This article originally appeared in THR.com.The film will be produced by Nalbandian and Jason Lust from Animal Logic and Syco’s Cowell and Milano.Ĭreative Artists Agency (CAA), representing Syco Entertainment and Animal Logic, brokered the deal with King Features Syndicate representing Fleischer Studios. Simon Cowell Wants His Own Version Of ‘Frozen She’s an amazing, iconic and loved character, and we’re going to have so much fun producing her 21st century big-screen debut”. Betty, I’ve worked with some serious divas, but I think you could be the biggest of them all,” Cowell said.Īdam Milano, Syco’s head of film added: “Betty is the original funny girl and to be able to create a music-driven comedy with her at the center is an amazing opportunity.”Īnimal Logic’s CEO Zareh Nalbandian said: “I’m thrilled that Animal Logic is part of this exciting new collaboration with Betty. “Betty is an icon, and one of the biggest stars in the world - I’m thrilled to be working with her. And the complete and utter lack of evidence is neither here nor there for them.Tyler, The Creator & Converse's 'Remixed' Chuck 70 Are Here: Shop the Collab Now And there is nothing at all to prove that Esther Jones ever did anything even remotely resembling the Helen Kane act.Īnd the willingness of people to accept a Ukrainian photograph from 2008 as “Baby Esther” says it all. There is nothing at all that shows that Helen Kane had even heard of Esther Jones before her name came up at the trial.

Bolton was so crooked that he could hide behind a spiral staircase without being seen. So nobody could ever do a proper examination of it.Įsther Lee Jones was a pawn in a miscarriage of justice. And, surprise surprise, this valuable “early test film” was unfortunately “lost” by Bolton shortly afterwards. The judge denied that.Įsther never capitalize don the publicity, because if she HAD done actual recordings etc. Kane’s lawyers asked that an independent, third party group be allowed to do a technical investigation of the film recording, to verify or debunk whether ti was what it was claimed to be without any proof. Kane’s lawyers pointed all of this(and more) out, only to have it rejected by a misogynist judge who was openly and unashamedly hostile to Kane. The elephant in the room is…why in the VERY early days of recorded film with sound would a film of 7-year-old Esther Lee Jones have even been recorded at all? Naturally, here was no way of confirming WHERE the film was recorded, WHEN it was recorded, or even WHO it was singing on the film. Kane’s lawyers were desperate to get the actual Esther Lee Jones on the stand to testify herself, but Bolton has mysteriously lost track of Esther.Īnd then, the “early test sound recording” of Esther appeared. 15-time Grammy Award winner David Foster is currently writing the music for the Betty Boop Musical, which will Broadway in the 2010-2011 season at a Nederland theatre to be. Of course, he failed to provide actual evidence for any of this. In 2006 Kristin Chenoweth hinted to a fan that her music director Andrew Lippa was creating a Betty Boop musical and hinted that she would have gladly played the role. He also testified that Kane had seen this act “sometime around April or May 1928”. Lou Bolton, a man with a criminal record for fraud, and known friend/associate of the Fleischers, testified that HE had invented the “Boop boop a doop” style, had taught it to Esther, and that she was performing it before Kane. She was known as ‘The Miniature Florence Mills’. Bolton lied.Įsther Lee Jones was a child singer who performed as Li’l Esther. There’s an excellent reason Esther never benefited from the trial.

Her play Zamboni Godot is opening in New York City in March 2017. Saunders appeared in a few movies and died in 1991.įree Vintage Cartoons: Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop and MoreĪ 103-Year-Old Harlem Renaissance Dancer Sees Herself on Film for the First Time & Becomes an Internet StarĬab Calloway’s “Hepster Dictionary,” A 1939 Glossary of the Lingo (the “Jive”) of the Harlem RenaissanceĪyun Halliday is an author, illustrator, theater maker and Chief Primatologist of the East Village Inky zine. Some of her intonations are a bit reminiscent of Bessie Smith… who hated her ( not without reason). With a bit more digging, however, you will find Gertrude Saunders – the given name of “Baby Esther” – belting it out on Spotify. You can hear Kane on cds and Spotify, but you won’t find Baby Esther. Casual cartoon historians are far more likely to identify Kane as the inspiration for the animated Boop-oop-a-doop girl.

“What sounds did she interpolate?” asked Louis Phillips, a defense attorney.īaby Esther herself did not attend the trial, and did not much benefit from Kane’s loss. According to the Associated Press, Bolton testified that:īaby Esther made funny expressions and interpolated meaningless sounds at the end of each bar of music in her songs.

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