The Spinach Roadster

The Spinach Roadster (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye and his junk car show up to pick Olive Oyl up for a date. Just then Bluto pulls up in a fancy new car but Olive rejects him so he decides to follow the two and cause trouble.

I must admit that I'm a little shocked that Olive Oyl didn't go with Bluto and his new car since she's usually going back and forth between the men. With that tidbit out of the way, this is another winner for Fleischer who manages to add a few clever twists with all the non- stop violence and action that fans expect from a Popeye short. There's no question that the highlight comes toward the end when we get to see what spinach can do for a car. Hopefully no one in real life ever tried this.

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 Roadster' is classic Popeye the Sailor. It is great and never less than very funny and most of them even hilarious, for me one of my favourite Popeye cartoons and one of the best Popeye/Olive Oyl/Bluto outings. 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 Roadster' has much of 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). The humour and gags make it even more entertaining, the best parts are properly wild and are hilarious, with even a few clever twists included. The ending is one of my favourite endings of all the Popeye cartoons.

All the characters are great, though Olive Oyl's material is not quite as great as Popeye and Bluto's, though her and Popeye's roles are enjoyable and make them and their cause relatable. It is more with Popeye and Bluto where the cartoon especially entertains. The three are spot on and their chemistry drives 'The Spinach Roadster' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable enough but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character.

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. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality on the whole, Mae Questel is a good fit for Olive Oyl, the voice that most sticks in my mind for the character and who voiced her the best, but Gus Wickie is even better and gives Bluto so much life. Jack Mercer fares the same as Questel for Popeye.

All in all, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Popeye drives up to Olive Oyl's house in his new automobile. Bluto follows up with a much better and newer car. Olive insists on going with Popeye despite the older clunker. Bluto tries to sabotage them. When Popeye's car clunks out, he has the spinach to fix it.

Bluto's car needs to sound better. It doesn't really sound like a car. It sounds like something small. Otherwise, this is a perfectly good Popeye cartoon with the traditional Popeye trio. It actually surprised me when Olive decided to follow Popeye. That doesn't always happen. This is the standard Popeye short and it is very well done.

"Spinach Roadster" was illustrative of the relationship between Popeye and Bluto, which varied from one episode to another. Bluto was made originally, by Max and Dave Fleischer, Popeye's nemesis, though he appeared in only one or two episodes in the Thimble Theater comic strip of Elzie Segar's, BRUTUS being the REAL heavy then; he and Popeye were later often friendly rivals instead. In this Popeye cartoon, Bluto and Popeye were showcasing their cars. Popeye opened by driving his tin Lizzie, singing a new song, "When I'm at the Wheel of my Automobile", with anchor as brake, naturally as he WAS a sailor. Bluto drove up in his sharp new car, offering Olive a ride, but she was already going with Popeye, in what Bluto called "that piece of junk". Popeye got that rattletrap started and drove off with Olive; Bluto was determined to sabotage the jaunt. First, Bluto changed the sign that read Route "D" to say DETOUR, arrow pointing toward a rock-strewn by-road. (Route "D" IS really only make-believe, as it is not likely that there IS a place where letters instead of numbers are used for routes; I once envisioned that sort of place, but it was just fantasie.) Popeye negotiated it, causing rocks to fall on Bluto. So, Bluto caused the gas to run out and sabotaged the jalopy, driving away with Olive. Popeye opened his repair kit to find FOUR CANS OF SPINACH, naturally. These gave him strength and got his car running. Popeye finally punched Bluto and his car, so he pedaled away boo-hoo-ing on a scooter, sniveling about loss of his fine car (showing him to be adult-sized baby, which, sadly, many supposed grown-ups are in reality); Popeye triumphantly drives on with Olive. Amusing way of illustrating what Popeye and Bluto are li

This one is a battle of automobiles: Popeye's old jalopy versus Bluto's streamlined roadster. Both cars, by the way, still look very cool some 70 years later!

These macho contests between these two famous animated adversaries usually have at least three things in common: 1 - Bluto gets the jump on Popeye and starts the trouble; 2 - Bluto will use every dirty trick to beat Popeye; 3 - Bluto usually is winning the fight until the sailor man has his can of spinach.

Knowing this, the cartoons are still entertaining because of the various humorous drawings and dialog between the two. Usually Olive is involved and she, too, with her extra long arms and legs and big feet, is fun to see.

A twist to this story has Popeye giving his car four cans of spinach, after Bluto had demolished and disassembled it. Our hero downs a can, too. The results are predictable, which also means very funny.