Moving Aweigh

Moving Aweigh was the third and last Popeye cartoon featuring his pesky little sidekick Shorty. Some serious animation buffs find Shorty's annoying routine unbearable, but this isn't bad; Jim Tyer's animation is quick and dynamic and the overall pacing is right on the money. In other ways, it is highly unusual -- Olive Oyl never speaks in the cartoon although she appears, possibly as this was made during a period when no voice actress for Olive was available, and Popeye's trusty can of spinach is not a factor this time. One of the three uncredited directors on this project was Dan Gordon, whose slim catalog of Popeye cartoons are among the most deviant from the usual model. The other comment indicating that the credit for direction was withheld as this was a late Fleischer effort from which the brothers' usual credits were removed is incorrect; while Moving Aweigh may have been made a little earlier than its release date would suggest, it certainly would not have been made before 1942 and only Popeye "Specials" were made in color at the Fleischer studio. Three directors worked on this project, and perhaps Famous felt it was easier to credit it to no one than to list all three names, or there was some kind of internal dispute about direction credits. The character of the Irish cop -- and some of the situations involving him -- is recycled from "Cops Is Always Right" (1938), but the character design of the officer is a little improved this time; he is not so much a Mussolini-like thug as in the earlier title and is more like a "typical" Irish cop.

Popeye is taking Shorty to the movies until he receives a message from Olive Oyl. She needs to move out of her apartment. They keep running afoul of a police officer.

This is a colored Popeye short. Shorty remains one of Popeye's shortest run side characters. He's not cutting it. The premise is perfectly fine but Shorty adds nothing to it. He adds nothing to the franchise. Also Popeye doesn't eat any spinach in this one.

Olive has Popeye and Shorty help her move. Of course, by the time they are finished, everything she owns has been destroyed and they have run afoul of the law, a stereotypical Irish cop. There are numerous clever sight gags here so this one is pretty well done. It's good to not have Bluto around for a change.

Really like to love a vast majority of Popeye's cartoons and the character himself. Fleischer's Popeye cartoons though tended to be funnier, more imaginative and better made, Famous Studios' on the most part entertained though their later Popeye, and overall filmography actually, cartoons had tighter deadlines and lower budgets evident which accounted for the animation not being as good, less surprises and the material not as imaginative.

'Moving Aweigh' is not Popeye at his best, while not the greatest of representations of him it hardly disgraces him either. It is still enjoyable stuff and there are a lot of great things, just felt that something was missing. As far as the second world war-period Popeye cartoons go, 'Moving Aweigh' is somewhere in the solid middle. Thankfully it does not make the mistake of being heavy-handed or have any stereotypes that are not for the easily offended (even the cop character), but generally there are funnier and more creative Popeye cartoons. It's actually not even the first moving day Popeye cartoon and it was done much better before.

Although Shorty, in his third and final appearance, entertains enough to begin with, his interplay with Popeye being one of the cartoon's strongest assets thanks to the clever dialogue for my liking he is used too much. He is not as interesting or as likeable as Popeye and grates slightly this didn't strike me as a minor problem. Don't hate him as a character but can see why he was fairly short-lived. Arnold Stang voices him well though.

Story-wise, 'Moving Aweigh' is nothing special really. There is plenty of energy, but not enough surprises or imagination, some of the material even feels recycled. Would have liked to have seen much more of a silent Olive, who is fairly wasted here

Popeye though is amusing and easy to like, and Jack Mercer as ever does a great job making the most of his material but how the cartoon used him and Shorty could have been better balanced.. The wordplay and dialogue are very clever and one is not left stone-faced. Mercer, as aforementioned, cannot be faulted with the voice work, mumblings and asides have seldom been funnier. The cop character may be too much of a stereotype for some, thought him and his interplay with the other characters amusing.

Furthermore, the animation is very good, simple but has some nice detail in the backgrounds, the shading is crisp and the character designs are far from ugly or off. The inventive reaction shots, like a number of Popeye cartoons, make for great viewing. Even better is the music (always important for me to talk about and Popeye cartoons always fared very well in this respect), again lush and cleverly orchestrated and doing so well adding to and enhancing the action. The gags are a sizable amount and they do work thanks to crisp timing and creative visuals.

Overall, enjoyable if not great cartoon. 7/10