Fright to the Finish

Olive Oyl is tormenting her two suitors, once again. She's sitting in the middle of the couch reading ghost stories to Popeye on one side and Bluto on the other. We can read both men's thoughts, and both are annoyed the other guy is there. (Why would Olive invite both of them over? She had to be sadistic, among other things.)

Anyway, Olive reads aloud about ghosts and goblins and Popeye said, "Olive, there ain't no such things. They're just figa-mentations of your imagine-agativeations." That gives Bluto an idea. He pretends to be sleepy and leaves.

Popeye thinks he has Olive all to himself, but Bluto is back dressed as a goblin and sounding like Vincent Price. It's hilarious! Olive jumps right out of her stockings! Bluto laughs his butt off.

Bluto plays one gag after another....and they are good! This is one time I could laugh at the big oaf, and think what he was doing was cool.Finally, it looks like Bluto has won the battle as Olive thinks Popeye is behind all the scare tactics....but you who will get the last laugh!

This was an entertaining slapstick-type Popeye cartoon.

Whether it is one of Popeye's best or overall classics I am not sure. However for a late Popeye cartoon and especially for a late Famous Studios cartoon(the 50s was a hit and miss period for them where their cartoons were getting repetitive and their budgets getting noticeably smaller) Fright to the Finish is still surprisingly good.

The story, for a Popeye cartoon and for cartoons in general, is pretty standard and ordinary stuff and it does get a little predictable, as funny as the vanishing cream gag is it has been done many times before and much more imaginatively. Thankfully though it does not fall into the trap of getting too repetitive, which was a major problem with some of Famous Studios' output, such as with some of the Herman and Katnip cartoons.

Fright to the Finish's animation is very good however. It's lush and colourful and everything looks smooth and detailed. Some of Famous Studios' late output had rushed-looking animation, but not in Fright to the Finish. The music of Winston Sharples was always one of the best things about the Herman and Katnip cartoons, and it continues to be one of the best things here. So outstanding it is in fact that it gets my vote as the component that makes the cartoon, it is so lively and characterful in rhythm and who can't help love the rich, vibrant orchestration that adds so much to the gags.

Speaking of the gags, they are slapstick in nature and revolve around Popeye and Bluto trying to convince Olive Oyl that the other is the one scaring her. The good news is that the gags are very well-timed and most importantly they are also very funny indeed. Hard to pick a favourite as they are about equal in how effective they are. Fright to the Finish even manages to evoke a spooky atmosphere without being too much, which was wholly appropriate for a Halloween cartoon. The three main characters do a great job carrying the cartoon, with some interesting touches like not showing Popeye eating spinach and making Bluto funnier than usual. 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.

In summary, enormous fun if not quite spooktacular. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Olive Oyl reads spooky stories to Popeye and Bluto. Popeye proclaims them the bunk. Bluto sees this as an opportunity to scare Olive and get Popeye out of the running. Could this possibly lead to a big fight between the two sailor-suited saps, with Popeye victorious?

Could be. As usual with the Popeye cartoons, there isn't much on offer, despite the usual collection of well executed gags. Issues linger, like how come Olive doesn't realize that her vanishing cream -- think Noxzema for those of you old enough to remember it -- turns people invisible. I imagine if anyone brought it up at a meeting, it would be pointed out that it was for kids, and they're stupid.

It's Halloween. Olive Oyl is reading a ghost story to Popeye and Bluto. Each guy is waiting for the other to leave. Bluto has an idea and offers to leave. Popeye is eager to push him out. Bluto leaves only to scare Olive with hidden pranks.

This is a good Halloween episode. Old Popeye doesn't do that much holiday specials. Olive is a high maintenance girlie girl and that's fine. Bluto is funny as the prankster. This works.