inspired by multiple performers. And this is where Esther Jones comes in. They give a recording of her singing (I can't recall if they even have film reels of her dancing) as proof that Helen Kane was no inventor of the act.
Things get more convoluted because they even have to call managers from the club where Esther Jones dances, but these people's testimonies seem to only say that they may or may not have seen the whole Oop Oop Be Doop done by Esther Jones.
These clubs and vaudeville don't seem to care about their performers that much. And what's more, there's lots of acts where Esther Jones works. They have likely copied one another. And Esther Jones is likely not even the only Black performer there.
I do apologize that I'm citing Wikipedia. Wikipedia at least has accountable editors who are manually checking sources and that, unfortunately, takes time. So Betty Boop's article is still subject to change.
My only point is how the myth of Betty Boop is inspired by one black performer erases a lot of interesting and complicated things that have happened in that era.
I actually feel a little sorry for Helen Kane. This was a time where it's difficult to pinpoint who did who first, but also did it matter? Performance is always derivative. And vaudeville performances was already dwindling at Kane's time in the early 30s.
I just have this hunch Fleischer Studios did Kane dirty, too, and to even bring in a random young black performer's recording who has nothing to do with their shenanigans, is just calling it a bit icky, even if Fleischer Studios had to clarify they're inspired by several performers, including Kane.
@@audrey9able "It's hard to pinpoint who did it first" Thought it was 'Jewish-coded'? 🙄 So typical of yall when you act like you're speaking straight facts just to do to a culture what you did to Natives' lands.
September 2021, PBS retracted a story that had been on its website for six years asserting that Baby Esther (Esther Lee Jones), a young African American performer, was the unsung and uncredited inspiration behind the cartoon character Betty Boop. The retraction, entitled Betty Oops, explains how and why PBS had not properly verified their sources and acknowledges that this led to the story becoming “a viral source” of misinformation, including a widely circulated photo of a woman misidentified as Baby Esther. Always do your research.
Amen!!! 👏🙌🙏
damn as a black person I am fucking embarrassed lol
Thank you! I knew it had to be a lie.
Indeed. And it continues to be perpetuated by people in love with outrage.
it is too late. damage done. black folk are psychologically traumatized. They will seize on any lie that paints them as victims. I been knowing the black betty boop was a lie. I merely sat back and let it play out.
neither of those are a picture of esther jones, at the time esther jones was still a child and she actually stopped preforming when she was a teenager. and she never dressed like betty boop. her singing was an inspiration for the character but the look of the character was inspired by helen kane
This should be the top comment. People are really trying to make this into a black and white issue (no pun intended...maybe) when it's actually more naunced than that.
Some of the photos of her are actually her, just not the ones that looks like betty boop.
@@AnnaHans88but OP is too busy trying to force an angle so she won’t make this a pinned comment lol
Why should she make it a pin comment? Esther Jones wore a corset to exaggerate her already curvaceous figure & sang in that voice & mannerism & had a Boop Boop Be Doo catchphrase, the other woman then STOLE the likeness popularized it then when the cartoon was made then said it was her original character which in fact it was not….are you saying that in a time that black Americans were depicted as watermelon eating monkeys in cartoons that because the cartoon was white the credit should be given to the thief 🧐
thank you i agree i even did some resech to follow up and found that out myself
except thats not esther jones💀
The first and last photo of Esther aren’t Esther Jones, those are pictures of a Betty Boop cosplayer.
In addition, the second to last photo is not her either
Yes, and if this creator did even 10 minutes of research online she would know that.
Truth
Word
@@SolidSiren She doesn't care to research the truth, she just wants to find excuses and say everything was steel from black.
I LOVE that people can fact check you here unlike TikTok which just buries things.
It's not cultural appropriations love. It might be someone trying to steal a style, but it's not stealing a cultural anything.
Yeah it’s not stealing a style either (unless it’s a voice of style). Betty Boop’s LOOK was based upon Helen Kane, but her voice was definitely inspired by child Baby Esther
This 🎉
No, worse! It's plagiarism!
Right? Let’s not just throw around trigger words like they’re candy.
It absolutely is, if its within the realm of a particular style of music. This was not Caucasian music. Therefore she took from a whole race. Deal with it. CZcams DO NOT VIOLATE MY FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH BY DELETING MY COMMENT!
