Many Tanks

Fleischer Studio's second to last Popeye cartoon is cute and entirely predictable, following the standard Popeye pattern. Why Popeye continues to believe Bluto is his friend and thereby falling into whatever trap he may currently have up his sleave is baffling. I guess Popeye's just too bloody nice. In keeping with the spirit of 1942, Bluto is suitably unpatriotic, announcing that the army is putting a cramp in his social life. But the animation is above average, and we don't usually get to see Popeye tearing around in a tank, which spices up the cartoon a bit.

Many Tanks (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Bluto is trying to sneak out of his Army base but when he's caught he tricks Popeye. After a brief fight Bluto sneaks off to take Olive on a date but Popeye isn't going to take it laying down.

MANY TANKS is one of many WWII era shorts where the boys were in the Army or doing some sort of battle. There's nothing ground-breaking about this short but it does feature the excellent animation that one came to expect from the series and there were also a few decent laughs throughout the running time. With that said, there's no question this isn't one of the better films in the series as there just weren't enough laughs and the entire story was pretty much Popeye inside a tank.

Just before the Flesicher brothers were bounced, and famous Studios took over production of the Popeyes, here was another very good satire on World War II, this time showing Bluto, reluctantly, as a private in an armored outfit, who griped about the Army's messing up his social life. Popeye, on shore leave, happens by on the way to date with Olive Oyl. The two switch uniforms, so Popeye is stuck in the maneuver with the tank platoon, but finally gets to Olive, gets his own uniform back, and has date with her after all. Olive still loved him in spite of his being late for the date. He passes filling station (which may have had little business, owing to A cards, though the cartoon does not show it). All in all, another amusing take on the War, this time of Popeye, who presumably WAS granted liberty for his date, and Bluto going AWO

I think the funniest part of this cartoon was seeing Bluto dressed in Popeye's sailor outfit. The pants came up to his knees, like knickers, and he looked pretty funny. Bluto's Army digs, meanwhile, were about eight sizes to big for Popeye.

Why did they switch uniforms? Well, it wasn't Popeye's idea. He was just strolling by the Army Tank Corps tents all dressed up with a handful flowers walking to his date with Olive Oyl. Bluto, inside the barracks and wanting to get out for the day, lures the dumb sailor guy in, mugs him, and takes his clothes.

Soon, a tank drill is ordered and Popeye winds up inside the big vehicle....and trouble ensues. Within several minutes, he leads the rest of the group through the city streets and trashes the vehicle....but all works out in the end.

How does that happen? Well, you'll have to check out Disc 2 of Popeye The Sailor Man Volume 3.

Let us all be eternally thankful to Cartoon Network's off shoot channel, Boomerang,which airs long forgotten "old school" animation from the early 1930's to (mostly)the late 1950's (is there anybody else out there who's ever heard of the M-G-M series, 'The Captain & The Kids'?). This WWII black & white short is a fast paced cartoon about Popeye having his uniform switched by Bluto & ending up in the Army Tank Corps (which once and for all flushes the whole Military Intelligence concept right down the toilet). The short is full of the usual puns & one liners that one has to listen close, unless they want to miss them (and there are a few of the usual in-jokes that cartoons of that era were known for). My question is, is there really that strong of a prejudice for black & white films as there is (and why has this stuff not turned up on a DVD of the Paramont Fleisher/Famous film shorts of that era)?