Mess Production

Co-workers Popeye and Bluto spot new worker Olive Oyl and both are taken with her. She's a welder and she accidentally weld herself inside metal tubing. It's a 6 minute cartoon short in color. It's all fun. I remember most of this and that has to mean that it's good. It's memorable.

Since every Popeye cartoon has the same plot, the strengths or weakness come from the settings. Here at the conclusion of World War II people are still in munitions factories. In this case Popeye, Bluto, and Olive are the employees. Olive is a welder and riveter. Popeye and Bluto just screw around, making life miserable for one another, as they vie for Olive's attentions. Of course we all know what happens in the end.

A vast majority of the Popeye cartoons are well worth the watch, if more Fleischer Studios' output than Famous Studios'. With the series being at its best in my opinion in the late 30s and at its weakest in the mid-to-late 50s when deadlines were tighter, budgets were lower and the stories and gags became more fatigued and predictable. As far as the Famous Studios output was, its best period other than some of the war-oriented cartoons the early to mid 40s.

'Mess Production' came from this period, and is again from personal opinion one of the better Popeye cartoons from this particular year. Nowhere near among the best Popeye cartoons overall, but definitely worth watching and a well done representation of this great character and what was enjoyable about his series. Anybody who enjoys seeing Popeye and Bluto as characters and their acrimonious chemistry, like me on both counts, will find a lot to enjoy, and they always delivered even in lesser outings.

Oddly enough, one of the most interesting and best things about 'Mess Production' was the surprisingly more bold character design for Olive, including as said the cleavage, and that she has here the most to do in a while rather than being not used enough, is more prominent and her material is as interesting and amusing as that of Popeye and Bluto's. Still find both more compelling characters on the whole though.

If there was anything that could have been better, if anybody is familiar with the general formula of the Popeye series, they won't really find anything new here really and part of me did wish there was more variety and freshness.

Animation is nicely detailed and drawn with some lovely colours that make the island setting come alive. The music is full of merry character and lushness, the action, expressions and gestures enhanced with it. The gags are more than enough and although not very imaginative they are still amusing.

Popeye is amusing and likeable still and Jack Mercer doesn't disappoint with the voice acting, cannot get enough of those asides and mumbles. Jackson Beck is robust as Bluto, who is every bit Popeye's equal in characterisation except more formidable as well. Their personalities contrast so well and their chemistry as always sparkles. Mae Questel is the definitive voice for Olive, the only one actually to do much for me.

Summing up, very enjoyable. 8/10

Famous Studios was still doing funny cartoons at this point -- they wouldn't become completely formula bound for another four or five years. Here we see Olive, Popeye and Bluto working in an industrial plant where she is clonked on the head and proceeds to do some of the stunts from the classic HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A DREAM WALKING. Whether this is particularly wise, given that there was a war on and women were being actively indoctrinated into this sort of work is another question.

The use of color in this particular cartoon is quite dramatic, but the most interesting thing about it is that Olive shows a bit of cleavage at the beginning of the cartoon. All in all, a very watchable post-Fleischer effort.