After last year’s meaty volume 1 which featured sixty cartoons from our favorite spinach-eating sailor, WB cuts round two in half presenting 31 shorts but keeping a bevy of extras. Despite the trimming, this is yet another great collection from WB who really knows how to present the icons in their catalog.
And make no mistake, ‘Popeye’ is an icon – to this day, the pipe and anchor tattoo would prove instantly recognizable to almost everybody. After 70 years of endless reruns of the cartoons, an eighties revival cartoon, comics, video games and even a not as bad as its reputation live-action film from Robert Altman who cast Robin Williams in his first film role as the titular sailor, our forearm-mutated friend lives on.
WB has thankfully rescued ‘Popeye’ from the shoddy open-license releases that plague the bargain bin at Wal-Mart and remastered and cleaned up the episodes with the reverence they deserve.
This second volume of releases spread over two discs presents another helping of the usual Popeye misadventures as he goes toe to toe with frequent nemesis Bluto, usually over the affections of string-bean limbed Olive Oyl.
The set does provide a few new elements that became mainstays in the Popeye universe as well as offering up another fantasy derived Technicolor two-reeler ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ which runs twice as long as his B&W offerings and has become a favorite of Popeye aficionados.
‘The Jeep’ is Popeye’s first cartoon to introduce the bulbous-nosed magical dog like-thing (with the rather cryptic name of ‘Jeep’…) that always proves to be helpful despite a few ‘runarounds’. Also, ‘Goonland’ presents a new ‘Popeye’ twofer with both the Goons and Poopdeck Pappy making their introductions. Poopdeck Pappy is a particularly satisfying addition as father/son issues and competitiveness is always an enduring concept.
The full list of cartoons on DVD 1 are as follows: I Yam Love Sick - Plumbing Is A "Pipe” - The Jeep (Commentary by Historian Glen Mitchell) - Bulldozing The Bull (Commentary by writer Paul Dini) - Mutiny Ain't Nice (Commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford) - Goonland (Commentary by Historian Glen Mitchell) - A Date To Skate (Commentary with historian Michael Barrier with audio from animator Gordon Sheehan) - Cops Is Always Right (Commentary with historian Michael Barrier with audio from animator Dave Tendlar) - Customers Wanted (Commentary by director Eric Goldberg) - Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp - Technicolor Two-Reeler - Leave Well Enough Alone - Wotta Nightmare (Commentary by Historian Jerry Beck) - Ghosks Is The Bunk - Hello How Am I (Commentary by animator Mark Kausler) - It's The Natural Thing To Do (Commentary with historian Michael Barrier with audio from animator Arnold Gillespie)
The full list of cartoons on DVD 2 are as follows: Never Sock A Baby - Shakespearian Spinach - Females Is Fickle - Stealin Ain't Honest (Commentary by director Bob Jacques) - Me Feelins Is Hurt - Onion Pacific - Wimmin Is A Myskery - Nurse-Mates - Fightin Pals - Doin Impossikible Stunts - Wimmin Hadn't Oughta Drive - Puttin On The Act (Commentary by historian Daniel Goldmark) - Popeye Meets William Tell (Commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford with audio of animator Shamus Culhane) - My Pop, My Pop - With Poopdeck Pappy - Popeye Presents Eugene, The Jeep
All cartoons are presented in full-frame with transfers that I imagine are as good as their going to get. There is still visible wear but they are comparatively quite clean with soundtracks to match. The mono audio is clear without hiss or static and Popeye’s mumblings are easier to hear than ever. English subtitles prove a nice addition on this point too as well.
Special features are included on both discs with specific shorts getting audio commentaries (pointed out above in the cartoon listings). ‘Popeye Popumentaries’ show up on both discs with disc one getting ‘Eugene the Jeep: A Breed of his Own’ and ‘Poopdeck Pappy: The Nasty Old Man’ detailing these new characters and ‘O-Re-Mi: Mae Questel and the Voices of Olive Oyl’ which gives a look into the woman who most effectively provided Oyl’s rather grating voice.
Disc Two gets ‘Men of Spinach and Steel’ which looks at Popeye and Superman and the contrasts as both were animated by the Fleischers.
We get a 45-minute doc ‘Out of the Inkwell: The Fleischer Story’ which takes a look at the Fleishers’ career. A comprehensive, interesting doc narrated by Carl Reiner, we get interviews from everybody from Max Fleisher’s son Richard (who went on to a successful Hollywood career himself directing among others ’20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’) to Leonard Maltin.
It’s interesting to learn of the intense rivalry between Max Fleisher and Walt Disney and how the rougher New York setting for Fleisher studios led to a more urban, adult take on animation versus the sunny, California location of Disney.
We get two extra Fleisher shorts ‘Paramount Presents Popular Science’ and ‘The Mechanical Monsters’, the second of their Superman cartoons. Miscellaneous stuff includes an early Max Fleisher Art Gallery, a storyboard reel, a pencil test, a Popeye voice actor Jack Mercer interview, an audio-only commercial recording of ‘I’m Popeye the Sailor Man’. A handful of trailers finish off the set.
Another great set from WB, I’m only curious as to why WB split up volume two and volume three (already announced) as two-disc sets considering volume 1 was 4-discs. I can only assume they may want to save the war-time cartoons for their own set…No matter, for fans of the character and animation in general, you can’t do much better than picking up these sets. Great animation, genuine laughs and the rougher nature of ‘Popeye’ provided a nice alternative to Disney and there’s a surplus of extras to dig into for animation buffs. Highly recommended.
Popeye the Sailor: 1938-1940, Vol. 2 is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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