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Bimbo the Dog
Name:
Bimbo the Talking Dog
Age:
16-20
Gender:
Male
Birthplace:
1600 Broadway, New York City, New York
Nationality:
American
Sexual Orientation:
Heterosexual
Dog Breed:
Pug / Boston Terrier / Bulldog
Religion:
Judaism
Fur Color:
Black / Blue / Brown
Eye Color:
Black / Brown / Blue
Occupation:
Musician / Bandit / Mailman / Dancer / Painter / Waiter / Chef / Accordionist / Furniture Mover / Babysitter / Peanut Seller / Hunter / Museum Curator / Police Officer / Racecar Driver / Scientist / Detective
Bimbo became the star of Fleischer Studios Talkartoons series replacing Koko the Clown. Bimbo's creation was influenced by Koko's old companion Fitz the Dog. Fitz and Bimbo are complete different characters.
Bimbo made his first appearance in the 1930 short film Hot Dog. When his lover, Betty Boop, became a more popular character, Bimbo was demoted to a supporting role. The Talkartoons series eventually became the Betty Boop series.
Bimbo starred in Fleischer cartoons from 1930 to 1933, but he was removed from Betty's series due to Production Code censorship restrictions, which deemed an anthropomorphic dog with a human love interest inappropriate at the time. In 1933, he appeared in the Tokio Shunkodo manga. Bimbo appeared in early concepts for Who Framed Roger Rabbit but did not make the cut.
Bimbo refers to his mother as "Ma". Her appearances include Minding the Baby and Teacher's Pest. She believes her son Bimbo is lazy. Bimbo's father is referenced but is never seen. Bimbo had a baby brother in the earlier Talkartoons called Aloysius. Later on, Aloysius was recycled by the Fleischers into Betty Boop's sibling, Billy Boop.
Prior to Bimbo's retirement in the original series, he was rebranded as Betty's pet dog.
Pandemonium Cartoon Circus has an appearance by Bimbo and three clones of him, along with a dance routine in the "Starstruck" song segment. His most recent appearance was in the 2016 Dynamite Comics "Betty Boop" comic books, where he was one of Betty's closest pals and a secret admirer.
Bimbo is referenced in The Girl with the Googily Goop as having had "dated" Googi Goop.
Bimbo has a brief appearance in The Cuphead Show!, released in 2022. In an early concept for the Broadway musical, Bimbo was set to appear in Boop! the Betty Boop Musical, but he was cut[1] from the story. Instead, he appears in the stage artwork.
Quotes
- Bimbo: "Roast duck!" (Dizzy Dishes)
- Bimbo: "Boop-Poo-Pah-Doop-Boop!" (Dizzy Dishes)
- Bimbo: "Hello, beautiful!" (Bimbo's Express)
- Bimbo: "What a pippin!" (Bimbo's Initation)
- Bimbo: "Boop-Oop-a-Doop!" (S.O.S)
- Bimbo: "C'mon, Betty!" (Crazy Town)
- Bimbo: "Any rags? Any rags? Any rags? Any bones? Any bottles today?'" (Any Rags)
- Bimbo: "For you a rose!" (Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee)
- Bimbo: "Congratulations!" (Betty Boop's Birthday)
- Bimbo: "Now what do we do?" (Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery)
- Bimbo: "That's the third time this month we've been fired..." (Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery)
- Bimbo: "You mean like musical detectives?" (Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery)
- Bimbo: "We're looking for Miss Green. Maybe you've seen her? Real mousy type grey hair." (Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery)
- Bimbo: "Get that camera outta my face! That two-timing Betty Boop was my gal, y'unnerstand? We was two dog cartoon characters, see? But we was happy as two bugs in a rug. Then, I dunno, the Fleischer Studios gave her some kinda operation or sumpin'. She became more human but still she was just lines on paper, see?"[2] (Betty Boop's Big Break)
- Bimbo: "Right off, she starts datin' guys like Fearless Fred. She starts off with this new pooch, Pudgy, and pretty soon I'm outta the pictures altogether. It's like she's forgot her roots or sumpin'!" (Betty Boop's Big Break)
- Bimbo: "One minute to go Betty!" (Betty Boop Bop)
- Bimbo: "She's got game!" (Betty Boop Bop)
- Bimbo: "Gee Whiz! You don't suppose something's happened to Betty, do you?" (Dynamite Digital Comics)
- Bimbo: "I-I couldn't live with myself if--" (Dynamite Digital Comics)
- Bimbo: "You take that back, Sally Swing! I, er, I'm just concerned as a f-friend, that's all!" (Dynamite Digital Comics)
Voiced by
- Billy Murray (1930-1931)
- Claude Reese (1931-1933)
- Cab Calloway (Singing Voice)
- Bradley Barker (1933-1934) (NBC Radio)
- Dave Swanson (1980)
- Lionel Wilson (1984)
- David Babich (2014)
Personality
In the original cartoon shorts, Bimbo is shown to have somewhat good intentions but is a bit of a troublemaker. Usually by tricking and or pulling pranks on background characters in earlier films. He is also known to have a huge libido as well, especially towards Betty. Similar to Betty Boop, he has a child-like nature. In the Dynamite comics, he seems to be portrayed as timid and nervous.
Character Design
Bimbo is a black dog who wears a red top, white gloves and large yellow shoes in contrast of Disney's famous Mickey Mouse. In Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery his fur is blue.
