The Farmer and the Belle

Pretty standard fair. Bluto and Popeye see Olive Oyl getting water from you garden variety well. Of course, she is so beautiful and sexy that they can't control themselves. When she puts up a help wanted sign, that's it: instant competition. All kinds of farm stuff. Getting water, shoeing horses, gathering eggs and so on. Each time Bluto does something impressive, Popeye does him one better, of course. The picture quality and coloration is quite good here as it's a 1950's Popeye, but there is nothing new or interesting beyond those competitive things. Of course, Bluto tries to take Olive by force. Sometimes even for the period it seems he is potentially an offender.

The early-30s Popeye cartoons were good, the best ones very good, if with a slight finding the feet feel understandable. The mid/late-30s cartoons were the series' best period with most of the best Popeye cartoons being made in it. The early-40s output were interesting and mostly solid. Those from the late-40s were more mixed, ranging from just scraping average to good. The early-50s likewise. With exceptions, the late-50s saw a big decline for the studio and the series didn't quite feel the same either, feeling rushed-looking and a running out of ideas feel.

With 1950's 'The Farmer and the Belle', made in one of the Popeye series' mixed periods (a very mixed period for Famous Studios too), comes disappointment. It is not an awful cartoon, it has its moments and it is functional enough, but there is just very little that leaps out. Which gives 'The Farmer and the Belle' a bland feel, which is as bad as being over-familiar and repetitive (the cartoon suffers from both those things too) on top of other reservations with the material.

'The Farmer and the Belle' as said has its good moments/things. The animation still looks like effort and care was being made, there may have been more budget and time limitations at this point but unlike the late-50s that is not as obvious here. There are rough moments in the drawing but the backgrounds have a lot of vibrant colour and meticulous detail. The music is one of the consistent high points of the 50s Famous Studios output (Popeye and overall), and it is one of the best things here. The lively character of it is just infectious and it has an energy that the rest of the cartoon lacks, while the orchestration is as beautiful as ever.

Although any amusement is too far and between, there are moments particularly towards the end. The ending is the best part and it is hard to not love that chicken. Bluto is a compelling character and while his and Popeye's antagonistic chemistry has had much more freshness before there is fun and tension. Don't have any problem with the voice acting, have never failed to love Jack Mercer as Popeye and nobody voiced the character better.

It is sad though that the story, pace and most of the gags don't deliver. The story is little more than the basic Popeye vs Bluto formula with not an awful lot of variety, actually found it very predictable and repetitive in all the middle act action. The parts with the anvil and the haystacks had a recycled feel. The pacing seldom comes to life here either, which made those story problems even less overlookable. Only at the end does it improve.

Popeye himself does not have much material of note, all the amusing gags come from Bluto, so he was a touch bland. The amusing moments as said were too infrequent and are only mildly so, most of the gags here are tired and add further to the running out of ideas feel.

Overall, very little leaps out here but there is just about enough to warrant a one-time watch. 5/10.

Popeye and Bluto are driving in the countryside when they spot struggling farmer Olive Oyl. She's desperate for some strong farmhands.

I wanna know why Popeye and Bluto are driving a car together. They are not friends. They could have set up their relationship in the beginning. Otherwise, this is the standard Popeye trio. The gags aren't that memorable. This is perfectly fine for 50's Popeye.

Olive Oyl is a farmer in this cartoon. Popeye and Bluto compete in farm chores for her, and then clobber each other.

Given the standard plot of this Popeye cartoon, you'd think my opinion of it would be based solely on the quality of the gags. Well, they're all right here, but given the unvarying plot, the mediocre comedy in this one fails to lift this above average.

Of course we know that Bluto is going to beat up Popeye until Popeye eats some spinach. I'm afraid the inherent boredom of that eats away any wan good will I have.