I Don't Scare

Popeye beats out Bluto for a date with Olive Oyl, so Bluto changes the calendar from Thursday the 12th to Friday the 13th. Superstitious Olive won't go out, so Popeye tries to convince her not to be superstitious. Bluto interferes.

The usual good gags of this Famous Studios cartoon war not only with the inevitable Popeye-vs-Bluto plot -- and raises the question of why Olive is such an in-demand girl, which doesn't speak well to her character -- but the simplified artwork that the shrinking budgets of the late Popeye cartoons demanded. It's particularly evident in the simplified background work.

All my life I've always said, "Take your time, but hurry up." I never knew where I picked it up until recently re-watching this cartoon. Popeye says it to Olive while waiting for her to get ready. Thanks, Popeye!

Bluto and Popeye are both sailors in this animated short. Both are also vying for the public telephone booth to call Olive for a date. Each gets battered by the other in the contest to make the call, with Popeye winning.

Popeye enters with, "Hi ya, Olive. Here is your little 'ole lover beau!" Bluto is at the window, eavesdropping. Olive picks up a pin on the floor and says something about "good luck for the day," and Bluto thinks to himself, "So Olive is superstitious." He cooks up a plan, starting with ripping the calendar next to the window, changing the date from "Thursday the 12th" to "Friday the 13th." Olive sees that and changes her mind. "I'm not going out today," she says. Popeye answers, "There's nothing to them stupid-stitions. I'll show ya."

Bluto makes sure that is NOT the case.....and Olive, not Popeye, takes some bruisings. Then, the two-time Olive goes out with Bluto when the latter has booted Popeye out and shown her what the real date is.

The ending is smart, with Popeye taking those superstitions and using them against his rival in the last minute or so.

By the way, check out the decor in Olive's house. This is really wild - modern '50s, I guess.

Popeye beats Bluto to asking Olive Oyl out on a date. It's Thursday the 12th. Bluto intends to sabotage their date. He rips out the page from the calendar and turns it to Friday the 13th. Being superstitious, Olive is reluctant to go out. Popeye can't convince her otherwise and Bluto continues to sabotage him. Eventually, Bluto shows Olive that it really is the 12th and takes her out on a date himself. Popeye decides to fight back.

This is a high maintenance Olive and I don't mind that. There is a difference between high maintenance and simply being the worst. The difference being her level of love towards Popeye. Does she even care about him? High maintenance can be funny if she loves him. The lack of love is a big gigantic problem and that's why she's the worst sometimes. This is the good side of that line.

Really like to love a good deal of Popeye cartoons and like the character of Popeye. Love Bluto more and his chemistry with Popeye has always driven their cartoons. Will admit though to preferring the Popeye cartoons from the Dave Fleischer era, the cartoons tend to be funnier and there is more originality and more risk taking in some of them.

'I Don't Scare' is another late Popeye cartoon and made in Famous Studios' roughest and most variable period where budgets were much smaller in particularly the animation and deadlines and time constraints were shorter and tighter. All things considered, while there are infinitely better Popeye cartoons (especially during the Fleischer era) and there are signs of what made this period an inferior one for Famous Studios, 'I Don't Scare' is not a bad late Popeye cartoon at all, actually really very enjoyable and one of the better cartoons in Famous Studios' late output.

As to be expected, the story is standard and formulaic, all it is basically is Popeye and Bluto battling for Olive Oyl's affections with not as much variety as many other Popeye cartoons, while not being as repetitive as feared.

'I Don't Scare' is never particularly hilarious and it is agreed that the action is not enough.

What is fantastic about 'I Don't Scare' is the music score, the best thing for me. It's beautifully orchestrated, rhythmically it's full of energy and there is so much character and atmosphere, it's also brilliant at adding to the action and enhancing it. The animation is also surprisingly good for late Famous Studios, colourful, nicely detailed and fluid. The gags are amusing for late Famous Studios/Popeye, the interplay between the characters is lively and witty if in need of more variety at times and the pace is never dull.

The three main characters do a great job carrying the cartoon, Bluto being the funniest and most interesting. Olive Oyl is a good charming character where you can totally see what Popeye sees in her, but it's the entertaining interplay between Popeye and Bluto that really sparkles. Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Jackson Beck give great vocal characterisations, Beck in particular and Mercer and Questel are the voice actors that spring to mind generally for me for Popeye and Olive's voices.

Concluding, very enjoyable. 8/10 Bethany Cox