It may be that right now no one from Generation Z knows who Betty Boop is, but in the 1930s she was a real sensation capable of competing with the very Mickey Mouse. Created by Fleischer Studios, she represented the flappers of the time, at least until the Hays Code came to censor films (and, by the way, made them significantly more boring). Since then, all we have left of her is the memory of a few. Or is it?
A boop-tastic update
For years, there have been attempts to update Betty Boop for younger audiences. For example, in 1993, a musical film was announced that ended up going nowhere, and in the new millennium three-quarters of the storyboards for a new movie were completed before the MGM director was replaced by another who immediately abandoned the project. But now, in 2026, it seems to be finally happening.
Because Betty Boop, now indeed, has become the target of Quinta Brunson, showrunner and star of Abbott Elementary. However, it is not what it seems, because Boop will not be the protagonist, but her creator, Max Fleischer: the script will show the origin and evolution of the character through the perspective of its author, unaware of having created an icon.
“Betty Boop is one of the most beloved cartoon characters in our nation, yet somehow she remains niche. She has had a quiet but undeniable impact on our culture for almost a century. There is a much deeper story to tell, one that can be explored in a refreshing, subversive, and timeless way, just like Betty”, Brunson has said. Well, the ball is in her court: let that jazz start playing.
