The Fleischer brothers’ Betty Boop series of theatrical cartoons are something of a “Holy Grail” for classic animation fans, because unlike some other cartoons of the period (notably, the Fleischers’ own Popeye and Superman series), they have never been released in their entirety on an authorized Blu-ray or DVD. While there have been any number of cheap, pressed DVD copies of the public-domain Boops, these prints are typically of poor screen and sound quality.

And this is a shame, because the Betty Boop cartoons deserve better treatment. These shorts are important entries in the classic animation canon, featuring some of the Fleischers’ most creative animation, a steady pace of gags, surrealistic imagery, and adult themes—at least, the cartoons released prior to mid-1934, when stricter enforcement of the Hollywood Production Code took effect.

Over the past year, Olive Films has taken steps to correct the sore lack of good-quality Betty Boop cartoons available, releasing three collections of cartoons on Blu-ray and DVD for the first time. While these collections are admittedly somewhat scattershot in their composition (it’s unclear why Olive did not choose to group the cartoons by theme or even by release date), they are nonetheless a must-own for animation fans who long to see Ms. Boop in her prime (or as close to it as possible). But if you’re expecting a plethora of extras and special features (as with the fantastic Fleischer Popeye DVD releases), you’ll be disappointed; these discs are about as “no-frills” as you can get.

Olive advertises that these collections are “newly re-mastered in HD from 4K scans of the original negatives and finegrains,” and indeed, these cartoons look better than ever. That’s not to say that the shorts have been restored, however; the cartoons have some noticeable wear and tear, with flickers and graininess present in each one on the disc.

Additionally, instead of boasting the original Paramount theatrical logos, these cartoons retain the old UM&M logo from the cartoon’s earliest television days in the 1950s—further indication that little to no effort has gone toward actual restoration here. Still, acknowledging all that, it’s nonetheless safe to say that Betty has not looked—or sounded—this great in decades.

Released today, the latest (third) volume of Olive’s Betty Boop: The Essential Collection features a dozen cartoons culled equally from the pre-Code era and the few years afterward, in which censorship demands forced the lowering of Betty’s hemlines and the taming of her naughtier instincts. To that end, the first six of the cartoons featured here easily fit under the “essential” heading; the remaining half are not quite so, but nonetheless (mostly) have their moments.

While the Essential Collections do not have any discernible theme connecting the cartoons included on each release, it’s interesting to note that there does seem to be a unifying theme on this third disc, at least in regards to the first few cartoons. Four of the cartoons on Volume 3 feature popular bandleaders of the early 1930s and their orchestras in initial live-action segments; the bands then also appear in animated form (of some sort or another) in the cartoons themselves.

This set kicks off with one of the most memorable cartoons from the entire Betty Boop series, 1932’s Minnie the Moocher. Minnie features Cab Calloway and his orchestra performing the title song in a brief live opening, and Calloway has a starring role as a ghostly walrus who scares runaways Betty and Bimbo back home after a creepy encounter in the woods. Calloway’s own slinky dance moves were rotoscoped to create the walrus character, who serenades Betty and Bimbo with a spooky rendition of “Minnie” that is backed up by a host of skeletons and ghouls.

Minnie the Moocher is the first of three Betty Boop cartoons in which Calloway was featured; he also appeared in the Boop version of the fairy tale Snow White in 1933 (which has yet to be released on any Olive compilation) and a final short, The Old Man of the Mountain, also released that year. Old Man does make an appearance on this disc, with a reprise of “Minnie the Moocher,” which the orchestra performs in their live opening to the cartoon. This cartoon features Calloway voicing two distinct figures: an owl who warns Betty to stay away from the lascivious “Old Man of the Mountain,” and the lustful Old Man himself.

Another legendary bandleader, Louis Armstrong, stars in I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You (1932). Rascal features more intermittent live-action footage than any of the other bandleader-led cartoons; Armstrong voices a pygmy who chases Bimbo and Koko through the jungle (after his tribesmen have kidnapped Betty, of course), and as the pygmy’s disembodied head chases the duo, it morphs into a shot of Armstrong singing the title song. There are some disturbing racial implications here (a problem that dogs several of the Betty Boop shorts, truth be told), but this very early film appearance of Armstrong and his band remains an interesting artifact.

Speaking of racial implications, one of the more unsettling entries in the Betty Boop series is featured on this disc. 1938’s live-action/animated short Out of the Inkwell (its name an homage to the Fleischers’ 1920s cartoon series of the same name) stars Oscar Polk—best known for his role as the house slave Pork in 1939’s Gone With the Wind—as a stereotypical lazy janitor who engages an animated Betty in some hypnotic hijinks before she turns the tables on him. Let’s just say that the inclusion of this cartoon underscores the fact that these Betty Boop collections are decidedly for the adult collector and not for children (at least minus the proper cultural perspective).

The other cartoons on the disc include:

Mother Goose Land (1933): Betty’s bedtime story takes her far away to the land of fairy tales, where she has a scary encounter with Miss Muffet’s lusty spider.

I Heard (1933): Featuring Don Redman and his orchestra, this short finds Betty running a tavern outside a haunted mine.

Ha! Ha! Ha! (1934): Dentist Betty’s laughing gas is much, much stronger than she anticipated.

Stop That Noise (1935): Betty flees to the country to escape the city noise, but soon finds there’s no place like home.

Service with a Smile (1937): Grampy comes to the rescue when Betty’s Hi-Di-Hotel runs into trouble.

The New Deal Show (1937): Betty puts on an expo highlighting exciting new products just for pets.

Be Up to Date (1938): Betty takes her “traveling department store” to Hillbillyville to bring the country folks into the modern world, with disastrous results.

Thrills and Chills (1938): Betty and Pudgy travel to a mountaintop resort, as Betty fends off the advances of a goofy skier.

Brandie Ashe no longer eats cold cereal while wearing footy pajamas…but does maintain a love for all things animated. She is one of four passionate classic film authors at True Classics.