Here’s the opening shot from the Popeye cartoon Pleased to Meet Cha! (1935). The music opening the short is “Love is Just Around the Corner.”
Olive’s living room, followed by one of a couple of overhead shots in the cartoon. The soundtrack plays another song from a Paramount feature, “Love Thy Neighbor.”
Fleischer homes have fish mounted on walls.
An angular perspective of the living room. Who did layouts on these cartoons, anyway?
Lamp posts in Fleischer cartoons always seem to sag. I also like how the little store is across the thinnest street in the world from Olive’s house.
The opening credits include the ship’s doors revealing the titles and the fight scene has Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which usually mean a good cartoon. This one isn’t the strongest, though. And someone will have to explain why Olive is worth fighting over.
Willard Bowsky and Hal Walker are the credited animators.
Actually this has always been one of favorites of the original Fleischer Popeyes, perhaps because it is one of the purest, most generic entries. No one is trying accomplish a major task, there is no exotic setting, no unusual occupations, no special supporting characters, no odd plot twist or situation comedy premise. Just Popeye and Bluto fighting over Olive Oyl. In her house. Which, despite the lovely backgrounds you show, can suddenly produce 20 foot ceilings when and if the gag demands it. Besides... this was one of the first 16mm films I ever owned. So there's that.
ReplyDeleteBowsky, Dave Fleischer and the writing staff were taking a lighter touch with the Popeye stories by this time, but you kind of wish this cartoon had been done about 4-5 months later, after Jack Mercer took over handling Popeye's voice, because while William Costello was allowed to ad-lib here (and in other 1934-35 efforts), he never says anything that's really funny, and usually just mumble-brags or comments about what's on screen.
ReplyDeleteIf you looked like Popeye (no teeth, gouged-out eye) or Bluto (fat, bad-tempered, probably not the best hygiene), you couldn't be too fussy.
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