Yes, the old ones were originally shown in movie theaters. That’s why the old ones had to be funny to two different audiences—the kids and the adults. The ones from the forties often have lots of references to the war, rationing, etc and they sometimes feature the stars of the day—Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, etc.
Movies were a great deal. Usually two feature films and between a newsreel, at least one cartoon and a serial or two. Many people went at least once a week because it was an affordable night out. They did rip you off on the candy though. Movies would charge 6¢ for a candy bar that cost 5¢ everywhere else.
Betty Boop cartoons were so integrated with their times that some of the scenes will make so sense to post-boomers.
One that stands out in my memory was Betty using a pay phone, hanging up, then leaving the frame. The pay phone makes a clanking sound, then Betty runs back in and checks the coin return slot. This was something we all did because the sound of the new coin(s) dropping into coins already in the phone from past calls sounded so much like you were getting your money back, that we all checked, just in case. It seldom paid off.