Es lo más Natural

A telegram from fans changing the rules in the relation between popeye, Bluto and Olive Oyle. But to be polite is far to be an easy stuff. So, the games to wars resurrected.

In the 1930s, the Fleischer Studios made a ton of Popeye cartoons. And while the quality of the animation was amazingly good, the cartoons suffered from two things. First, despite great animation, until WWII, they still were black & white--even when other studios were making full-color cartoons. Second, for the most part, when you've seen one, you've seen them all, as the same basic plot was recycled again and again. This time, however, the cartoon starts off normally BUT Popeye receives a letter from his fans saying they wanted a nice and non-violent cartoon--one that is sophisticated. So, Popeye, Bluto and Olive decide to be sophisticated and they try so hard--and fail so miserably! It's quite clever and worth a look--even if you hate Popeye.

It's the Natural Thing to Do (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye and Bluto are involved in a violent fight when Olive receives a telegram from the Popeye Fan Club. The telegram asks the three to quit fighting so much and act more mature. The three decides to give it a try.

I'm sure there were some complaints from people back in the day. I'm sure there were some who thought these cartoons were a bit too violent and sent the wrong message at times so it's pretty funny seeing this short address that issue. Of course, it's all done in a funny way as the three characters were really stupid when it came to acting normal. The title song is certainly the highlight of the film as Olive really gets to shine. The rest of the film is certainly entertaining but the laughs aren't as big as the sarcasm.

This episode in the Fleischer's Popeye series doesn't waste any time. It starts with Popeye and Bluto fighting in the yard when Olive receives a telegram asking them to cut out the rough stuff. So the three of them abandon their usual clothes and awkwardly join Olive for afternoon tea.

It's a very meta episode of the series, and becomes something of a comedy of embarrassment, far from the usual range of the series, with a maid serving piles of food and t everyone talking about conversing, while Olive breaks in occasionally to note that it's the natural thing to do.

It's a commentary about the then-current fad of claiming that good manners were merely being natural. It might be for some people, but for Popeye and Bluto, the natural thing to do is to beat the tar out of each other.

With this episode, the Fleischers were, in effect, flipping the bird at those saying their pictures were "too violent." When Popeye, Bluto and Olive receive a pointed telegram, then comically show up as "proper" society types, they're saying, very sarcastically, "Maybe you'd rather have THIS, you sissies?" As the three realize they're making idiots of themselves, give in and hilariously revert to the violence, the viewer understands that without some fisticuffs tossed in when needed, the Fleischer tunes might as well have gone down the Disney path and sacrificed humor for beauty.

Make no mistake, both humor and beauty have always had their place in animation, but the Fleischer 'toons and, later, those of Warner Brothers (to whom many of Max and Dave Fleischer's best writers went after Paramount took over and ruined Popeye), were far funnier than Disney's. And yet, with their meticulously crafted backgrounds, Fleischer pictures had a unique beauty of their own. I love both the Fleischer and Disney creations from the 1930s, but given the choice of either, I'd take the Fleischer creations in a heartbeat.

All this installment lacks is the far-better voices of Gus Wickie as Bluto and Mae Questal as Olive, but Max lost both when he moved his studio to Florida. Such is life.