Bimbo's Initiation

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Bimbo's Initiation Talkartoon series
Directed by	Dave Fleischer
Produced by	Max Fleischer
Voices by	Mae Questel
Music by	Sammy Timberg
Animation by	Grim Natwick (uncredited)
Studio	Fleischer Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Publix Corporation
Release date(s)	July 24, 1931
Color process	Black-and-white
Running time	6 mins
IMDb profile

Bimbo's Initiation is a 1931 Fleischer Studios Talkartoon animated short film starring Bimbo and featuring Betty Boop. It was the final Betty Boop cartoon to be animated by the character's co-creator, Grim Natwick.

1 Synopsis
2 Analysis and recognitions
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Bimbo is walking down the street when he suddenly disappears down an open manhole. He lands in an underground clubhouse of a secret society. The leader asks Bimbo "Wanna be a member?", but he replies "No!" Bimbo is then sent through a series of dangerous events. He is repeatedly asked by the leader "Wanna be a member?" but keeps refusing. Bimbo is brought through a series of mysterious doors that lead him into yet another sub-basement. Out of the basement door pops a dog-eared version of Betty Boop (who Bimbo describes as "a pippin!"). Bimbo flees through various death traps (his heart literally in his mouth) before landing in front of the mysterious order's leader again. Bimbo still refuses to become a member until the leader removes "his" costume--to reveal herself as Betty Boop (still with dog ears). Bimbo changes his tune and decides he DOES want to be a member. The rest of the society members remove their costumes, showing that they are all Betty Boop clones, and Bimbo joins the Boops in a happy dance.

[edit] Analysis and recognitions

The surreal, nightmarish atmosphere of Bimbo's Initiation has made it one of the most renowned Fleischer Studios shorts. Leonard Maltin described it as "the 'darkest' of all"^[1] the Fleischers' cartoons. In 1994 it was voted #37 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by members of the animation industry.

The cartoonist Jim Woodring identified Bimbo's Initiation as "one of the things that laid the foundation for my life's philosophy."^[2]

[edit] References

^ Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons (New York: Plume Books, 1980), 98.
^ Groth, Gary. "Jim Woodring Interview". The Comics Journal #164 (December 1993), p. 83.