Baby Wants a Bottleship

Baby Wants a Bottleship (1942)

*** (out of 4)

The troublesome Swee'pea is left with Popeye and sure enough the old man has a hard time keeping up with him. The baby ends up on a ship where all sorts of trouble happens.

If you're a fan of the Popeye shorts then you know that there were several that had the sailor going up against this baby and usually losing the battle. This short is a pretty good one as we get the typical excellent animation but also some pretty good laughs. The highlight has to be the scene where Popeye thinks he has rocked the baby to sleep but the baby has other ideas. If you're a fan of the series then you should certainly enjoy this one.

Baby Wants a Bottleship was really superb for the final Popeye produced by Max and Dave Fleischer. The word play Baby Wants a Bottleship was fitting for the title, as Swee'Pea wanted nothing more than to roam aboard the battleship U.S.S. Pennsyltucky (cross between Pennsylvania and Kentucky) to which Popeye had been assigned. On shore leave, Popeye was asked by Olive Oyl to baby sit Swee'Pea while she went shopping. He gave Swee'Pea a tiny boat that he had whittled, which the babe threw away, and, when Olive was out of sight, crawled onto the Pennsyltucky, squalled when Popeye put him back in the carriage, then when put to sleep, crawled back onto the ship. Popeye pursued the baby until he was fired by a gun that Swee'Pea had activated, was buffeted about (and perhaps bowled over ten pins), then knocked out. Olive, returning from shopping, got Popeye to eat his spinach and save Swee'Pea. Popeye gave him another tiny boat; Swee'Pea squalled. He gave Swee'pea a bigger boat. No go. A BIGGER BIGGER boat. Didn't like that either. A BIGGEST BIGGEST BOAT. Swee'Pea squalled yet again So, with Olive, he steered the Pennsyltucky-- DOWN MAIN STREET-- to "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man", then "Volga Boatmen". This is somewhat suggestive of Swee'Pea's cartoon debut in Little Swee'Pea, when after his trip to the zoo, Popeye gave him a wooden monkey(which made the babe squall, but that time, he went no further (did not offer teddy bear, stuffed dog, stuffed elephant, etc. instead). All in all, a fitting way of illustrating Swee'Pea, just as J.Wellingron Wimpy's passion for hamburgers, agreeing to pay for them Tuesday, showed HIS nat

Like the character of Popeye very much, have said this more than once. Some of his cartoons are disappointing, namely the late-40s and late-50s periods, but when the Popeye theatrical series was at its best (the late-30s) the cartoons were truly great. Overall, the theatrical series is well worth watching with many very good cartoons and the only watchable theatrical series of Fleischer Studios when the studios declined. If more the more imaginative and funnier Fleischer efforts than the less consistent Famous Studios ones.

When looking at the title without looking at the synopsis, one can easily mistake 'Baby Wants a Bottleship' for being another navy/military-set Popeye wartime cartoon. Especially considering it was made and released in the early 40s where most of the Popeye cartoons were centered around war and the military. 'Baby Wants a Bottleship' is actually one of the Popeye versus Little Swee'Pea cartoons, a series of cartoons that is mostly very entertaining and Swee'Pea was a good recurring character. Evident here, which is far from being one of the best Popeye cartoons but for an early 40s Popeye cartoon it is better than most.

Sure, the material does lack freshness from it being a familiar take on a familiar formula and takes a little time to get going.

Often there was throughout the series the annoying habit of giving Olive little material or screen time and making what she has forgettable, especially in the Famous Studios efforts. Obvious here and what she has adds little and is nothing to write home about.

A lot is good however. The animation is fine, simple but has some nice detail in the backgrounds, the shading is crisp and the character designs are far from ugly or off. Even better is the music (always important for me to talk about and Popeye cartoons always fared very well in this respect), again lush and cleverly orchestrated and doing so well adding to and enhancing the action. The dialogue amuses mostly and the last three minutes are a lot of fun and tightly paced. The voice acting is fine, Jack Mercer always had a ball with the asides and mumbling.

Furthermore, Popeye is very easy to like and is is amusing yet easy to feel sympathy for, but despite being a baby Swee'Pea manages to be an even more interesting character, avoiding being obnoxious or too cute and is both adorable and funny. Their chemistry/interaction was essential for the cartoon to work and it works really well here. There are many clever and very amusing and beautifully timed gags. The asides and mumblings are even funnier and helped by Jack Mercer's ever genius vocal delivery, just wish there was more.

Concluding, good but not great. 7/10.

The late Flerischer Popeyes -- still done in black and white in 1942 -- are just as gag-filled as the early ones, but they lack something: the dirt of the earlier ones, derived from the Thimble Theater. The new lines are clean and unencumbered, but somehow the grit of the early ones -- along with the muttered, coarse comments of Popeye -- lent the early Popeyes a richness that was unique.

Of course, it was, undoubtedly, far more expensive to add in those ugly details, and given the precarious nature of the Fleischer studios at this point -- the operations would collapse in bickering between producer Max and director brother Dave within a year, and Paramount would demand repayment of notes that led to the end of the 25-year-old cartoon factory.

The gags here are still good and perhaps you prefer the cleaner versions. It's worth your time in either case.