Customers Wanted

Despite liking Popeye and most of his cartoons very much, if more Fleischer Studios than Famous Studios, part of me was expecting not to care for 1939's 'Customers Wanted'. It may have been made in one of Fleischer's stronger periods, before their overall decline in the early 40s, and had Popeye and Bluto's ever timeless rivalry and a welcome appearance from Wimpy, but it was also one of the (what people call, and am going to try and be a little kinder) "cheater" cartoons.

Where a framing story is featured with healthy use of clips from previous cartoons, and more often than not they strike me as not being particularly necessary or inspired and the vast difference in quality (the clips tending to be infinitely better) is difficult to ignore. A lot of cartoon series did it at least once and that for Popeye was not an exception. 'Customers Wanted' however is one of the better examples of that type of cartoon in the Popeye series, and actually in any cartoon series overall, being surprisingly very well done and not as lazy as too many are.

Usually when a cartoon uses clips from previous cartoons from 15 plus years before, the clips' quality is much better and sees a difference in the style of animation and writing. 'Customers Wanted' is one of the few examples where the clips and the actual cartoon's story is equally good, as although the animation quality had advanced since the clips used from 'Lets Get Movin' and 'The Twisker Pitcher', both very good (as well as references to others), the spirit of 'Customers Wanted's' story and the humour was very true to that of those two. So didn't find myself worried or distracted as much as in other "cheaters", also because the clips were relevant to the cartoon's story instead of being random or where one questions why "why this particular cartoon?".

The animation never seemed too cluttered or static, with some nice meticulousness and fluidity as well a very nice job done with the expressions (for particularly Popeye, like with the eyes and arm movements). The music is suitably characterful and lush, even in the weakest Popeye cartoons this was the component that was consistently good and often the best thing about the Famous Studios cartoons. Although the gags in 'Lets Get Movin' and 'The Twisker Pitcher' are a little more inventive and funnier, the gags here are more than present and are crisply timed and amusing though never perhaps hilarious. The pace never felt dull despite the basic story being fairly predictable and the increasing wildness is great.

'Customers Wanted' is successful in the characterisation too. Again Popeye and Bluto are well realised characters that contrast well, their rivalry a lot of fun and tense and carrying the cartoon beautifully. Wimpy is one of two things that steals the show, he is on top form, very funny and it is one of his best appearances. The other is Jack Mercer's voice work, which is nothing short of marvellous and quite a power-house for him and for me because of the dynamic range and seamless comic timing (oh he sounded like he was having a whale of a time with those asides and ad-libs, which were entertaining in themselves) it was some of his best work for the studio.

Not an awful lot wrong here. It was interesting to hear Pinto Colvig voice Bluto, in his first outing voicing the character, and he does do admirably. Am just more familiar with Gus Wickie and Jackson Beck and feel that their voices fit the character design and personality better and had more menace.

In conclusion, very well done and especially for this type of cartoon. 8/10

Customers Wanted (1939)

** (out of 4)

This Popeye short is fairly lazy as it features footage from LET'S GET MOVING and THE TWISKER PITCHER. Basically the "story" here is that Popeye and Bluto are working rival movie houses at a carnival. Soon the two of them are fighting over Wimpy and whose movies he will be watching.

Of course, the movies that he watches are the two titles that I mentioned so basically you've got a short that shows several clips from those two movies with a few scenes worth of new material. The two shorts are very good on their own but just watching the clips here is rather pointless and on the whole this isn't a very good short. It certainly doesn't help that the new footage doesn't contain any laughs.

Popeye and Bluto are running competing, side-by-side penny arcades, with no customers. Wimpy wanders by and enters first one, then the other, to use the peep show machines to watch clips from old Popeye cartoons, paid for by Popeye and Bluto.

If you think the clip show was invented by television, think again. While this was not the first use of the technique by the Fleischers, it is an early one. As such, it suffers from the same flaw that they all do. Although about half of it is new material, most of the gags and fights are stuff you've seen before.

The economies in building a cartoon this way are obvious. But it certainly has a limited amount of fun.

Popeye and Bluto are barkers desperate to lure customers to their neighboring penny arcades. Nobody is coming in. Wimpy walks by and the boys battle to get him. The arcades play clips of other Popeye shorts. When the boys' battle turns physical, Wimpy is able to collect a hatful for customers rushing in to see them fight. This is essentially a clip show. The premise is better than most clip shows. Turning into a fight is brilliant but it is nevertheless a clip show.

Not surprising , Wimpy is the star of this short animation. Poor arcade machines and welcome to the good American business man , beginning with 10 cents the fight show.