Axe Me Another

When Olive is accosted by Pierre Bluto, Popeye must make like a lumberjack, competing with the big guy again. Even before the obligatory spinach scene, Popeye has the upper hand. It's original and fun and there is a new kind of dialogue under the breath of our sailor-man.

Although not exceptionally better than the average Popeye cartoon, which Dave Fleischer was pretty much just pooping out throughout the '30s, the storyline is nice and the animation pleasing. But the real gem of the short is the edited live-action action. A young boy eats his spinach, his arm muscle pops right up, and he punches out what we must assume is the local bully, then badly lip-synchs to the Popeye song. The overall effect is bizarre, but fascinating.

Ax Me Another (1934)

*** (out of 4)

Minor short has Bluto throw Olive Oyl into a river after she tried to serve him spinach. After hearing the news, Popeye challenges him to a lumberjack competition. Here's another short where we see the two men doing various obstacles while one tries to out do the other. Naturally Bluto takes to cheating but Popeye has his spinach on him. There are a few nice laughs here and there but I believe this is the third time we've seen this type of story in the short time that these Popeye cartoons had been going. There's some nice animation, which is to be expected but a stronger storyline would have made for a stronger film. The highlight has to be the scene with Popeye and Bluto at the top of a tree.

Popeye hears screaming coming from the waters. He spots Olive Oyl trying to survive a river of logs. He struggles to get his half-finished boat into the water. Pierre Bluto is the terrible lumber camp head who threw Olive into the water after not liking her spinach. Popeye has to take him on in lumberjack challenges. His constant reply to Bluto is, "I'll do anything that you do."

I like some of the log driving gags. I like building the boat to start. The baby high chair is funny. There are some good stuff here. I just have a bit of problem with the sound. Some of it has the booth recording emptiness. I need it to sound like the outdoors.

Popeye spots Olive Oyl drowning in the river. Bluto threw her in the river because he didn't like her spinach -- is that a euphemism? -- which raises the Sailor Man's ire. He and Bluto get into a logging competition, which Popeye is easily winning until Bluto cheats. Popeye eats some spinach...

Wait, haven't we seen this before? Yes, it's the plot of ninety percent of the Popeye cartoons, to the point where they become boring. Of course, this is early in the day, and we're still under the direction of Dave Fleischer. This means lots of gags, with some of them very amusing. Plus Bluto has a French accent here.