Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye

One of the last of Max Fleischer's Popeye cartoons for Paramount, "Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye" ranks as one of the funniest in the series. The climax, in which Popeye's nephews beat the tar out of him accompanined by torrid jazz music, stands out as the highlight of the film.

'Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an Peep-eye' (1942)

Opening thoughts: 1942's 'Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an Peep-eye' is most notable for being the first cartoon to feature all of Popeye's nephews. The early Famous Studios Popeye cartoons varied in quality, especially the ones set in the navy or in war action, but were mostly well above average. The quality of Famous Studios' output in the 50s did decline quite a lot, but the Popeye output was better than most. Do have a preference for the Fleischer era cartoons, that are generally funnier, more imaginative and of higher quality.

'Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an Peep-eye' is well worth watching. It is not one of the best Popeye cartoons overall, but of the Popeye cartoons made during the war it is one of the better ones. It is enormously enjoyable in a vast majority of areas, while the originality may be lacking as well as individuality the entertainment value isn't lacking. Having pretty much everything that was so great about the best of the Fleischer output while not being quite as imaginative in the formula and humour.

Bad things: It is fairly slight and doesn't do an awful lot to do much new with a formula that was not unfamiliar in Popeye.

Maybe there could have been a little more individuality in personalities with the nephews, who are quite similar to each other.

Good things: So much is great however. The animation is great , the backgrounds have lost none of the meticulous attention to detail, it's fluid, Popeye still looks good and is recognisable in design and the shading has atmosphere. Every bit as good is the lively and lushly orchestrated music score, that has character and adds a lot to the action and enhances it. It is also very important here and essential to the cartoon's success, it is brilliantly done here.

Popeye is amusing and likeable still, he is also quite relatable here, and Jack Mercer doesn't disappoint with the voice acting. The nephews are bratty but they avoid being too annoying and they are actually very funny, their actions and behaviour handled very cleverly.

There are a lot of gags that are timed beautifully and are very funny and laugh a minute, the best absolutely hilarious. The energy never ceases and the non-stop action prevents it from being dull.

Closing thoughts: All in all, very, very good and enormously enjoyable.

8/10.

This is hands down the best feature with popeye in it of all time! Poop-eye is a stroke of pure genius. He gave the best performance of an animated character i've ever seen! Popeye is a classic and this installment just adds to that wonderful legacy. Huzzah for Poop-eye!

Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye is watching his four nephews and sure enough they don't want to eat the spinach he has made for them. After a spanking the kids finally eat it and sure enough Popeye regrets it.

It's pretty clear that a lot of the Popeye shorts from 1942-43 were starting to lose their magic. This short here is certainly entertaining in its own way but at the same time there's no question that it's missing the charm of the earlier episodes. For the most part there was some nice action here and a couple laughs but certainly not enough to make the film more memorable. The highlight of the film is certainly the way Popeye spanks his nephews.

"Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye" is the first appearance of all four of Popeye's 'nephews'. I put this in quotes because frankly, the boys look EXACTLY like Popeye...exactly. But like Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse's 'nephews', I guess I can pretend to believe the lie!

Popeye has made his nephews dinner. However, the final course is spinach and the boys are not insane, so they sneak away in order to skip the greens. But Popeye is having none of this and resorts to beating the stuffing out of the kids to make them eat the spinach. However, given that spinach makes Popeye strong as an ox, imagine four angry 'nephews' pumped full of spinach!

This is quite enjoyable and like all the Fleischer Brothers shorts, the backgrounds and animations are extremely high quality...despite STILL being in black & white...unlike most contemporary studios. Worth seeing, as for once, you see Popeye get his!