POPEYE THE SAILOR Volume One 1933 - 1938
© Warner Bros.
Mania Grade: A+
Maniac Grade: A+
Title: Popeye the Sailor Volume One 1933 - 1938
Rated: Unrated
Director: Dave Fleischer
Distributor: Warner Bros
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: 21 audio commentary tracks, two documentaries, eight featurettes, 16 vintage shorts.
Buy it now!
Maniac Grade: A+
Title: Popeye the Sailor Volume One 1933 - 1938
Rated: Unrated
Director: Dave Fleischer
Distributor: Warner Bros
Original Year of Release: 2007
Extras: 21 audio commentary tracks, two documentaries, eight featurettes, 16 vintage shorts.
Buy it now!
POPEYE THE SAILOR Volume One 1933 - 1938
By: Tim JansonDate: Sunday, August 26, 2007
One or twice a year, a DVD comes out that just makes you say, “It’s about time!” Popeye the Sailor Volume One 1933 – 1938, is one of those DVDs. Like the Disney Treasures sets, this first volume presents 60 animated shorts in chronological order on four discs that are loaded with bonus features. These 60 shorts were all produced by the Fleischer Studios. The Fleischer Studios may not be a household name to a lot of people today, but during the 30’s and early 40’s, they were on a par with the likes of Disney and Warner Bros. animation studios, perhaps even surpassing them in terms of technical innovations. The Fleischer’s Superman cartoons of the 40’s are still some of the very best superhero cartoons ever produced. The Fleischer’s utilized techniques such as three-dimensional backgrounds and rotoscoping to produce dazzling animation and the Popeye cartoons are arguably their greatest achievement. In all, the studio produced 108 Popeye shorts, including three two-reelers that were produced in gorgeous Technicolor.
The studio was purchased by Paramount in 1942. So how did these shorts go from Paramount to being released in this collection by Warner Bros.? Well that’s quite a tale. Paramount renamed the studio Famous Studios and produced Popeye cartoons from 1942 to 1957. Paramount then sold Popeye to Associated Artists productions, who was in turn bought out by United Artists. United Artists merged with MGM and MGM was later purchased by Turner Entertainment. Turner Entertainment is part of the Time Warner, thus the set is being released by Warner Bros. Whew!
The set begins with Popeye’s debut in “Popeye the Sailor” which was actually a Betty Boop cartoon, Fleischer’s major star prior to Popeye. The first few early toons are notable in that while Popeye does eat his spinach, he doesn’t yet have his signature theme music playing when he does it. What makes these cartoons so different that others of the era is the dialog and use of music. Many of these shorts featured well-known songs of the era. Then there are the famous Popeye mutterings. Listen close and turn up the volume, some of the best dialog is often barely audible as Popeye mutters to himself, all without his mouth moving.
Popeye is joined by his co-stars Olive Oyl, Bluto, Whimpy, and later, Sweat Pea. Of course, the running theme through many of the shorts is Popeye and Bluto both vying for Olive’s affections as she usually played the boys against each other. But these shorts were quite diverse. There are even times when Popeye and Bluto are friendly with each other, even business partners as deep sea salvagers in “Dizzy Divers.”
It’s virtually impossible to pick a favorite from among the 60 shorts but two of the most well-known are certainly the ones done in Technicolor, “Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor” and Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s forty Thieves.” The former even earned and Academy Award nomination. These shorts were often billed above the main feature in theatres when they were released. These have been fully restored with the original Paramount opening credits, missing from many of the VHS releases of these shorts.
