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120 of 142 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
I Yam What I Yam? Or Yam I?, March 11, 2004
There is this interesting tendency on this site to rate products before they are even released. Thus, certain people who only have a very vague idea about the product they are rating, tend to give their opinion that is based on their distant and very subjective memories or some very questionable reasoning. Having said that, most of us who are rating this product have no idea about the actual audio-visual quality of this Popeye release. Good picture/sound, correct title cards, etc. will certainly mean an extra star for this product. However, since this DVD collection has not been released yet, all we can do is rate the actual content. And, that's where the trouble begins, because all of us approach these cartoons from a different perspective.Sure enough, it is nice to see an 8-hour Popeye collection being released on DVD. And, sure enough, it is great to see that the cartoons that are being presented here are NOT a handful of the public-domain 1950s Famous Studios shorts that have been released over and over and over again throughout the years. Having said that, it is important to realize that the King Features Syndicate shorts on this DVD collection, in terms of the quality of drawings, gags, and animation in general, are incomparable to the theatrically-released Famous Studios animated films from the 1940s, let alone the glorious black and white Popeye shorts produced by the now-legendary Fleischer Studios from 1933 until 1942. Fleischer Studios output from the 1930s could be compared to the best of Disney's work from the era. The quality of the animated detail, the energetic humour, the whimsical plasticity, the unprecedented self-consciousness (accomplished through the irreverently zany New York-style of animation + improvisations in the dialogue) and the shocking splendor of three-dimensionality achieved through the innovative Stereoptical process, made Fleischer Popeye shorts from the 1930s some of the BEST animated cartoons ever made. Comparing them to King Features shorts is like comparing Leonardo da Vinci's paintings to an averagely talented first-grader's sketches drawn on a low-quality piece of paper during a boring biology lesson. Still, some King Features shorts were OK, since they introduced some of Elzie Segar's original characters not seen in the Fleischer/Famous shorts. Some of these films also used interesting plot devices (dir: G. Ray). Most of the 220 cheaply-produced TV shorts, however, were simply horrendous (i.e. cartoons by J. Kinney). The best from the bunch were produced by Paramount Cartoon Studios and featured music by Winston Sharples. Unfortunately, this collection is NOT a compilation of the best of King Features shorts. I cannot end this review without referring to the astonishingly ignorant review by the user keithf222. Since he chose to quote (and often misquote and de-contextualize) other users' comments, let's see how we can comment on his fascinating observations. He says: "OK, maybe the title of this DVD is a little misleading" Nope, not a little misleading. The 75th Anniversary Collection is supposed to celebrate 75 years of Popeye (the sailorman's best and, if you want, his worst). Instead of 75 years of Popeye, we get 1 year of Popeye. Instead of the best, we get some of the worst. "But give us a break, will you? I doubt there are even a thousand people around the country that know the difference between Fleischer and King Studios Popeye cartoons, let alone care enough to differentiate." That is like saying: Since most people today don't know much about Godard's "Breathless," let's instead release the inferior American remake with Richard Gere. Who cares? There isn't enough people around the country who care enough to differentiate..."Ignorance is the bliss" is what this user is telling us.
"The Fleischer cartoons are fine, well animated shorts and sure, they're 'classic.' But we all know that they'll be released eventually, so all the cartoon geeks out there will be satisfied in time." The Fleischer Popeye cartoons have never been released on VHS and/or DVD. How do you know that they will be released eventually? King Features Syndicate has been blocking the release of these shorts for years now (they own the copyright for the "Thimble Theater" characters). There is a hope (since Warner Bros and KFS are negotiating and restoring the films), but the big studios + KFS have been unfair to the Fleischers' cartoons featuring our favourite one-eyed, pipe-tooting swab for years and years now...We have all become very skeptical when it comes to this issue... "These cartoons are all fun, and the supposedly unforgivable mistakes are hardly noticeable unless you are really wasting your time looking for them. A kid will be unlikely to notice or care if they do... and who were these made for anyway? For Pete's sake guys, they're only cartoons after all! Can we get a life, or what?" Of course, a kid will not care about the quality of drawing, animation, or mistakes...A kid won't even care much about differences between a public-domain, unrestored VHS tape and a remastered DVD compilation. But, you, my friend, obviously have no idea what words "75th Anniversary Collector's Edition" connote, do you?
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DVD ~ Artist Not Provided
DVD ~ Artist Not Provided
DVD ~ Artist Not Provided
DVD ~ Popeye the Sailor
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