Big Bad Sindbad

Popeye takes the nephews to the sailing museum, and tells them about the time he whupped Sindbad the Sailor. At this point, we leave the 1952 footage and enter an edited version of 1936's POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR, back when the Fleischers were in charge of the studio.

And in so doing, this cartoon shows how budgets shrank over the sixteen years between.... or at least how inflation had knocked them to pieces. Although there is a lot to say in favor of the character design of Popeye int he 1950s, there's little comparison terms of the lush background art, Technicolor, or sheer number of gags.

Popeye takes his three nephews to Nautical museum and tells them how he once met Sindbad the greatest sailors in history.

It is an excuse to show clips from an earlier Popeye cartoon when he and Sindbad fought over Olive Oyl.

Popeye even turns two chained up fierce lions into pussycats.

There was some good animation from the earlier cartoon but it just shows how low budget it got for some of these 1950s cartoons.

This one is for the kids and nephews.

Popeye takes his nephews to the Nautical Museum. They come upon a statue of Sindbad. Popeye tells them a story. It's the Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936). Recycling happens a lot back in the day. This is not worst example. At least, it makes sense to do the flashback. I would recommend watching the original.

One thing to note about the old Fleischer footage is that it has a new soundtrack recorded by Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Jackson Beck and music director Winston Sharples.

I would have been nice if the late Willard Bowsky got animation credit for the old footage. In case you didn't know, Bowsky was the head animator for the original "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" footage. Bowsky joined the U.S. Army after Pearl Harbor and was killed in action in France.

Besides the number of nephews reduced to three (which one fell victim to budget cuts?), it's noteworthy that this cartoon features Popeye in his original sailor outfit before he joined the U.S. Navy at the end of the Fleischer era.

The producers of this particularly Popeye cartoon got lazy and decided to spend much of the time using footage of a past episode. "Cheaters," I guess, is what they call that kind of practice. Anyway, I think it's a cop-out and lazy way to present a "new" animated short.

It begins with Popeye bringing three nephews into the "Nautical Hall Of Fame." There, he shows them "Washington Crossing the Delaware" in which the kids then start rowing the boat across the room. Then, it's "Noah's Ark," where Popeye notes that Noah was "the world's first sailor." Then the shows the kids a big statue of "Sindbad, the Greatest Sailor In History.

The kids ask Popeye, "We thought YOU were the greatest sailor in the world." Popeye answers, "I am," and then relates the story of his adventures with Sinbad - in which we get footage of the earlier cartoon "Popeye Meets Sindbad The Sailor."

There is a cute ending when the story is over and the nephews are convinced Popeye is still number one.