Nearlyweds

Popeye in not the most pudic situations but fighting - against Bluto, off course- for a noble purpoise. The end is just brilliant plage about marriage.

Popeye proposes marriage to Olive Oyl. Bluto rushes to proposes as well. Olive does an Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe and lands on Popeye. Bluto works to sabotage their wedding.

Olive is the worst. Sure, she chooses Popeye but she has to twist the knife. She has to accentuate that the choice is a random one. I don't know why Olive is written this way so many times. The rest is the standard Popeye trio story with some fun but even the climax has to twist the knife. Olive is willing to switch the wedding for essentially a suit. It is the least romantic portrayal of the concept of marriage. I just don't understand why Olive Oyl is written this way so often. If people want to defend marriage, they would cancel this short.

Olive Oyl consents to marry Popeye if he can show up to her home by 3PM. Bluto, of course, proceeds to do whatever he can to prevent that happening.

The Famous Studios Popeyes approach their end, without Technicolor, without the Famous Studios logo, but still with Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive Oyl. The background designs continue to grow simpler and simpler under the vanishing budgets, and the Polarcolor Process used is wan. The Famous Studios staff pulls off a couple of good gags, like the way Popeye disrobes before getting into his bath without violating the Production Code -- although I have my doubts about the implications of how he breaks out of the concrete -- but the series is far from its best days in the 1930s.

Two timing Olive Oyl has to decide who to marry. Popeye or Bluto.

She chooses Popeye with eenie, meanie, minie, moe. They decide to marry at 3pm on the afternoon that day.

Bluto tells Popeye that the best man won and then goes on to sabotage the wedding.

This is a world that if Bluto can stop Popeye to get to the church on time. Then maybe Olive would choose him.

Popeye decides it is not spinach he needs to best Bluto. It is to show Bluto what kind of commitment is needed to marry Olive Oyl.

It is another cartoon where you think a heel like Bluto and Olive are made for each other.

Really like to love a good deal of Popeye cartoons and like the character of Popeye. Love Bluto more and his chemistry with Popeye has always driven their cartoons. Will admit though to preferring the Popeye cartoons from the Dave Fleischer era, the cartoons tend to be funnier and there is more originality and more risk taking in some of them.

'Nearlyweds' is a late Popeye cartoon and made in Famous Studios' roughest and most variable period where budgets were much smaller in particularly the animation and deadlines and time constraints were shorter and tighter. All things considered, while there are infinitely better Popeye cartoons (especially during the Fleischer era) and there are signs of what made this period an inferior one for Famous Studios, 'Nearlyweds' is not a bad late Popeye cartoon at all and one of the better cartoons in Famous Studios' late output.

As to be expected, the story is standard and formulaic, all it is basically is Popeye and Bluto battling for Olive Oyl's affections with not as much variety as many other Popeye cartoons. There could have been more gags too, the ones here are amusing and timed reasonably well, thankfully not being repetitive either, but they are never hilarious and it's not laugh-a-minute.

Similarly the animation quality is uneven, never terrible but never fantastic. The colours are fine and there is smoothness and nice detail but there are many moments where the backgrounds are sparse and the drawing rough.

What is fantastic about 'Nearlyweds' is the music score, the best thing for me. It's beautifully orchestrated, rhythmically it's full of energy and there is so much character and atmosphere, it's also brilliant at adding to the action and enhancing it. The gags are executed well, the interplay between the characters is lively and witty if in need of more variety and the pace is never dull.

The three main characters do a great job carrying the cartoon, Bluto being the funniest and most interesting. Olive Oyl is a good charming character where you can totally see what Popeye sees in her, but it's the entertaining interplay between Popeye and Bluto that really sparkles. Jack Mercer, Mae Questel and Jackson Beck give great vocal characterisations, Beck in particular and Mercer and Questel are the voice actors that spring to mind generally for me for Popeye and Olive's voices.

Concluding, decent if nothing mind-blowing. 7/10 Bethany Cox