TV and DVD
In 1955, Betty's 110 cartoon appearances were sold to television syndicator UM&M TV Corporation, which was acquired by National Telefilm Associates (NTA) in 1956. NTA was reorganized in the 1980s as Republic Pictures, which is currently a subsidiary of Viacom, the parent company of Paramount. Paramount, Boop's original home studio (via sister company Republic), now acts as a theatrical distributor for the Boop cartoons that they originally released. Television rights are now handled by Trifecta Entertainment & Media, which in 2009 took over from CBS Television Distribution, successor to various related companies, including Worldvision Enterprises, Republic, and NTA.
Betty Boop appeared in two television specials, The Romance of Betty Boop in 1985, which was produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez, the same creative team behind the Peanuts specials; and 1989's The Betty Boop Movie Mystery and both specials are available on DVD as part of the Advantage Cartoon Mega Pack. She has made cameo appearances in television commercials and the 1988 feature film Who Framed Roger Rabbit. While television revivals were conceived, nothing has materialized from the plans.
While the animated cartoons of Betty Boop have enjoyed a remarkable rediscovery over the last 30 years, official home video releases have been limited to the VHS and LaserDisc collector's sets in the 1990s. In spite of continued interest, no official DVD releases have occurred to date. (Lionsgate Home Entertainment, under license from Republic, owns the video rights to the Boop cartoons). The only DVDs of the series are ones distributed by budget distributors containing episodes that have fallen into public domain. Ironically, the image of Betty Boop has gained more recognition through the massive merchandising license launched by the heirs of Max Fleischer, with audiences today unaware of Betty's place in cinema and animation history.
However on March 23, 2012 Olive Films acquired over one hundred titles from Republic Pictures, including the 66 Betty Boop cartoons which are not in the public domain and plan to release them on DVD and Blu-ray although no specific date has been announced.
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