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Minnie the Moocher (film)

Minnie the Moocher is a 1932 cartoon starring Betty Boop and Bimbo, and featuring Cab Calloway and his orchestra, singing the namesake hit song.

Plot
The cartoon opens with a live action sequence of Cab Calloway and his orchestra performing an instrumental rendition of "St. James Infirmary". Betty Boop is scolded by her strict German immigrant parents for not eating her hasenpfeffer dish. While her father's head turns into a phonograph as a result of his blabbering, a flower tries to convince Betty to eat her dinner, only to die after eating a bite. Betty then storms out sobbing (while her mother changes cylinders on Papa's phonograph head) and sings the Harry Von Tilzer song "They Always Pick on Me" as she heads to her bedroom and decides to run away from home. Betty then writes a farewell note to her parents while the song "Mean to Me" plays in the background (Koko the Clown makes a brief cameo popping out of an inkwell, in a nod to the old Out of the Inkwell cartoons) and phones her boyfriend Bimbo, who joins her. Walking through the countryside as night falls, they both come across some specters and venture in a cavern out of fright. Inside, they find a walrus-like apparition (voiced by and rotoscoped to Calloway), who sings "Minnie the Moocher" with some haunted spirits. Betty and Bimbo both change their minds about running away and rush back home with the ghouls in hot pursuit as "Tiger Rag" plays in the background. Betty makes it safely back to her home and hides under the blankets of her bed. As she shakes in terror, the note she earlier wrote to her parents tears, leaving "Home Sweet Home" on it. The film ends with Calloway and his band performing the instrumental "Vine Street Blues". ==Cast==
Cast
Mae Questel/Margie Hines as Betty BoopMargie Hines as Betty's mother • Claude Reese as Bimbo • William Pennell as Betty's father • Cab Calloway and His Cotton Club Orchestra as Cavern Monsters ==Reception==
Reception
The Film Daily, on January 10, 1932, wrote: "This Max Fleischer musical cartoon is one of the best turned out so far with the cute pen-and-ink star, Betty Boop, who seems to be getting more sexy and alluring each time, and her boyfriend, Bimbo. The musical portion is supplied by Cab Calloway and his orchestra, and what these boys can't do to the 'Minnie the Moocher' number isn't worth mentioning. Cab and his boys are shown only for a brief moment at the opening. Then a cartoon character, a big walrus with serpentine hips, performs the gyrations to the tune of the 'Minnie' song. The effect is short of a knockout, especially to those who are familiar with Cab's stuff on the radio or stage or night club. Betty Boop's part in the action concerns her running away from home because of her bad parents. With Bimbo she goes into a cave, where spooky figures and eerie noise give them such a scare that they beat it back home". ==Notes==
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