What -- No Spinach?

...and in which the star is none other than J. Wellington Wimpy.

It's a wonderful change-of-pace cartoon and lots of fun to see the great hamburger moocher as the center of attention.

Popeye and Bluto are clearly playing the role of straight men to Wimpy's shenanigans.

Wimpy is on no one's side. Just as long as he gets his hamburger. Only in one cartoon, the equally oddball "Hello, How am I?" does this characteristic, at least superficially, make him take on the role of villain.

Very uncharacteristic Popeye cartoon and extremely funny. Too bad Wimpy didn't get a chance to be a star more often.

Popeye goes into Bluto's diner and tries to order roast duck. However, Wimpy is the waiter, and he tries to mooch everything... especially the hamburgers.

Lou Fleischer provides Wimpy's voice, and yes, he was a relative of Max and Dave: their brother. There was a lot of nepotism in Hollywood at the time; Universal was famous for it under 'Uncle' Carl Laemmle. The Fleischers had brothers-in-laws, nephews, and such on the payroll, but they definitely earned their keep.

As is often the case with the Fleischer cartoons in this period, you had to keep an attentive eye open for all the throwaway gags that Dave instructed his staff to put in.

"What! No Spinach?" was very amusing-- and appropriately titled (as spinach was not on the menu). Bluto's Restaurant was clearly a mediocre eatery. The sign said TRY OUR SOUP-SANDWICH, so Bluto was clearly trying to show off. J Wellington Wimpy, who worked at this dump, sang his Hamburger Ode, which was very pretty. It was yet another sign of Wimpy's love for hamburgers,and tendency to mooch them! Then in happened Popeye. Olive Oyl was not with him, but Bluto's Restaurant was NOT the kind of place to bring her on a date! (She would have had fits!) Wimpy showed electric sign saying MENU (which Popeye thought was an ENTREE, saying he didn't want any of that) HAMBURGER ROAST DUCK HAMBURGERS SOUP HAMBURGERS Popeye ordered roast duck, which led Wimpy to request "One hamburger, please", which he tried to mooch, but Bluto flipped the burger on a fork over and over to Popeye, who said "I SAID ROAST DUCK!" This chain of events led Popeye and Bluto into a brawl; Wimpy took advantage of that and emerged the winner. All in all, very amusing-- and a fit

Bluto runs a greasy spoon. For some reason, Wimpy is hanging around, eating up all the profits. When he sabotages all the efforts of his boss, Popeye, a customer, is furious. Soon he and Bluto have it out. There are great sight gags and it is quite original.

What? No Spinach! (1936)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye stops into Bluto's restaurant and orders a roasted duck but Wimpy thinks it's better for him to have a hamburger. Soon a fight breaks out between Popeye and Bluto.

The title is a tad bit misleading since Popeye never even requests any spinach but that's besides the point. This is certainly another winning Popeye short, which has all of the wonderful trademarks. We have a very good and catchy song by Wimpy about hamburgers. We get some great action scenes including the ending where just about everything in the restaurant is thrown. Then there's the humor, which is especially good when Popeye is complaining about the food being served to him. Fans of the series will certainly find plenty to enjoy with this one.