What -- No Spinach?

What? No Spinach! (1936)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye stops into Bluto's restaurant and orders a roasted duck but Wimpy thinks it's better for him to have a hamburger. Soon a fight breaks out between Popeye and Bluto.

The title is a tad bit misleading since Popeye never even requests any spinach but that's besides the point. This is certainly another winning Popeye short, which has all of the wonderful trademarks. We have a very good and catchy song by Wimpy about hamburgers. We get some great action scenes including the ending where just about everything in the restaurant is thrown. Then there's the humor, which is especially good when Popeye is complaining about the food being served to him. Fans of the series will certainly find plenty to enjoy with this one.

"What! No Spinach?" was very amusing-- and appropriately titled (as spinach was not on the menu). Bluto's Restaurant was clearly a mediocre eatery. The sign said TRY OUR SOUP-SANDWICH, so Bluto was clearly trying to show off. J Wellington Wimpy, who worked at this dump, sang his Hamburger Ode, which was very pretty. It was yet another sign of Wimpy's love for hamburgers,and tendency to mooch them! Then in happened Popeye. Olive Oyl was not with him, but Bluto's Restaurant was NOT the kind of place to bring her on a date! (She would have had fits!) Wimpy showed electric sign saying MENU (which Popeye thought was an ENTREE, saying he didn't want any of that) HAMBURGER ROAST DUCK HAMBURGERS SOUP HAMBURGERS Popeye ordered roast duck, which led Wimpy to request "One hamburger, please", which he tried to mooch, but Bluto flipped the burger on a fork over and over to Popeye, who said "I SAID ROAST DUCK!" This chain of events led Popeye and Bluto into a brawl; Wimpy took advantage of that and emerged the winner. All in all, very amusing-- and a fit

Popeye goes into Bluto's diner and tries to order roast duck. However, Wimpy is the waiter, and he tries to mooch everything... especially the hamburgers.

Lou Fleischer provides Wimpy's voice, and yes, he was a relative of Max and Dave: their brother. There was a lot of nepotism in Hollywood at the time; Universal was famous for it under 'Uncle' Carl Laemmle. The Fleischers had brothers-in-laws, nephews, and such on the payroll, but they definitely earned their keep.

As is often the case with the Fleischer cartoons in this period, you had to keep an attentive eye open for all the throwaway gags that Dave instructed his staff to put in.

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.

While maybe not quite classic Popeye, though it is close, 'What- No Spinach?' is still very good and very funny, using the diner setting cleverly. 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. 'What- No Spinach?' 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), though with a lot of variety and creative moments. The humour and gags make it even more entertaining with very amusing to hilarious gags that cleverly utilises the diner, and the cartoon is hardly devoid of them.

All three characters are great, Popeye and Bluto are spot on and their chemistry drives 'What- No Spinach?' and has so much energy, while playing it straight against Wimpy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character. Stealing the cartoon though is Wimpy, always a very entertaining character who should have been in more cartoons and this is one of his funniest appearances with the best line.

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.

All in all, nearly a classic but not quite. 8/10 Bethany Cox

After Popeye, Wimpy was the most popular character in E.C. Segar's "Thimble Theater" comic strip, but in the Fleischer and Famous Studio cartoons, he was usually just a bit player. This film marks the one time he took center stage.

And it's 100% Wimpy. It takes place in a diner, Wimpy's favorite hangout in the strip. The only difference is that here, Wimpy is an employee, not a patron, but he's still trying to filch free hamburgers from the proprietor, Bluto (who is more or less subbing for Rough House, the greasy spoon cook from the strip). When Popeye enters and orders a roast duck, Wimpy tricks the two into fighting so that he can pilfer some food.

Bluto's a bit more aggressive than Popeye, but they're not playing hero and villain this time, just two straight-men for J. Wellington Wimpy, the comic compilation of the worst traits of W. C. Fields, Stan Laurel, and Oliver Hardy.

It's clear from the film why the cartoonists preferred the more action-oriented Popeye, but it's nice to know that they gave Wimpy his due at least once.