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The 1936 “Popeye’ theatrical cartoon short “A Clean Shaven Man”, was directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, starring Jack Mercer as ‘Popeye’, Mae Questel as ‘Olive’ and Gus Wicke as ‘Bluto’:

‘…Olive Oyl’, working in a diner, gushes romantically in front of grubby-looking ‘Popeye’ and ‘Bluto’ about a ‘clean shaven’ man.

“So the boys quickly visit the barber shop. ‘Wimpy’ is out, so they shave each other.

“As Popeye let’s Bluto come at him with a razor…”

Click the images to enlarge…...

Fleischer Studios' "Popeye The Sailor" theatrical cartoon short "Protek the Weakerist" (1937)  directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, stars Jack Mercer as 'Popeye', Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl' and Gus Wickie as 'Bluto':

"...'Popeye' is asked by 'Olive Oyl' to walk her female dog, 'Fluffy' but is confronted by 'Bluto' and his bulldog.

"Now Popeye and Bluto, plus Fluffy and the bulldog each have a score to settle..."...

Click the images to enlarge...

Take a look at Fleischer Studios "Popeye the Sailor " theatrical cartoon short "Never Kick A Woman" (1936) directed by Dave Fleischer, starring Jack Mercer as 'Popeye' and Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl':

"...'Popeye' talks Olive into taking a self defense lesson...

"... but it's Olive who goes on the offense…

“…when Popeye take a turn for the pretty instructor..."

Click the images to enlarge...

DC Studios is doing as much as it can to get you all hyped up about the new Superman movie. In just one day, we had the co-ceo of DC Studios (and his rescue dog) in the Puppy Bowl talking about Krypto as well as Nathan Fillion’s Guy Gardener comparing his bowl cut to the 2025 Super Bowl in a short but special advertisement. Along with the official trailer, these promos can be watched again and again — every comic book fan’s dream. But the actual movie is still four months away! It becomes hard waiting around when we all know the number of familiar faces that are going to be in this retelling — Metamorpho, Hawkgirl, Mister Terrific, Jimmy Olsen — the list goes on. The story possibilities are just about endless. But for a long time, it wasn’t this way.

Whether you look at Henry Cavill’s 2013 depiction, Brandon Routh...

Quick LinksWhat Was Superman's Arctic Giant About?How Did Superman Stop His Arctic Giant?

In discussions about Superman adaptations outside the comics, it's easy to see how the Fleischer Studios era set the gold standard for the DC hero. The studio produced heartwarming shorts in the 1940s that had heart and action. One of the most memorable ones was "The Arctic Giant."

This story was the fourth out of 17 animated Technicolor shorts, and gave fans a Godzilla story 12 years before Toho created its version of the giant lizard in Japan. It focused on Clark Kent's superhero alter ego fighting a giant dinosaur-like creature to save Lois Lane and Metropolis. The more interesting thing about "The Arctic Giant," however, is that the creature terrorizes Metropolis in a very similar manner to 1954's Godzilla.

What Was Superman's Arctic Giant About? Superman Had to Fight a Godzilla-Like Creature Image via Warner Bros. Discovery...

Exclusive: A multi-part film about the Fleischer Brothers, creators of a pioneering animation studio that launched Betty Boop, Popeye The Sailor, and Superman cartoons, has won the richest prize in documentary.

Today, the Library of Congress, The Better Angels Society, Ken Burns, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced Cartooning America as the winner of the sixth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The $200,000 award will go to director Asaf Galay.

“Most people have never heard the names Max and Dave Fleischer, but their legacy on American animation is profound, having preceded – and also inspired – Walt and Roy Disney,” notes a release about the prize. “Unlike the polished characters produced by the Disney studio, the Fleischer characters came right off the streets of New York City: the subtly Jewish Betty Boop, the muttering, street-smart Popeye, and Superman, the first-ever superhero cartoon. The Fleischers were...

The original Popeye cartoon deal King Features Syndicate made only covered film cartoons King Features Syndicate created Popeye TV cartoons to compete with its own syndicated Popeye cartoons. Popeye became a hit after his cartoon features appeared on TV, inspiring King to enter the animation game.

TV Legend: Popeye's owners launched a Popeye animated series in order to compete with...a Popeye animated series?!

