Me Feelins Is Hurt

Me Feelins is Hurt (1940)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye is working on his ship when he receives a telegram from Olive who says she is leaving him for a cowboy out West. Popeye heads out there and soon enough he's trying to be a cowboy and battling Bluto.

ME FEELINS IS HURT isn't a masterpiece but if you're a fan of these early Popeye shorts then there are enough laughs here to make it worth viewing. The highlight is a sequence where he ends up getting into a fight with a rattlesnake. There's some great laughs here as well as a nice pay-off. The animation is as great as always and there's certainly a nice flow to the picture.

This is a very good Popeye cartoon, filled with excellent jokes, good sight gags and funny dialog start-to-finish. There is a lot to enjoy in only six minutes here.

It starts off with another "Dear John" letter from Olive Oyl. How many times does poor Popeye have to endure this sort of thing from the most fickle woman in film history? Now, Olive has decided that the Old West is a lot more exciting than the sea, so she has dumped Popeye again and gone out to live on a ranch. Her note reads: "Dear Popeye, I'm way out west, where men are men! Sailors are all right, but cowboys....Yippee! Signed, Olive Oyl. P.S. Goodbye. P.S.S. Forever.

Ever-faithful Popeye jumps in his boat and goes after her. We see a very humorous map showing Popeye's route....a route one could only take in a cartoon! Once he arrives at the ranch, which looks like it is somewhere near Montana, Popeye gets an early look on his competition. Of course, it's Bluto whom Olive calls "Fatty" in this cartoon but uses it as a term of endearment.

In a nutshell, Bluto gives Popeye a bucking bronco to tame, knowing the horse will pulverize him (which it does) but you know who is going to prevail in the end......and get his fickle girl back.

I especially enjoyed Popeye's mumblings, such as "This must be the place because I don't see anything other place.." Later, Bluto calls him Tenderfoot and Popeye responds, "My feet aren't tender; I always walk this way!" The ending song, sung by Olive, states, "I don't want a cowboy; I'll take you and how, boy. My Popeye the sailor man!" (toot toot).

The things poor Popeye does to gain Olive's affection!

Popeye pulls into shore and finds a letter from Olive Oyl that she's moved out west where men are men, women are women, and small green furry things are small green furry things. He follows her to find her sitting on a fence, admiring Bluto in a big hat. Of course they fight.

Lots of pretty good gags hide the fact that this is pretty much the plot of most of the Popeye cartoons that would turn up during the remainder of the Sailor Man's remaining theatrical career: Popeye and Bluto fight over Olive Oyl. Of course, we're still in the Fleischer days, when director Dave would insist on a lot of gags, big and small like Popeye having a rural-style post box at the dock, but by and large the formula was set.

Olive leaves a note that she has had enough of sailors and is going west and chasing cowboys. Popeye, offended and heartsick, goes after her. Of course, Bluto is there and he is causing mayhem. He introduces Popeye to bronc riding and a horse with a killer instinct. Of course, eventually there will be a confrontation with Bluto (and spinach will make its presence known). In other words, it's a Popeye cartoon.

Like to love a vast majority of the Fleischer Studios Popeye output, the late-30s cartoons being particularly good and where the high quality was the most consistent. 1940 saw Fleischer Studios starting to decline significantly, the cartoons were mostly well made and scored but they tended to not be very funny, too cute with un-compelling stories and characters. The Popeye cartoons though were among the better ones from this period, in its best theatrical series in the early 40s bar none.

'Me Feelins is Hurt' may not one of the best Popeye cartoons overall though or one of the best of the 1940 output. Considering that Fleischer Studios' pre-40s output was mostly decent to brilliant, it is a little disappointing. At the same time though, despite a couple of major problems there are a lot of well done things and 'Me Feelins is Hurt' actually compares favourably amongst the 40s Fleischer Studios output in general.

Yes it is nothing new in terms of story and material, which does take away from any freshness or surprises somewhat. There has been a little more energy in other Popeye cartoons before and even since, coming from someone who consider the earlier Popeye cartoons generally better than the later ones.

And sorry to say it again, but despite Jack Mercer as always being brilliant as Popeye (the only Popeye voice actor for me), Margie Hines and Pinto Colvig never really gelled as Olive, who has little to do here again, and Bluto. Of Bluto's voice actors especially, Colvig is easily the least sinister, robust or formidable and he didn't seem to have as much fun as the others, also couldn't get Goofy (Colvig being Goofy's original voice actor and he was still voicing him when also voicing Bluto) out of my head somehow.

However, 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.

The gags are also a lot of fun despite the lack of originality, the rattlesnake sequence is a highlight. The story is not much new but still a lot of energy, with a wonderfully wild final third that is the case for most Popeye cartoons. Both Popeye and Bluto's characters are handled very well, especially Popeye, Bluto is also a suitably formidable adversary.

In conclusion, good but falls short of being great. 7/10