POPEYE THE SAILOR: The 1960s Classics Volume One
(Released May 07,
2013 by The Warner Archive Collection)
Another (Partial –
but still Looong) DVD Review by Joe Torcivia
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| The last Popeye DVD, released in 2008! |
Now, Popeye once met “Rip Van Winkle” who, so the story goes, slept for 20 years to awaken in a new
world. So it would seem for Popeye’s
fans, when it comes to DVD releases, as in 2013 (having metaphorically “slept”
through the ‘40s and ‘50s) we’ve awakened to POPEYE THE SAILOR: The
1960s Classics Volume One, from the Warner Archive Collection.
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| Wha' Hoppened ta the' Forties an' Fif-kies? |
We don’t often do “Partial DVD Reviews” but, as if to make
up for lost (mari)time, the Warner Archive Collection has released 72 (…of the approximate
220?!) made-for-TV Popeye cartoons in this single set – and, until I’m retired
from work, and am otherwise freed from all of my earthly obligations, there’s
no way that I’ll have the time and ability to view, critically assess, and
formulate a Blog post on 72 cartoons in the span of about two weeks. (Consider that, at my usual pace, I still
haven’t come near to completing THIS ONE, so who knows WHEN I’ll have “battened
the final hatch” on Popeye!) Since I’ve long anticipated the occasion of Popeye’s
return to “legitimate” DVD release, perhaps you’ll understand my desire to
share my initial thoughts as quickly as possible.
Some background: 1957
saw the release of “Spooky Swabs”, a nicely-done and innovatively formula-breaking
cartoon where the Sailor Man and Olive Oyl, adrift on a raft, find their way
onto a “Ghost Ship” – concluding Popeye’s long and successful theatrical
animation run that began in 1933.
Considering the vast number of shorts that did not depict Popeye as a
SAILOR (in anything beyond costume), made this ending entry all the more
satisfying. 
“With TV reruns of the Fleischer / Famous Studios theatrical
shorts proving that Popeye still packed a spinach-powered punch that delivered
smash ratings, King Features commissioned a new series of Sailor Man shorts
under the aegis of executive producer Al Brodax.
“The TV incarnation
of Popeye made up for its scaled-back animation with a broadened narrative
scope and scale while staying true to the source, thanks to the continued use
of voice actors Jack Mercer (Popeye), Mae Questel (Olive Oyl), and Jackson Beck
(formerly Bluto, now called Brutus), as well as the use of veteran
Popeye-animation talents then working at Paramount Cartoon Studios.
“Adding to the ‘I
yam what I yam’ authenticity is the addition of a number of Thimble Theatre
comic strip characters making their cartoon debuts – including King Blozo,
Toar, and [the] Sea Hag! Among the
cartoons contained in the stupendous 2-Disc, 72 episode volume, are all of the
Paramount TV Popeye cartoons”.
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| At last! I'm out of the comic pages, and FREE TO MOVE! Oh, wait... It's LIMITED ANIMATION! DRAT! |
Hey… Thanks, Warner Archives! Since you include NO Extra
Features with this set, the very least you could do for this poor-but-honest
Blogger (who SO OFTEN plugs your product line) is to save him from composing
some critical background text!
I should add to this that the “authenticity” described in the Warner text is additionally
bolstered by the presence of musical underscores by the great (and underrated)
Winston Sharples, who served as the main composer for the Paramount theatrical
cartoons.
Each of these “first five” was directed by Seymour Kneitel,
with such familiar animators as I. Klein, Morey Reden, and Wm. B.
Pattengill. Much has been made over the
years of the inferior TV animation – and, quite true, there’s no way one might
confuse this series with the more lushly animated Paramount theatricals. The character design and movement here is
significantly below that of the theatricals – but the gulf is not as wide as you
might expect, if you compare it to later efforts like the aforementioned
“Spooky Swabs”, as opposed to the best of the Fleischer films.