The recent SAG-AFTRA strike was the longest actors strike in the history of Hollywood, but there have been a number of other notable strikes in the past. The third-longest occurred in 1960, and it was about a topic that is still at play in labor disagreements to this very day, namely the changing shape of how people consume media. In 1960, you see, there was no real way to compensate actors for what happened when their films appeared on television, because no one had even considered the fact...

Take a look at Fleischer Studios 1936 "Popeye the Sailor " cartoon  short "Never Kick A Woman", directed by Dave Fleischer, starring Jack Mercer as 'Popeye' and Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl':

"...'Popeye' talks Olive into taking a self defense lesson...

"... but it's Olive who goes on the offense when Popeye take a turn for the pretty instructor..." 

Click the images to enlarge...  </div...

In honor of 'Father's Day', take a look @ the 1938 "Popeye" cartoon short "Goonland", directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, starring Jack Mercer as the voice of 'Popeye' and his father 'Poopdeck Pappy':

"...'Popeye' sails to 'Goon Island' in search of his 'Pappy'. He finds the place populated by the imposing and ugly 'goons’.

“But the estranged father and son finally reunite to kick some ass…”

Click the images to enlarge...

“You know you can watch that at home, right?” Such was the advice directed my way by a wisecracking passerby while queued up for a screening at the 2024 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in Hollywood, California. They were clearly not a festival passholder, but the indifference heard right there on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was another instance of the trampling of history that both the festival and its parent channel aim to counter.

Probably the most even-handed response to that trampling would be a reminder—to flip a well-known phrase—that a home is not a house (not a movie house anyway). The folks who flock to Los Angeles every year from all over the world to attend this festival, probably all subscribers or rabid devotees of the channel that bears its name, cough up a prodigious amount of money to do so. It’s clear that for them,...

Martin Scorsese & Seth MacFarlane collaborate to restore animated classics. Not about profits but preserving cinematic history. MacFarlane funded the restoration of forgotten animations from the 1920s-1940s. Scorsese was involved in the personal project. Restored animations debut at TCM Classic Film Festival.

Seth MacFarlane and legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese have teamed up for an unexpected reason; to restore a collection of early animated shorts to their former glory. The differences between the often crude and commercial comedy of MacFarlane and the Oscar-nominated dramas of Scorsese seem to be worlds apart, making any kind of collaboration between the pair very unlikely. However, they have found an unexpected middle ground that has seen them come together on a special preservation effort to restore several key animations from the 1920s through to the 1940s.

MacFarlane has always expressed his passion for animation, as along with producing shows like Family Guy and American Dad,...

Seth MacFarlane of “Family Guy” and “Ted” fame is partnering through his Seth MacFarlane Foundation with filmmaker Martin Scorsese to fund The Film Foundation’s (led by Scorsese) first-ever restoration of a curated selection of a dozen historically significant animated shorts from the 1920s through the 1940s. The announcement was made today. Among the lot are nine short animated films from the legendary team of brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who created Betty Boop and Koko the Clown among many other memorable characters.

The films were selected and restored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and The Film Foundation, in collaboration with Paramount Studio Archives. They were funded by MacFarlane and completed using unique original pre-print elements and/or print sources, mostly nitrate.

See‘Ted’ prequel series from Seth MacFarlane and Peacock drops official trailer in advance of January 11 premiere

“I’m so grateful to Seth MacFarlane for his...

Martin Scorsese's non-profit Film Foundation was first founded in 1990 as a means to restore and archive films that stood on the brink of being lost. Scorsese, one of the world's preeminent cineastes, was aghast to learn that only about 10% of the films made before 1929 still survive and that more than half of the films made before 1950 were lost forever. The Film Foundation is run by a consortium of famous filmmakers who raise money for extensive restoration efforts. To date, the Foundation has restored over 1,000 movies. Many of the films can be watched online on the Fest Foundation's website. The Foundation also provides educational materials for teachers who might want to show some of these movies to their students. Scorsese wants to make sure that audiences have a chance to see some of the greatest films of all time.

His efforts expanded in 2007 when the director founded the World Cinema Project,...

Animator Seth MacFarlane is partnering with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese to restore a series of early cartoons. As Family Guy enters its 25th year, MacFarlane's dedication to the art form is that much more clear.

As reported by Deadline, Seth MacFarlane of Family Guy fame has teamed up with Martin Scorsese to fund the restoration of several historically significant cartoons. Through the Seth MacFarlane Foundation and Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation respectively, the two will fund the first-ever curated restoration of important 1920s-1940s shorts.

