10 OF THE BEST POPEYE CARTOONS

Popeye the Sailor is an American animated series of comedy short films based on the titular comic strip character created by E. C. Segar. In 1933, Max and Dave Fleischer's Fleischer Studios adapted Segar's characters into a series of Popeye the Sailortheatrical cartoon shorts for Paramount Pictures. The plotlines in the animated cartoons tended to be simpler than those presented in the comic strips, and the characters slightly different. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie," Olive Oyl. The villain clobbers Popeye until he eats spinach, giving him superhuman strength. Thus empowered, the sailor makes short work of the villain

The Fleischer cartoons, based out of New York City, proved to be among the most popular of the 1930s, and would remain a staple of Paramount's release schedule for nearly 25 years. Paramount would take control of the studio in 1941 and rename it Famous Studios, ousting the Fleischer brothers and continuing production. The theatrical Popeye cartoons began airing on television in an altered form in 1956, at which point the Popeye theatrical series was discontinued in 1957. Popeye the Sailor in all produced 231 short subjects that were broadcast on television for numerous years, garnering enormous popularity with new generations .

These cartoons are now owned by Turner Entertainment and distributed by sister company Warner Bros.. After many years of negotiations, Warner Home Video reached an agreement with King Features Syndicate for an official DVD release of the series. Restored and unedited Popeye cartoons through 1943 were released on DVD in the late 2000s. The 1930s Popeye cartoons have been noted by historians for their urban feel, with the Fleischers pioneering an East Coast animation scene that differed highly from their counterparts. In addition to becoming iconic within mainstream public consciousness, the majority of 231 Popeye short subjects are highly acclaimed by animation historians and fans.

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1. A Haul in One (1956)

"I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam" Popeye

With Popeye & Bluto Movers on their way to her apartment, Olive has not yet finished packing. When the two partners arrive, they offer to help her as they begin to compete for her attention. With Popeye displaying greater packing skills and speed, Bluto turns his efforts to folding, but is again outdone by Popeye with the help of a vacuum cleaner. Bluto tries putting on a show of strength, but his rival demonstrates he can carry him and more. After trying unsuccesfully to get rid of the competition, the big fellow is angered to see Popeye return to action. He begins tossing Olive's belongings out the window, leaving Popeye to catch them, which he does quite effortlessly. Finally, Bluto resorts to attacking his "buddy", trapping his neck in a folding table. Popeye promptly eats his spinach and punches Bluto into woman's clothing, then ties him to the back of the van as he invites Olive to ride with him in the front. .

2. Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp (1939)

This short features Olive as a screenwriter for Surprise Pictures ("if it's a good picture, it's a Surprise"), working on a treatment of the story of Aladdin that will feature herself as the beautiful princess and Popeye as Aladdin, all the while speaking in rhyme. As she types, her adaption of Aladdin comes to life on the screen, with Popeye having to use his wits against an evil vizier who seeks to control a magic lamp inhabited by a powerful genie. After completing the script, Olive gets a termination of employment notice from the front office, which reads "Your story of Aladdin is being thrown out...and so are you! [signed] Surprise."

3. A Date to Skate (1941)

Popeye and Olive Oyl go out on a date, and they come by a skating rink. He insists they go skating but she is not convinced, especially when a little girl they see skating effortlessly falls down and cries. Still, Popeye is able to convince Olive to enter and, after some awkwardness regarding her shoe size, they both rent their skates. Olive lacks many skating skills, with Popeye patiently teaching her and then holding her as she skates, until he lets go without her noticing. At this point, Olive slides off the rink and into the street, and is threatened by traffic until she rolls into a department store to wreak havoc. Outside again, she causes a traffic jam and then holds on to the ladder of a fire truck, which speeds off with her rolling along in the back. Popeye is unable to eat his spinach as he has forgotten to bring any. He asks if anyone watching the cartoon has some spinach, upon which a member of the audience tosses him a can. Olive is now sliding down a street, but the sailor is able to catch her in his arms. She exclaims, "let's do it again!" and sings her variation on "I'm Popeye The Sailor Man"

