Customer Reviews

Popeye's Voyage: Quest for Pappy

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It has been some years since we had any Popeye animated, I believe the last attempt was in the late 80's with "Popeye and Son".

For the most part this cartoon [if you will] is a CGI which simply means instead of being hand drawn they used a computer to draw all the art, this process has finally reached a technology point where it can be done fairly well.

The creators goal for this was to use the original Popeye charcters created in the 30s BW animation and I do agree it is the closest to that so far.

The theme [title of quest for Pappy] isn't the most original storyline and to make things more confusing they added in some Holiday stuff as to make it fit into an Xmas Special [which it really isn't]. This was basically taking our familar story [looking for me pappy] and making it take place in Dec.

If Popeye fans complained about the violence [of lack of] in the 70's & 80's toons, it can only be worse by making Bluto now Popeye's best friend and ship mate. I am not joking - you heard me correct Bluto and Popeye are great friends, they never fight whatsoever in this one. Popeye eats his Spinach once near the end which features [the only] form of violence [if you can call it that] at the end of the feature. This is great for children of any age - not really great for Popeye fans.

I rate this feature 3 stars for the very good CGI and all of the voice casting [except the Sea Hag her voice fails to match her ugly face was a poor choice there].

If you are a fan of the original Max & Dave Fleischer Popeye cartoons from the 1930s, then you will certainly enjoy this DVD. There have been several incarnations of Popeye down through the years that were very poorly done, especially when compared to the Fleischer originals. This effort, however, holds up really well. The creators took the approach that they would try to capture the charm and essence of the original Fleischer cartoons, but take advantage of today's technology. They have succeeded admirably. The characters are true to their original concepts. Popeye is very heroic, but in his salty good-natured kind of way, always chuckling and muttering puns and double entendres under his breath. Bluto is a big brute, strong but dim-witted and spineless. Olive is well-intentioned but kind of inept. I love the way her arms get all rubbery when she is in panic mode. Wimpy is an eating machine. The CGI animation is very, very good. It is fun to see how familiar bits from the old cartoons look in CGI; such as when Popeye and Bluto are fighting intensely, and all you see is this rolling cloud of dust, with occasional stop-action moments showing the combatants in various fighting poses, which I found quite amusing to watch. Near the end, when Popeye eats his spinach (the climax of most any Popeye cartoon) and vanquishes the Sea Hag, I felt as if it all was taking me back to the cartoons I watched and loved as a kid. My only complaint: at 44 minutes, I wish this movie were twice as long. I hope Paul Reiser and friends decide to produce a sequel.

I am going to guess that this was supposed to be a TV holiday special but rather was thrown on to DVD since it probably wasn't worthy enough for airplay. During the viewing you can see certain parts of the story are setup to be commerical breaks.

It is an honest attempt to recapture the Fleischer style of doing Popeye the Sailor, but in some sense it just doesn't seem to have the same story telling, humor, or just feeling in it as the Originals even the Famous studio ones. The director also seems to have copied some of the scenes from the live action movie to be thier backdrops in this CGI. Overall the storylines seems pretty short and simple about the need to use Popeye by the Sea Hag to take over the world. The ending was left sort of open and as a possible set up for more. Like others have said it seems that Popeye and Bulto are friends, however in most of the earlier ones Popeye and Bulto were always friends except when they were competing for Olive's attention. All the other characters seem similar to thier personalities that we have seen through out the years.

The extras on this are pretty lacking as well. The are the interview with the actors, directors, and other staff about writing, drawing, and doing the voices. On top of that they have also added little CGI shorts from Popeye, Bulto, Olive about coming back into acting. There are also 6 Famous Stuido's Shorts from the mid 50's. The hardest part about watching those is the fact that a number of them seem to be direct transfeerings from aging film versions with out any attempt to clean them up. So at various times there are bright light spots from where the camera lense had started to burn the film. At other times the sound either drops off to a whisper or goes up to screaming loud. This is alright, but I would really look for it at your bargin bin at a local discount store. Rather then paying the USD$15-20 that they seem to ask for this.

First, I am extremely happy that SOMEONE is interested in putting out new Popeye, since WB and King Features can't agree to put out the Fleischer Popeyes on DVD for Popeye's 75th Anniversary, this is the next best thing.
The animation is great, and is really, in some bizzare way, similar to the Fleischer cartoons' animation (if only Popeye's mouth didn't move when he muttered). The only character that looked wrong was Bluto, who has his eyes open, which is something that rarely happens in the Fleischers.

Popeye the Sailor himself is wonderfully animated and his voice is good (it's best when Popeye starts talking under his breath). The voice isn't perfect, but we'll have to take what we can get.

Olive Oyl's voice is all wrong. It's a good voice, but not for Olive. She acts and looks right, though.

Everything about Swee Pea is the same as the original, it's too bad Swee Pea is the character they could easily decide not to use, if they needed one less character.