THE BRITISH ACCENT WAS NAILED💀💀
Where?
British? Everyone here was American
Lmao literally no british accent
I have no idea what I was talking abt😭
@@7pmfriday95degrees_janelle too funny! even funnier that there are 3K+ likes 🤪
Black people, we're a vibe. ❤❤
The woman you showed as Ester is actually a cosplayer
Yeah
The Esther that inspired the white woman was a CHILD performing at a cabaret or some kind of adult peforming place.
Yeah that was Olya Gussy dressed as Betty Boop
There’s a really good video on here by a channel called Forgotten Lives. “Remarkable Black History Tales You’d Probably Never Heard Of”. It’s a very well researched essay on not only “Baby” Esther Jones, Joice Heth, who was enslaved and made a “curiosity” by PT Barnum with his wild claims that she was a 161 year old former wet nurse of George Washington. Alice of Dunks, who not only worked by operating a ferry, was also one of the earliest oral historians of American history with an unparalleled memory. Mary Fields- American kick ass mail carrier of the Wild West. The channel also has a lot of other amazing stories about famous or infamous people you either heard of but didn’t know their story, or haven’t heard of but should have. I believe Esther Jones is the fourth story if you just want to skip the others.
Woman*
@@triumphantpeanut5726 Sounds really cool!!! I'm saving it to my watch later playlist
That is NOT cultural appropriation, throwing that term around when it's not relevant diminishes it. Yes she stole her act, but that's the work of one person not a cultural act.
Can we please stop using those images of "baby esther" like the one used in this video!? That isn't the actual women that is just a costume of Betty boop!!! Please show the actual woman! It feels wrong to try and educate people about her and her story tied to Betty without actually showing her, but instead some other woman 😐
its because people arent actually intrested in her legacy and life. Its just a entertaining tiktok video that we can all use to sound smart about this womans life . We can be like "did you that betty boop" you get to sound smart while doing literally no research at all and just putting full trust on a randoms tiktok
the video is mostly true but tiktoks shouldnt be your only source especially since even "correct" tiktoks leave out tons of info and fake pictures because this isnt something the user is usually knowledgable about . Its something they looked up on google 5 min ago or even worse just saw another tiktok and copied. Ive seen 100s of these same tiktoks or shorts whatever about the orgin of betty boop for years.
If you’re actually the expert here then why don’t you come with receipts? Show us your archive on her, show us what she really looks like all knowing one
@@StarsongzzDo me a favor and look up her name Esther Jones on Google. The first image you will see is of the ACTUAL woman! That is why videos like this bother me the girl in this video (and I'm not saying she's doing this to be malicious or anything and she is definitely not the only person who does this) looked over any images of the actual woman she's trying to give credit to, and instead chose an image of a girl in a betty boop cosplay with a vintage filter. I am no expert nor did I clame to be, but if your going to make a point of telling a story about a girl who had her ideas taken from her and profited off of with little to no credit we should probably show the real woman because otherwise it feels kind of ironic.
@@nataliewood2554I totally agree with you but the first image you find in Google when looking up Esther Jones is of the actual woman, so it feels especially lazy to me. That's why it bothers me lol. And unfortunately because many don't think about how people don't do a lot of research they end up spreading false information which I find very sad because I think things like this should be shared if for no other reason than enjoying history and getting a better understanding of where our entertainment comes from!
Saying she was black, and saying she was INSPIRED by a black artist are two completely different sentences.
You really don’t have a life do you?
THAT PHOTO IS NOT OF ESTHER JONES. PLS DO YOUR RESEARCH. that is a ukranian model cosplaying betty boop in a photo shoot in 2008. these images have been spread uncritically around the internet as supposed photos of esther but that’s not the case. it’s pretty obvious that it’s a modern photo and model if you know about fashion history. esther was a real person and photos of her exist but 80% of the supposed photos her being circulated online are of this white model and it’s a real shame.
@twilightinparis of course! i'm a historian so i take this stuff very seriously hahaha. social media is absolutely RIFE with misinformation of all kinds, unfortunately. while this video was clearly made with good intentions, i do wish influencers in general were more discerning with their sources when they present things as fact. i'm glad i'm not the only one that caught the mistake though!
