Betty Boop, a character created by the Fleischer Brothers in 1930, became a cultural icon in the 1930s. She was a nostalgic symbol of the Roaring Twenties with its wonderful debauchery who became popular with adults, and later with kids when her persona was toned down. A fascinating “take” on the inspiration for Betty Boop can be read here, but comic historians claim that Betty Boop was initially drawn as a French Poodle with drop ears and a black round nose. 

Years later, Grim Natwick, who worked Fleischer Studios, recalled Dave Fleischer’s idea:

“One morning [he] came over to my desk and handed me the music to the [popular] song “Boop-Oop-A-Doop,” by Helen Kane, and asked me to design a girl character to go with it. At that point, the only characters the Fleischers had in their sound cartoons was Bimbo. So without bothering to ask if they wanted a human, I started drawing a little girl dog. I had a song sheet of Helen Kane and the spit curls came from her. I put cute legs on her and long ears. I supposed I used a French poodle for the basic idea of the character.”

Below is the first appearance of Betty Boop in a cartoon. Do you see a Poodle here?