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Curt Loves Oldies – 1930’S POPEYE CARTOONS Review by Curt Solash
Curt Loves Oldies – 1930’S POPEYE CARTOONS
Review by Curt Solash
The 1930's Popeye Cartoons were seven minutes long and Popeye was always good-natured, kindhearted, unsophisticated, a down to earth unpretentious character who always got the job done, muttering wonderful double entendres.
If you grew up in the 1950’s, surely one of your joyful memories would be watching the old black and white Popeye cartoons from the 1930’s on TV. All the children from those days knew that the best ones featured the ship doors opening to show the credits. The pleasures of these cartoons are many: the superb artwork and draftsmanship, the supporting characters (Olive Oyl, Bluto, Wimpy, and Swee Pea), the omnipresent can of spinach,
the little 3D sets on some of them, an innovation by creator Max Fleischer, even the memorable songs that some of them had. They were seven minutes long and Popeye was always good-natured, kindhearted, unsophisticated, a down to earth unpretentious character who always got the job done, muttering wonderful double entendres.
Popeye started as a comic strip in the late teens and originally had red hair! His first cartoon appearance is as a guest star in a Betty Boop cartoon. His own series started in the early ‘30’s and it took several years for him to find his unique rhythm and style. I think the series reached its apex from 1936-1938. After that, they were still enjoyable, but the edge was fading and you can detect an assembly line approach beginning. By WWII, an unwelcome modernity starts creeping in and by the 1950’s when a different studio was producing them, they bear very scant resemblance to the originals. I feel bad for today’s children who for the most part were never exposed to these gems and perhaps wouldn’t appreciate them anyway.
Unlike, say, Disney cartoons, Fleischer’s output (including Popeye) seems to be intended for adults. They were urban, sexual and ethnic. Can you imagine a Disney cartoon taking place in an apartment building or showing a roast beef with the word “kosher” written on it in Yiddish, or an Italian organ grinder complete with earrings? An aficionado like me also enjoyed the details: the huge, prewar apartments, the courtyards, the backgrounds and the Depression era urban furnishings.
Let me pick one for example. It’s called Brotherly Love and it’s a treasure. The theme song is "What we all need is Brotherly Love."
You can’t go wrong with Brotherly Love
Let everybody be one great big family
No scrappin’, no yappin’
How happy we will be
Now I don’t care whose brother you love
As long as there is Brotherly Love
Let every Tom and Dick and Otto
Obey our golden motto
For what we need is Brotherly Love
The highlight of this one is when Brotherly Love doesn’t work breaking up a gang brawl and Popeye says, “Now I teaches ‘em my way,” aided by his spinach. Other memorable songs and titles include
* "We Aim To Please" (Popeye and Olive own a diner)
* "You Gotta Be A Football Hero" (Popeye and Bluto are on opposing football teams)
* "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard" (Popeye and Bluto are competing lifeguards)
* "It’s the Natural Thing To Do" (Popeye, Olive, and Bluto try to emulate high society), and there are so many more.
If this article has gotten you nostalgic or curious, the good news is that all these cartoons are available on a great DVD set from Warner Home Video. It may no longer be the Depression and 1950’s kid TV may be long gone, but thanks to these videos, you too will soon be saying, “I yam what I yam,” and you may develop a taste for spinach.
Review by Curt Solash
The 1930's Popeye Cartoons were seven minutes long and Popeye was always good-natured, kindhearted, unsophisticated, a down to earth unpretentious character who always got the job done, muttering wonderful double entendres.
If you grew up in the 1950’s, surely one of your joyful memories would be watching the old black and white Popeye cartoons from the 1930’s on TV. All the children from those days knew that the best ones featured the ship doors opening to show the credits. The pleasures of these cartoons are many: the superb artwork and draftsmanship, the supporting characters (Olive Oyl, Bluto, Wimpy, and Swee Pea), the omnipresent can of spinach,
the little 3D sets on some of them, an innovation by creator Max Fleischer, even the memorable songs that some of them had. They were seven minutes long and Popeye was always good-natured, kindhearted, unsophisticated, a down to earth unpretentious character who always got the job done, muttering wonderful double entendres.
Popeye started as a comic strip in the late teens and originally had red hair! His first cartoon appearance is as a guest star in a Betty Boop cartoon. His own series started in the early ‘30’s and it took several years for him to find his unique rhythm and style. I think the series reached its apex from 1936-1938. After that, they were still enjoyable, but the edge was fading and you can detect an assembly line approach beginning. By WWII, an unwelcome modernity starts creeping in and by the 1950’s when a different studio was producing them, they bear very scant resemblance to the originals. I feel bad for today’s children who for the most part were never exposed to these gems and perhaps wouldn’t appreciate them anyway.
Unlike, say, Disney cartoons, Fleischer’s output (including Popeye) seems to be intended for adults. They were urban, sexual and ethnic. Can you imagine a Disney cartoon taking place in an apartment building or showing a roast beef with the word “kosher” written on it in Yiddish, or an Italian organ grinder complete with earrings? An aficionado like me also enjoyed the details: the huge, prewar apartments, the courtyards, the backgrounds and the Depression era urban furnishings.
Let me pick one for example. It’s called Brotherly Love and it’s a treasure. The theme song is "What we all need is Brotherly Love."
You can’t go wrong with Brotherly Love
Let everybody be one great big family
No scrappin’, no yappin’
How happy we will be
Now I don’t care whose brother you love
As long as there is Brotherly Love
Let every Tom and Dick and Otto
Obey our golden motto
For what we need is Brotherly Love
The highlight of this one is when Brotherly Love doesn’t work breaking up a gang brawl and Popeye says, “Now I teaches ‘em my way,” aided by his spinach. Other memorable songs and titles include
* "We Aim To Please" (Popeye and Olive own a diner)
* "You Gotta Be A Football Hero" (Popeye and Bluto are on opposing football teams)
* "I Wanna Be A Lifeguard" (Popeye and Bluto are competing lifeguards)
* "It’s the Natural Thing To Do" (Popeye, Olive, and Bluto try to emulate high society), and there are so many more.
If this article has gotten you nostalgic or curious, the good news is that all these cartoons are available on a great DVD set from Warner Home Video. It may no longer be the Depression and 1950’s kid TV may be long gone, but thanks to these videos, you too will soon be saying, “I yam what I yam,” and you may develop a taste for spinach.
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Copyright 2022 CURT SOLASH
CURT LOVES OLDIES: Curt Solash dishes on the best and worst movies of all time Curt Solash is a retired educator, an antique advertising collector and a lifelong cinemaphile from New York City who now lives in sunny Florida with his life partner. |
Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong
Copyright 2022 Sunny Harbor Publishing Sunny Harbor Publishing, Rockledge, FL 32955 Phone: 321-252-9874 Email: [email protected] Website: www.SunnyHarborPublishing.org 
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