Dizzy Divers

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.

While maybe not quite classic Popeye, 'Dizzy Divers' is still very good and very funny. 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 Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. 'Dizzy Divers' has everything that makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the three main characters or make them less interesting.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons), though with a lot of variety and creative moments. The humour and gags make it even more entertaining with very amusing to hilarious gags, and the cartoon is hardly devoid of them.

All three lead characters are great, though Olive Oyl's material is not as great as Popeye and Bluto's, though she is used very nicely and her actions towards the end make for one of the cartoon's highlights. Those two are spot on and their chemistry drives 'Dizzy Divers' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character. The ocean animals are fun and used inventively.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. Some creative little things too with the ocean creatures. 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 on the most part, William Costello and especially Gus Wickie give Popeye and Bluto so much life. Only Bonnie Poe doesn't do it for me, Mae Questel fits the character design and personality much more.

Overall, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Dizzy Divers (1935)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye discovers a treasure map and brings Bluto in as a partner but Bluto steals the map and heads out on his own so Popeye and Olive Oyl must catch up. This is another winner for the series, which contains a lot of laughs as well as some great underwater fights. The highlights of the film are when Popeye has to battle various ocean life including a shark and a great battle with an octopus. The scenes of Popeye having to row his boat are also very nice and the animation is at the top of the game as well.

Popeye and Bluto actually are on the same team? Well, it doesn't last long - about a minute!

These two adversaries, deep-sea divers in this story, are pouring over a treasure map and trying to figure out what's the best way to sail to find it. Their main concern seems to be sharks and barracudas in the waters surrounding where they think the treasure lies. Bluto pronounces the fish "bara-cooties."

Popeye shakes hands and says, "We have a deal: 50-50." Bluto agrees but within seconds pictures having 100 percent of it and starts trying kill our guy!! Holy smokes, is this guy is greedy AND brutal! Bluto beats him up, takes the map and leaves on his boat, waving the map and laughing, "Fifty-fifty. Toodle- dee-doo!"

You know Popeye is going to go right after him and he does, rowing his own tugboat because the tugboat isn't going fast enough! Man, people forget Popeye was incredibly strong even without the spinach. Of course, Bluto was even stronger because he almost always pulverized Popeye until our guy could eat his greens.

Anyway, what happens here on the sea and underneath it with the treasure all is funny - good stuff. Olive is helping Popeye and Wimpy (that traitor!) is helping Bluto. Not only do the two boys battle it out but they have to fight off the sea creatures below. This is a lot of fun to watch, to say the least.

Once again, we get some excellent artwork. The details show a lot of work went into there early black-and-white episodes, far more than in latter day (i.e. 1960s) Popeye cartoons. This really looks good on the restored new Popeye: The Early Years DVD package. Obviously, the people who worked on these cartoons for the DVD put a good effort into this, too. The shipwreck underwater scenes look fantastic! This cartoon and the others have never good better and are highly recommended.

Octopi? Octopodes? Never mind. Popeye and Bluto are deep-sea divers in this one. Popeye has a map leading to treasure and proposes to cut in Bluto 50-50. Bluto agrees and knocks the Popster for a loop and steals the map.

There's a lot of cheating going on in this cartoon. That;s cheating in the animation sense, by repeating actions in a loop, which occurs a couple of times. Usually this was done to reduce the cost of making the cartoon: instead of doing 7 minutes worth of cels, the staff could cut it down by as much as 10% here. In addition, the gags are less amusing than usual, more aimed at advancing the plot... although there are a couple of very funny ones, resulting in a solid episode in the long-running series.

CONTINUING TO PRESENT we, the audience with the whole stockpile of those old black & white POPEYE shorts from the Brothers Fleischer, our good friends and benefactors at Turner Classic Movies screened this one this past Saturday. From what we've seen, they are doing their best to follow the chronological order of release in the best film historian's tradition.

WHAT HAS BEEN the most obvious revelation is that the currently presented output is from 1935; which surely looks to have been truly "the GoldenAge of Popeye" on screen. Each short seems to be as good and laugh-loaded as the next. The guys at the studio followed a certain formula in puting on the show. Hence, we would typically be treated to about 10 minutes of struggle between protagonist (the Sailor Man) and mean, nasty, old Musclebound himself, Bluto.

WITH ONLY ONE reel with which to work, the story line, such as they were, was always kept to the simplest of forms. The cartoons in this series always made use of familiar characters from the pages of the comics, mainly using Olive Oyl and Wimpy; but others appeared also, if only unbilled.

IN THIS EPISODE, we find Popeye and Bluto being set in a nautically related field of having competing commercial sea diving operations A brief truce leads to the two rivals for Miss Oyl returning to their once and future status as rivals. That's all we're going to say, rather than going any further and spoiling it for those who haven't seen it yet (both of you).

JUST ONE MORE thing, before we sign off; following the tried and true formula already established and successful, there are two regulars used as assistants to each of the boys. Popeye has Olive Oyl; with Bluto's getting Mr.J. Wellington Wimpy who works for hamburgers, not peanuts.