Customer Reviews

Popeye the Sailor: 1941-1943, Vol. 3

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just a word of caution, these are from the wartime years and do contain non-politically correct wartime stereotypes.

This collection completes the Max Fleischer produced cartoons on disc 1 & some of disc 2. The Famous Studios B&W produced cartoons are also included on disc 2.

Disc 1 (all Fleischer produced)
Problem Pappy (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
Quiet! Pleeze (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
Olive's Sweepstakes Ticket (1941) w/ Olive, Swee'pea, Bluto & Poopdeck Pappy (1941)
Flies Ain't Human (1941)
Popeye Meets Rip Van Winkle (1941) w/ Rip Van Winkle & Chico Marx.
Olive's Boithday Presink (1941) w/ Olive Oyl
Child Psykolojiky (1941)w/ Swee'pea & Poopdeck Pappy.
Pest Pilot (1941) w/ Poopdeck Pappy
I'll Never Crow Again (1941) w/ Olive Oyl
The Mighty Navy (1941) - First true wartime themed Popeye.
Nix on Hypnotricks (1941) w/ Olive Oyl & Professor I. Stare.
Kickin' the Conga 'Round (1942) w/ Olive Oyl & Bluto.
Blunder Below (1942) - Wartime themed.
Fleets Of Stren'th (1942) - Wartime themed.
Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye and Peep-eye (1942) w/ Nephews
Olive Oyl And Water Don't Mix (1942) w/ Olive Oyl & Bluto.

Disc 2
Many Tanks (Fleischer) (1942) Wartime themed
Baby Wants a Bottleship (Flesicher)(1942) w/ Olive & Swee'pea - wartime themed.
You're a Sap, Mr. Jap (Dan Gordon)(1942) - first Famous Studio cartoon. Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION.
Alona on the Sarong Seas (Isadore Sparber)(1942) w/ Olive as Princess Alona & Bluto.
A Hull of a Mess (Sparber)(1942) - Wartime themed
Scrap The Japs (Seymour Kneitel)(1942)- Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION.
Me Musical Nephews (Kneitel)(1942) w/ nephews
Spinach Fer Britain (Sparber)(1943) - Wartime themed
Seein' Red, White 'N' Blue (1943) - Wartime themed, BANNED FROM TELEVISION
Too Weak to Work (Sparber)(1943) w/ Bluto
A Jolly Good Furlough (Gordon)(1943) w/Olive, Bluto, Twinkletoes & Nephews. - Wartime Themed.
Ration Fer The Duration (Kneitel)(1943) w/ Nephews. - Wartime themed.
The Hungry Goat (Gordon)(1943) - Wartime themed
Happy Birthdaze (Gordon)(1943) w/ Olive Oyl & Shorty.
Wood-Peckin' (Sparber)(1943)
Cartoons Ain't Human (Kneitel)(1943) w/ Olive Oyl & Nephews. Popeye makes an animated movie using stick figures.

Is it kind of ironic that this DVD set was released on election day? I'm pretty sure I am in the majority that I bought this set on the day of its release, but did not have a chance to watch it until the day after due to the election. We were originally supposed to have this set on September 30, but it got delayed in order to prevent the issues that arose with Volume 2. While I was disappointed about the delay at first, let me just say it was worth the wait.

After watching disc 1 last night after work, and disc 2 this morning, I can't more than recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of Popeye or Golden Age animation. This set appeals to both the casual fan and the hardcore collector. And what is best about the format Warner's is following is the fact that they have chosen to release the Popeye shorts in chronological order, something they could've (and should've) done with Tom and Jerry.

Disc 1 starts off with 1941's "Problem Pappy" and ends with 1942's "Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix". The first 7 on this disc are the last to have the ship-door opening title sequence. The remaining 11 cartoons on this disc (as well as the first 4 on disc 2) go to a new opening sequence that features a close-up of Popeye's pipe "toot-tooting" in sequence to the opening theme. Among the best shorts on this disc are "Problem Papp", "Quiet! Pleeze", "Child Psykolojiky", and "Pest Pilot", which have Popeye paired with his troublesome father Poopdeck Pappy. Also among the best on this disc are the first few Popeye shorts that relate to World War II. The first Popeye short with a wartime theme, "The Mighty Navy" was actually produced before America entered the war (the identity of the enemy is kept secret), but it was quite obvious at the time many Americans knew their country would eventually be involved in a war. Other wartime greats on this disc include "Blunder Below" (unedited here; most TV airings have edits) and "Fleets of Stren'th".

