Strong to the finich...it's POPEYE THE SAILOR from 1933-1938.

INTRODUCTION
In December of 1919, Popeye the Sailor made his debut in E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strip. Almost a decade later, in January of 1929, brothers Max and Dave Fleischer translated the character to the big screen via a "test run" in a cartoon vehicle for their other hot property, Betty Boop. The noble if brawling mariner with the one open eye, the pipe and his signature laugh was joined by sweetheart Olive Oyl and a nemesis named Bluto, who only appeared in one of Segar's strips but became the sailor's perennial rival. Other characters would soon follow, mainly a hamburger-hungry moocher named Wimpy and a cute little infant (or "infink" in Popeye speak) from a questionable heritage called Swee'Pea. The animated series became popular enough to last until August of 1957, but the characters endured in various ways thereafter, via spin-offs and merchandising and even a live action movie.

Popeye was such a hit, but you couldn't readily pick up a collection of his earliest toons, instead settling for cheap public domain-friendly titles that grouped the early Fleischer classics with admittedly lesser entities from the 1960s. My introduction to Popeye came largely through television, which was where I saw shorts such as "Beware of Barnacle Bill," "The Adventures of Popeye" and "Lost and Foundry." I was like many other people, anxiously awaiting for King Features Syndicate and Ted Turner, who owned the MGM library and all of the Fleischer shorts, to strike up a deal for a proper video release. Several years and many mergers later, Warner Home Video released on July 31, 2007 POPEYE THE SAILOR: 1933-1938, a deluxe collection of the first 60 Fleischer shorts given the deluxe DVD treatment, much in the same way those great Looney Tunes cartoons were.

In the interest of keeping things short and sweet, these Fleischer cartoons are consistently humorous and wonderful cartoons that established several immortal characters. Popeye was a noble but sock-happy soul who endorsed strength, chivalry and eating your spinach. Although not the finest gentlemen, and a character who openly smoked as much as he fought, Popeye could've been a role model for some. Bluto, the bearded heavy who challenged Popeye primarily because of his desire to get with Olive Oyl, Popeye's beloved, was the perfect match for the brawny sailor. And the legendarily fickle, rubber hose-animated Olive, who could be a damsel-in-distress but also display cunning ingenuity and beauty, too. And they had four great voice talents to back them up: William "Red Pepper Sam" Costello, who voiced Popeye for about 25 of the early cartoons; Jack Mercer, an inbetween animator who helped to make Popeye even funnier and charming once Costello was dropped; Gus Wickie, whose gruff Bluto voice was just as immortal but died unfortunately before his time; and, of course, Mae "Boop Boop Be Doop" Questel, who modeled her Olive voice after actress ZaSu Pitts.

The cartoons themselves have been mostly restored to look and sound better than ever before. Watching them now, I am more in awe of the fluid, handsome animation, which was quite revolutionary at the time. The backdrops and settings, full of tenements and Coney Island and even Depression-era burger joints, were just as admirable to watch as the many gags in these shorts are to laugh at. What's particularly timeless are those 3-D backgrounds, a patented "stereopticon" process, involving actual models that would rotate behind the characters. A perfect example is the Technicolor classic "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor," but you'll notice it on the black-and-white shorts, too, for the various street sets. And the music selections give the cartoons extra appeal: with the Paramount library at their use as well as contributions of Sammy Timberg and Sammy Lerner, who wrote the classic theme of "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man." Many of the cartoon titles are named after their songs ("The Man on the Flying Trapeze," "A Dream Walking"), and others are incorporated as background music, such as "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It" in the short "I Yam What I Yam" (look for a Marx Brother in "Sock-a-Bye Baby").

Now here's a rundown of what's on these four prized DVDs of long-awaited Popeye shorts:

