Fleischer's Popeye cartoons tended to be funnier, more imaginative and better made, Famous Studios' on the most part entertained though their later Popeye, and overall filmography actually, cartoons had tighter deadlines and lower budgets evident which accounted for the animation not being as good, less surprises and the material not as imaginative. Speaking as someone who likes the character himself and many of his cartoons.
Up to this point, 1948 was not the most impressive of years for the series. While still well made, scored and voice and Popeye is always fun to watch, a tired and running out of ideas feel was starting to emerge. Luckily though this was not a feeling that was present in all of the cartoons. It is a bit though in 'Popeye Meets Hercules', basically it's standard Popeye and Bluto (or a beefed-up Bluto look-alike for Hercules) in an Olympic setting.
Like quite a number of the Popeye cartoons, Olive has little to do other than in the final third and what she has is not particularly strong. The gags are mixed and there could have been more too, some are very amusing and well timed (i.e. the javelin gag was fun) but others lack freshness in timing and the gag itself.
Didn't find that the pace was perfect either, the first portion a touch slow and not hugely interesting compared to the rest of the cartoon. One predicts the ending with certainty and correctly very early on, if you are familiar with most of the Popeye series and know how they end you'll know how this does as it is essentially the same but in a different setting. 'Popeye Meets Hercules' despite the setting is very little different to what we see in most Popeye vs. Bluto cartoons which were formulaic story-wise even if the chemistry was great and the gags funny in them.
On the other hand, the animation is good. Very colourful, meticulous in background detaill, the fluidity in drawing and movement having gotten smoother all the time and the expressions freer. Popeye's expressions and body movements are terrific. As is the music score from regular Famous Studios composer Winston Sharples, always one of the best done components of their cartoons and even the best thing in some. The playful character, how dynamic it is with everything and the beautiful orchestration make it one of 'Popeye Meets Hercules' strongest assets.
The final third has the wild energy that the previous 1948 cartoons just missed out on having. The story may not have much new but uses the setting well and mostly is lively. Popeye is an amusing and likeable character while Hercules excels just as much in the comic timing and in being a menacing enough adversary. There are no problems to be had with Jack Mercer's voice acting or how he uniquely delivers those asides and Popeye's lines, while Jackson Beck as ever voices robustly.
Altogether, decent but nowhere near Popeye at his best. 6/10
