Filmography: Betty Boop in Snow White

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 7 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great cartoons to study.


Many classic cartoons have been released to home video since the introduction of VCRs. Some transfers from film to tape have been good, but too many have utilized techniques that compromise the cartoons. At the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, we are always on the lookout for the best sources to use for digitizing. We came across an example that illustrates how much you may be missing when you view a cartoon on home video.

Snow White is probably the best known title in the Betty Boop series. It has been released on home video twice... first in the Betty Boop Collectors' Edition, and later in the Definitive Collection box set. Chuck Pennington, who has been digitizing video for the archives, noticed some interesting differences between the way the cartoon was framed on the two sets. In the earlier set, the image is cropped to include the top of the frame. About 15% of the frame at the bottom is eliminated. The later set is the exact opposite, with 15% of the top cropped off. Chuck determined that the aspect ratio of this particular cartoon is not the standard for 35mm sound films, but an earlier format where the larger silent aperture was used with the left side of the frame cropped to allow for the optical soundtrack. This resulted in an almost square format. To present the entire image on the TV screen, letterboxing bars on the right and left would be needed.

By combining the two transfers into one, Chuck was able to restore the film to its proper aspect ratio. This isn't a simple thing... syncronizing the frames and balancing the exposure between two different transfers is very difficult. But Chuck's work is amazing. The line between the two versions is almost imperceptable. He also added a slight letterbox all around the image to prevent any of it from being cropped off when viewed on a television set. Here is a Quicktime movie of the restored full frame video.


Betty Boop in Snow White
(Corrected Aspect Ratio /Quicktime 7 / 20 MB)

If you compare this full frame version to others you may have seen, you will clearly see how important the extra bit of screen real estate is. Details at the top and bottom of the frame, like the mouse that pops up from the drop drawer of Bimbo's longjohns and Betty's head as she rolls down the hill in the snowball, fall into the area that isn't included in both transfers. Compositions that don't make sense in the cropped version look perfect in the full frame one. The Fleischer artists utilized every bit of the screen, and any cropping reduces the effectiveness of their work.


Full frame from Betty Boop Collectors' Edition Laserdisc

Full frame from Betty Boop Definitive Edition Laserdisc

Both frames combined
If you would like to view the full frame version of Snow White, it is available at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1pm to 9pm. Thanks to Chuck Pennington for his great work.

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

If you enjoyed this cartoon, see these previous postings... I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles, Mariutch, Swing, You Sinners, You're Driving Me Crazy, Ko-Ko the Clown in Jumping Beans, Popeye in Li'l Swee Pea, Grim Natwick in New York, Nat Falk's "How To Make Animated Cartoons" Part One: History of Animation, Part Two: The Cartoon Studios, Part Three: How Cartoons Are Made, Part Four: Drawing For Animation and Part Five: How To Animate.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

05.09.08
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