Ya know, this comes off as a real slap in the face considering this person had no ill-intentions. And bold of you to assume she didn’t do her research, I didn’t know you had cameras in her house. It’s really hypocritical to say in one breath that the internet is filled with misinformation and in the other imply she didn’t look for any information in it at all. I mean, even though I in no way believe you, even if she WAS mistaken that doesn’t mean she didn’t do research. Where are YOUR sources anyway. It’s easy to just say “no you’re lying” buddy. This reeks of condescension. Like sorry we all haven’t had our noses in peer reviewed articles that are gate kept by paywalls for the last 60 years or whatever. Like get out of here hater you’re obviously just here to “dunk” on non-history professionals and not actually share info in a welcoming way.
@@Starsongzz bro she obviously just saw something on internet and mindlessly repeated it. It’s not hard to find out the truth, it took me 5 minutes to look it up. Honestly, stop praising ignorance
@@Starsongzz Do… Do you actually want the resources? Or are you just asking for some sort of a gotcha move to discredit the credibility of a professional historian?
@@wolfkit2826 that person is borderline idiotic, don’t waste your time time on them. I just read their comment for the second time and now I’m brain dead, it sucks😭😭
For people that can't read between the lines, Betty was based on multiple people. Ester was the voice and helen kane for the looks.
Those are Not photos of Esther Jones , The Real Esther Jones was a Young Teenager when Betty Boop became Popular.
Exactly! There aren't actually a lot of surviving records of Esther Jones, the one that was used as evidence against Helen Kane.
The ones being used here are of another performer, I think, and is misidentified a LOT as Esther Jones.
Another is Esther Mae Jones, who is also misidentified as the Esther Jones in the early 30s. But Mae Jones is a performer in the 40s to 50s, so she's not the same person.
Exactly @@audrey9able
Know what "cultural appropriation" means first
The woman who's voice was inspired by her was black (esther jones). Esther jones had nothing to do with bettys look. Her voice was inspired and helen kane liked to use the same baby voice. She didnt give esther voice credit thus bringing helen kanes trial where bonnie poe, majorie kane, and mae questal testiefied against her. Now however helen kane had bettys look. Bonnie poe and mae questal definitely had bettys look and voice along with marjorie kane. As for the picture of esther jones; that picture isn't actually her apparently nobody knows who the beautiful black woman is in the photo of her sitting with her fingers to her chin smiling.
Clara Bow, Helen Klan and Esther Lee have all been credited as the inspiration for Betty Boop.
Esther was the og 😤
real 😠
My name is Helen-
I’ve ALWAYS thought that Betty was NOT white. Now I’m a curvy white woman and as a teen I was shocked to see Betty in color and pale I would have bet money on her being African American. This makes me happy.
To burst your bubble: Betty Boop was a dog first, white woman after. She was never a black girl at all. Her VOICE is inspired by a teen black girl, Baby Esther, but her look is based off of Helen Kane (but Helen Kane’s look at the time wasn’t unique to her.), a white woman. Betty Boop as a character was never intended to be black… and she isn’t.
Those aren’t even actual photos of Esther Jones. And how is singing like a baby specific to African American culture? Not exactly cultural appropriation. And Esther was not the only one performing with this style at the time. History gets so mixed up on the internet it’s crazy, by the time it reaches a reel like this it has been retold and mixed up and altered to fit certain agendas so much that its hard to tell what’s real 😔
You have no idea sis
Sources? Proof? No? Then I’ll go with what I can research and not what your heart says pal
@@Starsongzz maybe look up the real esther Jones or fashion trends of that time period?
@@Starsongzz Do you WANT sources and proof? Because I can find it if you need it.
no one said singing like a baby was specific to african american culture, the point is that helen shoulda quit stealing while she was ahead. she can get away w/stealing from a black woman in those times but not a major company with lawyers. she got greedy and then got exposed.
I loved Betty boop when I was a kid! My first school bag, pencil case and lunchbox were all Betty Boop themed!
No fr give her the credit she deserves but that’s not cultural appropriation 😭 bc doing shows in bars wasn’t just a black women thing. So it can’t be cultural appropriation maybe just appropriation but not cultural
Black people say this for everything these days while constantly appropriating white culture in thei everyday lives, instead of wearing their black tribal clothes, yes ya'll everything you use and see was invented by white people.
