Gym Jam

Popeye is a trainer and runs a gym. Olive is apparently his only client, but Bluto sees her and goes bananas (what else?). Since it's lady's day, he dresses up as a woman and assaults Popeye who is taken in by his 300 pound femininity. Olive gets lessons on a punching bag and Popeye eventually figures things out. Pretty average piece.

In "Gym Jam" (1950), Popeye runs a gym and celebrates "Ladies Day" by putting Olive Oyl through her paces. Bluto wants to get close to Olive but can't get into the gym as a man, so he dresses up in a wig with blond curls and a fully made-up face and enters the gym for a workout, purring seductively to Popeye, who is instantly smitten and gives all of his attention to the new "lady," making Olive jealous. With great relish, Bluto uses this opportunity to torment Popeye and inflict serious damage on him so he can pursue Olive (while still in drag!). He knocks Popeye into a steam cabinet, turns it up high and shrinks him down to the size of a spinach can, which happens to turn up right next to the cabinet. Not one of the best Popeye cartoons, but it gives us the bizarre spectacle of Bluto cross-dressing and kissing Olive repeatedly with his own lipstick-reddened lips.

Popeye has his own gym. While Olive Oyl is training in the streets, she catches Bluto's eyes. He follows them back to Popeye's gym but it's Lady's Day. Bluto masquerades as a girl to gain entry. This could have been truly forward thinking if Popeye's gym is Ladies Only all the time. Cross-dressing seems to be an over-the-top move if Bluto is blocked for only one day. He's not the type. He's more likely to barge his way into the gym. Nevertheless, it is fun to see Bluto cross-dressing. For that alone, this is above average Popeye.

The 1950s was not the best decade for the Popeye theatrical series or Famous Studios, the early-50s efforts being better and a little more consistent than those from the late-50s. The less polished animation quality, lower gag count and varying effectiveness of them and less fresh stories being the primary reasons for the inferior quality, compared to several of the 40s Famous Studios Popeye cartoons and Fleischer Studios' output.

1950's 'Gym Jam' is another colour remake from the Popeye theatrical series. This time it is remade from 1936's 'Vim, Vigour and Vitaliky', an excellent cartoon from a great year for the Popeye series in one of its, and of Fleischer Studios', best periods. Was very worried about 'Gym Jam' being pointless and that it would lose everything that made 'Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky' work so well. On the most part though, it's pretty good, not the best of the series' colour remakes and definitely not as good as the cartoon it's remade from but not one of the worst.

'Gym Jam' may not have the same amount of freshness that 'Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky' had, the material is all present and correct, the original gags are well executed and good fun. But the extra vim, vigour and vitality that was there before is not always there here in 'Gym Jam', due to knowing what's going to happen next.

Often there was throughout the series the annoying habit of giving Olive little material or screen time and making what she has forgettable, especially in the Famous Studios efforts. That's the case in 'Gym Jam'.

But actually, there is so much that 'Gym Jam' does incredibly well. It is worth watching for the deliciously bizarre and wildly funny sight of seeing Bluto in drag and the gags revolving around it, it is really quite hilarious. Popeye and especially Bluto are great, compelling characters here with great comic timing and nicely contrasted personalities. Both Jack Mercer and Jackson Beck do fine jobs with the voice work. While not as fresh as before, that doesn't stop 'Gym Jam' from being hardly short changed when it comes to the gags and executing them very well if in need of the extra spark.

Furthermore, the animation is typically vibrant with the background art being especially impressive. The colours are rich and the character designs don't look primitive and are smoother than they would become in later cartoons when the budgets became even lower and time constraints tighter. The music is lush, dynamic and characterful. Lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish.

In summary, not great or as good as the cartoon it's made from but a lot of recommendable things and good fun. 7/10.