Dizzy Dishes

This is where it all began for Betty Boop: as a singing dog in a nightclub (check out her ears). She's a supporting character in this 'toon, in which Bimbo the dog (later her sidekick!) plays a harried waiter in a nightclub struggling to keep up with his orders while being distracted by the vision of Betty doing her "Boop-oop-a-doop" song. Plenty of the Fleischers' hallucinogenic images and transformations here -- a dancing (already butchered and plucked -- reminded me of Eraserhead) chicken that does a brief Fats Waller impression, a big bully that would make Bluto cower, and a Jewish customer loadly ordering ham -- and getting hit in the face with a haunch with Hebrew letters on it. Even if it weren't Betty's historic first appearance, this would be a gem on its own merits.

The cartoon opens with a jazzy song about the caberet or night club. A chorus of kittys is really rockin' the joint. A jivin' dog waitor shuffles up to a tough looking customer and takes his order for roast duck. As he goes back into the kitchen to prepare it, the other waitors harrass him for their orders. One of the waitors is rather "limp wristed" and lisps that he wants a custard. He finally prepares the duck and shaves it with cake frosting. Again he is bothered by the other waiters, including a Hassidic Jew (!) who says "I vant ham", and gets one thrown at him with Hebrew letters on it. As the waitor shuffles to the table he passes the Cantina singer, a curvy Betty Boop dog, who sings about wanting loving. The waitor and the audience loves her act. The waitor then starts to dance and perform with the headless roast duck, and the Kitty chorus. The tough customer, (a gorilla) can't wait, and starts to eat the dishes and table. Having spotted the waitor, he chases him and the duck into the kitchen. The waitor chops up food, and the the serving table into a train, which he rides to escape from the tough guy, pulling the guy's pants off in the process. Very entertaining cartoon.