Related Seth MacFarlane Explains How Family Guy Tackles Offensive Comedy Seth MacFarlane reveals how the animated comedy manages offensive jokes in the modern era. Reverence for the Art of Animation

Speaking on the collaboration, Scorsese stated that he was “so grateful to Seth MacFarlane for his enthusiasm and his support on these restorations." The Killers of the Flower Moon director then expressed his excitement and...

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane and Goodfellas director Martin Scorsese may not seem like the most likely match, but Deadline reports that the pair have joined forces to fund the restoration of historically significant animated shorts from the 1920s to 1940s.

“I’m so grateful to Seth MacFarlane for his enthusiasm and his support on these restorations,” said Martin Scorsese. “What an astonishing experience, to see these remarkable pictures that I experienced for the first time as a child brought back to their full glory. Imagine the reactions of children today! Because the films now seem as fresh as they did when they were newly made.“

In his own statement, MacFarlane added, “The work Martin Scorsese and his Film Foundation have been doing is essential cinematic preservation. I’m honored to partner with them in restoring their first-ever collection of storied animation.“

Related Is Family Guy funny enough to have lasted 25 years?...

Exclusive: Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is partnering, through his Seth MacFarlane Foundation, with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation to fund the first-ever, curated restoration of historically significant animated shorts from the 1920s to 1940s.

MacFarlane is committed to saving and honoring the art form from its earliest days forward. He’s been fascinated by animation since childhood when he began drawing. He’s also an animation alum of Rhode Island School of Design. This year MacFarlane’s The Family Guy is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

“I’m so grateful to Seth MacFarlane for his enthusiasm and his support on these restorations,” said Martin Scorsese in a statement. “What an astonishing experience, to see these remarkable pictures that I experienced for the first time as a child brought back to their full glory. Imagine the reactions of children today! Because the films now seem as fresh as they did when they were newly made.

Take a look at Fleischer Studios 1936 "Popeye the Sailor " cartoon  short "Never Kick A Woman", directed by Dave Fleischer, starring Jack Mercer as 'Popeye' and Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl':

"...'Popeye' talks Olive into taking a self defense lesson...

"... but it's Olive who goes on the offense when Popeye take a turn for the pretty instructor..." 

Click the images to enlarge... ...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For regular updates, sign up for our weekly email newsletter and follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSEvil Does Not Exist.We are saddened to learn that Issue 97 will be Cinema Scope’s last in its current form. To “do something valuable in this field,” editor and publisher Mark Peranson writes, “one needs creative freedom.” This is exactly what, for twenty-five years and just under 100 issues, Cinema Scope was able to provide, offering a space that allowed, per Peranson, “a certain kind of filmmaker’s work to be treated with the intellect and respect they deserve.” The print issue is on its way to subscribers now, and its entire contents—including interviews with Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Rodrigo Moreno, and Alex Ross Perry—can also be read online.Sandra Milo has died at the age of 90. She starred in Federico Fellini’s 8½ (1963) and Juliet of the Spirits...

Take a look at Fleischer Studios 1936 "Popeye the Sailor " cartoon  short "Never Kick A Woman", directed by Dave Fleischer, starring Jack Mercer as 'Popeye' and Mae Questel as 'Olive Oyl':

"...'Popeye' talks Olive into taking a self defense lesson...

"... but it's Olive who goes on the offense when Popeye take a turn for the pretty instructor..." 

Click the images to enlarge... ...

In honor of 'Father's Day', take a look @ the 1938 "Popeye" cartoon short "Goonland", directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, starring Jack Mercer as the ad-libbing voice of 'Popeye' and his father 'Poopdeck Pappy':

"...'Popeye' sails to 'Goon Island' in search of his 'Pappy'. He finds the place populated by the imposing and ugly 'goons'..."

Click the images to enlarge... ...

One of the joys of growing up in the 1960s is that you were treated to cartoons from earlier eras, long before limited animation filled the Saturday morning airwaves. Among those gems were the work of Max and Dave Fleischer, including Popeye, Gulliver’s Travels and, of course, Superman. Since then, they have fallen into public domain and were widely available, but never in the best condition.

Until Warner Bros. Home Entertainment got involved. First came a DVD set in 02006 and now we have a Blu-ray collection, mastered from the original film negatives. All seventeen episodes from September 26, 1941 through July 30, 1943 are here.