THE CARTOONS
DISC ONE:
Popeye the Sailor (commentary by historian Michael Barrier with animator Dave Tendlar) - The Betty Boop "test cartoon"/series' debut which establishes the love triangle between Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto.
I Yam What I Yam (commentary by animator Mark Kausler) - Popeye, Olive and J. Wellington Wimpy (making his debut appearance) set up a log cabin on an island only to be besieged by Indians after Popeye goes off to get duck dinner.
Blow Me Down! (commentary by animators Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua) - Popeye stops by the Mexican cantina where Olive Oyl dances at only to get into a fight with wanted bandito Bluto and his thuggish accomplices.
I Eats My Spinach (commentary by historian Michael Barrier with animator Dave Tendlar) - Popeye steps into the bullfighting ring in order to one-up Bluto after Olive becomes enamored of him.
Seasin's Greetinks! - Popeye buys Olive a new pair of ice skates for "Christman," but Bluto gets in the way and sends Olive careening toward a waterfall.
Wild Elephinks (commentary by historian Jerry Beck) - Popeye and Olive land on a jungle island and are beset by all manner of unfriendly wildlife.
Sock-A-Bye, Baby (commentary by historian Glenn Mitchell) - Popeye uses his "fisk" against those who threaten to disturb the slumber of the baby he's watching over (it is not Swee'Pea).
Let's You and Him Fight - Popeye challenges champion boxer Bluto for a packed house at Yank 'Em Stadium, including a concerned Olive.
The Man on the Flying Trapeze - Olive runs off with the titular circus artist and Popeye decides to win her back in this mini-musical.
Can You Take It - Olive works as a nurse at the Bruiser Boy's Club, where Popeye attempts to get a membership by surviving an initiation rite through a labyrinth of buzz saws, hammers and iron maidens.
Shoein' Hosses - Olive evaluates the contesting Popeye and Bluto in order to fill a missing blacksmith position at her "shoppe."
Strong to the Finich - Popeye instructs a group of unruly kids at Olive's health farm the hard way in the benefits of eating their spinach.
Shiver Me Timbers! - Popeye, Olive and Wimpy explore an abandoned ship washed up on the shore of an island only to come face-to-face with spooks, skeletons and phantom burgers.
Axe Me Another - Popeye rescues Olive after vain lumberjack Bluto tosses her in the river only to battle him on separate logs in the exact same river after a contest treads water.
A Dream Walking (commentary by director Greg Ford) - Olive sleepwalks into danger by traipsing unconsciously over a construction site, and her two suitors duke it out whilst attempting to rescue her.
DISC TWO:
The Two-Alarm Fire - Popeye and Bluto are rival firemen who use their hoses against each other as Olive's house is ablaze.
The Dance Contest - Popeye's inability to dance in order to impress Olive, who is swept away by Bluto, leaves him questioning his sex appeal before he fatefully cries into a can of spinach.
We Aim to Please - Wimpy's immortal catchphrase earns him a hamburger before Tuesday from Olive and Popeye's fledgling restaurant, so the oafish Bluto tries to wrassle a free meal from them as well.
Beware of Barnacle Bill - Popeye proposes to Olive only to be shot down with the news that she loves another sailor, the infamous Barnacle Bill.
Be Kind to 'Aminals' - Floyd Buckley voices a relatively quiet Popeye in this short where he and Olive encounter junk dealer Bluto, who cruelly whips and dehydrates his work-horse.
Pleased to Meet Cha! - Popeye and Bluto overstay their welcome by punching each other and eventually Olive, who issues an ultimatum to leave which becomes a contest over which man can perform the better trick.
The "Hyp-Nut-Tist" - A Bluto-like magician cruelly involves Olive Oyl in his hypnotizing act and thus forces Popeye to take action ("That's all I can stand, 'cause I can't stand no more!").
Choose Yer 'Weppins' (commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford) - An escaped criminal (not Bluto, but someone taller, thinner and haughtier) tries to swindle shop owners Popeye and Olive by pawning a set of stolen knives.
For Better or Worser (commentary by filmmaker Greg Ford) - Popeye decides the bachelor life is becoming a chore and heads to a matrimonial office/brothel, where he and Bluto fight for the right to escort Olive down the aisle.
Dizzy Divers - Popeye and Bluto chart a course to find undersea treasure which they intend to split evenly before Bluto greedily goes his own way and instigates another race.
You Gotta Be a Football Hero (commentary by historian Jerry Beck) - This is what Olive tells Popeye before becoming a cheerleader for burly team captain Bluto, prompting Popeye to suit up and lead the opposing team of string beans.
King of the Mardi Gras (commentary by historian Michael Barrier with actor Jack Mercer) - A Mardi Gras celebration on Coney Island offers up a rivalry between self-proclaimed "king" Bluto and Popeye.
Adventures of Popeye (commentary by historian Glenn Mitchell) - A storybook-bound Popeye reaches out to a bullied boy in the real world by showing him clips from previous adventures.
The Spinach Overture (commentary by historian Daniel Goldmark) - Popeye loses his rag-tag orchestra over to "Great Maestro" Bluto only to become a spinach-fueled virtuoso and composer.
Vim, Vigor and Vitaliky - Popeye is a fitness instructor to women such as Olive Oyl, who blows off cabaret owner Bluto and thus forces the goon to dress in drag in order to humiliate Popeye even more.
DISC THREE:
A Clean Shaven Man - Olive's preference in clean-shaven men and a MIA barber forces Popeye and Bluto to take turns grooming each other, but Bluto goes too far.
Brotherly Love - Olive Oyl leads a pacifist movement by singing the title song over the radio most explicitly for Popeye, who tests this credo as far as it will go before a violent street brawl brings out tougher love.
I-Ski Love-Ski You-Ski (commentary by directors John Kricfalusi and Eddie Fitzgerald and cartoonist Kali Fontecchio) - Olive chooses Popeye to go mountain-climbing with and thus sets off the jealous machinations of Bluto, who ends up sending Olive down the snow-capped hill with no skis.
Bridge Ahoy! - Popeye protests against Bluto's outrageous ferryboat fare leads him, Olive and Wimpy to work on a bridge that Bluto then attempts to destroy.
What -- No Spinach? - Wimpy the Moocher (who opens the toon singing "Hamburger Mine") works the counter at Bluto's diner and will do anything for a free meal, even ruining Popeye's roast duck dinner and instigating a brawl between the two.