Disc 2 starts off strong and kind of lags towards the end. I will admit, I am not much of a fan of anything made post-Fleischer. The first two shorts on this disc are the last two produced by the Fleischers. The next 14 are among the first Popeye shorts produced by Famous Studios, and also the remainder of the Popeye shorts filmed in black-and-white. Actually, the first two Famous shorts credit Paramount since a studio name had not been decided upon yet. The real gems on this disc are the wartime shorts that can't been shown on television today, which include "You're a Sap, Mr. Jap, " "Scrap the Japs" and "Seein' Red, White n' Blue". All three of these pretty harshly stereotype Japanese and may offend some (especially anyone who is of Japanese descent). The way they are presented in this collection, however, is the right way to present them on a commercial release. Having them released in chronological order (and having "1941-1943" in the program's title) will caution many who may be blind to the fact that such racist depictions did exist back then. Also, like many people have mentioned in reviews for other classic-era releases by Warner, there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the disc explaining the context of such stereotypes. Since most people probably know ahead of time, I doubt this set will suffer the same fate that "The Golden Age of Looney Tunes" did almost two decades ago when the inclusion of a certain wartime short named "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" caused controversy to the point where the set had to be recalled. Aside from those three, Popeye also battles the Nazis in "Spinach fer Britain" (which has had limited airings on "The Popeye Show" that used to air on Cartoon Network). Other great cartoons on this disc include "The Hungry Goat" and "Happy Birthdaze", the latter of which is the first of three cartoons to feature Popeye's friend Shorty, whose name is a perfect description of the character.

I am not going to go into much detail of the bonus content on this set. In my opinion, the best feature was a Popumentary about the wartime shorts. Also worth watching is the feature on early animation from the 1910's through the 1930's. In addition to that, there are two more Popumentaries and a handful of Fleischer "Out of the Inkwell" shorts that feature Koko the Clown. However, the bonus shorts are from the silent era, and may be hard to sit through if you aren't used to watching a film with no sound, because absolutely no music tracks are played with these films.

Overall, this volume is on par with the first Popeye set released in terms of quality. Like it was explained many times before, the delay in the release of this set was to make sure all the cartoons are presented as close to original as possible. Not a single cartoon on this set has any A.A.P. produced titles, and once again, Warner's has done a terrific job with their restoration efforts. These cartoons never looked so good, and I no longer have to dig through all those VHS tapes in my basement which I used to tape these cartoons off of TV. In conclusion, if you haven't already, you should buy this set.

One last thing (sorry to go off-topic). I have heard that people have finally received their volume 2 replacement discs. I haven't ordered mine yet, is it too late to call? If I do call, how long should it take? As long as it would arrive within the next 4 months, it should arrive before I move to a new address.

By the time Max and Dave Fleischer lost their animation studio in 1942, the best Popeye cartoons were behind them. Paramount renamed the operation Famous Studios and forged ahead, but Max and Dave's creative spark was sorely missed. Meanwhile, the advent of World War II brought the immortal sailor a welcome relief from Disney-style conformity. Not surprisingly, the wartime Popeye shorts in this 1941-43 DVD set garner the most attention. "The Mighty Navy" and "Kickin' the Conga Round" stand out among the later Fleischer efforts, with Famous contributing a few gems such as "A Hull of a Mess" and "Ration Fer the Duration." What becomes evident in the Fleischer/Famous transition is the domestic blandness that surrounds our spinach-eating hero - resulting in weak entries along the lines of "Flies Ain't Human" and "Happy Birthdaze." Luckily, these misfires are offset by lively non-war cartoons such as "Quiet! Pleeze" and "Alona on the Sarong Seas." Though the final black-and-white Popeyes remain a mixed bag, the series would enjoy an upswing in quality when Famous switched to Technicolor in late 1943.