For those unfamiliar, the fairly formulaic stories involve a problem, Lois Lane (Joan Alexander) getting into trouble, Clark Kent (Bud Collyer) changing in the phone booth (the trope introduced in the second short), and Superman to the rescue. This si the early Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster Superman, so...

Kyle Edward Ball's "Skinamarink" is a singular horror movie experience that /Film heralds as an early contender for the scariest movie of 2023. The abstract story follows two young children, Kevin and Kaylee, tiptoeing around their house at night. As they search for their parents, they discover the doors and windows have mysteriously gone missing.

"Experience" is the appropriate word for watching this film that strips all narrative and visual traditions. Ball rarely focuses on the children's faces and only part of their bodies, instead angling his camera on walls, doors, and other parts of the home. Dialogue is difficult to hear and is only occasionally understood through subtitles. Jamie McRae's scratched and grainy cinematography adds a lo-fi aesthetic that reflects the 1990s setting. The darkened surroundings are indistinguishable, with only the flicker of the television or a hallway night light shining through.

Public domain cartoons from the 1930s play on VHS throughout "Skinamarink,...

This post contains spoilers for "Skinamarink."

Writer/director Kyle Edward Ball's "Skinamarink" is a wholly thrilling experience, a horror film that teaches you how to watch it while you watch it, a brazen work of experimental art released into domestic multiplexes, and cleaning up in the process, it seems. One of its innovations lies in the way its cinematography and aesthetic are constructed out of liminal spaces. As /Film's Joe Roberts pointed out recently, Ball is an avowed fan of the meme, admitting that a subreddit devoted to liminal spaces influenced him when making the film. The subreddit defines the term using text from the Cambridge Art Association:

"A liminal space is the time between the 'what was' and the 'next.' It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing. Liminal space is where all transformation takes place."

Gee, that sounds kinda similar to:...

Netflix has scored 50 Annie Award nominations across series and features, including bids for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which leads in individual nominations with nine.

“Pinocchio,” which has picked up 38 awards so far this season, including the Golden Globe for animated feature, is one of three Netflix projects up for best feature, along with “The Sea Beast” and “Wendell & Wild.” Netflix has one contender in the indie feature field: “My Father’s Dragon,” with Cartoon Saloon.

Other films nominated for best feature are Disney-Pixar’s “Turning Red” and DreamWorks Animation’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” Rounding out the indie feature category are “Charlotte,” from January Films, Balthlazar Productions and Walking the Dog; “Inu-Oh,” from Science Saru; “Little Nicholas, Happy as Can Be,” from On Classics (Mediawan) and Bidibul Productions; and “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” from Marcel the Movie, LLC.

Del Toro, with co-director Mark Gustafson, is...

“1995” declares a 1970s-style title card in the opening minutes of Kyle Edward Ball’s Skinamarink, a film presented in fake grain filters meant to suggest the scratchy 35mm video nasties of that era. The date proves totally irrelevant to Skinamarink’s minimal plot; at best it vaguely informs the technology we see in the two-story suburban household where the entire film takes place. This might pass as a conscious irony, but over the ensuing 100 minutes it becomes far more plausible that this semiotically lazy confusion of time and history is a quality of Ball as director, and not of his film’s barely glimpsed preschool-age protagonists.

Skinamarink, a crowdfunded passion project for writer-director-editor-YouTuber Ball, is a proudly experimental film in the sense that it is brutally formless and repetitive and masks these qualities with a veneer of faux-ethereal vagueness. Ostensibly the chronicle of two young children trapped with their single...

For the second year in a row, the 49th Annie Awards will be virtual after Asifa-Hollywood, the organization behind the event, decided to pivot amid the omicron-driven surge in Covid-19 cases.

The show was originally going to be an in-person affair Feb. 26 at Royce Hall on the campus of UCLA. Now it will be streamed on the Annie Awards website, on Saturday, March 12, beginning at 7 p.m. Pt.

According to Asifa-Hollywood executive director Frank Gladstone, the board made the decision to pivot in mid-January. Members considered three options. “One was to just stay the course and do the live show,” Gladstone says. Option two was to go virtual. “And the third option was doing a live show but postponing it even further,” he says. “At the end of the day, going virtual was what the board decided to do.”

The decision meant the team behind the show had to scramble...

