Wotta Nitemare

Wotta Nitemare (1939)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye is comfortably in bed dreaming of a pleasant date with Olive. All of this changes when Bluto arrives in the dream and it quickly turns into a nightmare.

WOTTA NITEMARE is another winning short from the Popeye series and it has several nice laughs and of course the great animation that you'd expect. There are several funny moments scattered throughout the film but the highlight comes once Popeye is awake and poor Bluto gets a beating that he actually didn't deserve. If you're a fan of the series then you'll certainly enjoy this one.

In Popeye's dream, Olive Oyl is an angel and Bluto comes between her and Popeye. Olive lays out a picnic for Bluto. Nothing seems to go right for Popeye. He starts sleepwalking in the real world. In the dream, he eats spinach and takes care of Bluto. It has the big three. Bluto needs two devil horns, a tail, and a pitchfork. Overall, this is a fine Popeye short.

Popeye has always been a fun and compelling character to me. Bluto is even funnier and more interesting and their conflict is always so much fun to watch regardless of the quality of the rest of the cartoon. The Popeye series is mostly decent to classic, especially in the mid-late-30s, though there were underwhelming ones later like the worst of the late-50s. It was never less than watchable though. Among the best theatrical series for both Fleischer Studios and Famous Studios that took over in 1942 through to 1957.

'Wotta Nitemare' was an excellent Popeye cartoon, not just for 1939 (of which it's one of the best) but also for the late-30s period (of which it's among the stronger ones), among Fleischer's best Popeye cartoons and a standout of the whole series. If asked whether 'Wotta Nightmare', my answer would be an easy yes and would go as far to say that it's one of the series' must sees. One of the series' most inventive premises fully lived up to and put to near-perfect use.

Couldn't really find much to criticise, but Olive's material and role are nowhere near as interesting or as funny and Popeye and Bluto's.

On the other hand, 'Wotta Nitemare' is one of the best-looking Popeye cartoons in my view with some of the series' most inventive and wildest visuals. Nothing looks cheap here and it was hard to not admire the attention to detail. The music is characteristically superb, full of clever orchestration, character and quite stunning to listen to. Popeye and Bluto are both splendidly characterised, Popeye coming off funnier here, and their chemistry a joy to watch in timing and how it carries everything.

All the gags work, becoming wilder and more hilarious all the time. Some of the funniest, wildest and most inventive depictions of dreams/nightmares in animation to me. Do agree about it being relatable too, my dreams/nightmares are very similar in effect and am also a fidgeter sleeping. Jack Mercer and Gus Wickie prove themselves to be the definitive voice actors for the characters, nobody relished those mumblings and such in the way Mercer did and Wickie's voice was the one that fitted Bluto's character design and personality the most.

Summing up, excellent. 9/10

Popeye is asleep and dreaming of being in heaven with an angelic Olive Oyl. But a demonic Bluto shows up to spoil his fun in this odd but entertaining cartoon in the Fleischer Brothers' series.

The studio had settled down in Florida and made some changes. Not only is Jack Mercer the sole remaining voice actor, but the opening credits have been redesigned from the ship's-deck standard. Now there's a definite Arte Moderne/Deco look to them, in concert with their new headquarters' architecture. Likewise, there have been some simplification to the character design.

What hasn't changed is the constant barrage of gags that make this a typically funny entry to the series.