Garshk!
Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 04/08/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"GOOD TIMES VIDEO's POPEYE: SPECIAL 75TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION is a rebundling of four of their single DVD releases. These are:
POPEYE: FISTS OF FURY (Eight Famous Studios cartoons, plus a commercial)
WHEN POPEYE RULED THE SEVEN SEAS (Five Fleischer Studio animations, including their three Technicolor two-reelers.)
WHEN POPEYE RULED THE WORLD (Ten 1950's Famous Studios shorts.)
POPEYE'S GREATEST TALL TALES & HEROIC ADVENTURES (Four Famous and Five Fleischer Studios cartoons.)
Also available from GOOD TIMES is this FLEISCHER STUDIOS animation triple feature:
BETTY BOOP AND THE GIRLS OF MISCHIEF/THE BEST OF BETTY BOOP/GABBY AND HIS GULLIBLE FRIENDS.
PROGRAM LIST for "Popeye: 75th Anniversary Special" (includes synopses)--
(NOTE: All cartoons issued before 1942 are from FLEISCHER STUDIOS.
All others are produced by Paramount's FAMOUS STUDIOS animation division.)
DISC #1: "Popeye: Fists of Fury"--
THE CRYSTAL BRAWL (1957) - A disguised-as-a-fortuneteller Popeye scares Olive away from Bluto when he predicts her future.
SPOOKY SWABS (1957) - Popeye and Olive float on a raft until they board an abandoned and haunted ship.
I DON'T SCARE (1956) - Bluto changes the calendar to Friday the 13th so superstitious Olive won't go out with Popeye.
SPREE LUNCH (1957) - Wimpy cadges free meals at both Popeye's and Bluto's eateries.
Stooges in the Woods
POPEYE'S 20th ANNIVERSARY (1954) - At a testimonial dinner, Paramount actors watch scenes of Popeye's past exploits.
FLOOR FLUSHER (1954) - Popeye repairs Olive's leaky faucet until Bluto sabotages the pipes.
NEARLYWEDS (1957) - Popeye and Olive's wedding plans are ruined when he shows up at the ceremony wearing a barrel.
PARLEZ VOUS WOO (1956) - Bluto adopts a fake French accent to lure Olive from Popeye
BONUS: Soaky Toys Commercial
DISC #2: "When Popeye Ruled the Seven Seas"--
ALADDIN AND HIS WONDERFUL LAMP (1939) - Olive dreams that Popeye is Aladdin. His magic lamps transforms the sailor into a prince.
POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS ALI BABA'S FORTY THIEVES (1937) - After their plane crashes, Popeye, Olive amd Wimpy end up in a desert town that's ransacked by Abu Hassan (Bluto) and his men.
POPEYE THE SAILOR MEETS SINDBAD THE SAILOR (1936) - Popeye rescues Olive from Sindbad. (This first ever in-color Popeye short runs 16 minutes.)
LITTLE SWEE'PEA (1936) - A trip to the zoo keeps Popeye busy rescuing a mischievous baby from the animals.
CUSTOMERS WANTED (1939) - Popeye and Bluto each own penny arcades that show scenes of earlier shorts. Their competition for customers leads to a huge fistfight.
DISC #3: "When Popeye Ruled the World" --
GOPHER SPINACH (1954) - Pesky gopher ruins Popeye's spinach patch.
INSECT TO INJURY (1956) - Popeye's new house is consumed by termites, so he builds another out of steel.
COOKIN' WITH GAGS (1955) - Bluto goes too far with his April Fool's jokes.
PRIVATE EYE POPEYE (1954) - Popeye chases a thieving butler around the world after he steals society dame Olive's priceless diamond.
POPEYE FOR PRESIDENT (1956) - Political rivals Popeye and Bluto need Olive's lone vote to win the election.
OUT TO PUNCH (1956) - Bluto tries derailing Popeye's training regimen for their big boxing match.
SHUTEYE POPEYE (1952) - A snoring Popeye is attacked by a spinach-eating mouse.
A HAUL IN ONE (1956) - Popeye and Bluto are moving men partners who battle over a new client (Olive).
TAXI-TURVY (1954) - Popeye and Bluto's competing cab companies vie for Olive's fare.
BRIDE AND GLOOM (1954) - Bride-to-be Olive gets cold feet after some nightmares of a future with Popeye.
Side #4 -- Popeye's Greatest Tall Tales & Heroic Adventures
PATRIOTIC POPEYE (1957) - Popeye takes away his nephews' 4th of July fireworks and they scheme to get them back.
BIG BAD SINDBAD (1952) - Popeye and nephews see a Sindbad statue in a museum. Popeye tells the boys of his battle with Sindbad, the evil pirate.
ASSAULT AND FLATTERY (1956) - Judge Wimpy watches scenes from earlier shorts to determine if Popeye is guilty of beating Bluto up.
ME MUSICAL NEPHEWS (1942) - Popeye can't sleep while his four nephews practice playing square dance music.
ME FEELINS IS HURT (1940) - Olive dumps Popeye for a cowboy, so he visits her at the Bar None Ranch.
I'M IN THE ARMY NOW (1936) - Olive's infatuation with soldiers brings Bluto and Popeye to an enlistment station, where clips of earlier shorts are shown.
A DATE TO SKATE (1938) - Popeye tries to teach Olive to rollerskate. (Mae Questal's last Popeye cartoon as Olive.)
I NEVER CHANGES MY ALTITUDE (1936) - Olive soars with flyboy Bluto but soon regrets doing so.
THE PANELESS WINDOW WASHER (1937) - Popeye goes into the window washing business to compete with dishonest Bluto."