In honor of Father's Day", take a look @ the 1938 "Popeye" cartoon short "Goonland", directed by Dave Fleischer and Seymour Kneitel, starring Jack Mercer as the voice of 'Popeye' and his father 'Poopdeck Pappy':

"...'Popeye' sails to 'Goon Island' in search of his 'Pappy'. He finds the place populated by the imposing and ugly goons..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Popeye" In "Goonland"...

Den of Geek Staff Feb 21, 2020

Foldable smartphones, Princess Diana's handwritten letters, the best memes of 2020 so far, plus more in today's Link Tank!

Foldable smartphones are the latest rage within the tech industry, but the average consumer may not be as taken with them as previously thought.

"Foldable smartphones are a big trend in the tech world lately, from Samsung's Galaxy Fold and its upcoming Z Flip to the resurrection of the Motorola Razr. Even Pablo Escobar's brother is launching one (sort of). But what they all seem to have in common is a lackluster reception from consumers, who are not quite ready to invest more than $1,000 in one of these devices."

Read more at PCMag.

A collection of Princess Diana's handwritten letters are going up for auction, along with a number of other personal items of hers.

"On June 25, 1997, just months before Princess Diana’s death in August,...

The Annies, started by animation organization Asifa-Hollywood nearly 50 years ago as a dinner to honor toon veterans Max and Dave Fleischer, has today morphed into a major awards season event, honoring achievements in 32 categories as well as a number of juried kudos.

“We keep growing every year,” says Frank Gladstone, executive director of Asifa-Hollywood. This year it will be held on Jan. 25 at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus, its home for the past several years.

“Every year, for the last few years, we’ve had between 10% and 20% growth. Not only in how much it costs, because that’s true too, but in the amount of submissions. This year, we had almost 2,000 submissions. That’s a lot of submissions!”

More entries, more award categories, more impact, more cachet.

“We’re getting to be an award that people are paying attention to,” he says. “I saw a billboard the other day...

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s – Volume 3

Blu ray

Warner Archive

1948-49/ 1.33:1 / 121 min.

Starring Jack Mercer, Mae Questel, Jackson Beck

Directed by Izzy Sparber

E. C. Segar’s Popeye made his newspaper debut in 1929 and his first animated appearance in 1933 with Max Fleischer’s Popeye the Sailor. By the time he reached Famous Studios a decade later the ornery bar-fighter had become respectable – safely homogenized for the delicate sensibilities of an audience that existed only for over-cautious suits in the front office.

None of that should stop Popeye fans and animation completists from scooping up Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s – Volume 3, Warner Archive’s third and final round-up of Popeye’s post-war adventures. The glossy veneer of these brightly colored cartoons was tailor made for high def scrutiny.

The set opens with one of the studio’s most memorable productions, the schizoid feminist fantasy, Olive Oyl for President. What at...

Sneak Peek "Wotta Nitemare", the 71st "Popeye" animated cartoon from Fleischer Studios, released in 1939, featuring the voices of Pinto Colvig, Margie Hines and Jack Mercer as 'Popeye', directed by Dave Fleischer and Willard Bowsky:

"...'Popeye' tosses and turns in his sleep. He dreams of himself up in the clouds sitting with an angelic 'Olive Oyl'.

"Soon, however, 'Bluto' materializes and leads the angel away to have a picnic. 

"Popeye is left behind bars - in fact, the bars from his bed..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Popeye: Wotta Nitemare"....

Inside the projection booth at George Eastman Museum’s Dryden Theatre.

It’s been nearly 70 years since Kodak manufactured their last nitrate film, but the appreciation for the highly flammable, stunningly vivid film stock lives on in more ways than one in Rochester, New York. The George Eastman Museum, home of photography and moving image collections, opened in 1949 and two years later in 1951, the 500-seat Dryden Theatre was unveiled. However, it wasn’t until 1996 that the museum’s nitrate collection found a more secure home. Located in North Chili, NY–about a 15-minute drive from the museum–the unassumingly adorned Louis B. Mayer Conservation Center is a safe haven for nitrate film stock.

With room for 40,000 reels of film (about 26 million-plus feet) amongst its 12 vaults–completely separated to prevent a total catastrophe if a fire breaks out in a single vault–the center houses some of the most precious gems in film history.