I Wanna Be a Life Guard - Popeye and Bluto compete for an open position as lifeguard, demonstrating their individual prowess with song-and-dance as well.
Let's Get Movin' - Olive is movin' out but doesn't want Popeye's help, instead preferring professional moving man Bluto and thus triggering off another battle between the palookas.
Never Kick a Woman - Olive Oyl finds herself in a rare role-reversal when, whilst learning the art of self-defense from Popeye, she becomes enraged with a seductive boxing instructor flirting with her man.
Little Swee'Pea - Popeye takes his "adopted infink" out to the zoo with instructions from Olive not to frighten the tot, who dutifully ends up paying visits to the caged animals and leaving Popeye to save him.
Hold the Wire - Bluto intercepts a romantic phone call between Popeye and Olive and attempts to ruin it until Popeye catches on and dukes it out over telephone wires.
The Spinach Roadster - Bluto's "extension of his manhood" streamliner is not enough to deter Olive from taking a ride in Popeye's scrappy roadster, so he decides to deroute and detour their ride.
Popeye the Sailor Meets the Sinbad the Sailor (commentary by directors John Kricfalusi and Eddie Fitzgerald and cartoonist Kali Fontecchio) - The first of the longer Technicolor cartoons, this Oscar-nominated effort stars Bluto as Sinbad, whose island is awash with enormous buzzards, two-headed giants and serpents for Popeye to face once Sinbad kidnaps Olive and wrecks their ship.
I'm in the Army Now - Olive loves a man in uniform, but with only one available soldier position, Popeye and Bluto open their wallets and present their greatest feats to the recruiter.
The Paneless Window Washer - Bluto is just as manipulative and perhaps more cruel than usual after he drums up business for his window-washing business by dirtying Olive's windows only to find Popeye waiting for him.
Organ Grinder's Swing - Wimpy is an organ grinder who works for hamburgers and carries a pet monkey, but killjoy Bluto doesn't approve of the music or the simian and thus causes the noble Popeye to spring into action.
DISC FOUR:
My Artistical Temperature - Olive turns up at Sweet Art Studio to pose as model for sculptor Popeye and painter Bluto, who lodge their clay and paint at each other once their rivalry reaches the breaking point.
Hospitaliky - Popeye and Bluto attempt to play sick in order to receive care from nurse Olive, but the only way to reach her is through desperate attempts at critical injury that work for neither until Popeye gets a brilliant idea.
The Twisker Pitcher - Olive roots for Popeye in this sports-related episode (Bluto has his own fan in the wings), in which Bluto sabotages any early chance for Popeye to succeed by scarfing down the spinach and racking 21 home runs by the last inning.
Morning, Noon and Nightclub - Popito and Olivita are nightly Cuban dance sensations at Wimpy's Café, but the sour Bluto is no fan and decides he wants to ruin their act.
Lost and Foundry (commentary by directors John Kricfalusi and Eddie Fitzgerald and cartoonist Kali Fontecchio) - The immortal cartoon, later recycled in "Doing Impossikible Stunts," in which Swee'Pea runs away into the factory where Popeye works and comes within inches of vivisection only to prove quite precocious once a concerned Olive follows them inside.
I Never Changes My Altitude - Popeye is once again jilted by Olive, who runs off with aviator Bluto only to woefully regret it and awaiting on the help of Popeye and a duck whose beak just happens to make a fine propeller.
I Likes Babies and Infinks - Olive can't control Swee'Pea's crying fit, so Popeye and Bluto do what they can until they start yet another brawl that ends rather amusingly without the aid of spinach.
The Football Toucher Downer - Popeye attempts to get Swee'Pea to eat his spinach via storytelling, flashing back to his childhood and a football match with a equally adolescent Bluto (we also see Olive and Wimpy as children, too).
Protek the Weakerist (commentary by historian Jerry Beck) - Popeye is not pleased with having to walk Olive's Pekingese, but decides to stand up for the pooch after Bluto comes along with his bloodthirsty bulldog.
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves (commentary by directors John Kricfalusi and Eddie Fitzgerald and cartoonist Kali Fontecchio) - The infamous Abu Hassan and his forty thieves ransack an Arabian town and steal Olive and Wimpy away from Popeye, who chases them back to their cave.
Fowl Play - Popeye postpones his seafaring reservation after the parrot he brought to Olive in order to keep him in her heart arouses the attention of angry Bluto.
Let's Celebrake - Popeye and Bluto cut the sparring in order to escort Olive Oyl to a New Year's Celebration, but Popeye can't bear to leave Olive's grandmother alone for the holidays and invites her along for some spinach-induced tangoing.
Learn Polikeness - Olive demands Popeye learn to become a gentleman under the training of etiquette school proprietor Professor Bluteau, but only she seems oblivious to the fact that Bluteau is a charlatan with his own impolite intentions.
The House Builder-Upper - Volunteer firemen Olive and Wimpy are too late to keep Olive's house from burning down, but they attempt to build a new one.
Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh - Popeye and Olive run into Indian Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh, who courts Olive with beads in attempt to make her his squaw.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW
All 60 cartoons are presented in their original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. Given the restoration process was likely of the greatest care, the look of these vintage Popeye cartoons no doubt have been improved greatly throughout the years, and probably haven't looked this handsome when they first came out in theatres. Since age is an inevitable factor in the way these cartoons look on DVD, let's just say that there are quite a few occasions of erratic picture quality. Many of the earliest cartoons, such as "Strong to the Finich," "Shiver Me Timbers" and "Axe Me Another," have plenty of noticeable scratches, nicks and lines. Most of the time, however, print flaws and defects, whilst present, offer not much distraction unless your sense of sight is working overtime. The cartoons themselves, for the most part, offer fine contrast and attention to grayscale, with admirable foreground sharpness and relatively crisp background detail. The two Technicolor cartoons are often flickering in regards to contrast, but boast finely saturated and vivid colors throughout.

