The All New Popeye Hour: "Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras"

Premiered December 17, 1979.

Popeye (Jack Mercer) and Olive Oyl (Marilyn Schreffler) are watching a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans.  They’re planning to attend a costume contest after the parade. 

They’re planning to attend a costume contest after the parade.  The sailor man says he enjoys Mardi Gras, but he worries their nemesis Bluto (Allan Melvin) will show up and mess up everything, like he always does.  Olive suggests they get Mardi Gras costumes, so Bluto won’t recognize them.

Sure enough, Bluto shows up disguised in a gorilla suit.  He throws Popeye up in air and takes his place by Olive’s side.  She thinks it’s Popeye dressed as a gorilla.  Popeye quickly returns and dispatches of Bluto. 

Bluto eventually decides to encase Popeye in quick-drying liquid iron.  This upsets Popeye, since Olive was counting on him to escort her to the costume contest. 

With his rival (seemingly) out of the picture, Bluto puts on a “Popeye” costume and escorts Olive Oyl to the contest.

Can Popeye escape from his liquid-iron prison?  Will Bluto ruin their Mardi Gras celebration? 

J.A. Morris says:

This isn’t a great episode and the plot is rather thin.  However, I was a regular viewer of The All New Popeye Hour when it was new, so this was a nice opportunity to revisit a childhood favorite.  If you’ve seen a Popeye cartoon, you know the drill: Popeye and Bluto compete for Olive Oyl’s attention, stuff happens, etc.  Only this time their competition takes place at a Mardi Gras parade. 

This episode features some funny visuals, such as Bluto’s Popeye costume, and Bluto turning Popeye into a “Popeye balloon.” 

This series might not have been the best Popeye cartoon, but the voice actors were top-notch.  Jack Mercer voiced Popeye, a role he’d been performing since 1935. 

Veteran character actor Allan Melvin provided the voice of Bluto in this series.  Melvin did a lot of cartoon voice work, but he’s probably best remembered for his roles on The Phil Silvers Show, Gomer Pyle:USMC, The Brady Bunch and All In The Family. 

"Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras" is a short, fun Mardi Gras-themed episode.  There aren’t many episodes, specials or movies that focus on Fat Tuesday, so it’s always nice to discover one.  It’s not great, but it’s recommended, especially for Popeye fans.

J.A. Morris’ rating:

2 and a half King Cakes.

RigbyMel says: 

As a Saturday morning cartoon devotee, The All-New Popeye Hour was my introduction to Popeye as a child.   In the manner of lots of Hanna Barbera produced animation, it's pretty cheap looking from an adult perspective, but it's generally enjoyable, plus (as noted by J.A.)  the voice talent is great.

Wimpy makes a cameo as a balloon vendor in the short. 

"Merry Madness at the Mardi Gras" is a harmless, family-friendly romp around New Orleans.   I am not sure I remember seeing this particular episode as a child, but it may well have been some folks' introduction to the concept of the Mardi Gras.   Some of the physics (even if it's cartoon physics), bugged me -- wouldn't liquid iron be scaldingly  hot, for example?    Also, poor Olive Oyl doesn't come off too well in this,  Bluto's disguises are pretty darned easy to see through.

Maybe her Mardi Gras mask was obscuring her vision?

It's short and silly,  but as there aren't too many Mardi Gras themed cartoons out there, it's amusing enough.  Not a classic, but worth seeing at least once. 

RigbyMel's rating:

2 King Cakes

Popeye The Sailor: "Patriotic Popeye"

Premiered May 10, 1957.

"Fireworks is  too dangerous!  I'm gonna see that you haves a safe and sane 4th of July!"
-Popeye

On Independence Day, Popeye the sailor (Jack Mercer) is tending his garden.  His nephews (also voiced by Mercer) are excited about celebrating the occasion by setting off firecrackers.

Popeye forbids this says it's too dangerous and locks the fireworks up in a shed.  The nephews accuse their uncle of spoiling their 4th of July.

Popeye is determined that they have a "safe and sane" 4th of July and suggests some alternate ways for the boys to celebrate, like playing baseball, grilling hot dogs and going for a drive in the country.  However, every time Popeye turns his back, the nephews attempt to get the fireworks out of the shed.

The boys eventually get the fireworks and predictable pyrotechnic chaos ensues.   The nephews' actions place them and their surroundings in danger.  Can Popeye save his nephews?

J.A. Morris says:
As we've said here before, there isn't a lot of 4th of July-themed programming out there, so it's always nice to find stuff like "Patriotic Popeye."

Popeye says he wants the boys to have a "safe and sane 4th of July."  This is a reference to a movement that started in Cleveland in 1908 in the wake of several fireworks-related accidents that caused injuries and deaths.  Cleveland passed laws that made it a "safe and sane" city  which prohibited firework use and their ordinances served as a model for other cities.  So you might say "Patriotic Popeye" is PSA about fireworks safety.

Popeye certainly comes off as a killjoy here, but the nephews' antics ultimately prove him right.  This short contains some nice animation, such as this bit where a swarm of hornets forms an eye:

Like most Popeye cartoons, "Patriotic Popeye" does feature (SPOILER ALERT!) some spinach-enhanced heroics from the sailor man.

A note about the nephews:
Popeye's four nephews first appeared in a 1942 cartoon called "Pip-eye, Pup-eye, Poop-eye an' Peep-eye," which were the nephews names.  "Patriotic Popeye" only features two of these four and doesn't name them.  I'm not sure what happened to the other two.

"Patriotic Popeye" isn't the best Popeye short ever but it's fun and filled with fireworks, roman candles and hot dogs, it's full of 4th of July imagery.  It's worth watching, especially recommended for hardcore fans of Popeye the sailor.