Betty Boop was actually a dog first. This is why her boyfriend is Bimbo the dog. The first time she ever appears is in a Bimbo cartoon, and she has floppy ears and a black nose like a dog. Fletcher later on decided to make her into a human when she got popular.
And it’s so disturbing that they keep her love interest a dog after changing her to a human. Thank goodness that didn’t last.
None of those photos resemble (Baby/Little) Esther Lee Jones.
From Wikipedia (check site for source links and more info): “In 2021, a 2015 article by PBS, which had been used as "confirmation" of the "Baby Esther was the original Betty Boop" story by many people, was removed from the PBS website. PBS retracted the story, admitted that the "Baby Esther" portion of the article was never true, and apologized for spreading misinformation.”
Ms. Jones must have been a marvelous to watch. However, while the lady didn't deserve all the credit, being inspired by someone isn't cultural appropriation. Many of the phrases Baby Esther used were common during the Roaring 20s, and used almost common language. It was actually Ms. Jones' high baby voice that was so compelling, which was also a common thing among female entertainers. Not cultural as much as a truly charming and unique style of being the cute little girl so popular at the time.
Lemme complete the information: actually Betty Boop IS inspired on the white woman who tried to sue, which is quite obvious, but they used Baby Esther as an argument to say that all that didn't belong to her, It wasnt original from her. So Betty Boop is inspired on a white woman who stole and changed a black GIRL's gimmicks, that's right, Baby Esther was a child performing in an adult place...
Baby Esther didn't look anything like Betty Boop, and instead of "boop-oop-a-doop" she did things like "boo-boo-boo" or "doo-doo-doo", the boop-oop-a-doop was the version the white woman did after she saw Baby Esther performing, she stole it and changed a bit. That's how you know Betty was not inspired on Baby Esther directly, but on the peraon who stole her gig.
Yes! People need to actually read this. Baby Esther was used as an example of how Betty Boop was not inspired by Helen Kane, not a "No but it was actually Baby Esther". People have really ran with this information lol
Betty Boop was NOT inspired by Kane..Betty Boop was originally inspired by a FRENCH POODLE and you can see that very clearly by looking at early incarnations of Betty Boop.
The Betty Boop character was originally based on a French poodle not on Jones. The character first appeared as a white woman with a long poodle like face, and drooping ears, and only later developing into a woman.
I remember my grandmother telling me about this. Back when I was a kid, I loved Betty Boop. My grandma was all about telling me the history of certain cartoons and things that I was into.
The photo you use second to last is not actually Esther Jones. The first and last photos that look uncannily like Betty Boop are Olya Gussy in cosplay in 2008 and the portrait second to last is a 1930s photo by James van der Zee.
Any photo of an adult woman claiming to be Lil Esther is not of her since she quit performing as a teenager. There are sometimes photos of a different Ester Jones but again, not actually her.
Ester Jones was gorgeous!
Ok but no one cares who it was invented by? Like I didn’t even know it was originally a white lady. Can we stop pointing out skin color so much?
All races and skin tone matter and are very beautiful equally. All races are made by God for a reason.
True. 🙂
Races weren’t made by God. That was created by a white man to separate us and put the people that skin was white as superior. God did not see race, he seen us all equal and race separated us and still does.
The first picture of "Esther Jones" isn't really Esther Jones, is a cosplayer. Esther Jones was black but it wasn't hrr
I’ve seen this floating around a lot. It would be inaccurate to say Betty Boop was based on anyone but Helen Kane. It would be very strange considering Baby Esther was a child performer and stopping performing when she was a teenager. There’s a lot of photos of her as an adult floating around (especially the ones shown in the video), none of which are actually Esther Jones. The recording shown at the court case is lost, but if it were real it would only prove that Helen Kane copied Baby Esther, and that Betty Boop was not stealing a trademark style, since “Helen Kane’s style” was not unique. Betty Boop was intentionally made as a caricature of Helen Kane who popularized a style stolen from a black performer, that’s the most you can say. “Betty Boop was based on a black woman,” is just not accurate unfortunately.
I'm also really tired of the nonsense. When I first heard about it, I thought wow, but then did some research and discovered the whole inaccuracy of the statement. Betty Boop herself was inspired from the white girl. If They want to claim the white girl was inspired by a black girl, that's fine, that's true. But that black girl was also just a copy of another black girl. It wasn't terribly unique if they just copying one another.
