Betty Boop and the Little King (1936)
Bored stiff at the opera, the diminutive, silent monarch known as the Little King slips away to a vaudeville house where Betty Boop is topping the bill, and the two strike up a flirtation that has to end before his queen finds out.
Betty Boop and the Little King is a rare Fleischer crossover, borrowing Otto Soglow’s popular newspaper-panel monarch for a one-off pairing with the studio’s own top star, directed by Dave Fleischer.
Background
Released January 31, 1936, Betty Boop and the Little King paired Fleischer’s own star with Otto Soglow’s newspaper-panel monarch, the Little King, in a story credited to Soglow himself and directed by Dave Fleischer. It was the only time the Fleischer studio borrowed the silent, childlike king for a Paramount cartoon, and the only pairing of the two characters in any medium. The crossover reflects how freely 1930s cartoon studios borrowed recognizable newspaper and radio characters to freshen an established series rather than relying solely on original material.
What to watch for
Bored by a command opera performance staged for his benefit, the Little King slips away from his queen, buys a pretzel from a street vendor, and wanders into a vaudeville house where Betty Boop is topping the bill with a Wild West act and trick riding. The two strike up a wordless flirtation, Betty pulling him on stage for a song and dance, before his queen catches them together and the royal carriage departs without any resolution beyond retreat. The joke depends entirely on the King’s established silence and deadpan expressions, carried over intact from Soglow’s comic strip, against Betty’s usual musical energy.
