Strong to the Finich
“I See Dead People Week” disappears after today’s creepy classic, “Spooky Swabs.” This is a landmark film from 1957 — after a 24 year run, Paramount’s last theatrically released Popeye cartoon. And, YES, the original pre-war Max Fleischer Popeye series was truer to the source material, grittier, goofier, and just plain more fun. And NO, the post-Fleischer team at Paramount Famous never quite figured out how to keep their Popeye cartoons from being repetitious and formulaic even as they improved production values. But, MAYBE the later cartoons can be appreciated for what they were — slickly done and pretty entertaining little films that are light years ahead of most of the TV versions that were just around the bend.
Popeye knocks the sheets out of a ghost ship this time, although as the picture above suggests, he takes quite a beating from said spooks, and Olive Oyl, first. The haunted crew look and sound a lot like all those unfriendly ghosts that had supporting roles in Casper’s cartoons.
Reach for the kazoo and slide whistle; next week ReFrederator rhapsodizes over some cartoon classics with “Musical Moments Week.”
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On May 26th, 2006 at 12:00 am
It’s interesting that in Dead People Week you’d have the last Felix and the last (pre-TV) Popeye. I don’t get the remark about Paramount/Famous improving production values. I will grant that the Fleischers didn’t have the strict standards of Disney, and their cartoons can get sloppy, but all Paramount did was simplify character design and backgrounds. The Fleischer Popeyes, like the one last week, take place in an urban landscape and are distinctive for their use of densely packed buildings and the vertical. This is all gone in the Famous cartoons.
On May 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
a fine film. I enjoyed it very much.
thanks ReFrederator!
On May 27th, 2006 at 12:00 am
Yeah, that ‘last theatrically released cartoon’ thing was a coincidence we didn’t notice until after the play list was put together. Don’t get me wrong about the Fleischer Popeyes — I think they are fabulous, totally in a class by themselves, way more interesting than anything that came after. But Paramount took over the cartoon studio in the early 40’s — about 15 years before “Spooky Swabs.” At that time the Fleischers had been working on features, the extravagent Superman series, even some one shot two reelers in addition to the regular black and white Popeyes. A season or so after the changing of the guard, Popeye was once again the studio’s premier product, and the budgets were increased to allow for the series to be produced in color. Even though we both probably agree many creative elements declined, it can be argued certain technical aspects, such as the consistancy in animation quality, were actually tightened up in the mid forties.
But, yeah, I think the stuff from the thirties has a chunk of soul that disappeared Max and Dave left.
On May 29th, 2006 at 12:00 am
All good points, Dave. My intense adult interest in animation came when I read Maltin’s ‘Of Mice and Magic’ in 1981. That was before VCRs and the net, making viewing of classic cartoons nearly impossible, and my peers refused to pay attention to the artistic side of cartoons. Up to now, I haven’t been able to have a conversation about Popeye with anybody who knew the difference among the Fleischer, Famous, and Brodax Popeyes, or cared.
So I truly want to express my appreciation to Frederator for setting up this podcast and forum. I enjoy watching the cartoons, reading knowledgeable commentary, and holding conversations about these cartoons and the artists (and/or hacks) who made them.