Indeed. Just another of the many things people like to spin for outrage. There's enough actual outrage in the world without having to fabricate it.
It was actually a mix of a few people but Esther included.
The most major part is all Esther. Everyone was imitating Esther so it’s literally Esther.
@@janaecatt2407Esther never dressed as Betty boop she was a child/teenager who performed her voice is what inspired Betty boop so the statement that the character Betty boop is black is also not true and Helen was the one who inspired Betty boops actual look you can research about it it's quite a nice read
I did my father taught his children BLACK History which is Americas history ✊🏽 in our home
She’s not black just because she was inspired by a black woman….. 🤦🏽♀️
Ah, in the context of back then? I'd say it's more so true. GO ahead and research other famous women of that time period, many were not white either, but they masqueraded (forced) as such.
Makes more sense that she is "black in all ways except what we see" because she wouldve never made it this far otherwise. -
Shut up, Caucasian
W
@@AarenYASS The character is physically white. Stop with these idiotic claims.
@@eeperton her skin is pretty dark grey compared to the usual pure white in her debut but that depends if you consider her dog design her actual debut or her human design.
physically shes based on helen kane
audiblly she has a black voice/accent (stolen by helen kane)
i wouldn't be surprised if Josephine Baker influenced Bettys design too, she is the poster child of the roaring 20s after all.
Everyone imitates everyone!
There was no cultural appropriation here. Helen stole her style cuz she knew it could become popular
Man I wish we used dictionaries more
@@Starsongzz Esther’s style is not cultural. It was unique to her alone. Therefore, not cultural appropriation
Scatting* wasn't unique to her, though from what I read she did grow really popular :)
The upcoming Betty Boop musical on Broadway has cast a black actress as Betty and damn does it feel like the longest full circle moment in entertainment.
i hate the comments on videos addressing this. they’re either “i knew that” “no! she was white” “well she used to be a dog” or “these white people smh she was a black woman”
How is she black when her mother was white? Let biracial people claim the fullness of who they are. There's nothing wrong with being biracial. Ww CANNOT make Bw. It's science.
I'm sorry but this is misinformation!
One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers.
If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories.
Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop.
If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9ableI thought it was common knowledge that Wikipedia can't be considered a reliable source as anyone can go in and edit information...
Yeah but Wikipedia has people that filter out false info and there should be source links at the bottom of page where you can see where they got there information
Um what’s wrong with the last sentence, when white ppl ignored lots of talented black ppl in those days and now
Ariel the Little Mermaid was white.
Did you even read the real story of the little mermaid?
betty boop was actually based on the white woman but she stole her act from esther jones so yes technically but also it wasn’t directly modeled after esther
Just stop.
@@jarenfromvenusyou need to accept that it’s not true. She wasn’t black, neither was the voice actress. Truth hurts kid.
Based doesn't mean it has to go with race. I mean we race swap now doesn't mean it was meant for one race or the other.
Soooo none of those photos are of baby Esther. The boop boop bee doop is what was taken from Esther who was a child at the height of her fame. She actually retired as a teen and we have no clue on what happened to her after that.
And the actual boop boop bee doop was NOT what Baby Esther would say. Thats what it was changed to, so they’re saying it was “inspired by” not stolen from her.
That’s not baby Esther at the beginning, that is a Russian model Olga. The drawing of Boop was based off of Helen Kane but voice was based off baby Esther. Look up baby Esther and you’ll see they are not the same person and she has no physical resemblance to Boop..
I would rather say that Esther Jones was the originator of the style but not the direct (I am using direct because of who was referenced for the character rather than who came up with the performance) inspiration. Although I believe there are a few performers who should be credited with creating cultural context/reference for the Betty Boop type, Jones and Kane are certainly the most influential. Helen Kane was the direct inspiration for Betty Boop as she was who was requested and referenced for the role even though Esther Jones is certainly well deserving of credit.
NEITHER Esther or Helen Kane were the inspiration for Betty Boop, actually
Here is a whole 💐...ty for the history lesson Sis!
I'm sorry but this is misinformation!
One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers.
If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories.
Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop.
