HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY TO BETTY BOOP

HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY TO BETTY BOOP

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Wireless Flash) -- Betty Boop sure looks great for her age: the curvy cartoon sexpot will turn 70 tomorrow (Aug. 9). Betty made her screen debut on August 9, 1930, playing a shapely nightclub singer modeled after high-pitched singer Helen Kane. According to Pennsylvania-based cartoon collector Megaera Lorenz, the early Boop cartoons are full of raunchy behavior -- including scenes in which Betty's dress falls down and you see her underwear. In other cartoons, she appears totally nude, with strategic objects covering her naughty parts. It all changed in 1935 when a new film code ordered a "clean-up" of the torrid tales and animators converted Betty from a wild party girl into a wholesome spinster, complete with long dresses.