Big Bad Sindbad

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.

Often, animation companies would pillage their vaults and make compilation films that were short on new ideas but long on recycled film. BIG BAD SINDBAD takes a wide array of scenes from POPEYE MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR, but cannot match the animation brilliance. However the story line weaves fairly seemlessly throughout, and the addition of Popeye's nephews as a plot device works well. An above-average 1950's POPEYE production, mostly because of the old film use.

Big Bad Sinbad (1952)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye takes his three nephews to a museum that shows off the greatest sailors in history. They come across Sinbad and Popeye tells the story of how the two of them had a major fight over Olive Oyl.

If you're a fan of the Popeye series then you'll certainly enjoy this entry because there are plenty of nice laughs as well as some great violence (action). Obviously Sinbad is played by Bluto and there's no doubt that he and Popeye get to have a really good fight here that includes all sorts of punches. There are some good laughs and especially during a sequence where Popeye scares a couple lions that are chained up. The animation is good as you'd expect and this is certainly one of the better films in the series.

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.