If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
It's crazy how blck people keep trying to rewrite history. They claim to be the first to create everything and it was stoln. If that was true blk people wouldn't have pushed so hard for integration because whte people would have nothing to offer them.
Betty Boop is not blасk. Helen Kane’s signature singing style was “inspired” by Esther Jones, but Betty Boop is not based on _her,_ she’s based on Helen Kane and for a long time, people thought she was also based on Ann Dvorak because she looked more like her than Helen Kane. Esther Jones’ singing style was popular in the 1920s and there’s other artists who also did it, like Annette Hanshaw. You can clearly see in pretty much every depiction of Betty Boop that she’s a whitе woman. The first color animation of Betty Boop (“Poor Cinderella”) was in the 1930s and she had red hair, blue eyes, and fair skin. Her hair was later darkened but everything else was the same.
If you’ve ever watched any silent films or films/cartoons depicting _any_ POC, you’d see how incredibly rасist they were. There were hardly any POC performers who were “accepted” by contemporary audiences and the few that were often played lowly characters, “exotic” characters, and if they were whitе-passing enough, they _might_ play whitе. Josephine Baker was really the only blасk performer who achieved pretty good success but even so, she had less success in the U.S. than she did abroad because of her skin color.
I get that people want to have an icon like Betty Boop but people need to be for real and stop acting like the entertainment industry has always been inclusive or like thousands of color depictions of Betty Boop don’t exist. There’s no way that studios would’ve made a cartoon starring a blасk woman for white audiences in the 1930s and just because there’s a connection to Esther Jones it doesn’t mean that she’s based on her.
Thank you! So tired of people projecting modern sensibilities onto history. The world was incredibly different.
A lot of characters were based off women of color then changed to fit the narrative
@@vinesciagreen185as was the Lone Ranger,who in real life WAS Black.
Love you can look it up there was a time that Betty boop skin was actually dark then they changed it white explain that? 👀
No one is saying she is black but based on a black person. Just like starfire. Just like dazzler. Because of the racist times they made the finished product white. Ex: dazzler was originally supposed to be based on grace jones. Type in dazzler from marvel comics and see what comes up. Not an ebony goddess.....
Misinformation.
Your source for this claim?
A quick google search will show you there are no photos of Esther Jones. The character design was indeed taken from the white singer that copied Baby Esther. You can claim the singing style but saying Betty Boop was black is a stretch.@@OCallMeSpookyO
You know you don’t have to lie, right? Black women have plenty of accomplishments without you needing to lie about it.
Inspiration is not stealing
bro she took a unique look that was not hers, made money and gained fame from it, and then claimed she created it herself when there is factual proof she did not. that is literally stealing.
Plagiarism
For anyone mentioning Helen Kane pls explain why there was a time Betty boop skin was dark? Eventually they changed her dark skin to white if she wasn't inspired by Esther or a black women at that pls explain why that change was made to her you can look it up she's wasn't originally white at first.
The character is still white though 🤔
My favorite cartoon when I was a child!! ❤
Yeah I didn't know Betty was originally a black girl. Btw my favorite pretty black girl toon character is the princess from "The Princess & The Frog" movie.
I'm sorry but this is misinformation!
One quick Google search and Wikipedia articles later confirms that Betty Boop isn't so much inspired by one black vaudeville performer, but rather Betty Boop is a caricature of the Jazz Age performers.
If this content creator wants to pay homage to Esther Jones, who also shares a similar name to another black performer but is actually a generation later, named Esther Mae Jones, actually look up these two women and their stories.
Or even actually look up the lawsuit case Helen Kane lost against the Fleischer Studios who made Betty Boop.
If anything, Betty Boop was even interpreted as Jewish-coded because her creators and one of her voice actresses at the time were of Jewish decent.
@@audrey9ablegirl stp copy pasting this everywhere
@@audrey9ablebestie, just make it a full comment instead of pasting it in everyones replies 😭
@@selfryed I gotta say it's effective this way. We all know me trying to give a nuance take and trying to veer everyone to facts or at least research deeply, is going to be buried in the comments. Especially in this misinformative Short.
If the claim is that the cartoon character Betty Boop is black because it was inspired in part by a black girl, then clearly the cartoon character Tiana is white because that whole movie is inspired by the European fairy tale "The Frog Prince" wherein the princess is indeed a white girl.
