Animated Tattoos: Artist inks 76 people to recreate Betty Boop scene

By Jessica Hehir-Smith via SWNS

A tattoo artist has inked over 70 people in nine months to recreate an iconic scene of Koko the Clown from the 1933 Betty Boop film ‘Snow White.'

Phil Berge, 34, realized his idea of recreating the scene of Koko singing the St. James Infirmary Blues by tattooing each of the 76 frames on over 70 individuals.

The dynamic footage shows the character turning from a clown into a ghost as he dances and sings along to a Cab Calloway song. Taken from the 1933 Betty Boop Snow White film, the scene is an iconic part of animation history.

Phil Berge, 34, realized his idea of recreating the scene of Koko singing the St. James Infirmary Blues by tattooing each of the 76 frames on over 70 individuals.

Canadian Phil made the tattoos at Tatouage Royal in Montreal and edited the video at home himself, over the course of 9 months.

He said: “The project was started in December 2020 and finished in the following September.

“I’ve been making animated tattoos for the last five years now. I was inspired by my love for traditional animation, vintage cartoons and traditional tattoos.

“I’d had the idea for a while - Koko the Clown is an amazing piece of animation history and I knew people would be interested in getting him tattooed.

“I tried animation tattoos on some friends before and it worked. I posted it on the internet and people really liked it, so I continued with bigger and better ones over the years.”

The project was no easy feat, alongside the detail of the actual tattoos, Phil had to perfect the photos himself to create the video:

“I took a photo of each tattoo and then carefully aligned the photos to create a moving tattoo.

“The first time you press play after aligning the pictures is really stressful. When I first saw it moving, it was a huge relief.”

Despite the stress, he is really happy and excited to do continue creating these incredible projects.

“Having an idea is pretty simple, accomplishing it is another story. I'm glad I was able to finish this animation - it definitely was one of the best movements I had achieved yet.

“It’s my biggest tattooed animation to date and I didn’t expect the great response that I’ve had.

“Trying stuff is fun. It is important to get weird sometimes.”