Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Format: Animated, Black & White, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Vci Video
• DVD Release Date: May 25, 2004
• Run Time: 258 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001WTWLK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,992 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #3 in

  Movies & TV > Kids & Family > Characters & Series > Popeye

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Popeye first appeared in a 1929 daily comic strip called Thimble Theater by Elsie Segar and caught the country by storm. Popeye had nothing but his wits, a funny way of talking, and a crush on Olive Oyl. His fame eventually caught the attention of the Max Fleischer Studio and by 1933 Popeye had made his big screen debut in a Betty Boop short entitled Popeye The Sailor. The WWII years brought change to the spinach munching sailorman. In 1942, Popeye's uniform changed permanently to Navy whites and the same year, Paramount took over the production studio from the Fleischer brothers and renamed it Famous Studios, which continued to produce some superb entries in the Popeye series. In today's politically correct cartoon landscape of talking sponges and ninja turtles, Popeye is a welcome reminder of a simpler era. This special Double-DVD Collector's Edition contains 34 Popeye cartoons from the Fleischer and Famous Studios period, including the three Fleischer 'Color Specials' Sinbad ('36), Ali Baba ('37) and Aladdin ('39) -- some of the very best ever produced. All cartoons have been digitally restored and remastered from the best 35mm and 16mm film materials available. Bonus Features: Commentary by noted animation historian Jerry Beck| Popeye Classic Movie Poster Gallery| Special Collector's Edition "Liner Notes" Booklet written by Jerry Beck| Animated Motion Menus. Specs: 1-DVD5 + 1-DVD9; Dolby Digital Mono; 258 minutes; Color/B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1936-57; SRP - $19.99.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 69 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Waaal, blow me down! A worthy Popeye DVD at latsk!, May 24, 2004

By	Laughing Gravy (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This "75th Anniversary Collector's Edition" 2-disc set of POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN classic cartoons is well worth having, at least for the first disc.

Casual fans may not know that there has never been an "official" release of the classic Popeye cartoons, on VHS or DVD, in the history of home video. The best the one-eyed sailor's fans could ever get were either iffy bootleg collections or a handful of murky public-domain short subjects.

VCI's set is also comprised of PD shorts, but some work has been done to them and the package has been treated with the respect it deserves (except for the simple and rather disappointing cover, which belies the quality within. Too bad Leslie Cabarga - a cartoonist and author of "The Fleischer Story" - wasn't brought in to do a better one).

The stars of the package are the three Technicolor 2-reelers created by Max and Dave Fleischer in the later 1930s, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR, POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA's FORTY THIEVES, and ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP. These are three of the grandest, most colorful, and most imaginative cartoons of the golden era, and they've been restored and color-corrected and look - while not perfect - at least better than they have in a long while. As usual, ALADDIN is in somewhat worse shape than the first two, but it still looks better than I've ever seen it before. These cartoons feature some of the Fleischers' finest animation and deepest and most creative backgrounds (including 3D effects). SINDBAD in particular is a favorite.

In addition, six other Fleischer Popeyes are included, all from the late `30s B&W series. Titles include I'M IN THE ARMY NOW, LITTLE SWEE' PEA (another favorite), I NEVER CHANGES MY ALTITUDE, PANELESS WINDOW WASHER, DATE TO SKATE, and CUSTOMERS WANTED. They look varying degrees of good, but again, better than they have in many years.

The second disc contains 25 Popeye adventures from the Famous Studios years; ME MUSICAL NEPHEWS (1942) is in B&W, while the rest are in Technicolor and represent the years 1952-1957. Frankly, I have no interest in these things. They look fine, though (the B&W one is the worst), but they make my skin crawl. BIG BAD SINBAD (1952) gets most of its footage from the earlier Fleischer 2-reeler (without credit), and even worse, POPEYE'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY (1954) uses footage from later, and lesser, Famous Studios offerings (although it does have a cartoon Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, and Martin & Lewis offering tributes to Popeye). I don't see any reason to list (or watch) these cartoons, but they are there if you want them.

Cartoon fan supreme Jerry Beck contributed to the package, and provides commentary on the 3 Technicolor Fleischers, and the package liner notes. Frankly, I didn't find his commentary all that fascinating (sorry, Mr. Beck), but casual fans might.

The SRP is $19.99 and it's worth it. On the other hand, there's another 75th Anniversary Popeye DVD set out there, this one from Koch. It's got 3 discs and 85 cartoons, all from the TV era of the 1960s. It's $30, and I wouldn't buy it for a tenth of that, so there ya are.

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor execution by VCI...these need a studio release, September 14, 2004

By	Yarby "yarby" (Medina, OH United States) - See all my reviews

VCI should be commended for their attempt, if not their execution. The Fleischer cartoons look pretty good, especially considering their age. Certain points in the black and white cartoons don't have enough contrast, but the two-reel color cartoons look great. I had no problems viewing the cartoons on disc one (which, fortunately, contains the most important cartoons...the Fleischer Studio releases). However, the Famous Studio cartoons on disk two are riddled with transfer problems. There are numerous places where the screen goes blank, the picture pixilates, or the picture flickers. These are issues that are a result of transfer, not of source, so they are inexcusable.

Another problem with the set...when selecting individual episodes, the DVD continues to the next episode instead of returning to the menu, at the completion of the selected episode.

If you want a cheap way to see some old Fleischer Popeyes without any added sound effects (as on the Good Times release) this is probably the way to go.

Just don't set your expectations too high.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best there is until King Features and WB come to terms., August 5, 2004

By	G. Flinn (Flint MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

All of the Fleischer/Famous Popeye cartoons which are in the public domain are in this two CD set. This is the best Popeye collection available until King Features (which owns the rights to the Popeye characters) and Warner Bros. (which owns the Fleischer/Famous Popeye cartoons) finally make a deal to release the Fleischer/Famous Popeye cartoons on DVD. Warner has been restoring the cartoons in anticipation of this.