The Dolby Digital mono tracks for these cartoons boast a first-rate clarity that likely was not the case throughout all previous home video, televised or even theatrical appearances. There's really nothing you can do about the mumbled ad libs of Popeye, as they are part of the appeal of these cartoons. Even these asides as well as other bits of dialogue and especially musical/song selections are astounding undistorted and are rich in fidelity, and even the effects are relatively audible. Tinniness is only a rare nuisance when all things are considered, and the single channel mix balances all aural elements without one overtly dominating the other. English subtitles are a welcome option, but they are unreliable if you are looking for a college education in the language of Popeye speak.

COMMENTARIES
22 of the cartoons presented boast audio commentary tracks by a variety of animators, historians and filmmakers. The six-minute limit to shorts is quite harsh when it comes to talking about Popeye. If one track is a dud, you'll be able to tell. Thankfully, the majority of these alternate audio tracks are quite learned and offer plenty of often-differing perspectives. Much like the commentaries for the Looney Tunes boxed sets, the historians often allow for tape recordings to back up a point they make, be it about the work ethic of Fleischer Studios or the quality of the animation. The best commentary tracks on the set, however, come from the likes of filmmaker Greg Ford, who seems quite animated himself and leaves not a single moment of dead air, and historian Glenn Mitchell, who is dryly witty and informative at the same time. Although these commentaries often describe the cartoons in progress, and there is overlap between the commentaries themselves as well as with the information in the "Popumentaries," there's a glut of good information from these tracks worth the listen.