Bluto's voice is wonderful, but Popeye and Bluto are friends. It's not as bad as it sounds, though. They don't really ACT like friends (Popeye says they are friends in it, but they argue through the entire show). Contrary to something another reviewer said, Popeye and Bluto DO fight a little, at the beginning (you don't see it because they're inside a ball of smoke). If Bluto had been a little less supportive of Popeye and Popeye had not said they were friends, it would have been OK.

Wimpy was great. Just like Wimpy.

Poopdeck Pappy was great also, his voice was much closer to the original than Popeye's.

The Sea Hag, the voice is very bland, but the sea hag remains kind of creepy.

Just a few mistakes, but doesn't EVERY movie have mistakes?

P.S.: They say there are four classic cartoons on the bonus features section. There are four cartoons, but 'classic' is debatable. If only Warner Brothers and King Features could agree to put Goonland, Popeye the Sailor meets Sinbad the Sailor, The Adventures of Popeye and Shiver Me Timbers on this set, that would have been a more appropriate four.

My kids didn't even like this. Granted, they have been overexposed to the Fleischer cartoons. But as I watched it, I could only think of how one minute of an old B and W one was better than this whole movie. The makers were doomed from the start, because those originals are just pure gold.
The other problem, and main difference with this movie from the old ones, is that it had a "message". And a notable lack of senseless cartoon violence. Gone is the old back and forth fighting of Popeye and Bluto. Now they are friends. Sheesh...They might have pulled this off if they'd stuck to the formula.

I love this new cartoon movie! The computer animation is good, not up to the quality of PIXAR. Evenso, the movie is great. The characters harken back to the 1930's in appearance and personality. I think Olive Oyl is the absolute best of the characters in this movie. The movie people really captured her.
I am glad to see the Sailorman back in action!

E.C. Segar's comic strip hero, Popeye the Sailor Man, comes to life once again for "Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy", and his return to the screen has been long overdue! Thankfully taking most of its inspiration from the classic Fleischer cartoon shorts of the 30's and 40's, "Popeye's Voyage" is an all CGI animated adventure from 2004 that was made for television airings and the direct to video market as a holiday special (running around 44 minutes long) to coincide with Popeye's 75th anniversary. The program's plot shares a similarity with the Robin Williams starring feature film of 1980 (which I personally LOVE) in that both deal with Popeye's search for his long-lost Pappy. This time, Popeye is skipping out on Christmas festivities because he senses is father is in danger somewhere. So, Popeye sets out with his First Mate, Bluto (still not the nicest guy, but a partner to Popeye here), to finally find Pappy and save him from whatever trouble lurks. Naturally, Olive joins him for the ride, intent on making sure they all have a Christmas feast together. Swee' Pea comes along too, and the always hunger Wimpy stows away in search of the hidden eats. As for that lurking danger, it's no secret that the Sea Hag is the villain attempting to lure Popeye into her clutches. She is obsessed with a prophecy that grants her great power if she can get the son of the one-eyes sailor under her control.

"Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy" sometimes is packaged to play-up the holiday angle, sometimes not. Pretty clever. The story doesn't heavily involve Christmas, but we do get a taste of the festivities in both the beginning and end. However, the bulk of the film is a standard sea-fairing adventure story full of magic and action. It's actually pretty well-done, considering it is all CGI, and primitive looking CGI at that. Not the most primitive, but by today's standards. For 2004 though, this was pretty darn good for something direct-to-video. A great job is done with imitating the classic Fleischer style, and the voices are mostly great, though I didn't feel Kathy Bates sounded witchy enough. Definitely worth at least checking out if you are a Popeye fan, but only if you are not going to instantly hate it for being computer-animated. Sure, I prefer hand-drawn animation too, but this is still a decent job and an entertaining new adventure. The DVD has some nice extras. You get a good behind the scenes bit, trailers, some brief character interviews (very brief), and most notably, there are 4 "classic episodes". As in, 4 short Popeye cartoons are included. They are from the 60's TV show and not the best examples of Popeye cartoons, but at least the first is a Christmas one if that is what you're looking for: "Spinach Greetings", "Popeye in the Grand Steeple Chase", "William Won't Tell", and "Valley of the Goons". Of course, Fleischer cartoons would have been the right choice for this set, though in some ways, "Spinach Greetings" is very appropriate (as it is a Christmas short that has the Sea Hag as the villain). Recommended for a Popeye fan or to introduce someone small to the character, though if you have an interest in getting this, I hope you already own the live-action movie and at least one volume of the three Fleischer "Popeye the Sailor" collections. Now that's really great stuff!

The quest for Pappy is another fun Popeye movie. It delighted my 8 and 5 year old alike. It takes you on a voyage and answers some of our questions, including where did Sweet Pea come from, at the same time. Fun and age approiate.

Popeye was a favorite of mine growing up, and now my boys enjoy this one eyed sailor. I enjoyed watching this with them and the story line was very cute.

My kids loved this and I have to say that they did a good job with the characters. I'd love to see another one with a bit more work on the animation. Good job at an entertaining movie that keeps the spirit of the classic Popeye cartoons.