DVD : Popeye the Sailor, Vol. 2: 1938-1940

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- The series reaches its best years!
The year 1938 marked a big change for the Fleischer Studios. In a move sought to evade union strikes, gain advantage of tax breaks, and begin development of feature films, the studio found itself relocating from New York to Miami. The change in location also brought about a change in the output: The atmosphere of the Fleischers' cartoons ceased to be gritty and urban, and became more sunny and cheerful, possibly in an attempt to get an upper hand in its rivalry to the Walt Disney studio (or maybe just as a reflection of where they were working, but either suggestion seems valid). As a result, their work lost the touches that made it so recognisable in the many years before, but their work was at its peak in this new period. Popeye marks itself a fine example in this statement. The cartoons began to become more creative during this timeframe, now often throwing out the memorably basic Popeye-eating-spinach-to-get-back-at-Bluto premise (as evidenced at the tail end of Volume One) and developing more original stories. From "I Yam Love Sick" to "Goonland" to "Never Sock a Baby" to even "Popeye the Sailor Meets William Tell" (a rather oddball cartoon---yet still a personal favorite of mine---placing Popeye out of regular continuity, taking him back in time to meet an historical figure), you never saw the series put out such plots before, and it shows that the series had reached the top of its game. Those peak years are now available in this set, along with a documentary on the Fleischer Studio (as well as a vintage short film giving us a glimpse of the Miami facility), four new Popeye "Popumentaries", plus other amazing extras. There's no denying that this is a welcome addition to the home video library of any cartoon lover.

Rating:

- Another Great Popeye Collection
At the risk of sounding like a snob these aren't cartoons they're classic animation. Here we have a meeting of two 1930's giants, Fleischer Studios and perhaps the most indelible character in entertainment history, Popeye the Sailor Man. A short, balding, toothless, middle aged sailor with a misshapen body, poor grammar and a face only Olive could love. Popeye is less than an everyman, he's a misfit with the strength of a battleship. It's nearly impossible not to like Popeye because he represents the gangly, awkward side in all of us, protected by an inhuman ability to inflict and absorb punishment. Popeye is completely unaware of how he stands apart from the rest of humanity, he simply is who he is and Heaven help anyone who dares taunt the squinty eyed runt.

I have always been a huge fan of Disney but Fleischer Studios produced some of the most entertaining, influential animation ever during their short 21 year existence. At their peak the Popeye cartoons were as good as anything Disney ever put out. This DVD collection contains a very nice retrospective on the history and achievements of Fleischer Studios. I had no idea they produced full length features to compete with Disney. As a special bonus the collection includes an entire Superman cartoon `The Mechanical Monsters' which holds up incredibly well 70 years later.

The second Popeye DVD collection is half the size of the first but the quality remains top notch. We finally get to see the Jeep, Goon Island and even Poopdeck Pappy. There are special features devoted to the background and history of the Jeep and Pappy. There is another feature on Mae Questel, the voice of Olive Oyl for most of the Popeye cartoons, that's worth watching. Oddly enough Bluto doesn't even appear until the ninth episode (Customers Wanted) and that one is mostly just flashbacks to previous episodes. One of my favorite characters, Wimpy, hardly appears at all.

What makes this collection so special for me is the inclusion of commentary on many of the cartoons. It really helps fans to understand details about these cartoons they wouldn't naturally be aware of. For instance Fleischer would use different animators for distant and close up shots (probably a common practice in animation studios). After awhile you can actually start to recognize the style of specific animators. Even if I couldn't match a name to a cartoon I could see that there were more than subtle differences in drawings between episodes and I definitely had my favorites. The episode "Popeye meets William Tell" was done by a pair of animators who got their start at Fleischer but had been working for Disney. The cartoon has a very different style that didn't really mesh with the Popeye character (this is admitted by the lead artist from an old interview). You would never know this background if it weren't for the commentary.

