Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1

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DVD details

Actor: Popeye the Sailor
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Black & White, Box set, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 416 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-07-31
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1

DVD Review: Good alternative entertainment
Summary: 5 Stars

I'm glad that with all the Star Wars and Play Station my kids watch and play they also get a big kick out of something almost 100 years old! The Popeye episodes are very short (some seem like 4 minutes!) but it keeps their attention. Popeye cartoons are full of action, and contrary to all other kids cartoons today, they have almost no dialog; some episodes have maybe like 10 words spoken in the whole thing. Popeye is more about doing things rather than saying things. I give it 5 stars because, for being so old, I mean these people did this all by hand (no computer - I'd like to see today's cartoon makers try that!) the graphics are clever and creative. My kids are in the other room watching it now and I can hear them giggling. It's almost like a history lesson for them.

DVD Review: Well, Blow Me Down -- This Is a Popeye Lover's Dream Come True!
Summary: 5 Stars

I've been a big Popeye fan since I was a kid. Not the cheesy cartoons that were cheaply produced by King Feature Studios in the 1960's, but the classic 1930's B&W cartoons from the Fleischer Studios that were shown on Tom Hatten's program in the early 1960's. With the exception of a brief renaissance of these classic gems in the mid 1970's (and -- gasp! --colorized versions of these on the Cartoon Network), these cartoons in their original form have remained in oblivion since then. For a number of years I had been searching online for a set -- ANY set -- of these classic gems. Thanks to this wonderful compilation, my search has finally come to an end!

This set has not only met, but far exceeded my expectations. Not only have they been lovingly restored by Warner Brothers, but the sound and print quality are exceptional, showcasing the full, fluid animation of the characters (which were on the same caliber as early Disney and Warner Brothers shorts), and the spectacular hand-drawn background scenes that worked in perspective instead of a flat background scene repeating over and over, as was the norm for limited-animation cartoons. And they even restored the original Paramount logos on the leader and trailer!

Even though many of the story lines were based on the same premise as the later Popeye cartoons -- Popeye and Bluto (or Brutus in the 60's cartoons) -- fighting over Olive Oyl; Bluto trying to harm Olive Oyl; Popeye eating his spinach and beating up Bluto to rescue Olive Oyl -- there were a lot more sight gags and plays on words than in the later versions. Also Popeye's ad-libbed mutterings under his breath only add to the hilarity. Notice the intricate timing in the construction zone while Olive Oyl, Popeye and Bluto are "sleepwalking" in "A Dream Walking"; the factory scenes as Popeye and Olive Oyl try to rescue Swee'Pea in "Lost and Foundry," and the clever use of spinach cans in "The Spinach Roadster." Additionally, there were other cartoons such as "Lost and Foundry," "Spinach Follies" and "Brotherly Love" that deviated away from the basic storyline, and these Fleischer cartoons in general featured a lot more song and music. Listen and laugh out loud at Olive Oyl's solo rendition of "Why Am I So Beautiful" on "Morning, Noon and Night Club."

Even though these cartoons would be considered "politically incorrect" and violent by today's standards (and, to some degree, were back in their day as well), they hark back to more innocent times when people laughed more easily at other people's expenses and weren't as uptight about offending certain groups. Popeye's abominable table manners while eating his spinach only adds to the hilarity and certainly didn't warp me as a kid. Thankfully, Warner Brothers has added a disclaimer to the beginning of this set warning viewers of this so as to avoid any surprises.

The icing on the cake is the special features section, including Koko the Clown, Felix the Cat (the hilarious 1920's versions, not the cheesy redo's of the 1960's) and some full-color, two-reel cartoons, such as "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor" and "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves." Even though the picture jumped a little in the "Sinbad" cartoon, that's just a minor flaw compared to the superb quality of the rest of the cartoon.

For you longtime Popeye fans, enjoy this trip down memory lane, and for those of you who have been exposed to these gems in their original B&W glory for the first time, welcome to a fun and, hopefully, entertaining addiction.

