Betty Boop turned 86 years old this week, but va-va-voom! She still looks great! In fact, she looks even better than when she made her first film appearance in a Talkartoons feature Dizzy Dishes.

In that debut appearance she looked more like a poodle than the sex symbol she grew up to be. Drawn with big floppy ears, a huge mouthful of teeth and a black button nose, early audiences said she was "ugly".

By the time I saw Betty Boop for the first time, she was the curvy, sexy 'toon we all know today. My friends and I fell in love with her, collecting everything from Boop dolls and toys to purses and posters. Despite her homely beginnings, she made a bunch of awkward almost-teenagers feel like we could grow up to be like Betty — confident, sweet, fun and pretty — maybe with just a little bit of "va-va-voom" on the side!