Volume 2 is drawn from the years when Fleischer Studios moved from NY to Florida and you can see a difference is tone. I was a little disappointed by the reduced role of Bluto and near disappearance of Wimpy but it does feature perhaps my favorite Popeye cartoon, `Fighin' Pals' where we see that there exists a true friendship between Popeye and Bluto. These cartoons are both timeless and intractably tied to the late 30's early 40's. The humor holds up perfectly but a cartoon like this could never be made today. The rough and tumble, black and white style of Popeye springs from the depression era and the domesticated Popeye of later cartoons just doesn't work. Here is the animated Popeye at his peak. Enjoy.

Rating:

- FEWER TOONS THAN VOL. 1 BUT STILL FUN!
The second volume of Popeye shorts has been released, covering the years 1938 - 1940. The two disc set features 31 shorts along with numerous extras. There is a misconception that every Popeye short involved him eating spinach and fighting arch-nemesis Bluto but this set seems aimed at disproving that theory. Many of these shorts are without Bluto and even without that strength-producing green vegetable. It seems as if the Fleischers were now trying to domesticate their star. More and more episodes feature Popeye with Olive Owl and Sweet Pea. Two other family members are introduced in this set: The magical dog Eugene the Jeep, and Popeye's long lost father, Poopdeck Pappy.

"The Jeep" is the first appearance of the dog, which has the ability to disappear and move through solid objects. Popeye enlists his aid to find Sweet Pea who has wandered out of his crib into the city. This episode is filled with sight gags and Popeye tries to keep up with the Jeep as he walks up, down, and through buildings. It would be another episode on this set, "Popeye presents Eugene the Jeep" that shows us how Popeye first acquired his fantastic pet.

In "Goonland", Popeye is out searching for his father who disappeared when he was born. He discovers him being held captive on Goon Island by the giant Goons. Popeye and Pappy unite to defeat the Goons and return to civilization.

In another episode that involves no Spinach or Bluto, Popeye keeps getting parking tickets from the same cop as he helps Olive with her Spring-cleaning. Here's a tip, watch these episodes with the subtitles on so you can read all of Popeye's mutterings that are sometimes hard to hear. They are hilarious! He constantly calls the cop "Occifer" instead of Officer.

In fact, in one episode, Popeye and Bluto are the best of friends, sort of...Bluto goes off to explore Africa in "Fighting Pals". When his expedition gets lost, Popeye goes to look for him. Tired and exhausted, Bluto actually gives Popeye some spinach to rejuvenate him and the episode closes with a brawl.

Perhaps the most famous short in this set is "Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp" a two-reel short filmed in gorgeous Technicolor. Popeye is Aladdin, trying to win the hand of Princess Olive and finds the magical lamp but an evil, non-Bluto villain wants the lamp for himself.

The set show just how diversified the Fleischer studio was when it came to Popeye. They could do riotous slapstick humor without always resorting to Spinach or fighting. The shorts have been remasterd and are uncut and look gorgeous, especially the Technicolor gem. Not as much material on this set as the first one, but it's great stuff!

Rating:

- POPEYE THE SAILOR, VOL. 2
Although not quite as fun and satisfying as the first volume of the original Popeye cartoons, still highly recommended...

Rating:

- More of the Best
Even though it's a much smaller box than the first Popeye collection, it's still a must have for fans of the Fleischer ouevre. The restorations, as in the first set, are meticulous, and there's a pretty good hour doc on the whole Fleischer history, including a couple of things (a 1950s luncheon set up by former arch rival Walt Disney) that I didn't know before. As with the first box, some of these cartoons are as good as golden age theatrical cartoons ever got. There are first appearances by the Jeep, the Goons and Pappy, and the third of the three Technicolor specials. By the way, the early colorized versions of these beautiful black and white cartoons hide much of the detail and quality of these pieces, ironically making them look much more poorly drawn than they are. Stick with the black and white and you'll have a much better visual experience.

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