The Movie:

By the time 1941 rolled around, Popeye had become a proven commodity. The cartoon series was popular and for whatever reason the ridiculously violent and at times almost surreal original cartoons from the late thirties had really struck a chord with audiences around North America. Things started to soften up a bit as the series evolved and this would continue throughout the early forties, which brings us to this third collection of vintage Popeye shorts all of which were made between the years of 1941 and 1943.

Alongside fairly standard Popeye fare, in which he gets into trouble with Pappy and does what he can to woo the freakishly skinny Olive Oyl, we see the political climate of the times begin to be reflected in the content. With the Second World War having started up, Popeye takes on a more patriotic stance and the man who was once a free wheeling sailor enlists in the U.S. Navy to do his part for the war effort. Unfortunately for old Popeye, however, his arch-nemesis Bluto also wants to do his part and the pair periodically get into scraps just as they did before the war broke out proving that sometimes things never really do change.

Throwing Popeye into the way gives the series some life in an interesting way. While most of the episodes here stick to the basic formula (Popeye gets into trouble, eats spinach, and fights his way out), there are absolutely some very creative and genuinely odd stories and scenarios contained here - there's also some fairly regrettable portrayals of different ethnic groups as well, as evidenced in cartoons like You're A Sap, Mr. Jap, which leaves little to the imagination. While this type of material is fairly offensive by today's standards, it is never the less an accurate representation of the era in which the material was made and needs to be regarded as such. That said, the navy episodes remain the highlights of this set. They've got a bit more 'piss and vinegar' to them than some of the ones that had come in the year or two before Popeye went off to war and it's nice to see the scrappiest sailor that ever there was return to his insanely violent roots.

Aside from the war related content, this set also introduces Popeye's nephews, Pip-Eye, Pup-Eye, Poop-Eye And Peep-Eye, into the regular cast of supporting characters alongside such regulars as Pappy, Swee' Pea, Olive and Bluto. While the nephews provide a few laughs here and there, they don't really add much to the series that the earlier Swee' Pea episodes had already tried (and done with a lot more enthusiasm).

This batch of cartoons is also important because it represents the change from Fleischer Studios to Famous Studios, Paramount's own wholly owned animation company. With this shift, some of the magic leaves the series. It's still Popeye and it's still fun but the earlier Fleischer efforts show a lot more creativity and a lot more detail and just flat out weirdness in the backgrounds and the scenarios that play out in the various episodes.

While this collection of thirty-two cartoons may not have quite the same amount of nutty energy and ridiculously engaging insanity as the first collection did, it still contains enough spinach chomping, forearm busting, politically incorrect high jinks to feed the monkey on your back. The material here shows its age in terms of some of the content but it's still a lot of fun and in many ways it's also a fairly fascinating time capsule of sorts and an interesting throwback to the America of the early 1940s.

Popeye The Sailor 1941 - 1943 contains the following cartoons spread across the two discs in the set as follows:

Disc One:

Problem Pappy / Quiet! Pleeze / Olive's Sweepstake Ticket / Flies Ain't Human / Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle / Olive's Boithday Presink / Child Psykolojiky / Pest Pilot / I'll Never Crow Again / The Mighty Navy / Nix On Hypnotricks / Kickin' The Conga Round / Blunder Below / Fleets Of Stren'th / Pip-Eye, Pup-Eye, Poop-Eye And Peep-Eye / Olive Oyl And Oil Don't Mix /

Disc Two:

Many Tanks / Baby Wants A Bottleship / You're A Sap, Mr. Jap / Alone On The Sarong Seas / A Hull Of A Mess / Scrap The Japs / Me Musical Nephews / Spinach Fer Britain / Seein' Red, White, 'n' Blue / Too Weak To Work / A Jolly Good Furlough / Ration For The Duration / The Hungry Goat / Happy Birthdaze / Wood-peckin' / Cartoons Ain't Human

The Video:

You know, for a bunch of cartoons made over sixty years ago, the 1.33.1 fullframe progressive scan black and white transfers for the thirty-two cartoons contained in this collection are very impressive. There's a bit of wear and tear noticeable now and again but generally the image is clean, stable and well authored. There aren't any issues with mpeg compression artifacts or edge enhancement nor are there any problems with heavy shimmering. You'll notice mild scratches here and there as well as some flickering but overall, things look very nice and it's great to see that Warner Brothers has obviously put quite a bit of effort into restoring this material.

The Audio:

Likewise, the Dolby Digital Mono tracks spread across this set also sound pretty good, particularly when you consider their age. The levels are well balanced and while they obviously lack the range of newer sound mixes, there aren't any major problems with hiss or distortion. The dialogue is easy to understand and follow and generally things sound just fine. Optional subtitles are available in English and French.

The Extras:

Warner Brothers has included a nice array of extra features for the Popeye fan spread across the two discs in this set as follows:

Disc One:

Disc One includes commentaries for the following episodes:
Problem Pappy - historian Jerry Beck and Steven Waldman, son of director and animator Myron Waldman
Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle - Jerry Beck and Steven Waldman, son of director and animator Myron Waldman
The Mighty Navy - Jerry Beck and director Bob Jacques

From there we move into the documentary section starting with Directing The Sailor Man (7:20), which is a look at the work of Myron Waldman by way of an interview with he and his wife where he discusses his work at the legendary Fleischer Studios and the projects he worked on there. Popeye The Might Ensign (7:45) is an interesting look at how the war efforts of the era in which these cartoons were made affected the stories and ideas that we see play out in them, while Pip-Eye, Pup-Eye, Poop-Eye And Peep-Eye: Chips Off The Old Salt (3:40) is a look how and why Popeye's crazy nephews came into the cartoons and the impact that they had on the series.

Also included on the first disc are three shorts, The Clown's Little Brother from 1920, The Cartoon Factory from 1924 and Koko Needles The Boss from 1927.

Disc Two:

Disc Two includes commentaries for the following episodes:
Me Musical Nephews - directors John Kricfalusi, Eddie Fitzgerald and cartoonist Kali Fontecchio
Seein' Red, White, 'n' Blue - animator Mark Kausler
The Hungry Goat - historian Jerry Beck

The commentaries on both discs are a treat as they do an excellent job of putting this material into context and explaining how and why it was made the way that it was. On top of that, there's also a lot of great historical information and fun trivia relayed throughout the discussions.

The single featurette on the second disc is Forging The Frame: The Roots Of Animation, 1921 - 1930 (27:40), a really interesting look at the early years of American animation and how the industry grew early on. There's a wealth of great clips from vintage cartoons and interview snippets that really do a good job of explaining what was happening at the time and how it evolved. Fleischer fans will eat this one up.

Last but not least, the second disc finishes off with another archival short from the Warner Brothers vaults, Finding His Voice, originally created by Western Electric. Trailers or a few other vintage WB animation releases are included, as are some nifty looking menu screens.

Overall:

A fairly insane collection of entertaining animated relics from a bygone era, Popeye The Sailor 1941 - 1943 holds up well despite some obvious politically incorrect content. Warner Brothers has done a great job on the presentation and the extras are interesting and amusing. Recommended!

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.