Teacher's Pest
The 1931 animated short, Teacher's Pest features a younger version of Bimbo. In this film, Bimbo is late for school. Bimbo lives with his mother and father. Bimbo's mother can be heard in the opening sequence of the cartoon but is not seen. Bimbo's father is referenced when Bimbo gives his teacher a forged letter which states, "Please excuse Bimbo for being late - my Father." The cartoon short revolves around Bimbo causing mischief at school.
Bimbo the Cat?
In the 1931 cartoon short Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie, Bimbo is depicted as a cat.
Bimbo's Other Girlfriends and Wives
Before Betty Boop, Bimbo often had other girlfriends or wives[3] most of which were prototypes of Betty Boop. His girlfriends have appeared in some of the earlier Screen Songs and Talkartoons. Some of them even appeared after Betty Boop's debut in Dizzy Dishes from 1931-1932.
Bimbo's Children
In the 1931 cartoon short The Bum Bandit, Bimbo has 17 kids with Betty. This only happened in that one short. They never appeared again afterwards. Betty Boop says they have seventeen children, yet the picture shows just ten, implying that she could be having more. A typical litter size for all dogs is between one and twelve puppies, with an average of five to six puppies.
The Betty Boop Movie Mystery (1989)
Bimbo made his comeback in The Betty Boop Movie Mystery as one of Betty's loyal friends, along with Koko the Clown. He is known as "Bimbo the Musical Dog" and his fur is blue instead of black. In this special animated feature, he does not have interest in Betty sexually as he did in the original theatrical cartoon series, he is merely her best friend.
Betty Boop Dance Card
Bimbo appears as a playable character in Betty Boop Dance Card.
Cuphead (2022)
In the 2022 episode Carn-Evil of the cartoon series The Cuphead Show!, Bimbo makes a brief appearance. He is only one of countless whose souls have been taken. A later time, Mugman and Cuphead release his soul. Additionally, Bimbo now has a whole new outfit color scheme. Although Bimbo's initial color scheme frequently matched that of Disney's mascot Mickey Mouse, he was outfitted in green for his Cuphead appearance in the animated series. He also wore brown shoes and yellow gloves.
Bimbo Filmography
- Dizzy Dishes (August 9, 1930)
- Barnacle Bill (August 31, 1930)
- Accordion Joe (December 12, 1930) (Lost short)
- Mysterious Mose (December 26, 1930)
- Teacher`s Pest (February 7, 1931)
- The Bum Bandit (April 3, 1931)
- Silly Scandals (May 23, 1931)
- Bimbo's Initiation (July 24, 1931)
- Bimbo's Express (August 22, 1931)
- Minding the Baby (September 26, 1931)
- Mask-A-Raid (November 7, 1931)
- Jack And the Beanstalk (November 21, 1931)
- Dizzy Red Riding Hood (December 12, 1931)
- Any Rags? (January 2, 1932)
- Boop-Oop-a-Doop (January 16, 1932)
- Minnie the Moocher (February 26, 1932)
- Swim or Sink (S.O.S.) (March 11, 1932)
- Crazy Town (March 25, 1932)
- The Dancing Fool (April 8, 1932)
- Chess-Nuts (April 13, 1932)
- A Hunting We Will Go (April 29, 1932)
- Admission Free (June 10, 1932)
- Let Me Call You Sweetheart (May 20, 1932)
- The Betty Boop Limited (July 1, 1932)
- Stopping the Show (August 12, 1932)
- Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee (August 19, 1932)
- Betty Boop, M.D. (September 2, 1932)
- Betty Boop's Bamboo Isle (September 23, 1932)
- Betty Boop's Ups and Downs (October 15, 1932)
- Romantic Melodies (October 21, 1932)
- I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You (November 25, 1932)
- Betty Boop's Museum (December 16, 1932)
- Betty Boop's Ker-Choo (January 6, 1933)
- Betty Boop's Crazy Inventions (January 27, 1933)
- Is My Palm Read? (February 17, 1933)
- Betty Boop's Penthouse (March 10, 1933)
- Snow White (March 31, 1933)
- Betty Boop's Birthday Party (April 21, 1933)
- Betty Boop's May Party (May 12, 1933)
- Popeye the Sailor (July 14, 1933) (as a stuffed animal)
- I Heard (September 1, 1933)
- Betty Boop's Hollywood Mystery (June 25, 1989)
- The Ren & Stimpy Show (July 3, 2003)
- The Cuphead Show! (February 18, 2022)
Trivia
- Bimbo was one of the animal characters to be removed from the Betty Boop cartoons due to the Hays Code censorship laws.
- An alternative version of Bimbo has a red nose.
- He is best friends with Koko the Clown.
- Some people think that Bimbo was turned into Pudgy the Dog, which is untrue. Pudgy and Bimbo are completely different characters.
- Bimbo's color concept vaguely resembles Disney's Mickey Mouse.
- In the Japanese dub, Bimbo is depicted as sounding like a boy rather than a grown man.
- As did Betty, Bimbo also went through many different designs. Bimbo's official design was finalized in the 1931 Talkartoon titled The Herring Murder Case. However, his oldest design was used a few times after that.
- A character called Pooch the Pup greatly resembled Bimbo when he was given a new character design.