4. Ancient Fistory (1953)

" I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." J. Wellington Wimpy

It is the Middle Ages: a Grand Ball is being held in which Princess Olive will choose her husband. At Bluto's Beanery, the owner leaves to go to the ball leaving all duties to his overworked, raggedy employee, Popeye. The latter's lamentations are ended by the appearance of his Fairy Godfather (Poopdeck Pappy), who asks for a spinach can which to turn into an anachronistic car for Popeye and then gives him princely robes.

Meanwhile, at the ball, Princess Olive trips while gracefully descending the stairs and is helped by Bluto - who also tries her crown on for size. Yet the princess is not attracted to him and seems much more interested in the newly-arrived "Cinderfella". The two men begin to fight for the fair princess, but she breaks the quarrel and chooses archery as the contest for her hand. Bluto blatantly cheats by lifting the target to achieve bullseye, then sabotages Popeye's arrow to make it go out a castle window where it gives a bovine a black eye, thus also achieving "bullseye".

The rivals then go on a duel with pistols, where not only does Bluto shoot early but does so with a cannon, firing his opponent all the way to his car chariot to be left unconscious. Olive is then harrassed by the disgusting man that wants to forcibly kiss her, and chased all through the castle as she cries "Saveth me, help!!" Popeye comes to as midnight strikes and he loses his luxury vehicle and clothes, however, this allows him to eat the contents of his former ride and gain a knight's armor. He swings a mighty fist at the predator, whose own armor remains then trap him in a stove. The townsfolk celebrate as their princess announces her betrothed, Popeye. They ride together while kissing tenderly but, as the short reaches the end, his helm visor falls on her nose. .

5. Assault and Flattery (1956)

The oft-clobbered Bluto has sued Popeye for assault and battery, and the two must appear before the hamburger-gulping Judge Wimpy - Bluto covered in bandages and using a wheelchair. He falsely states to the judge that Popeye had assaulted him and Olive Oyl, only briefly describing a portion of The Farmer and the Belle so as to give a wrong impression. He then does the same with an even more fleeting look at How Green Is My Spinach, to state that Popeye was acting like a madman. It is now Popeye's turn to recount a much-longer segment from A Balmy Swami, wherein he was humiliated by magician Bluto and Olive hypnotized, causing her to wander into a construction site and into danger - with Popeye saving the day thanks to his eating spinach. The court rules that Popeye is in the right, prompting Bluto to get rid of his fake bandages and wheelchair, using them as weapons to entrap his nemesis. The latter is able to squeeze out his spinach can, allowing him to break free and strike the perjuror with a mighty punch and then give him the look of a jailbird with the help of some paint over the big man's sailor suit .

6. Bride and Gloom  (1954)

It is the day before Popeye and Olive's wedding, and she sees him off as it is getting late. While Popeye leaves walking on air and absent-mindedly kisses a police officer, Olive prepares to go to sleep. She dreams of their getting married by the judge of the peace, with the sailor groom resorting to spinach to get the courage to say 'I do'. She then dreams of their honeymoon and of giving birth to Popeye's children (unlike in Wimmin Is a Myskery, only twins and first seen as babies, likely to distinguish them from the already-known Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and Pupeye). Olive then dreams of the boys reaching their fourth birthday (and blowing the whole cake into her mouth) followed by much destruction around the house and abuse towards their mother. After an impromptu trapeze act ends with Olive thrown into a garden fountain, her attempt to discipline her children has her captured by 'indians' and nearly burned to death. This causes Olive to finally wake up and violently reject the tuxedoed Popeye who had come for his bride. .