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| Wot's HE got ta be embarasked about, up there?! |
Not that it doesn’t have its own shamefully damning faults, mind you. FOUR of those “first five” end with Popeye turning to the audience and bobbing up and down as he sings an original and “plot-appropriate” final verse to his signature theme, and winking to close things out! This is the SAME re-used animation every time, only marginally disguised by a varied BACKGROUND – often of a single solid color. I’ve rarely seen such blatant re-use of animation stock character footage, outside of the Filmation productions to come later in the decade. Certain character walk and run cycles are also re-used – but never in as painfully obvious a way as this.
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| Simon the Pieman - from Filmation's BATMAN (1968) He's probably struck this pose before - and will do it again! |
What I CAN say about
these is that the design sense of the animation is not up to the Paramounts – and,
if anything, has the look of early products of Gamma Productions, such as King
Leonardo. Or, maybe Roger Ramjet… or, at
best, the 1960 UPA Mister Magoo series. Stock music (not by Winston Sharples), some of
which I can identify from early episodes of KING LEONARDO AND HIS SHORT
SUBJECTS, also backs these cartoons.
While the animation may be “cheesy”, that doesn’t mean the cartoons are bad – perhaps, quite the contrary! That is, if you can accept plots like The Sea Hag and Toar counterfeiting three dollar bills (with a picture of a HANGED Benedict Arnold on them), and Popeye, Olive, and Wimpy as vacationers stumbling onto their operation, in an outing called “The Last Resort”.
I daresay, the
“cheesy” animation actually ADDS to the sense of fun in cartoons like this. For example, Toar slides back a wall-framed
picture of a “General leading a charge” to fire a gun at our heroes. The gun, naturally, fails to go off – but, of
course, does so decisively in Toar’s face when he examines it. He slides the picture back into place, to
reveal that it now shows the “General lying dead on the battlefield, holding a
flower on his chest”! A more literal (as
Bob McKimson) or ornately stylized (as Chuck Jones) version of this gag might
not have been as funny. See “The Last
Resort” for yourself, and decide.
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| Remember when CHEESY was FUN, Bullwinkle? |
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| Quite! |
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| Quite WHAT, ya swab! |
POPEYE THE SAILOR: The 1960s Classics Volume One is a
release of “The Warner Archive
Collection”. Please GO HERE to read
more about the standard Pros and Cons of this enterprise from Warner Home
Entertainment.
As is our custom in these reviews, we’ll break it into CONS and PROS.
The CONS:
No Content Listings: Or…
“I just bought 72 cartoons from the Warner Archive Collection, and all I got
was a lousy t-shirt and NO Content Listings – less the t-shirt!” You’d THINK that, with 72 cartoons in a set,
the least the WAC could do was include a paper insert listing each one of those
72 cartoons, and where (on which disc) they can be found… but NOOOOO!
Instead, we have three menus deep of 12 selections, over 2
discs, to wade through. I’ve said it
before, and I’ll say it each and every time Warner “cheaps-out” in this way, I
should not have to engage a DVD and go through several menus to find what I’m
looking for, when all it takes is a paper insert to be included with the
package. For a list price of 29.99, this
should not be an issue!
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| I ain't very "CONTENT" wit th' way things is "LISTING", me-self! |
The PROS:
The very same 72 cartoons for an MSRP of 29.99: Consider that a Warner set like THIS offers a
mere 15 short cartoons for 19.99, and you’ll probably appreciate this all the
more. Especially, if you happen to catch
it on one of Warner Archive’s discount promotions. …Still would like some Content Notes,
though!
…And the reason we’re all here:
THE SHORTS: (Limited
to the “First Five” – all of which are directed by Seymour Kneitel – and some
random skipping.)
“Hits and Missiles” (Runs 05:46) For various reasons, not the least of which
is that it leads off the collection, I suspect “Hits and Missiles” may have
functioned as the “pilot” for this new series of Popeye cartoons.
