Strong to the Finich

This is a cute enough cartoon. Olive Oyl is running a kind of healthy eating camp. There are a host of little kids, including a disgusting representation of a black child (looking very monkey-like). The premise is that Olive is trying to get the kids on a diet of spinach only. We can only imagine if our daily diets are of canned spinach. They go into rebellion mode and Popeye shows up with more. The cartoon then becomes Popeye demonstrating what incredible impact on the body a bowl of this stuff has. Of course, it takes a bit of doing. I'm sure the spinach growers loved it, but, let's face it, there could be a bit more variety in their diet.

Olive Oyl has her Health Farm for Children. She serves a giant bowl of spinach for the children and they don't like it. To their dismay, Popeye arrives with a large crate of spinach. He sets out to prove its power. A wild man comes strolling down the road and starts punching him. The kids give their unwanted spinach to two skinny cows which turn into two brutal bulls. In the end, the kids try the spinach for themselves.

Kids are not going to eat spinach straight like that. What was Olive Oyl thinking? You've got to disguise it like putting in chicken soup. She's a horrible cook. There is also the crazy boxing man who just happens to be stalking down the street. That's a crazy scene. I like a lot of this premise. I would probably change a few things.

The early Fleischer cartoons were visually superb for the most part. They were still more or less breaking in the Popeye series at this point and still just getting by with William Costello as the voice of Popeye. This one is a very good cartoon that would have been made better if the voice actor had given Popeye a bit more energy or life. The sight gags are great in this, but without visual action, Popeye voiced by Costello would have trouble convincing people to buy $5.00 bills for a dime, much less convincing young children to eat spinach. The kids make the short in any case. Good ending makes this worth watching. Recommended.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

'Strong to the Finich' is not quite one of the best Popeye cartoons to me. It is extremely well done though and has a lot going for it. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between the characters. 'Strong to the Finich' has much of what makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the main characters or make them less interesting. It is another nice change of pace.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons). The material make it even more entertaining, 'Strong to the Finich' is non-stop fast-paced fun though very creepy, avoiding the trap of repetition.

All the characters are great, though Olive Oyl is a bit underused and her material not as great as the rest. There is a lot of energy here and some educational value regarding the spinach. Popeye is always amusing and likeable and the children aren't too cute.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality, Bonnie Poe fits Olive Oyl well and William Costello is fine as Popeye.

Overall, strong effort. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Olive Oyl is running a health farm for children. Her students, alas, will not eat their spinach. Fortunately, Popeye shows up to demonstrate the mucky stuff's virtues.

The pacing of the gags is a lot more deliberate than in most early Fleischer cartoons in the series, and there are no noticable throw-away jokes to be seen. Perhaps this one was demanded by the spinach growers and canners, who were already feeling the happy boost given to sales by the cartoons. Likewise, there are several shots, like the charging bulls, that I have seen reproduced exactly in other Fleischer cartoons (forgive me if I cannot recall if they were released before or after this one). Still, the gags are funny.