Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the right honorable J. Wellington Wimpy, raconteur, bon vivant and noted consumer of that delicacy known as the hamburger. This is one of Wimpy's shining hours. This is truly his cartoon. He walks away with this one without breaking a sweat. I have a soft spot for Wimpy-some would argue that soft spot is in my head, but I digress-because he is obviously a man aware of the value of leisure and thus the possessor of great wisdom. He was all too rarely used.
This short is the best cheater I've seen. The use of old clips is minimal-at most two minutes or so from a seven minute cartoon-with a framing device that makes the use of clips integral to the plot. It's also one of the better showcases for Jack Mercer, the most familiar and successful voice behind Popeye, because not only the framing device, but the clips as well, have Mercer making remarks as Popeye sort of half-muttered, almost as asides, that are hilarious. A large part of the charm of the Fleischer Studios Popeyes arises out of Mercer's work at the microphone and he fleshed out the character's personality with his often ad-libbed remarks. Well worth seeking out. Most highly recommended.
