Double-Cross-Country Race

In "Double-Cross-Country Race" (1951), Popeye engages in a Coast-to-Coast Auto Race with Count Noah Count, starting in New York. The Lincoln Tunnel is the first hurdle and Popeye winds up driving under the Hudson River. Popeye drives an old jalopy, while the Count drives a long, sleek, fancy car. A New Jersey motorcycle cop gives chase all the way to L.A., even though the race is being nationally televised. There are gags involving Mount Rushmore and the Dust Bowl. The Count stops at an Indian village where he hits on a pretty Indian girl selling pottery outside her tepee. It looks for a minute like she's about to serve the damsel-in-distress role that Olive served in just about every Popeye cartoon, but no, a TV report alerts the Count to Popeye's closing in on him, so he leaves the tepee and continues the race to L.A. Popeye winds up giving spinach to his car rather than ingesting it himself, one of a handful of cartoons where someone or something other than Popeye takes the spinach. Neither Bluto nor Olive Oyl are in this cartoon. There are lots of gags, but none of them are actually funny. The sexily-drawn Indian girl as the object of the Count's lust is an unusual touch. Jackson Beck, who normally did Bluto's voice during this period, does that of the Count, but with a vaguely European accent.

Popeye and his half horsepower car is in a Coast to Coast Auto Race facing off against Count Noah Count and his 1000 horsepower car. On top of that, the Count keeps cheating. I don't know if this is an original but some of these gags seem very familiar like I've seen them in other cartoons. Nevertheless, this is solid Popeye. I don't know why he's not racing against Bluto but the Count is fine.

In the 1950s, the Popeye series was not near as good as it was in the 30s. While still liking the animation, music and voice acting and the cartoons were still funnier than most of those from the mid/late-50s (one of Famous Studios' generally roughest and most inconsistent periods overall), they didn't quite have the same energy and the stories were becoming increasingly formulaic with the lack of originality increasing over-time in the 50s.

This is epitomised in 1951's 'Double Cross Country Race'. It is not an awful cartoon, a long way from it. There is a little more good than there is bad. It is not also not a great one, there are far better Popeye cartoons (almost all in the Fleischer Studios output though) before, even think that there's been better since 'Double Cross Country Race' as well. Just in case anybody is wondering, this reviewer does not have any bias against Famous Studios, despite how it sounds. Actually like a good deal of their work, their best decade by far being the 40s, and their Popeye cartoons were their best regular character theatrical series, even when in they were much more variable in the series' roughest periods and in one of the studio's roughest periods.

'Double Cross Country Race' has a good deal of good things. The animation is bright and colourful, with expressive enough drawing and meticulous attention to detail in the backgrounds. The music, courtesy of the always never less than reliable Winston Sharples, is typically luscious, wholly dynamic to the action and very characterful. There are some occasionally amusing moments and there is not a shortage of gags.

Popeye proves himself to be a more than compelling lead character and he has a good nemesis in the Count. Some nice conflict between them and Jack Mercer's voice acting cannot be faulted.

Was not so keen on Jackson Beck (one of the studio's most prolific voice actors for a reason) as the Count though, some uncharacteristically odd voice acting and am not sure what accent he was trying to pull off. There were bigger problems besides him. Do agree that despite there being a lot of gags, most of them are nothing special and don't reach amusing level. The final third does not have the usual wild energy in most of the previous Popeye cartoons and it is just too predictable to be exciting or anything else.

Which can be said for the story in general, nothing surprising or suspenseful. If you have seen the cartoons adopting the formula for the Popeye vs Bluto cartoons, it is pretty much that plot with not an awful lot of variation apart from the Count in the Bluto (he and Olive do not appear here) role. Delivered in a routine at best fashion.

Concluding, not a bad cartoon but not great. Worth a look for completest Popeye sake. 5/10