Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle

I can't say this was one of the better Popeye cartoons I've seen. It didn't even look like the normal Popeye cartoon. Our Sailor Man was shorter and looked drawn different, his proportion out of whack with the rest of the scenery.

It's a lot more of a general fairly tale cartoon from the period than a Popeye cartoon. All the other characters are either Rip Van Winkle or elves. The humor, which was weak, was mainly Popeye "bowlink over" the little elves, who were portrayed as nasty little guys.

The artwork isn't up to its normal high standards, either. It's "colorful" as someone said here, who must not have seen this since it's black-and-white and not even good b/w.

Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle (1941)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye stumbles across Rip Van Winkle who is being kicked out of his home for not paying rent in twenty years. Popeye takes him home but soon Rip begins to sleepwalk and trouble follows.

This here is a pretty good entry for the series thanks to some really funny gags towards the second half. The highlight of the film is when a bunch of short people begin to attack Popeye and at first he refuses to fight them because of their size. That all changes when they change him into a small person and this is when the biggest laughs come. The twist at the end is also a winner. The animation is extremely good and the clever gags make this a winner.

'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle' is something of a change of pace for the Popeye theatrical series, certainly at this point. And it is not just because it is one of the ones concerning Popeye's endeavours with real life/literary characters (others in the series including Sinbad and William Tell). It is even more so interesting for being one of the few Popeye cartoons to not feature any other, besides Popeye, single regular/recurring character and being more surreal than the others.

Count me in as somebody who was disappointed in 'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle'. It did sound very interesting and also quite curious on paper, but the execution doesn't quite come together. Of Popeye's outings with real life/literary characters, it gets my vote as the weakest and the only one to not work for me. There are far funnier and more visually pleasing Popeye cartoons, 'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle' agreed didn't really feel like Popeye and was both too strange and subdued.

Shall start with what just about works. Some of the animation is nice, especially the attention to detail in the backgrounds and the black and white is crisp. Popeye has expressive moments. Popeye is amusing and likeable, while Jack Mercer does a typically great job with the voice work.

There are amusing moments too, namely when Popeye is smaller. The second half does pick up in the energy. The best aspect is the music, the only outstanding thing about 'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle'. Very characterful and lushly orchestrated.

However, the cartoon didn't gel. Apart from Popeye's dialogue and some of the action when Popeye is smaller, there is not much that is funny here in 'Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle' and the gags are not enough. All the best parts are in the second half, whereas the first half is bland and humourless pretty much. The story is very slight and there actually is not much of one at all, the first half doesn't go anywhere and takes too long to get going. The energetic pace is there in the final quarter but is too sedate in the first half.

On the whole, this felt very subdued. Not just in the underused and unevenly executed humour but it didn't feel like Popeye. It needed to be wackier, wilder and more absurd, instead there is a more surreal approach and that felt too tame and under-explored. The supporting characters are bland and Rip Van Winkle felt out of place. He and Popeye were too much of a personality clash due to Popeye's being much stronger and Rip Van Winkle's not fitting within the cartoon. Sinbad and William Tell worked because the Popeye series put their own wackier spins on them, but Rip Van Winkle is not done very much with. The character animation generally isn't always up to par, tending to look rushed.

In summary, underwhelming. 5/10.

Sleeping Rip Van Winkle gets thrown out for 20 years of unpaid rent. Popeye takes him home to sleep in his bed. Rip sleepwalks away while a storm is brewing or in actually dwarves playing bowling. The dwarves are not happy that Popeye interrupts their game. When a coin falls out of Rip's coat, he assumes Popeye to be a pickpocket and starts firing.

I don't like the drawing of the new characters and I don't like them period. I do like the surreal bowling concept but it doesn't fit the general reality of Popeye. Quite frankly, I kept waiting for it all to be Popeye's dream. The spinach action is relatively bland. This one is different from the others.

When this show was on I watched it every time I could! I thought that the characters were really funny and all had great personalities. The animation in My opinion was crisp, clean, and really clear. Not to mention beautiful! Most of the characters in this show are hilarious like the Looney Tunes characters that we all love. in My opinion these characters are the funnies and talented ever seen. In fact, The things that goes on in this series' cartoons are in My opinion nuts which that is what makes them hilarious! There are so many to like and laugh at and the silly things they do! If you like the original Looney Tunes then I strongly recommend that you watch this show!