Simon Cowell's company to help produce Betty Boop movie

Boop-oop-a-doop! Betty Boop is starring in a new movie, and she's working with Simon Cowell.

"I've worked with some serious divas but I think Betty could be the biggest of them all!" entertainment mogul Cowell tweeted playfully Thursday.

Cowell's Syco Entertainment and Animal Logic, the animation company behind "The Lego Movie," jointly announced they and rights-holder Fleischer Studios would produce "a music-driven hybrid animated comedy" starring the big-eyed, big-hearted cartoon flapper, whose trademark lashes, lips, minidress and garter belts continue to grace all manner of merchandise even though her last theatrical short was in 1939.

"I've been trying to get Betty to the dance for years now," Jason Lust, an Animal Logic producer, said in a statement. "Can't believe she's finally said 'Yes.' "

Fleischer Studios chairman and CEO Mark Fleischer -- grandson of producer Max Fleischer, who with director brother Dave created Betty as an unnamed supporting character in the 1930 short "Dizzy Dishes" -- said Syco and Animal Logic had the "energy, creativity and playfulness" to make them a good fit with the iconic character.

She appeared in 121 theatrical shorts, according to the official Betty Boop site by the King Features Syndicate, the character's licensing agent. She went on to star in occasional TV specials, such as CBS' 1985 "The Romance of Betty Boop," and had a cameo in the 1988 live-action/animated film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."