Quick on the Vigor

From the very inception of the Famous Studios version of the Bluto character in 1944, this was the role he was destined to play. As a professional bodybuilder Bluto poses and performs feats of strength for an awestruck crowd, sending Popeye into a fit of jealous rage over his own inadequacy. All that phenomenal muscular development packed into scanty posing attire piques Olive's interest and she drops Popeye in a heartbeat like the proverbial hot potato. What woman would not do the same, and what man would not give his eye tooth to be in Bluto's shoes? The creators of Bluto's image had done their homework and crafted their strongman with huge lats, commanding delts, and a tree-trunk neck, all set off by a minuscule waist--a vision of masculine physique perfection that still resonates more than a half-century later. In addition to his looks and confidence, Bluto got all the best lines and made Popeye look like an unwitting chump from start to finish. And we know Bluto could make Olive deliriously happy if he could just help her move past her puritanical fear of her sexual desires.

Alas, it is not to be as once again the little pop-eyed scoundrel cheats with his tawdry can of spinach and brutally finishes off and tortures the far more appealing character. Famous Studios adhered to the contracted formula, but made it fairly transparent which of the male leads they really "liked best." How many of us ever aspired to grow up and be like Popeye?

Famous Studios did do a number of cartoons where they had different Popeye adversaries or partners, so not every cartoon of theirs featured Bluto, and they also did cartoons where Olive didn't feature at all and the cartoons were basically conflicts between Popeye and his co-lead. These cartoons did vary in quality, which was not unexpected considering the quality difference of the later Famous Studios efforts, and to me actually Fleischer Studios did better whenever there was a change of pace.

1950's 'Quick on the Vigour' is a good fun cartoon if not a great one. It is not one of the overall best of the Popeye series. We're not just talking it not being one of the best of the Fleischer cartoons or not being one of the best of Famous Studios', this is overall we're talking about. 'Quick on the Vigour' is pretty good still and worth watching if you like Popeye and Bluto together. As far as the early 50s output goes, this fares solidly without being one of the best or worst Famous Studios Popeye cartoons.

'Quick on the Vigour' isn't perfect. Once again, Olive for my tastes has too little to do in an underwritten role and her material is fairly weak and forgettable.

Like a good deal of Famous Studios' Popeye output, the pacing is not always perfect either, the first portion a touch slow and takes a little long to find its groove. One predicts the ending with certainty and correctly very early on, if you are familiar with most of the Popeye series and know how they end you'll know how this does as it is essentially the same but in a different setting.

On the other hand, the animation is very nicely done. Very colourful, meticulous in background detaill, the fluidity in drawing and movement having gotten smoother all the time and the expressions freer. The setting is vividly done and far from wasted, it actually looked like the whole crew were having a lot of fun with it, and Popeye's expressions and body movements are as ever a joy. As is the music score from regular Famous Studios composer Winston Sharples, always one of the best done components of their cartoons and even the best thing in some. The playful character, how dynamic it is with everything and the beautiful orchestration make it one of the cartoon's strongest assets.

While the gags are not hilarious, there are a lot and they are funny. Especially in a wonderfully wild final third. The asides and puns are also great fun, enhanced by the delivery, and don't come over as too cheesy. Popeye and Bluto are both very well characterised, especially Bluto with a larger than life, formidable and entertaining personality (absolutely marvelled at his strength here), with a great bond between them. The voice acting is great from particularly Jack Mercer.

Summing up, nicely done. 7/10.

Popeye and Olive Oyl go to the carnival. While Popeye is busy winning candy for Olive, she is taken with strongman Bluto. This sets off a competition between the two men. Bluto tricks Popeye into locking himself in a safe.

This is a classic. The Famous Studios product is not always the best but this is one of their good ones. It's also the classic triumvirate of Popeye in their classic story. The gags are classic. I still don't love the Famous Studios animation style but it looks fair in this case.