DVD Review: Almost perfect!
Summary: 5 Stars

As others have commented, this set is just about perfect. The transfers are unbelievably clear for the age of the source material and the sound is well done too. Some of the animation is better than anything you've ever seen, including today's CGI animation. The color two-reelers are the stuff of animation legend, and perfectly presented. The documentaries are very well done, especially those that cover the birth of film animation.

The only issue I have is the same as many others have. Maybe the three giggling commentators on some of the shorts have the credentials to make them "experts", but you'd never know it by their inane patter. They're too busy having fun among themselves to tell us much of interest.

DVD Review: Popeye is great, as always!!!
Summary: 5 Stars

We recently ordered volume 1 of the Popeye cartoon collection and can hardly wait to order volumes 2 and 3!! We are enjoying these remastered cartoons as much as we enjoyed them as kids! This generation is missing out on lots of fun if they miss this collection! If you are in the baby boomers group this collection is a must for your video library! If you loved Popeye and all the gang as a kid, we know you will enjoy them at least as much now! The music in these old cartoons is incredible! Get it now!

DVD Review: Great
Summary: 5 Stars

Others have researched this title. All I will add is I remember watching Popeye. The tunes on this first collection where not what I remember. They are better. They are black and white but the the quality is superb. The video is super clean and the audio is the best considering the age of these shorts. I started watching Popeye in the early sixties and I guess these were pulled from syndication before I came along. Imagine my surprise at getting the chance to see these shorts as Popeye came of age along with the art of animation. Quite a treat for me anyway.

The Fleischer Studios produced some really nice stuff. Beating Disney to some eye catching tricks. Not that Disney didn't keep up. These shorts are not as PC as Disney's stuff which makes them all the more engaging.

My HAT is off to Warner Brothers for a first class restoration job. You guys are the best!

Description of Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1

The plot lines in the animated cartoons tended to be simple. A villain, usually Bluto, makes a move on Popeye's "sweetie", Olive Oyl. The bad guy then clobbers Popeye until Popeye eats spinach, which gives him superhuman strength. The fundamental character of Popeye, paralleling that of another 1930's icon, Superman, also invokes traditional values possessing uncompromising moral standards and resorting to force only when threatened, or when he "can't stands no more"! The first volume includes 58 (7-10 min) theatrical blk & white shorts from 1933 to 1938 and 2 two-reeler 20 minute color cartoons. (Notable shorts: * POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR was an Academy Award??? Nominee. Betty Boop appears in a cameo as a hula dancer in the 1st short "Popeye The Sailor")

DVD Features:
Documentaries
Featurette
Music Only Track
Other

In 1933, a squint-eyed sailor with outsized forearms danced a hula with Betty Boop--and began one of the great series in American cartoon history. Popeye had made his debut in Elzie Segar's comic strip "Thimble Theater" four years earlier, and the jump to animation only increased his popularity: by 1938, he rivaled Mickey Mouse. During the '30s, when Disney was creating lushly colored, realistic animation, the Fleischer Studio presented a gritty black-and-white world that was ideally suited to the bizarre misadventures of Popeye, Olive, and Bluto. The animators ignored anatomy, with hilarious results: Olive Oyl's rubbery arms wrap around her body like twin anacondas, and her legs often end up in knots. Exactly what Popeye and Bluto saw in this scrawny, capricious inamorata was never clear, but they fought over her endlessly. As the series progressed, the artists grew more sophisticated: in "Blow Me Down" (1933), Olive does some clumsy steps to "The Mexican Hat Dance;" one year later, in "The Dance Contest," she and Popeye perform deft spoofs of tango, tap, and apache steps. The stories are little more than strings of gags linked by a theme: Popeye and Bluto as rival artists; Popeye and Olive as nightclub dancers or caf? owners. But the minimal stories allow the artists to fill the screen with jokes, over-the-top fights, and muttered asides from the characters. Cartoon fans have waited for years for the "Popeye" shorts to appear on disc, and the Popeye the Sailor 1933-1938 was worth waiting for. The transfers were made from beautifully clear prints with only minimal dust and scratches. The set is loaded with extras, including eight "Popumentaries," numerous commentaries, and 16 silent cartoons. It's a set to treasure. (Unrated, suitable for ages 10 and older: violence, tobacco use, ethnic stereotypes) --Charles Solomon

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