The Spinach Overture

Popeye is conducting a quartet which includes Olive Oyl and Wimpy. Bluto and his orchestra next door are not impressed. They break out laughing at Popeye. Bluto pushes Popeye aside and takes over his quartet. Popeye tries to match Bluto and fails in an embarrassing fashion. With his musicians leaving him, Popeye brings out the spinach.

This is all about the overture from "Poet and Peasant". The last minute and a half is an epic musical performance. The earlier parts are fine although the point is that the music isn't that good. The last bit is Popeye highlight material. I feel like that's where I first saw this. It is a lot of fun.

Popeye is rehearsing his band -- Wimpy, Olive Oyl, her brother Castor, and Oscar -- and pretty off-key in their rendition of the "Poet and Peasant Overture. In comes Bluto, who shows off his musical chops and steals the players away. Fortunately, Popeye has a can of spinach hidden in the spinet.

It's a good, if standard plot for the Popeye cartoons, but it is enlivened by its side. Whoever is playing the piano does a nice jazz version of von Suppe's music.

If you don't recognize Castor Oyl and Oscar, don't worry. They were characters in Elzie Segar's THIMBLE THEATER comic strip, where the Popster, Olive, and Wimpy originated.

Spinach Overture, The (1935)

** (out of 4)

Popeye is trying to lead his band to play a new song but he keeps messing up so Bluto steps in to try and show him up but soon Popeye is taking some spinach and coming out on top. This here is probably the weakest film I've seen in the series as I felt it ran too long and really didn't have many laughs. There were a few scenes that put a smile on my face but and I honestly don't remember laughing once. The fighting between Popeye and Bluto is mainly them playing on various musical instruments and none of it comes off well.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

'The Spinach Overture' is one of the best Popeye cartoons from this period and one of my personal favourites actually of the whole series. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. 'The Spinach Overture' has everything that makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the three main characters or make them less interesting.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons). It is a familiar premise, and wasn't new around then, but it is one of the best examples of it because of the fresh and funny execution and that there were characters worth caring for. The humour and gags make it even more entertaining, avoiding the trap of repetition. Some of the dialogue makes one smile and laugh, Olive Oyl shows a sarcastic side at one point and it's quite funny once you get over that it came from her. Music-themed cartoons is not a novel concept but it feels fresh here (maybe there was some slight bias on my part, seeing as any cartoon centred around music and especially classical immediately has me sold) and it is so exciting and fun to watch, with a snappy pace and beautifully crafted and sometimes creative visuals.

All three characters are great, though Olive Oyl is a little underused. Popeye and Bluto are spot on and their chemistry drives 'The Spinach Overture' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character. Love the orchestras and the choice of instruments and who to play them, it is not everyday where you see Olive Oyl playing the harp.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. The musical interpolations are witty and the use of Suppe's "Poet and Peasant" is genius. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality, especially from Jack Mercer.

Overall, wonderful. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Last Saturday I watched this Popeye cartoon on TCM at someone's apartment in New York City. The sailor man has a band with Olive and Wimpy as members. Bluto, with the long hair associated with symphony conductors at the time, shows him up with his more classically professional playing. Because of that, Popeye's bandmates leave him to join Bluto. Then a spinach can comes into play...This was quite an amusing cartoon from the Fleischer period of the character. Oh, course, that theme song also gets played along the way...