Poor Betty was a victim of the Hays Code, or the Motion Picture Production Code, which in 1934 banned profanity and curtailed violence and sexual content in movies — even animated movies.

The Betty Boop cartoons were not just aimed at kids. They had stuff in them for grownups, too: not least, guest appearances by some of the era's top jazz musicians.

“Even though she’s a cartoon character from the 1930s, Betty has always been so ahead of her time,” said Jasmine Amy Rogers, the young performer who plays Betty on Broadway after wowing ...