I Eats My Spinach

This is the fourth Popeye cartoon and it's maintained the same excellent quality of the previous cartoons in the series--with exceptional animation and great backgrounds. However, unlike the previous cartoons, this one is a bit more cartoony in style and feel--which isn't necessarily bad.

This installment of the series finds Popeye taking his skinny girlfriend to the rodeo. Naturally, the star of the rodeo is Bluto and he tries very hard to impress Olive. Not wanting to be outdone, each time Popeye jumps into the ring and does his own rodeo tricks. Eventually, the expected happens--Bluto kidnaps Olive--apparently to rape her. Popeye, with a bull giving chase, comes to save the day.

This cartoon features a few firsts--Popeye singing an extended version of his theme song and an appearance by Wimpy. An excellent cartoon that holds up pretty well today.

Popeye takes Olive Oyl to the Rodeo. There she cheers wildly for Bluto, who's performing. Popeye jumps down and does him one better. Eventually they fight when Bluto kidnaps Olive.

Even though many of the early Popeye cartoons use exactly the same, dull plot that would be used for the next two dozen years, I enjoy them immensely. One reason is the immense number of gags that director Dave Fleischer insisted on cramming into every short, not just the big gags, but the little ones, like the street signs that proclaim Popeye is walking down "Foist Street". Another is the shabby, patched-together world these characters live in, recreated from Segar's THIMBLE THEATER comic strip, whence these characters arose.

Popeye is undisturbed by anything as he walks to visit Olive Oyl. He invites her to go to the rodeo. Bluto is performing there and Olive Oyl is impressed. Popeye gets jealous and sets out to outdo Bluto. A bull gets involved.

It's an early Popeye cartoon. Fleischer is still doing the inkwell thing. It's the fourth cartoon short featuring Popeye. The animation style is rudimentary. They are still experimenting with the drawings. It's almost charming in its own way. I don't know when they stop doing the inkwell. It needs to be soon. It's very basic. It does have Wimpy in this one and that's great.

I Eats My Spinach (1933)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye takes Olive Oyl to the rodeo where he gets into a competition with Bluto and a wild bull. This fourth short is a tad bit of a step down but it's still a lot of fun with numerous laughs including one scene where Popeye and Bluto both try and fight a bull, which gets out of control.

Seasin's Greetinks! (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye takes Olive Oyl ice skating and sure enough Bluto shows up to start trouble. The highlight of this short is when Popeye turns Bluto in ice and then ice cubes but some of the humor doesn't work including most of the ice skating scenes.

Dave Fleischer was responsible for many gems. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

While maybe not quite classic Popeye, 'I Eats My Spinach' is still extremely well done and never less than very funny, its best parts being hilarious. Have always enjoyed many of the Popeye cartoons a good deal and like Popeye very much, Fleischer's efforts were always well animated and scored with lots of entertainment value and great chemistry between Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto. 'I Eats My Spinach' has everything that makes the Popeye series so appealing in its prime era and does nothing to waste the three main characters or make them less interesting.

The story is an interesting and beautifully paced one, never being dull, if formulaic (not uncommon with the Popeye cartoons, but if you are familiar with the typical formula there aren't many surprises story-wise). The humour and gags make it even more entertaining, it's all lots of fun and makes the most of the rodeo setting as well as capturing the excitement and fun of the rodeo.

All three characters are great, though Olive Oyl is a bit underused and her material not as great as Popeye and Bluto's. Those two are spot on and their chemistry drives 'I Eats My Spinach' and has so much energy. Popeye is always amusing and likeable but for me Bluto is here the funnier and more interesting character.

Furthermore, the animation is beautifully drawn and with enough visual detail to not make it cluttered or static and lively and smooth movement. The music is also outstanding, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Voice acting is dynamic and of very good quality on the most part, William Costello and especially William Pennell give Popeye and Bluto so much life.

Altogether, very well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox