Popeye the Sailor

I had always wondered when Popeye started his animated career, until I've watched this cartoon online. I found out that this short was intended as a test cartoon to see if Popeye could work as an animated character. He was originally a character from a comic strip by a guy named E. C. Segar. This cartoon combines my two favorite cartoon characters coming together - Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor. Even though Betty's appearance is more of a cameo than a full-time character in this cartoon. And also, this cartoon is really part of the Betty Boop series.

The only thing that bothers me about this cartoon, is Olive Oyl's voice; I really didn't like it. I really prefer Mae Questel's take on Olive, but I got to bear with what they got. My favorite scene is when Betty and Popeye do the hula on stage.

This is the first Popeye cartoon. He had appeared in newspaper comic strips. At the beginning we get to hear the entire version of his theme song as he disintegrates various items of property. While impressive, he is really pretty destructive. Of course, Bluto shows up and he has to deal with him. At no point does the big guy seem to have a chance. Of course, he can't leave Olive Oyl alone and Popeye saves her several times. Mostly, they show off at the carnival where Bluto does something well and Popeye does him one better. Betty Boop makes and appearance as a hula girl and Popeye gets on stage and copies her dancing. Eventually, Bluto ties Oliive to a railroad track (original!) and this forces the use of spinach, that performance enhancing drug. This is really a nice introduction to the Popeye oeuvre.

While I have never been a huge fan of Popeye because the cartoons are so darn repetitive, this very first Popeye is well worth seeing--for historical reasons, because it was significantly better than the efforts of most other studios (which tended towards cutesy singing cartoons) and because it was so original at that time. However, the Fleischer Studios was a bit hesitant to just toss Popeye out there and hope that people will like him. Instead, they billed this as a Betty Boop cartoon on the title screen. Additionally, Betty makes a short but risqué appearance mid-way through the film--sort of like she was giving her seal of approval to the series.

One big difference between this and most of the later Popeye cartoons is with Olive Oyl. Her voice was not provided by the usual Mae Questel (also the voice of Betty Boop). Olive's horribly annoying voice is not so annoying and Bonnie Poe's voice is noticeably deeper and less migraine-inducing! Aside from that, the cartoon is pretty much like any of the early Popeyes. The art work is the usual beautifully detailed black & white Fleischer animation that you can't help but respect. Bluto and Popeye do their usual routines, though Popeye does seem a bit more macho without his spinach than later films and so the difference that the spinach makes is less notable. Also, notice the final scene where our hero saves Olive--and possibly kills a train load of innocent people in the process!

One sad thing in the film many won't notice is the carnival bit where Popeye and the rest are throwing balls at a guy's head. Such ball throwing booths were common back then and involved throwing baseballs at a Black man's face! While the guy in the cartoon is pretty cartoony, he is Black skinned and this is a sick little aspect of the 1930s that has been forgotten--and that probably isn't a bad thing at all.

Popeye the Sailor (1933)

**** (out of 4)

First film in the series of shorts was also the first I've seen of any of these early films. I watched some of the later ones when I was a kid and I wasn't sure what to expect out of these theatrical shorts but this first one was great. Popeye takes Olive Oyl to a fair when Bluto shows up to start trouble. There's a lot of great humor here and I really loved the animation style. The opening scene of Popeye singing his famous song is priceless as is the appearance by Betty Boop.

Now available through Warner in a 4-disc box set.

Wow, it's interesting to see how different this first Popeye cartoon was from all the others we are used to seeing. Right off the in the introduction, other - not Popeye - is singing a "Strike Up the Band" song. Actually, we find out it's a "Betty Boop" as Betty joins in the singing, with a similar lyric about it "being a cinch that every inch he's a sailor."

Popeye came from the comic strips, so the first thing we see when the story begins in a newspaper headline reading, "Popeye A Movie Star," meaning the audience will now see him at the movie theater. (There was no television back then.)

Anyway, just watching the first few minutes of this cartoon produced a big smile on my face. It's tough to beat these clever, funny 1930s Popeye cartoons. The combination of sight gags and music - they loved music in cartoons and movies back in the '30s - is guaranteed to make you feel good after watching.

Popeye demonstrates his strength, dexterity and resourcefulness in his screen debut and it's quickly established Bluto is the enemy and wants Olive. That storyline went on for decades but was always fun to see as the sailor man bested the bearded bully time after time.

Betty only has a small number in here, so even if the cartoon is under name, it's really Popeye's. Betty does a quick Hawaiian dance which she did in several other cartoons before they made her put more clothes on by the end of 1934.

The only thing different was Bonnie Poe doing some voice work as Olive. Her voice was a lot lower than Mae Questel's who did Olive for most, if not all, of the other cartoons. Mae also did Betty Boop, and my guess is they didn't want the same voice for both characters in the same cartoon.

Also, Popeye's answer to everything was a punch, destroying whatever he hit....even a train! He's always ready to show his stuff, but a little more so than normal in this debut cartoon. This guy was punching everybody and everything, and so was Olive! In later cartoons, Popeye entertained us more with his clever remarks and reinventing of words. However, you can see from this early cartoon that it's no surprise this comic strip character made it big "in the movies."