Betty Boop - Series 1 Ep. 14 - Rhythm on the Reservation

Stereotypes Abound in Outdated 'Comedy'

06 December 2008

Betty ended her career in 1939. I don't know which is her last cartoon, but I'm hoping it's this one. It would be a great culmination of the cartoon's development. Featuring some very offensive Indian stereotypes, but that doesn't mean it's not exceptional. Betty, transporting swing instruments to her band, stops at an Indian reservation to buy a tom-tom. The Indians steal her instruments and start using them in stereotypical Indian ways. A Hiawatha clone uses the cello case as a canoe, one man uses a trombone to siphon water from a pond, a woman uses drumsticks to crush corn into meal, and another man tries to cook with a bongo drum. Sally stops them and teaches them how to swing.

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