I've read repeatedly how "cruel" the portrayal of the Japanese is in wartime cartoons. As cruel as the Bataan death march? As cruel as Nanking? POW treatment? Do I need to go on?

Besides, where caricatures are concerned Popeye and Bluto have never been ideal caucasian portrayals of American manhood.
Let's face it, in Golden Age cartoons, almost everyone is ugly - with the exception of Superman and Red Hot Riding Hood!

So I was thrilled beyond the ability to express myself at the inclusion on this volume of "Your A Sap Mr. Jap" and others.

This Stalinesque "politically correct" trend finally has a challenge.

A pity it's not more high profile, but it will do for now.

It is perfectly alright with me that slurs and slander against race, color and creed are not acceptable in modern children's entertainment.

It is NOT ACCEPTABLE to go and re-create the work of yesteryear and white-wash history.

There are plenty of harmless examples of Popeye, Bugs, Daffy, and Tom & Jerry to placate and expose children to without butchering the few cartoons that today seem questionable and/or inappropriate.

Seeing as how the dvd trend is too smaller less expensive cartoon compilations, I will leave it to the wisdom of entertainment executives to produce compilations aimed at children and maybe a few for adults.

I'm pleased that it was Time/Warner that released this - perhaps we'll even see "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips" someday, hardly a cartoon 'worse' than the few Popeye's presented here.

For a change, thank you Warner Entertainment.
You did the right thing, and if this new start towards allowing parents/adults to police their own entertainment becomes a trend instead of having it censored for them - insulting everyone involved - I will whole heartedly and with a loose wallet support further dvd releases from Warner Entertainment.

I received this set as a Christmas gift and just finished watching it.

While many of you may be offended by the "politically incorrect" replications of the Japanese and German characters in some of these cartoons, you can only imagine how people felt back then after Pearl Harbor was bombed, not to mention the impact of WWII on everyone (if you haven't seen it I strongly recommend viewing the Ken Burns documentary called THE WAR, which you can find elsewhere on Amazon's site).

How did YOU feel after 9/11? I'm guessing that's how everyone felt back in the early 1940's also. But instead of Osama it was Hitler and the Japanese! You can't imagine how people in theatres just loved seeing Popeye "take care of" the enemies as only Popeye could do!

If you want to see the seldom (if ever) seen war classics, buy this DVD set.

If, however, you're looking for the more common Popeye episodes you may be more familiar with (with Wimpy and more of Bluto), check out Volumes 1 & 2 instead.

The start of the 1940s brought about many changes for Popeye. World War II had just begun, and as the United States prepared for its eventual involvement in the global affair, the country's animation studios sent out their best stars to fight for the cause and rally people's support for the troops. The Warners sent Bugs Bunny and Disney pushed out Donald Duck, both of whom found their stardom peaking in this decade. The Fleischers, naturally, drafted Popeye into the Navy. Along with this came changes: among other things, his regular outfit was replaced with a regulation naval uniform which he would wear throughout the rest of his screen career, and he and Bluto went through further design changes, both becoming more rounder and softer (especially in Bluto's case, if you'll notice his appearances in this set). At this point, the Fleischer Studios were in big trouble. They were in heavy monetary debt to Paramount, as their second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town, failed at the box office (being inconveniently released two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor), and their new Miami studio had been costly on its own, not just to move there, but to construct the facility and expand their workforce to work in feature films in the first place. And what's more, the studio was in the midst of its own war, as the co-founding brothers Max and Dave Fleischer grew increasingly estranged from each other for reasons that remain quite unclear to this day. The large debt and the equally large rift caused Paramount to force the brothers out of the control of their studio (especially as Dave Fleischer began moonlighting to Columbia Picture's Screen Gems studio around this time), renaming it Famous Studios in 1942. While the staff consisted more or less of the same people, it would become evident over time that the loss of the Fleischers would also cause the loss of the shorts' trademark personality.

