In almost the same vein as Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, Popeye is a character that is universally recognised and a major icon in animation history. Plus, his signature theme song is annoyingly catchy as hell! Adapted from the original comic strip by E.C. Segar, the legendary sailor man launched himself into the public consciousness through the Fleischer cartoons on the silver screen, and it was from there that we have endured him and his merry adventures and escapades through years of TV repeats and home video releases, captivating many generations as the years went by. Usually, the running formula for these episodes involves Popeye, with his elephantiasis arms, having to save the spaghetti-arms-and-legs waving girlfriend Olive Oyl from a certain peril of circumstance or typically from the hairy gorilla bully with Bluto, and at some point towards the end, Popeye resorts to his lucky can of spinach (must be some different form of Captain America’s super-soldier serum!) to save the day.
As formulaic as that may sound, that is easily glossed over by the fact that these cartoons are so charming, entrancing and enjoyable to watch even now. The short stories are straight and simple, yet they don’t feel cynical or half-hearted at all, which puts it leagues ahead of some cartoon series. One surprise is how violent it can be, despite its cartoonish nature, so it’s no surprising that The Simpsons parodied that in their Itchy and Scratchy vignettes. Beyond the stories, we have the wonderfully creative animation, and even now, there’s a real visual flow to these cartoons, and it’s clear that the Fleischer’s contributed to revolution in animation around that time with both this and their equally impressive Superman cartoons. They clearly stayed faithful to Segar’s designs, going for a more liquid, boldly-rendered look for the character, which works nicely and moves with ease, and that allows for more creative humour to be implemented when needed.
Another advancement in technology back then was their inclusion of colour, and during that time, the Fleischer’s created three blockbuster episodes that were twice as long as their normal cartoons, and are by far the stand out episodes of the set. These include Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor, Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves and Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. The first two combine character animation with three-dimensional background models, which was a common technique for an innovative studio at the time, but together, these three short films are a remarkable feat. There’s a greater focus on story, there are songs included that are used to advance the plot, and they allowed the Fleischer’s to exploit their classic characters in certain roles to make them fit within Popeye’s world, like having Bluto be Sinbad or Popeye as Aladdin. The Sinbad short in particular is one of the top 15 greatest animated shorts of all time because of the way they combined visual gags with the eye-popping visuals was incredibly ingenious at the time, plus the action was hilariously epic.
This set contains 34 classic Popeye shorts, which spans from 1936-1957, and you see the evolution while also embracing the hilarity. You see some of the best animation to date that hasn’t lost its touch after all these years, and that makes this collection worth the price of admission alone. Now is the time to rejoice with that classic sailor man!
POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN – THE ANIMATED COLLECTION / PUBLISHER: UMBRELLA ENTERTAINMENT / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