The most populous city in Canada has appeared on-screen in many different ways over the years.Enemy (2013)

There are many ways in which cities are portrayed in cinema. Sometimes cities are anonymous and nameless, and sometimes cities become characters in the films they are portrayed in. Cities can be merely incidental settings, or the specific locations within a city can be incredibly important both narratively and visually. The people within a city tend to represent the place itself: how they act, how they dress, where they work, how they speak, and what they eat. All of these things can be related to the place they live. Cities are home to an infinite multitude of experiences — people from different places, with different families, different wants and desires and identities.

There are cities that are frequently remembered as being iconic within the world of cinema. Paris, Rome, New York, Venice, Chicago, and London have all received loving portraits in...

Quick…name a favorable film where the landscape is run by (or at least partially include) the demographic of little people as part of the instrumental storyline? C’mon…it should not be that difficult, okay? If you want to mention say Darby O’Gill and the Little People then that would fine. How about Bad Santa or Poltergeist for that matter?

In That’s Good Enough, Short Stuff: Top Ten Films Featuring Little People we will take a look at some of the mini megastars that inhabited these movies and contributed their fair share of entertainment value to the on-screen proceedings. The debate as to whether some of these selected films featuring these pint-sized performers are considered positive, exploitative or dismissive are not up for discussion (although one of these considerations could apply in the minds of a few folks). Instead, we want to celebrate the inclusion of...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 30, 2014

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Betty Boop, one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen, returns newly re-mastered in HD from 4K scans of the original negatives and fine grains in Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 4, Olive Films’ fourth high-definition anthology of her shorts.

A symbol of the Depression Era and a reminder of the more carefree days of the Roaring Twenties, Betty Boop’s popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements. (Or does Betty’s catchphrase “Boop-Oop-a-Doop” not have a deeper meaning than you may have imagined?)

Vol. 4 includes 13 classic animated short films, reportedly available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray. All were produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave Fleischer. They feature the voices of Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: April 29, 2014

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Betty Boop, one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen, returns newly re-mastered in HD from 4K scans of the original negatives and fine grains in Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 3, Olive Films’ second high-definition anthology of her shorts.

A symbol of the Depression Era and a reminder of the more carefree days of the Roaring Twenties, Betty Boop’s popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements. (Or does Betty’s catchphrase “Boop-Oop-a-Doop” not have a deeper meaning than you may have imagined?)

Vol. 2 includes 12 classic animated short films, reportedly available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray. All were produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave Fleischer. They feature the voices of Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe...

Sneak Peek "Wotta Nitemare", the 71st "Popeye" animated cartoon from Fleischer Studios, released in 1939, featuring the voices of

Pinto Colvig, Margie Hines and Jack Mercer, directed by Dave Fleischer and Willard Bowsky:

"...'Popeye' tosses and turns in his sleep. He dreams of himself up in the clouds sitting with an angelic 'Olive Oyl'.

"Soon, however, 'Bluto' materializes and leads the angel away to have a picnic. 

"Popeye is left behind bars - in fact, the bars from his bed..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Popeye: Wotta Nitemare"....

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Sept. 24, 2013

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Betty Boop, one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen, returns newly re-mastered in HD from 4K scans of the original negatives and fine grains in Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 2, Olive Films’ second high-definition anthology of her shorts.

A symbol of the Depression Era and a reminder of the more carefree days of the Roaring Twenties, Betty Boop’s popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements. (Or does Betty’s catchphrase “Boop-Oop-a-Doop” not have a deeper meaning than you may have imagined?)

Vol. 2 includes 12 classic animated short films, reportedly available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray. All were produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave Fleischer. They feature the voices of Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: July 30, 2013

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Betty Boop, one of the first and most famous sex symbols on the animated screen, returns newly re-mastered in HD from 4K scans of the original negatives and fine grains, in Betty Boop: The Essential Collection, Vol. 1.

A symbol of the Depression Era and a reminder of the more carefree days of the Roaring Twenties, Betty Boop’s popularity was drawn largely from adult audiences and the cartoons, while seemingly surreal, contained many sexual and psychological elements. (Or does Betty’s catchphrase “Boop-Oop-a-Doop” not have a deeper meaning than you may have imagined?)

Vol. One includes 12 classic animated short films, reportedly available for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray. All were produced by Max Fleischer and directed by his brother Dave Fleischer. They feature the voices of Mae Questel, Bonnie Poe and Ann Little as Betty Boop, as...

