Poopdeck Pappy

Poopdeck Pappy wants to go out partying, but Popeye thinks that at 99 his father needs to save his youth for his old age. Pappy sneaks out anyway and goes to a bar where he cuts in on the dancing, alienating the men there, and starting a brouhaha.

It's always fun to see the lesser remembered characters from Elzie Segar's THIMBLE THEATER show up in the Popeye cartoons, and this one is no exception. Even though we know that at some point a can of spinach will be downed, it's good to see the focus other than the constant war between Popeye and Bluto over Olive Oyl. Popeye wasn't even an important character there. Whatever happened to Ham Gravy?

Poopdeck Pappy (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye tells his father that he's old and needs to slow down a bit. The old man says he's as young as his son so the two hit the town and trouble follows.

POOPDECK PAPPY is a pretty good entry for the series as it features Popeye at his best and the father character is also pretty good. This year saw a couple different shorts with the father character so obviously people of that time must have enjoyed it. This one here is pretty funny as the two get into some nice fights as the old man tries to pick up some ladies. As usual the animation is nice and there's no question that it moves at a very good pace.

This is a funny little cartoon from the Fleischer Studios and I never knew that Popeye had a father before!! Well.......I mean, at least in his animated cartoons. This is the first cartoon that I have seen that had the Pappy character in it and he is hilarious in it. In fact, Pappy steals the cartoon from his more famous son, Popeye. Did Pappy get to be in any other cartoons?? I will have to search for them as I like him!! The cartoon is about Popeye trying to get his 99 year old father to go to bed and the old guy just ain't a-going!! Pappy out-tricks Popeye at every turn. I gotta tell ya, for a 99 year old man, Pappy sure does get around!! All the old guy wants to do is go out to a beer joint and have a dance or two with the gals. His first dance is funny, especially when he swings his partner at the end of the dance number. You gotta see it to believe it.

When Popeye tells his Pappy that he has to save his youth, does that mean he has to save his energy? 99 year old people have to sleep at night to stay healthy and strong. They also have to eat healthy. Also how did Pappy escape the second and third time when Popeye shackled his legs and tied him up? It looked unusual when Pappy escaped. How did Poopdeck Pappy get the shackles and rope onto his son after he turned off the lamp? Poopdeck Pappy is very stubborn and should listen to his son's advice. When people get old, their body isn't what it used to be. Their bones get fragile, and their not as strong as they were before.

Before Famous Studios gradually reduced the Popeye series to a marshmallow-soft snoozer, the Fleisher brothers were still pumping adrenaline into it, and in some of the best entries, they abandoned the "Help, Popeye" rut in favor of focusing on some of the great Thimble Theater supporting characters. In this one, our hero is trying fruitlessly to keep his scrappy Pappy from going out on the town and picking fights. Solid entertainment. And we can only imagine how ornery Pappy will someday be when Popeye eventually decides to dump him in a nursing home!