But Helen Kane based her act completely around the look, voice, and mannerisms of Baby Esther, so who came first? The chicken or the egg? Although Kane never said that she was inspired by Baby Esther's act, not surprisingly, the same studio she was exposing for stealing her look was about to expose her for stealing Baby Esther's look. The original animator of Betty Boop admitted to basing the look, voice, and mannerisms on Helen Kane directly before he died. Though Betty's mannerisms were the same, the switch from dog to human cartoon pushed Kane to file the lawsuit against the two studios.Īgain, Helen Kane being the inspiration of Betty Booy was in fact half true. As previously stated, in the first couple of "talkie" cartoons Betty Boop was actually a dog, by the time Kane filed this lawsuit Betty had transformed into a human flapper girl of the 1920s, her floppy dog ears were traded in for her iconic hoop earrings. In 1932 Helen Kane filed a $250,000.00 lawsuit against Fleischer Studios and Paramount Studios claiming that the likeness of Betty Boop was lifted directly from her image. For the first time in history, the internet has played a huge role in giving a lot of previously hidden stories the platform to be told to the masses, the story of Esther Jones is one of these stories. For so long what we considered to be historical facts were biased ideas created by those in power to reinforce the power structure. In a lot of ways, we are living in the information age and the ENTIRE story has an opportunity to finally be told. Many people complain that we live in an extremely sensitive society, to me that sounds like a cop-out. Baby Esther's story is symbolic of America's relationship with Black people and their overall contributions to our history and our culture. Her story is a powerful and important one, and contributions to our culture are undeniable. Unfortunately, after the 1930s there is not much news or information about what happened to Esther Jones, she was an extremely successful child star and she just disappeared. Her success continued as she traveled throughout South America, attracting crowds and much acclaim. She performed at the iconic Moulin Rouge and was billed at the "Miniature Josephine Baker". She performed for the King and Queen of Spain and was specifically requested to perform for the King and Queen of Sweeden.
In 1929, Esther toured Europe and became the highest-paid child star of her time. From that point on Helen began imitating Esther's performance, and subsequently, Kane's career started to gain some steam.Īlthough her act was appropriated by Helen Kane, Esther Jones was still a massive star. Tony Shayne also managed Helen Kane at the time and brought her to check out Baby Esthers set. In 1928, Baby Esther was preforming at an obscure nightclub called the Everglades Club when her booking agent, Tony Shayne brought Helen Kane to see her performance.
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