The THEME was different from the rest, and was actually the
previously-used version for the theatrical shorts (the Made-for-TV shorts would
have a slightly different theme). There
was a director’s credit for Seymour Kneitel, but the only other credit would
read: “Produced by Paramount Pictures Cartoon Studios”. No subsequent short would display this
credit, but they would credit the writer and various animators. Finally, the copyright year in the balance of
these shorts (1960 or 1961) would display in Roman Numerals, but here it
reads: “1960”.
It is a terrible shame that no writing credit is attached to
“Hits and Missiles”, as it is an imaginative effort, balancing cartoon fantasy
adventure with some good humor… and with an unusually high number of puns. (You KNOW, that’s gonna appeal to me!) 
To the story (with puns specially highlighted): Popeye,
Olive, and Wimpy are on hand for “Cape Canaveral Testing Grounds – Visitor’s
Day”, where a bearded rocket-scientist (with the Jack Mercer-furnished voice of
Famous / Paramount’s “Modern Madcap” series player “Professor Schmaltz”, gives
them a tour of rocket ship “Luna No 1”.
If this first effort was intended to “modernize” Popeye for the early sixties audience, I’d say tapping into the astronaut mania we all had back then was a good move.
If this first effort was intended to “modernize” Popeye for the early sixties audience, I’d say tapping into the astronaut mania we all had back then was a good move.
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| I KNOWS a good thing, when I SEES one! |
POPEYE: "Wot would ja call the inhabitinks on
Luna? Luna-tics?"
OLIVE: "Oh, Popeye… Stop trying to be so punny!" (See!
Even Olive notices the shift in writing!)
A mishap between
Wimpy and Olive results in Luna No 1 accidently blasting-off to the Moon, with
our three principals trapped on board.
In typical, pre-1969-moon-landing cartoon fashion, both the Big Dipper
and the Milky Way are depicted as being BETWEEN Earth and the Moon for the sake
of some gags.
For the record, the 1961
UPA DICK TRACY cartoon “Rocket Racket”, featuring Hemlock Holmes and The
Retouchables in a rocket chase with Sketch Paree and The Mole, offered the same
astronomic inaccuracies in the name of some gags.
For the record, the 1961
UPA DICK TRACY cartoon “Rocket Racket”, featuring Hemlock Holmes and The
Retouchables in a rocket chase with Sketch Paree and The Mole, offered the same
astronomic inaccuracies in the name of some gags.
And, speaking of
outdated concepts, the Moon is revealed to be made of CHEESE! (…Not “Green Cheese”, however! Remember when we used to be told that
story? Does anyone perpetuate that
today?)
Seeing a mountain (of angularly stacked slices of Swiss cheese, compete with holes), Popeye declares: “This must be th’ SWISS CHEESE ALPS!” This is followed by a nicely done sequence where Olive falls down and through the many Swiss holes, and Popeye is just a moment too late to grab on to her each time.
At the bottom of the mount, they run afoul of a detail of
militaristic cheese wedges (presumably Limburger) – protected by glass-topped
cheese platter armor! (They later lift
their glass-top helmets to “gas” Popeye with their strong scent.)
Their commander introduces himself as “Krantz, Captain of
the Guard”. To which Popeye replies
“Take me to your leader, Krantz!” (Gotta
love THAT!)
The leader turns out to be (what else?) a BIG CHEESE
(wheel)… would that also make him a “Big Wheel Around Here”? He lives in “Roquefort Castle on the Rinds”
and imprisons his visitors, after a false promise of assistance.
From his prison cell, Popeye and company see
downtrodden little peasant cheeses forced to pay exorbitant TAXES of “crackers”
dumped into a large cracker barrel. One unfortunate
taxpayer, who drops his contribution breaking it into CRUMBS, is tortured by
being repeatedly dipped into a vat of hot mustard!