Or maybe people draw inspiration from multiple sources and do their own thing with it.
The black dictatorship online…. Toxic 😮
“Ain’t ya kinda gay?”💀
It actually means happy
I didn't know that talking cute as a baby is african thing
..
She was inspired by both a black and white woman, so she's technically mixed! (Baby Esther & Clara Bow)
(Edit was I accidentally spelled "she" wrong + names of the 2 women)
These pictures are not of Ms Jones but the story is true. Half true. The sound was used. Baby Jones started the baby singing and was copied then the cartoon came out.
How is it cultural appropriation if it has nothing to do with culture tho? I get a black woman had an idea and a white woman copied it, but that's how it is in the show business
Artists being inspired by or directly mimicking another artist isn't cultural appropriation when it is a modern created ARTISTIC performance style.
This is true, however it's sad that you didn't do enough research to realise that's a cosplayer and not Ester. I've watched plenty of videos on this topic and that's been debunked a long time ago.
Betty Boop was not inspired by Esther alone, she was a combination of inspirations. She wasn’t black, she is biracial, stop misinforming people.
Did not know that😊 thanks!!
It's good to know that the. Betty Boop musical on Broadway is played by a black woman! Someone got it right!! ❤❤❤❤
Thankyou for sharing this!
Y’all… Betty Boop originally started out in cartoon form as a dog. I don’t think any of this matters…
Yep and the images they use of “Esther Jones” are of a white Ukrainian woman cosplaying as Betty Boop in 2008 😅
How does that make her black? In official coloured renders since then she has been portrayed as a white woman, it just means she was inspired by a talented black woman.
I loved Betty boop my whole life and I always know she was inspired by Esther Jones ❤❤
Oh, what's this I see? Someone who clearly does not understand the transitive property or abstract though and decided to fabricate outrage? Gotcha
She's a beauty, i love creative people
"When it comes to Betty Boop, once you start hearing recordings of Esther Jones' voice, it's unmistakable that Betty Boop's creator, Max Fleischer, received his inspiration for the character from her.
Some speculated that Max, perhaps, saw Helen Kane's act, which was similar to Esther's.
Both women incorporated the use of a "baby" voice, and Esther Jones would employ the use of scat-talk in her jazz performances. That's where the "boop boop de doop" originated from.
The US Court agreed. 😂
I love betty boop since i was little.
Did you also know Betty Boop was originally supposed to be a dog?
Yeah, I knew this story. My mom was a HUGE Betty Boop fan.
LMFAO THE WAY I JUST REALIZED ITS CALLED THE “COTTON” CLUB 💀💀💀
As a little girl Betty boop always reminded me of a black women , before I knew she was black,it was how she was shape,talk,walk & wore her hair and how she dress ,it gave me black women vibes
I’ll give Miss Esther Jones a beautiful garden! She deserves it! ❤
I knew this as a child and I loved Betty Boop I had everything Betty Boop that I could ever find
Fun fact: When they started to make Betty Boops dress longer, they lost many viewers.
Honestly what does it matter what she was. Why y'all always with this cultural racism trash. Can't we just love these fictional characters for who they are as the character not for their race smh and just so you know I'm not black nor am I white so don't call me racist 😂😂😂 cause that's an overstatement
YES, YES, YES she was!!! I buy tshirts with her image only as a black woman only!!!
This is a good example of what cultural appropriation is. Emitating another culture than pretending you invented it
“Oh my God, I think I’m bout to steallll”😂😂😂😂
What's the difference? We're all equal so it doesn't matter.
I thought it was Clara Bow?
Damn..learn something new every day!
Thank you!
The look was inspired by Clara Bow. Betty Boop originally had red hair, and you can see it in the first colored appearance. The first image was not baby Esther, it is a modern recreation.
The fragility is perpetual
This isn’t cultural appropriation, it’s straight up plagiarism. Everything doesn’t have to do with race.
Black history month
I was this old today
When I learned this
Thank you ❤
Betty boop was a dog initially 😂
I did know because ive loved betty bop since my teens, im currently 46 & still. Just a heads up for everyone,most of the things you like 99% comes from black peoples creativity, spirit & survival. Lets keep it real. Jesus loves you all. Seak him🙌🏽💜