7. Customers Wanted (1939)

"I ain't no tailor but I know what suits me." Popeye

Both Popeye and Bluto are running penny arcades at an amusement park, competing for J. Wellington Wimpy's business. The moving picture machines show him scenes from the previous cartoons, with different versions for either of the owners. Popeye and Bluto end up fighting, so Wimpy gets the idea to host "the Fight of the Century" and profit from the incoming waves of spectators for the fight .

8. Fright to the Finish (1954)

It is Halloween night, and Olive is reading ghost stories to Popeye and Bluto. Both men want to have alone time with Olive, with Popeye wondering why Bluto has not gone home yet and Bluto wondering what to do to get rid of Popeye. Bluto decides to stage various pranks (a headless man, an animated skeleton, and a sheet-over-balloon ghost) to scare Olive and Popeye. He pins the blame on Popeye, whom Olive kicks out of her house, and then Bluto goes to comfort her.

Popeye gets back at Bluto by going into Olive's bedroom through her window, and using a jar of vanishing cream to make himself invisible. He scares both Olive and Bluto (mainly Bluto) and the latter eventually runs out of Olive's house. Popeye reveals himself and Olive kisses him for saving her, getting red lipstick all over his face. Popeye turns to the audience and says, "Loves them ghosks!"

9. Gopher Spinach (1954)

Popeye brings out a new batch of spinach sprouts, which he treats like babies, to be planted on a patch in his garden. As he admires the whole plantation he has of such vegetables, they begin to disappear, sucked down into the ground. He soon unearths a small gopher, telling it to leave his spinach alone, but the critter uses ash from Popeye's pipe to break free from the sailor's grasp. There follows a hunt for the vermin that includes baiting it with a carrot but ensnaring a lawnmower instead. The gopher even tosses a barrel of nails on the machine's path, which soon has Popeye nailed to a shed by his clothes. After the rodent uses the machine to help pick out the sprouts, Popeye tries inundating its tunnel with a hose, which only works to loosen all the plants. Saying "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more", Popeye gets a shotgun and chases the animal out of his property until he has it cornered. Moved by the gopher's bravely facing its fate, Popeye throws the gun away - to hit a bull on the head. Watching the beast's relentless attack on the man who spared it, the gopher eats a spinach sprout and easily defeats the bull. Popeye and the rodent are later seen collaborating on the planting of the spinach.

10. Greek Mirthology (1954)

In a recurring theme from the animated Popeye cartoons, the sailor character readies to serve his nephews Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye, and Pupeye a good helping of spinach for their lunch, only for them to declare "But-we-hate-spinach!" and set their plates aside, to replace them with ice cream cones. Popeye sucks the contents of their cones with his pipe and replaces it for portions of spinach. He says they should eat the greens if they wanted to be as strong as their great-great-great-great-great-uncle, the mythical Hercules. This piques their interest, so Popeye proceeds to tell them the story of how the usage of spinach in the family began.

As the caring uncle relates the tale, we enter a faux-ancient world in flashback, where we see Hercules (who looks very much like Popeye) drive along on his two-horse chariot. In order to save a bird that has fallen from a tree, he does not eat spinach, but rather takes out a cluster of garlic and smells it. He gains a boost of strength that allows him to give the tree a better height for the little bird. Soon afterwards, a big bully (resembling Bluto) arrives on elephant-back and wreaks havoc upon the city in his intent to challenge the famed Hercules. The hero accepts the feats-of-strength challenge, with the enemy proceeding to lift up his elephantine mount - only to be lifted himself *and* his pet by the garlic sniffer. They attempt a tug of war across a cliff, with the bully resorting to cheating, until the scent of garlic lets Hercules slam the two sides of the mountain together. He is then punched down the mountain to crash against a statue and, before he can use garlic again, Bluto's forefather neutralizes its potent aroma by dousing it with chlorophyll. Next, the weakened Hercules is sent flying mouth-first into a spinach field. Acknowledging its empowering qualities, he munches on, gains muscles upon muscles and strikes his adversary, whose armor is made into a trash can - with him caught inside.