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| Don't expect a SQUARE DEAL from a ROUND CHEESE! |
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| See? He's GONE BAD already! |
That’s enough for Popeye, who pipe-flame-cuts his way out of
his cell and confronts the Big Cheese:
“That’s a PRETTY CHEESY trick ta play on those little fellers!” The expected altercation ensues, climaxed by
a spinach-powered Popeye smashing the Big Cheese into tiny little slices. He orders the pieces to “CHEESE-IT!”, and
they each grow little feet and hotfoot it out of there.
The trio get a heroes’ send-off as they return to Earth,
with Wimpy (who, like so many cartoon characters, apparently doesn’t need to breathe
AIR – much less worry about issues of space-vacuum decompression) barbecuing
“grilled hamburger and Swiss cheese kabobs” off the rocket’s tailpipe
flame. Not unlike the cover of this
Dell Comic!
Yeah, I spent a lot of time on one cartoon – but I feel it
was worth it to give you a feel for what they were trying to do, and how it
differed from Popeye cartoons past. This
was an imaginative romp, having more in common with the COMICS than most of the
theatrical cartoons that preceded it. You
either like this sort of thing for Popeye, or you don’t… and I DO!
As noted, I particularly liked the unusual proliferation of
puns. Other nice touches included Wimpy
having a little, ever-present “flame grill” hidden under his hat (You never
know when a stray hamburger might toddle by!), and Olive’s ring, with a pop-up
full make-up kit including a large mirror.
If nothing else, it was certainly out of the ordinary for Popeye – and
suitably heralded this new era. …Sure
wish I knew definitively who the writer was.
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| Yeah, who WAS that writer, anyways! |
“The Ghost Host” (Runs 05:38) Writer: Seymour Kneitel. With this (presumably second) entry, the
newly-modified theme, credits for Director, Writer, and various Animators – as
well has the Copyright Year in Roman Numerals – begin for what is likely the
balance of the Paramount series.
Popeye and Olive pick up almost where they left off in the
last theatrical, “Spooky Swabs”, when they flee from a storm into a haunted
house. They are harassed by three
ghosts, who appear to be “beatnik-inspired” versions of Casper’s Ghostly
Trio.
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| We're OUTTA SIGHT, man... When we're invisible! |
“Strikes, Spares, an’ Spinach” (Runs 05:36) Writer: Seymour Kneitel. “Brutus”, having now assumed the former role of “Bluto” sabotages Popeye’s bowling date with Olive. You’ve gotta wonder how they managed to overlook “bowling”, when they did countless versions of this plot in the theatricals. Oh, and I’ve always differentiated “Brutus” from “Bluto” due to “Brutus” having a much larger paunch, while “Bluto” was more muscular overall.
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| Pardon me, Sir... But didn't you used to be in BETTER SHAPE? |
“Jeep is Jeep” (Runs 05:40) Writer: I. Klein. A modern version of the 1938 Fleischer
cartoon “The Jeep”, which is discussed in THIS POST. The new series already makes a statement with
the inclusion of the odd little E.C.Segar character “Eugene the Jeep” (not to
mention Swee-Pea) – and this is the only one of the “First Five” not to end
with the stock “Popeye singing, bobbing, and winking” footage.
We end our look at the “First Five” with a real goodie!
“Spinach Scholar” (Runs 05:39) Writer: Seymour Kneitel.
OLIVE (angry):
“Popeye. I thought I told you I wasn’t going to see you again until you
got an EDUCATION!”
POPEYE: "But-but,
Olive… I been TO SEA, since I was a KID – an’ I ain’t never had a chance ta get
ed-ja-ma-cated!”
And so, we find the Sailor Man enrolling at the local
schoolhouse, and being assigned to the Eighth Grade. There, the teacher asks: “Who knows what Caesar said, when Brutus
stabbed him?”
Popeye raises his hand excitedly and replies: “He said OUCH!”
