''Be Human'' is a 1936 American
animated short
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
film starring
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is a cartoon character designed by Grim Natwick at the request of Max Fleischer. She originally appeared in the '' Talkartoon'' and ''Betty Boop'' film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pic ...
and
Grampy
Professor Grampy is an animated cartoon character appearing in the ''Betty Boop'' series of shorts produced by Max Fleischer and released by Paramount Pictures. He appeared in nine of the later ''Betty Boop'' cartoons beginning with '' Betty Boop ...
. It is now in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
.
Plot
Betty Boop is incensed at her farmer neighbor's cruelty to his animals. But the inventive Grampy knows how to teach him a lesson.
The abusive farmer has been compared to Billy Joe Gregg, who abused numerous cows and calves at the
Conklin Dairy Farms in Ohio in 2010.
Song
The cartoon features the song ''Be Human'' sung by Betty Boop accompanying herself on piano. Instrumental renditions of the song are also prominent throughout the cartoon. When the animal-abusing farmer winds up on Grampy's punishment treadmill, a
phonograph
A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
recording of Grampy's voice is heard singing the song.
See also
*
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse, animal neglect or animal cruelty, is the infliction of suffering or Injury, harm by humans upon animals, either by omission (neglect) or by commission. More narrowly, it can be the causing of harm ...
*
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the quality of life and overall well-being of animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures ...
*
Vigilantism
Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority.
A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...
*
A Song a Day
''A Song a Day'' (originally as ''Grampy in "A Song a Day"'') is a 1936 Fleischer Studios animated short film starring Betty Boop and featuring Grampy.
Synopsis
At Betty Boop's Animal Hospital, various animals have appropriate ailments - a gira ...
- The animated short with Betty Boop and Grampy in a humane animal hospital
*
Animal rights
Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...
Notes
External links
Downloadable cartoon at archive.org(public domain, MPEG4, 7.6MB)
*
*
1930s English-language films
Films about animal rights
1930s American animated films
American animated black-and-white films
Betty Boop cartoons
1936 animated short films
Paramount Pictures short films
Fleischer Studios short films
Short films directed by Dave Fleischer
American comedy short films
American animated short films
Animated films about animals
Films about old age
Animated films set on farms
English-language short films
{{BettyBoop-animation-film-stub