The Football Toucher Downer

I wonder how many times Popeye flexed his biceps over the years? I wouldn't know, probably 100 or so, but each time it's humorous because you never know what shape you're going to see - or what you are going to see inside his biceps! In this one, we see an upper body the proportions of a pro bodybuilding come stretching out of Popeye's biceps, doing their own posing routine - all inside Popeye's upper arm! I'm telling you: the imagination these writers had on these mid-to-late 1930s Popeye efforts was terrific.

That show of brawn in here was for Swee Pea's benefit as the tyke doesn't want to eat his spinach. Popeye winds up telling him a story about how he was a weak little kid playing football with the neighborhood kids.

What's really funny is to see what Popeye and Olive Oyl looked like when they were about 10 years old. You almost laugh out loud looking at them. They didn't change the voice, though. That's still Jack Mercer's weird Popeye adult voice and it's still Mae Questel's "Olive." Soon, we see a young Bluto and Wimpy. Only the latter sounds like a little kid.

The funniest part of this football farce, to me, was the signal-calling. Both Popye and Bluto had some humorous clever ways to calling out to have the ball hiked. A couple of times I stopped and put on the English subtitles to make sure what I heard. It's good stuff, believe me. (Watch these on the recent Popeye The Sailor Man 1933-38 Volume One" DVD, if you can.)

The signals, and the innovative ways Bluto propels himself to the end zone each time make this a very enjoyable cartoon. Bluto and his team came up with crazy formations and plays that even make the Marx Brothers look tame! This is outstanding material!

Swee'pea won't eat his spinach. So Popeye tells him that he used to hate spinach and tells him of a football game he played when he was a child.

It was against Bluto's team, of course, with Olive Oyl cheering for the Popster and Wimpy maintaining the scoreboard. Director Dave Fleischer makes sure there are plenty of gags -- Bluto's team uses a different one each time they score, while Popeye is pressed for time, and repeats one gag several times.

The character models in this one are not as elaborate as they are in other Popeye movies of the era. That's understandable, given the child versions are a one-shot.

This is as bizarre a game as the one the Marx Brothers "played" in Horse Feathers! It's also an opportunity to see the main characters as children. Wimpy still looks like Wimpy and acts like Wimpy and the other characters are younger version of themselves as well. Wonderful cartoon and one of my favorites. Well worth watching. Recommended.

The Football Toucher Downer (1937)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye is babysitting and trying to get the kid to eat spinach but he refuses. Popeye then tells the story of when he was a little kid playing against Bluto in a football match.

Fans of the series will certainly find a lot of entertainment in this short, which is another classic. There are a lot of creative bits here including the various football plays done by Bluto and his team. There's some really creative and funny stuff being performed here including a human tower. As you'd expect from the series, the animation itself is extremely good and the attention to details are as incredible as always. If you're looking for a fast short with great action then look no further.

Swee'Pea does not like the spinach that Popeye is trying to feed him. Nothing seems to work. So Popeye recounts a childhood story of him playing football against Bluto's much bigger team. It goes badly until he gets his jolt of spinach.

The Swee'Pea story is only there to set up a junior Popeye against a junior Bluto football game. I do wonder if it would work better if it just has the junior Popeye story. Another issue is that I don't think I've ever heard Swee'Pea's voice. That's weird. I want to put this simply. Junior Popeye is amazing. I also want Baby Popeye. I want it all now and they don't need a wrap-around story.