For that, he is immediately demoted to the Seventh
Grade! I liked that gag, but wondered
why they failed to do one based on his traditional foe now being called
“Brutus”! (…even if it was just a
“muttering joke” after Popeye’s been humbled) I know *I* would have done it! Perhaps, it was too early in the run, and the
new name hadn’t yet fully caught-on.
Subsequent gags find our not-so-scholarly-sailor
backtracking to Fifth Grade, Third Grade, and finally Kindergarten!
There he is asked to spell “cat” – and is finally forced to
down a can of spinach just to do so!
And, in a nice break from the way they would have done it in the ‘50s
theatricals, the spinach DOES NOT pump him up to college graduate, or doctorate
level (complete with an abruptly-appearing cap and gown), but is just enough to
get him through the intimidating challenge at hand!
At cartoon’s end, he brags: “There was nuthin’ to it,
Olive! I *went through* th’ WHOLE SCHOOL
in one day!” (He just fails to say, in
WHICH DIRECTION!)
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| Hmmm... Was it North, South, Eask, or Wesk? |
And, in another nice touch, once assigned to Third Grade, he
finds it harder to fit into the little desk and chair sets.
Where, oh where, was writing like THIS, when Paramount was
churning out their endlessly formulaic theatricals?! Seymour Kneitel was a part of it, back
then. Why didn’t he contribute an
occasional story like this?
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| This comic would ALSO have made a good Sixties cartoon! |
Skipping ahead we find more diversity of subject matter, and
even some comics-inspired adventure:
“Myskery Melody”: Can you believe a 5-6 minute condensed
retelling of the 1936-1937 Segar comic strip continuity “Mystery Melody”?! Yes, really!
Anyone who complains about it being a “digest version” is
missing the greater point that kids’ television animation of the period would ever attempt to
DO THIS in the first place!
For the record, you can read E.C. Segar's original "Mystery Melody" in this magnificent collection, published by Fantagraphics...
...And, merely to digress further, you can read an "alternate world sort of sequel" to the tale in this 1957 Dell Comic, where Pappy is unaware of the Magic Flute's powers -- and The Sea Hag brings in "The Big Guy Who Hates Popeye" (who's been known to go by the name "Bluto") for a cameo -- along with a lion, a box of poison snakes, a bear, a gorilla, and a giant bomb -- to bust-up our Sailor Man! ...Would I spoil things if I said the plan failed?
“The Whiffle Bird’s Revenge”: Bernice the Whiffle Hen was the subject of
the first Thimble Theatre comic strip continuity that introduced a roughneck
sailor named “Popeye”, on January 17, 1929.
While not an adaptation of that story (alas, “Myskery Melody” may have
given me false hopes), it is a pretty good tale of the magical bird casting a werewolf
spell on the hungry and predatory Wimpy.
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| Hungry, like the...Wolf? |
“Seer-ring is Beliver-ring”:
One of those “bearded foreigners” that often appeared in Segar's comic
strips, and Bud Sagendorf’s comic book stories, loses his mystic ring, which
allows him to see into the future. Olive
accidently comes into possession of the ring, and trouble begins.
We end with the nine cartoons from the Gerald Ray Studio,
which are decidedly different – but also good, in their own way!
OVERALL: By now, I’ve
said enough, so I’ll keep the closing short.
You know the PROS and CONS of Warner Archive Collection
DVDs. And, I’m sure I’ve supplied enough
PROS and CONS on the King Features Popeye television cartoons of
1960-1961.
POPEYE THE SAILOR: The 1960s Classics Volume One is highly
recommended for fans of Popeye, those interested in the overall period of television
animation of the late ‘50s thru early ‘60s, fans of the Popeye comics, and
anyone with an interest in the later activities of the Paramount / Famous cartoon
studio… not to mention the heretofore-unknown-to-me Gerald Ray Studio.
Or, you could just buy it, so we can get more Popeye on DVD –
including the AWOL color Paramount / Famous cartoons!
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| I ain't AWOL... I'm just MISS-KIN! |
