The story of Esther Jones is a perfect example of cultural appropriation. However, after a long court battle, the court declared that Betty Boop’s scatting did not originate with Kane. ![]() Esther Jones was called to testify in the case but sadly passed away before her day in court. One of these was a man with a criminal record called Lou Bolton. As a way of trying to discredit Kane, the Fleischers’ lawyers brought multiple people to the stand to claim that Kane was not original. ![]() Once Kane learned about the cartoon she sued the studio. The Fleischers used Helen Kane’s likeness without her consent. Fleisher Studios created Betty Boop as a characterization of Helen Kane. She became famous almost instantaneously.īoop first appeared in 1930, her character was unique in that she stood on her own rather than being defined by a lead male character. A short time later Kane performed scat sounds almost identical to Baby Esther’s act, then recorded a song titled “I Want to Be Loved By You’ with the “Boop-Boop-a-Doop” phrase in the song. Helen Kane, a white female entertainer, first saw Jones perform in 1928 (Jones was 9). She would often finish her act with “Boop-Boop-a-Doop”. Her act, Baby Esther, would dance, make funny faces and use interpolated words and other scat sounds. Jones started as a child entertainer at age 4 from Chicago, Illinois. It is not until recent years that Jones has received proper credit for this Americana icon. The documentary explains how 'Betty Boop' is not a real person but one of the foremost adult themed cartoon characters that embodied deviation during the 1930s. Born in 1919, Baby Esther was the original inspiration for the cartoon character Betty Boop and she was Black. ![]() Esther Lee Jones, AKA Baby Esther, was an American cabaret singer and entertainer at several night clubs in Harlem including the Cotton Club.
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