Bridge Ahoy!

The begins with a very nicely-drawn shot of a harbor near a big city with automobiles being loaded onto big ferry boat ("Bluto's Ferry). The art on these 1930s black-and-white cartoons was outstanding times and sometimes overlooked because of Popeye's popularity as a personality.

This also is one of those Popeye episodes where our hero does not know Bluto, and vice- versa. He's just some big bully, as usual, that Popeye has to deal with sooner or later. He winds up having to deal with him on top of a half-built bridge. (Only in cartoons can a couple of people build a huge bridge within days or minutes!. Here Olive feeds Wimpy a hamburger and he sends up a rivet and Popeye stamps it into a girder.

The ending of this cartoon provides what has to be the greatest feat Popeye has ever accomplished in a few seconds. You have to see it to believe it and it made me just laugh out loud.

Bluto runs the ferry across the river, but he charges too much. So Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy start building a bridge. Bluto is not going to let things go on without his interfering in this pretty good episode in the Fleischer's long-running cartoon series.

The rate of gags is pretty swift here, and the animation techniques are top-notch for the era. The gag that Popeye and Bluto can pretty much dismantle the bridge bare-handed is a bit startling, especially once we see it assembled with cars racing across is. But it's all in good, clean if violent fun.

Although Dave Fleischer is, as always, listed as director, it would be more accurate to say he was the producer and the two lead animators the directors.

This starts with a diddy "Let's Build a Bridge Today" instead of the usual Popeye theme. Bluto runs a ferry service across a river and treats Popeye badly. Wimpy tries to get on at the last minute. When he doesn't have the $2 fare, Bluto throws him overboard and Popeye saves him. Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Wimpy start building a bridge which threatens to end Bluto's business. Bluto has other ideas.

This is a classic Popeye which got colorized later. It has the four classic Popeye characters. Bluto is a sailor of sorts although Popeye is less so. There is some fun to be had and I like the final move.

In order to save the fares for a ferry crossing, Popeye and Olive decide, along with Wimpy, to build a fancy bridge. Of course, Bluto, the guy who runs the ferry is ticked and fights ensue. The key to these animated features comes from the cleverness of the confrontations in the pre-spinach period of the film. This has some nice things, including Olive getting her feet tickled and Popeye's head being used as a punching bag.

This Popeye is one of my favorite shorts and my pick for one of the better ones in the series. My favorite character, one J. Wellington Wimpy, is prominently featured (with an amusing twist on his own well-known catch-phrase) and Bluto is smarmy, rude and surly, even for Bluto. A little something for almost everyone in this one. A little gem. Well worth watching and most recommended.

I've heard from a fair number of people about some of my specific comments, but also occasionally on my comments in general. So I decided to put down my approach to comments in general:

As a rule, I confine my comments to things I have (though there are exceptions) and to things I have liked (also with exceptions). Thus, there will be very few killer comments. Even when something I want to review doesn't quite work for me, I will say what I liked as well as what I didn't and leave it as an exercise to the reader to decide if it interests them. Different people like different things. Finally, I tend to review animated shorts, as animation tends to get short shrift, even here at the IMDb. There you have it, ladies and gentleducks. For any who are curious (all three of you in the balcony), that's my policy on comments.