'Popeye Meets William Tell' is something of a change of pace for the Popeye theatrical series, certainly at this point. And it is not just because it is one of the ones concerning Popeye's endeavours with real life/literary characters (others in the series including Sinbad and Rip Van Winkle). It is even more so interesting for being one of the few Popeye cartoons to not feature any other, besides Popeye, single regular/recurring character, is wackier than the usual Popeye cartoon at this point and one of the few to have a message of some kind.
Despite not being close to being one of my favourites of the series or of the work Fleischer Studios did overall, 'Popeye Meets William Tell' does a nice job with its premise, is very entertaining and is quite interesting. It may not be a great cartoon, or one of the series' funniest or most imaginative, but 'Popeye Meets William Tell' was interesting and entertaining to see such a wacky, more absurd to usual side to the character and the series.
Of course it is far from perfect. Do agree about an explanation for why Popeye was in England and during this period being necessary, and do think that it was a shame that that wasn't explored as it would have made things a little less absurd than it turned out. While the wackiness was generally fun, the action did get a little too weird in spots from the silliness going into overkill.
It is agreed too that 'Popeye Meets William Tell' could have done with more laughs. It's certainly not devoid of any but there are not many that are that inspired or hilarious.
On the other hand, the animation is neatly and expressively drawn (especially with Popeye) and still very much like the work that goes into the backgrounds. The music, appropriately like its own character, is as beautifully orchestrated and characterful as ever. 'Popeye Meets William Tell' is far from flawless in the humour, but the snappy asides are very funny and the sight gags generally are fun, such as the photo of Groucho Marx one and the arrow scene.
The story is not great by any stretch, but it did interest at least and had a lot of energy. Had never seen William Tell portrayed this way, more exaggerated than the usual noble character he's portrayed as (i.e. Rossini's opera) and his interaction with Popeye is wonderfully sharp and wacky. The voice acting is on point. The anti-smoking message is not laid on too thick and very ahead of the time at this point, at a time where smoking was even more common than it is now. Being a non-smoker and someone who personally hates it, it was appreciated.
Concluding, a little overkill on the weirdness and silliness but mostly very entertaining with quite a number of interest points. 7/10.