J.A. Morris' rating:

.5

2 and a half American Flag.

RigbyMel says: 

"Patriotic Popeye" is an amusing, if not a "classic" animated short.   I appreciated the safety message about fireworks,  even if the humorous action of the short kind of undercuts it a little bit.

I find it interesting that since this is a short made during the 1950s,  we see a large bottle rocket labeled the "Atomic Sky Rocket" -- a reference very much of the time and of the "space race" period of U.S. history.

Popeye's troublemaking nephews strike me as perhaps owing more than a little bit to some similar tropes employed by other animation studios and it's odd that neither Olive Oyl nor Bluto make an appearance in this cartoon.   However, there's plenty of holiday-themed action, so maybe they aren't needed? 

This is a short worth watching even if it's not precisely a classic.

RigbyMel's rating: 

2 American Flags.

Popeye: "Fright To The Finish"

Premiered August 27, 1954.

"So beware this Halloween Eve, when the Earth will be haunted by spooks, ghosts, and hobgoblins."
-Olive Oyl

It's Halloween night and Olive Oyl (Mae Questel) is reading a book of spooky stories.  This sets Olive on edge and she is afraid that ghosts and hobgoblins will haunt her.

Popeye the sailor (Jack Mercer) and Bluto (Jackson Beck), Popeye's rival for Olive's affections, are bored by Olive's frightful tales.  Bluto wishes Popeye would leave so he can be alone with Olive, Popeye wonders why Bluto hasn't gone home already.

Bluto gets a fiendish idea.  He will scare Olive Oyl out of her wits and blame Popeye, which will send her into his arms.  Bluto perpetrates several Halloween tricks to further his plan.

Will Bluto succeed?

J.A. Morris says:
I grew up watching various Popeye cartoons and I've long been a fan of the spinach-eating sailor. Fright To The Finish was produced by Famous Studios.  Hardcore Popeye fans prefer the Fleischer Brothers shorts, but this Halloween toon is pretty good.  Fright To The Finish has great animation and is packed with sight-gags from start to finish.

It's full of great Halloween imagery like skeletons and jack o'lanterns.  The voice cast is also excellent.  Jack Mercer (who is also credited with writing Fright To The Finish) voiced Popeye for nearly five decades and he does a great job here.  Mae Questel (the definitive Olive Oyl voice actress) and Jackson Beck are also very good.

(A mild SPOILER below)

Fright To The Finish is a rare Popeye cartoon where the sailor man does not save the day by eating spinach.  I watched it several times before I noticed this departure from the formula.

This short can be found on a dvd called Popeye:The Sailor Man (75th Anniversary Collection) and it can also be streamed on Amazon.

Fright To The Finish is a very enjoyable Halloween cartoon and is highly recommended.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 Jack O'Lanterns!

RigbyMel says:

This is quite an enjoyable animated short.  

There is definitely an emphasis on the "trick" aspect of "trick or treat" on full display here,  as well as some rather wonderful sight gags -- particularly involving poor Olive Oyl's reactions to the appearance of various Bluto-created ghosties and beasties.    One almost has to admire Bluto's Halloween prank ingenuity.  

There were several bits of this short that reminded me a bit of the Brom Bones/Ichabod Crane rivalry as depicted in the 1949 Disney incarnation of the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", but the dynamic is different enough not to detract from the fun.  

Popeye plans to get his own back with a little help from some of Olive's vanishing cream

I also love that we get a series of "vanishing cream" gags in this. I've always enjoyed the way cartoons will play with this notion since it's totally what little kids think of when they hear the term "vanishing cream."  

I  find it interesting to see the way that different signs and signifiers of the spooky season are deployed in this short -- we don't see children trick or treating, but we do get ghost story telling, pranks, skeletons, jack o'lanterns and even ghostly manifestations, after a fashion.   Halloween is not quite as strictly codified as other holidays and this makes for intriguingly varied pop cultural takes on the spooky season.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 Jack O'Lanterns!

How we spent our "vacation" from the Holidays

Hi everyone, since there aren't many holidays between July 4 and Halloween, it's been three months since we've posted any reviews.  But we've been keeping busy...

Back in early August, we attended the Richmond Wizard Con, held just a few miles from our house.  We had the opportunity to attend several panel discussions that featured various film and television actors.

The highlight for us was a Q & A with legendary actor William Shatner.  Most of the actors that appeared had moderators that helped them answer questions from the audience.  But Shatner needed no handler!

The Wizard Con also gave us the opportunity to (briefly)  meet actor Billy Boyd, best known as Pippin Took in the Lord Of The Rings movies.  He was very nice and we got a picture with him too.

Billie Piper, best known in the U.S. for her role as Doctor Who companion Rose Tyler also appeared at the con.

More recently, we attended the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Con (MANC) in Hunt Valley, MD.  The main event of this con was the Bionic Reunion.  Lee Majors, best known as The Six Million Dollar Man and Lindsay Wagner of Bionic Woman-fame appeared on a panel with Richard Anderson, who played their boss Oscar Goldman.  They set a record for the largest audience in MANC history and answered fan questions for an hour.

Majors was also available for photo-ops, so we indulged!

Also appearing at MANC was animation historian Jerry Beck.  He spoke about the history of Popeye cartoons.  We're big fans of classic cartoons and we've seen Beck on lots of documentaries about animation, so it was cool to see him person.  More information about Beck and his work can be found at cartoonresearch.com.

Cartoon historian Jerry Beck.

So even in our "off season,"  we're busy soaking up the pop culture goodness!

We're getting ready to blog about Halloween programming and we're excited to participate in this year's Halloween Countdown.

Check back soon for some Halloween fun!