Many Tanks

Let us all be eternally thankful to Cartoon Network's off shoot channel, Boomerang,which airs long forgotten "old school" animation from the early 1930's to (mostly)the late 1950's (is there anybody else out there who's ever heard of the M-G-M series, 'The Captain & The Kids'?). This WWII black & white short is a fast paced cartoon about Popeye having his uniform switched by Bluto & ending up in the Army Tank Corps (which once and for all flushes the whole Military Intelligence concept right down the toilet). The short is full of the usual puns & one liners that one has to listen close, unless they want to miss them (and there are a few of the usual in-jokes that cartoons of that era were known for). My question is, is there really that strong of a prejudice for black & white films as there is (and why has this stuff not turned up on a DVD of the Paramont Fleisher/Famous film shorts of that era)?

I think the funniest part of this cartoon was seeing Bluto dressed in Popeye's sailor outfit. The pants came up to his knees, like knickers, and he looked pretty funny. Bluto's Army digs, meanwhile, were about eight sizes to big for Popeye.

Why did they switch uniforms? Well, it wasn't Popeye's idea. He was just strolling by the Army Tank Corps tents all dressed up with a handful flowers walking to his date with Olive Oyl. Bluto, inside the barracks and wanting to get out for the day, lures the dumb sailor guy in, mugs him, and takes his clothes.

Soon, a tank drill is ordered and Popeye winds up inside the big vehicle....and trouble ensues. Within several minutes, he leads the rest of the group through the city streets and trashes the vehicle....but all works out in the end.

How does that happen? Well, you'll have to check out Disc 2 of Popeye The Sailor Man Volume 3.

Like the character of Popeye very much, have said this more than once. Some of his cartoons are disappointing, namely the late-40s and late-50s periods, but when the Popeye theatrical series was at its best (the late-30s) the cartoons were truly great. Overall, the theatrical series is well worth watching with many very good cartoons and the only watchable theatrical series of Fleischer Studios when the studios declined. If more the more imaginative and funnier Fleischer efforts than the less consistent Famous Studios ones.

Was rather mixed on the wartime Popeye cartoons (so the ones from the early 40s and especially when Popeye is in war and navy action), but most were very watchable. And 'Many Tanks' is one of the very watchable ones. Despite being unexceptional and having not much that blows the mind in terms of story and laughs, it is above average and on the whole pretty decent. The animation, music and everything with Popeye and Bluto more than make up for anything that doesn't quite come off so well.

'Many Tanks' does fall short in a few areas. Will agree about the gag count being lower than one would like, this is not one of the gags coming thick and fast sort of cartoons and what there are are at least amusing but pretty mild and not what can be considered hilarious.

One doesn't see a Popeye cartoon for their stories in the first place, but the one in 'Many Tanks' is incredibly slight and more of the same, if you've seen some of the other Popeye wartime cartoons there is not an awful lot different structurally or in terms of conflict and the content is on the repetitive side.

There is a lot though to like. The animation is fine, simple but has some nice detail in the backgrounds, the shading is crisp and the character designs are far from ugly or off. The inventive shots are striking. Even better is the music (always important for me to talk about and Popeye cartoons always fared very well in this respect), again lush and cleverly orchestrated and doing so well adding to and enhancing the action. The dialogue amuses mostly and the pacing does pick up in the wild and amusing final quarter.

Furthermore, Popeye is likeable with nice comic timing and Bluto is a suitably formidable foil. The animosity between them while not as imaginative as other cartoons of theirs is quite fun to watch. The voice acting is fine, Jack Mercer always had a ball with the asides and bumbling. It refrains from preaching too, it is so easy for something to make a point about something important and relevant and lay it on too thick.

In conclusion, decent but not great. 7/10.

Fleischer Studio's second to last Popeye cartoon is cute and entirely predictable, following the standard Popeye pattern. Why Popeye continues to believe Bluto is his friend and thereby falling into whatever trap he may currently have up his sleave is baffling. I guess Popeye's just too bloody nice. In keeping with the spirit of 1942, Bluto is suitably unpatriotic, announcing that the army is putting a cramp in his social life. But the animation is above average, and we don't usually get to see Popeye tearing around in a tank, which spices up the cartoon a bit.

Many Tanks (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Bluto is trying to sneak out of his Army base but when he's caught he tricks Popeye. After a brief fight Bluto sneaks off to take Olive on a date but Popeye isn't going to take it laying down.

MANY TANKS is one of many WWII era shorts where the boys were in the Army or doing some sort of battle. There's nothing ground-breaking about this short but it does feature the excellent animation that one came to expect from the series and there were also a few decent laughs throughout the running time. With that said, there's no question this isn't one of the better films in the series as there just weren't enough laughs and the entire story was pretty much Popeye inside a tank.