Betty Boop’s Guide to a Bold and Balanced Life
-Fun, Fierce, Fabulous Advice Inspired by the Animated Icon-
By Susan Wilking Horan & Kristi Ling Spencer
Skyhorse Publishing/$19.99 (Amazon-Release January 21, 2020)
Pre-Publication Review by: Greg Moody/Critic at Large, CBS Denver
Betty Boop was born in early 1930 in the mind of animator Max Fleischer at the Fleischer Studios in Times Square, New York. Her first appearance, in “Dizzy Dishes” (1930), set in motion a character who would dominate movie screens for the next ten years, while also captivating the public consciousness for the next 90.
With no end in sight.
Betty is certainly an icon, in fashion, attitude and lifestyle. You know her when you see her, and you know the character she’ll bring to the screen: fierce, feisty, independent, ethical — a strong woman who knows her own mind.
Susan Wilking Horan and Kristi Ling Spencer have taken the character of Betty Boop and tied those positive attributes, from Courage and Confidence to Health and Humor, together to create a book that entertains, enlightens and educates with the light touch that Betty herself brought to so many classic screen appearances.
One thing about Betty is that from her first moments on screen, she knew who she was and what she wanted. She didn’t always get it, but she tried, respecting both her emotions and herself, until she knew the outcome, one way or the other — and then, in failure, she tried all over again, never giving up, never surrendering the point.
From using Betty as a catalyst to take risks, expressing yourself and respecting both yourself and your desires, Horan and Spencer form an entertaining roadmap (a concept as old as Betty herself) to making the most of the world we all create for ourselves.
I found myself especially taken by the chapters on love (“Love is all you Need”) and respect for oneself and those around you (“Respectfully Yours”), as guideposts to what we often forget or miss in our daily rush to stay connected with everyone but ourselves.
It might be easy to look at Betty Boop’s classic cartoons, especially in the early 30’s, and write them off as silly, sexy, cartoons for kids. Yet, from the start, Betty stood up for herself and made her wishes known, from fighting off a lecherous landlord, to gleefully embracing the music and personalities of Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and even The Royal Samoans. She proved herself, time and time again, to be diverse, interactive, inclusive and appealing, always working toward her own personal betterment.
In using Betty as the foundation for this book, Horan and Spencer have created a self-help, wellness and happiness guide that reaches beyond the norm, becoming not only educational and instructive, but incredibly entertaining, with a light and easy prose style that draws you quickly into the book and moves it right along to the final, sensible, conclusions.
Brava, Betty.
90 years on, and you, your style and your message, are even more relevant today than the day you were born, so long ago, in the mind of a master animator.
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(Critic at Large Greg Moody is the longtime Arts/Entertainment Reporter for CBS4, Denver, CO. In his 45 year career, he has written five novels, two plays and Lord Only Knows how many daily news stories, editorials and commentaries.)
