Am somebody who likes to love a vast majority of the Popeye cartoons and likes the character himself. A likeable character whose chemistry and animosity with Bluto (though there are a lot of cartoon with other adversaries and ones that don't fare too badly) one that drives the cartoons with such fun and energy, always a highlight. Do have a preference for the Fleischer era cartoons, that are generally funnier, more imaginative and of higher quality, though many of the Famous Studio offerings entertain, just inferior in quality.
'Blunder Below' is not one of my favourite Popeye cartoons, nowhere near so. 'Blunder Below' is amusing and well made, and do appreciate what it aimed to do, which was done reasonably well if not completely successfully. It is one of those cartoons that is not going to appeal to all and be easy to criticise, considering the type of cartoon it is (common at that time and not always my cup of tea) but as a cartoon and product of its time it is intriguing.
There are many good things. It is well made visually, the backgrounds have lost none of the meticulous attention to detail, it's fluid, Popeye still looks good and is recognisable in design and the shading has atmosphere. Every bit as good is the lively and lushly orchestrated music score, that has character and adds a lot to the action and enhances it.
Popeye is amusing and likeable still, he is convincing as a single character taking on a much larger army, and Jack Mercer doesn't disappoint with the voice acting. Enough of the gags amuse, the ending is great and the highlight of 'Blunder Below' material wise.
Having said that, 'Blunder Below' is not my definition of a great cartoon. It does fall into the trap that a wartime cartoon has danger falling into and has fallen into, it does get rather too heavy-handed and lays what it's trying to say too thick. Other cartoon characters have worked and gelled better in a wartime setting, for Popeye it feels too on the serious and out of character side.
For Popeye, 'Blunder Below' is on the bland side, it is great to have a change of pace where the usual characters and conflict are not seen and numerous Popeye cartoons have done this very well, but part of me did miss the zaniness and imagination of the best Popeye cartoons and the conflict lacking. Did find the supporting characters somewhat forgettable and one is a less than tasteful caricature, and while some of the gags are amusing there is agreed not enough of them.
Concluding, not bad and interesting, also definitely worth a look, but left me somewhat conflicted. 6/10.