January 1929 was a very good month for comic strip readers. On the 7th they got to see the arrival of Tarzan and Buck Rogers while ten days later, fans of Thimble Theater met a brand new character named Popeye. The sailor was never intended to take over the strip but his popularity with readers encouraged E.C. Segar to keep him around until he finally shoved the Oyl family from the spotlight.

Burnishing his reputation were the brilliantly execute black and white theatrical shorts produced by Max and Dave Fleischer. After they shuttered operations, others took over the cartoon production, keeping Popeye a mainstay for generations of fans. Many of my generation were treated to the somewhat inferior Associated Artists Productions cartoons which completed their run in 1957. Not to be undone, King Features Syndicate hired Al Brodax to oversee a new round of cartoons aimed for the burgeoning television syndication market.

Idw Publishing reports that writer Roger Langridge and illustrator Bruce Ozella are the creative team behind Idw's new "Popeye" comic book series, debuting April 2012.

"Popeye" #1 will feature a cover from Ozella, as well as a special variant edition, with a cover by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer.

The monthly series will be co-edited by Idw's co-founder, chief executive officer, Ted Adams and Craig Yoe.

"Ever since I was a kid, the two cartoonists who have had the biggest influence on me have been Carl Barks ("Donald Duck") and E.C. Segar," said Langridge, "so getting a chance to write Popeye is quite a thrill. I'm especially pleased that Idw have decided to go with a Segar-flavored interpretation. As much as I like some of the later versions of the character, for me, it's those early strips where the magic really happened."

'Popeye the Sailor' was created by Elzie Crisler (E.

Sony Pictures Animation and Arad Productions, report they have hired screenwriters Jay Scherick and David Ronn ("The Smurfs") to write a script for a new "Popeye" stereoscopic 3D animated feature, based on the comic strip and cartoon characters.

"Scherick & Ronn have a remarkable talent in re-energizing beloved characters," said Bob Osher, president of Sony Pictures Digital Productions. "As they demonstrated with 'The Smurfs,' they embrace the iconic characteristics of these timeless characters and craft a story that really engages moviegoers today."

"We're thrilled that Jay and Dave are helping us reintroduce 'Popeye' to a new generation," said Michelle Raimo Kouyate, president of production for Sony Pictures Animation. "Their take on the world of 'Popeye' has just the right blend of comedy, adventure and heart..."

'Popeye the Sailor' was created by Elzie Crisler (E.C.) Segar, debuting in the daily King Features comic strip 'Thimble Theatre',...

Avi Arad, producer of the live-action "Spider-Man" movies, continues to develop Sony Pictures Animation's 3D "Popeye" feature film, rendered in CG by Sony Pictures ImageWorks.

Arad confirmed that the new film will highlight themes of friendship, love, greed and life, focusing on human strengths and human frailties.

"Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and indelibly linked to the evolution of animation," said Hannah Minghella, president of production, Sony Pictures Animation.

'Popeye the Sailor' was created by Elzie Crisler (E.C.) Segar, debuting in the daily King Features comic strip 'Thimble Theatre', January 17, 1929. Thimble Theatre was carried on after Segar's death in 1938 by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf.

Retitled "Popeye", the comic strip continues to appear in first-run installments in a Sunday edition, written/illustrated by Hy Eisman, with daily strip reprints of Sagendorf's original stories.

20th Century Fox' "Gulliver's Travels" is director Rob Letterman's upcoming, 3D live-action family adventure, based on the 18th-century novel of the same name by author Jonathan Swift.

Set in the modern era, the feature stars Jack Black as title character 'Lemuel Gulliver' with Catherine Tate as the 'Queen of Lilliput', Emily Blunt as the 'Princess of Lilliput', Jason Segel as 'Horatio', Amanda Peet as 'Darcy', T.J. Miller as 'Dan', Billy Connolly as the 'King of Lilliput', Chris O'Dowd as 'Edward' and Romany Malco as 'Young Hank'.

Premise follows Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer who, on an assignment to the Bermuda Triangle, suddenly finds himself a giant among men when he washes ashore on the hidden island of Lilliput, home to a population of industrious, yet tiny, people.

The Davis Entertainment production will be released December 22, 2010.

In 1939, the story was produced as a cel-animated Technicolor feature, directed by Dave Fleischer and produced by Max Fleischer,...