But it seems unfair to compare Famous Studios to its predecessor. While it would lose the soul and charm of the Fleischer works, it would in fact develop a soul and charm of its very own, and they deserve to be looked at in a light such as that. The shorts contained here cover the wartime years, as well as the transition from Fleischer to Famous. The black and white Famous shorts (all of which are present here), seem to try and keep on the Fleischer feel---and perhaps, due to lack of color, they appear to succeed---yet by the end of this bunch, the studio's own personality seems to be evolving out of what they once were. Notable shorts (for me) from Famous at this point are "Me Musical Nephews", "Seein' Red, White, 'n' Blue", "Happy Birthdaze", and "Cartoons Ain't Human", as proof that one should not judge that the shark had immediatley been jumped. As this covers the wartime era, the fact that a large number of cartoons here contain Japanese and German stereotypes (more emphasis on the former than the latter, as German references are mainly regulated to swastikas and only two episodes really show any German characters), typical of cartoons during these years. It should be understood that this was done to boost the morale of the supporting public to cheer the country on as it fought its enemies in the war. Thus, they are a product of their time, and should be looked to as relative to it, and that the stereotypes should practically be considered harmless and inoffensive as a result (especially if you see what a lot of programs, such as South Park or Family Guy, have been allowed to put out today) as their caricatures are essentially meaningless in the present day. They are in fact capable of being as enjoyable for anyone and everyone as anything else in the Popeye theatrical series. Several of the shorts also contain references to the war effort, such as supply rationing, that many may not understand today. (A couple of audio commentaries tend to point them out.)

In terms of the DVDs, the video and audio quality continues to be excellent. What I happen to find bothersome is that the extras are lighter than in Volume Two. While we do get three new excellent "Popumentaries", the number of commentaries we get are roughly halved from the number in the previous collection. Not only that, but the vintage shorts and the retrospective documentary on animation in the 1920s seems out of place as this collection covers shorts from two decades past all this. However, it could be argued that this is because the collections are now two-disc, and had Volumes Two and Three been a four-disc set, it would have had the extras arranged somewhat like this. Thus, it's sort of okay. But it still makes me wish there were just a couple more things in here. Nevertheless, the collection is excellent when all content is taken together into account. Yet again, this is one that fans of Popeye and Golden Age cartoons don't want to pass up.

All of the "ship door title and credits" cartoons seem to have the Paramount logo and "Paramount presents Popeye..." title cards digitally spliced in from a single source print, after which a grainier and much more contrasty print is used. Looks like somebody had the telecine on AUTO rather than trying to match the different source elements.
Some reasonable amount of digital noise reduction would have made a tremendous improvement in the look of these cartoons. The spocket wear jitter and rapid brightness changes (flickering) are all left as-is for your enjoyment...There is no reason for these newer cartoons to look WORSE than the 1930s cartoons on Vol 1 except for scrimping on the restoration.
The extras are skimpy and unimaginative. Enough with the silent Koko the Clown cartoons! It just takes ONE to show how much the Fleischers improved in just a few years! How about some sample episodes of the 1960-61 TV Popeyes or "Popeye and Son" or the sorta gay Minute Maid orange juice commercial, or a side by side running of an original B&W Popeye with a horrible retraced colorized Korean remake with the pink and mustard color scheme?
Still, these cartoons on Vol 3 are probably the most fun of the entire series, particular the politically incorrect ones.

Truly great. As the two earlier volumes. Great extras. In total, worth every dollar spent. This is the real deal (Warner Brothers vol I, II & III), don't mess around with other obscure editions of popeye collections.

Popeye will bring smile on you and your kids face. Don't be uptight about some of the content because it's actually refreshing to see old time cartoons like this. Very entertaining and funny.

Superb picture quality as expected. The cartoons are fascinating as they are a product of their time period. Too many people fear the stereotyping may hurt feelings and perhaps rightly so. However, to ban these from the public is in my opinion an admission that we are not as mature today as we were back then. We certainly are more mature enough to understand that we were at war and cartoons like this was strictly propaganda. What cartoon character did not get into the battle during WWII? Bless the folks at Warners who put out volume three. I look forward to volume four. Only complaint is that they now have two discs instead of four and the price is still the same. Customers are not stupid. They can tell when a studio is trying to make more money by splitting the discs into the same size packaging. Please Warners, go back to four discs-per box set. It'll keep me from shopping around for the best price.