Strong to the Finich

A "Health Farm For Kids?" I wonder if there ever was such a thing? Well, it's here in this cartoon with Olive Oyl running the place and feeding the kids a big plate of hot spinach!

In a nutshell, the kids - and who can blame them? - are sick of spinach and won't eat. They make a fit, too, and Olive doesn't know what to do. Along comes Popeye....and what better salesman than he to sell the product by showing what it can do! Popeye feeds the green stuff to various plants and animals and their growth is pretty amazing. Some of this is very funny and all of it is very silly, but it's definitely worth watching and a pleasant break from the Popeye vs.Bluto boxing matches.

Olive Oyl is running a health farm for children. Her students, alas, will not eat their spinach. Fortunately, Popeye shows up to demonstrate the mucky stuff's virtues.

The pacing of the gags is a lot more deliberate than in most early Fleischer cartoons in the series, and there are no noticable throw-away jokes to be seen. Perhaps this one was demanded by the spinach growers and canners, who were already feeling the happy boost given to sales by the cartoons. Likewise, there are several shots, like the charging bulls, that I have seen reproduced exactly in other Fleischer cartoons (forgive me if I cannot recall if they were released before or after this one). Still, the gags are funny.

Strong to the Finich (1934)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Olive Oyl is running a school for boys but they refuse to eat their spinach so Popeye comes along to teach them why they should. This here is one of the weaker shorts I've seen from Popeye. The film really comes off just as a teaching lesson but nothing being taught is overly funny. There are a couple cute sequences of Popeye teaching the boys, which includes one scene where he feeds a chicken some spinach only to have it lay a dozen eggs. The best scene is near the end when the boys feed two sick cows some spinach and it turns them into mean, fighting bulls who Popeye must battle. This is a weaker short but it's still worth watching if you're a fan of the Popeye shorts. It should be noted that there's a black kid in the mix and he's played to look like a monkey. This type of thing certainly won't go over well today but we must remember the time it was made.

The early Fleischer cartoons were visually superb for the most part. They were still more or less breaking in the Popeye series at this point and still just getting by with William Costello as the voice of Popeye. This one is a very good cartoon that would have been made better if the voice actor had given Popeye a bit more energy or life. The sight gags are great in this, but without visual action, Popeye voiced by Costello would have trouble convincing people to buy $5.00 bills for a dime, much less convincing young children to eat spinach. The kids make the short in any case. Good ending makes this worth watching. Recommended.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

'Strong to the Finich' is not quite one of the best Popeye cartoons to me. It is extremely well done though and has a lot going for it. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between the characters. 'Strong to the Finich' has much of what makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the main characters or make them less interesting. It is another nice change of pace.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons). The material make it even more entertaining, 'Strong to the Finich' is non-stop fast-paced fun though very creepy, avoiding the trap of repetition.

All the characters are great, though Olive Oyl is a bit underused and her material not as great as the rest. There is a lot of energy here and some educational value regarding the spinach. Popeye is always amusing and likeable and the children aren't too cute.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality, Bonnie Poe fits Olive Oyl well and William Costello is fine as Popeye.

Overall, strong effort. 8/10 Bethany Cox