Fox unveils the first poster for Gulliver's Travels, starring Jack Black…

Originally written in 1726, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels became, thanks to the author's biting wit and playful imagination, popular among readers of all ages. Told in four parts, the story saw its sea-faring protagonist encounter humans both tiny and colossal, a magnetically floating island populated by a tyrannical king, and finally an unknown continent and its population of intellectual horses.

There have been several attempts to adapt Swift's imaginative satire in the past, including an early silent film by Georges Méliès, a 1939 animated feature by Dave Fleischer, and a television mini-series in 1996 with Ted Danson starring as the titular Gulliver.

Now it's 20th Century Fox's turn to produce their take on the 18th century novel, which this time stars Jack Black as Gulliver, the "surgeon and captain of several ships" of the original novel. What's clear from both...

Avi Arad, producer of the live-action "Spider-Man" movies is now on board Sony Pictures Animation's developing 3D "Popeye" feature film, to be rendered in CG by Sony Pictures ImageWorks.

Arad confirmed that the new film will highlight themes of friendship, love, greed and life, focusing on human strengths and human frailties.

"Popeye has become one of the most enduring and iconic cartoon characters of all time and indelibly linked to the evolution of animation," said Hannah Minghella, president of production, Sony Pictures Animation.

'Popeye the Sailor' was created by Elzie Crisler (E.C.) Segar, debuting in the daily King Features comic strip 'Thimble Theatre', January 17, 1929. Thimble Theatre was carried on after Segar's death in 1938 by several writers and artists, most notably Segar's assistant Bud Sagendorf.

Retitled "Popeye", the comic strip continues to appear in first-run installments in a Sunday edition, written/illustrated by Hy Eisman,...

Jose here, to remind you of an underrated gem from 2004.

When I was a child I was addicted to Superman. Not the Christopher Reeve movies and obviously not the weird TV show with Teri Hatcher, but the classic animated shorts from the 1930s. We had a VHS tape which I could watch for hours and hours completely enthralled by the terrific stories, the foreign adventures and even the sense of menace and doom conveyed by Dave Fleischer in under ten minutes.

Years later I had the same feeling watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Kerry Conran's debut film was a tribute to this era which featured giants robots, timeless kingdoms atop the Himalayas, perky reporters and heroines with eye patches.

Everything in the film is CGI, except for the actors, which gives it a retro-futuristic air. With nods to Dave Fleischer, Flash Gordon, Indiana Jones (which is...

A computer-generated movie version of Popeye has undergone development. Marvel studio head Avi Arad revealed that he has secured the rights to the character and plans to reboot the famed sailor in a feature-length film utilising computer technology, Variety reports. Created by Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye was first introduced to the public in the 1929 King Features comic strip Thimble Theatre. The character was adapted by Max and Dave Fleischer (more)...

Superman may have caught the world’s imagination and helped make comic books an industry, but I wasn’t All That fond of him. I began reading comics about 25 years after his 1938 introduction (my first comic was actually a Green Lantern-Flash team-up), but I soon became a Marvel guy (or should I say a Disney/Marvel guy?), and if I had to have a favorite DC hero, it would have to be Batman. So, it’s kind of ironic that I became friends with Superman’s legendary comics editor Julie Schwartz in the 1980s, and no less than three ex-starlog Managing Editors (my protégés Eddie Berganza, Mike McAvennie, Maureen McTigue) ended up at DC Comics editing the Superman titles in the ’90s. So I sorta feel like a step-uncle, twice removed, to the Man of Steel. I had no effect on him, but my posse did.

Although Batman just edges...

In this incarnation of our Videolog column (which began in 1982 with VHS and Betamax and later laserdisc), Starlog posts information usually (though not always) on Tuesdays regarding selected genre titles being released (or re-released) now on DVD and Blu-ray. Prices listed are Msrp, while clickable links lead to Amazon where the savings is significant. Here’s what coming out this week:

DVD Releases for August 25, 2009

The Adventures Of Robin Hood: The Complete Fourth Season & The Complete Series (Mill Creek Entertainment, Fourth Season, $14.98; Complete Series, $29.98): The 1955 British TV series is being released on two new DVD sets: The fourth and final season, and the complete series. Richard Greene stars as Robin Hood, who rules Sherwood Forest with his band of Merry Men in their endless fight against the despicable Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Wheatley).

Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Volume One (Warner, $14.98): In this latest Batman interpretation,...