The audio commentaries featuring the animators are more of a mixed bunch. Often times, they simply marvel at the quality of the animation on display, or share stories and wisecracks. Jorge Gutierrez and Sandra Equihua, creators of the Nickelodeon animated series El Tigre, have only one track and are spirited enough to make it a good one, discussing the beauty of Olive Oyl, fantasies about what Mexico were like on the basis of the cartoon's comic situations and the potential influence of this cartoon on Sergio Leone and Quentin Tarantino. The tracks with John Kricfalusi and his two animator friends/accomplices are good fun initially, with the Ren & Stimpy creator offering objective insight and humor, but his two cohorts seem to be simply along for the ride, and they cannot keep their two yak tracks for the longer Technicolor features from slipping into tedium. Their first two tracks are amusing (if Kali is a bit too overtly giggly), but the final two are borderline shippable, especially the "Ali Baba and His Forty Thieves" effort.

POPUMENTARIES
The two substantial retrospective documentaries included with this package are "I Yam What I Yam: The Story of Popeye the Sailor" (43:23) on disc one and "Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation 1900-1920" (31:02) on disc two. The first is written by Mark Nassief & Constantine Nasr, narrated by Tom Kenny (the voice behind Spongebob Squarepants) and featuring a gaggle of historians (including, yes, Leonard Maltin), animators [Patrick McDonnell, Jules Feiffer (who wrote Robert Altman's live action adaptation)], King Features representatives, living relatives of the Fleischer family, and even a couple of actors (Paul Dooley, Dennis Franz, Billy West) who provide a thorough map of Popeye's endurance from E.C. Segar's Thimble Theatre comic strips to a recent 3-D animated film. Taking notes, I basically found myself looking at a very astounding timeline that goes all the way back to December 1919. We learn about the real-life inspirations for Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto, as well as get plenty of discussion about the comic strips vs. the Fleischer cartoons. Lots of trivia, passionate descriptions of innovations and influence and a broad-ranging debate about the 1960s Popeye cartoons for TV (you'd be amazed that some people stick up for these) provide relief from any overlapping between this and the commentaries.

"Forging the Frame" focuses on the 20-year span from the earliest innovations in animation, starting with the invention of the phenokistoscope disk in Belgium and Edward Muybridge's race horse motion photography. From thereon out, we learn about some of the big names in early animation (Winsor McKay, John Randolph Bray, Earl Hurd) as well as some of the most popular series of shorts at the time, most of which were static adaptations from King Features' library of characters. McKay's early animated efforts are actually quite fascinating, especially "How a Mosquito Operates" (1912) and "Sinking of the Lusitania" (1918). Many of the cartoons featured in this set were preserved and are presented as extras on this package, but we'll get to those shortly.

As for the "Popumentaries," these brief featurettes are mostly devoted to specific characters, with a couple of them focusing more broadly on the Thimble Theatre origins, voice talents and the longer Technicolor efforts. On disc one are "Mining the Strip: Elzie Segar and Thimble Theatre" (8:39) and "Me Fickle Goyl, Olive Oyl: The World's Least Likely Sex Symbol" (4:21). On disc two are "Wimpy the Moocher: Ode to the Burgermeister" (4:31) and "Sailor's Hornpipes: The Voice of Popeye" (9:30). Disc three contains "Blow Me Down! The Music of Popeye" (10:03) and "Popeye in Living Color: A Look at the Color Two-Reelers" (5:46). And, lastly, "Me Lil' Swee'Pea: Whose Kid is He Anyway?" (3:51) and "Et Tu, Bluto? Cartoondom's Heaviest Heavy" (4:41) are on the fourth DVD. There is a surprising amount of additional detail to be mined from these shorts, most particularly in the footage of Mae Questel as the voice of Popeye in "Sailor's Hornpipes" and the surprising realization that frequent composer Sammy Timberg was trained classically by George Gershwin's teacher on "Blow Me Down!"

FROM THE VAULT
These are the full-length versions of the early animated efforts from 1915-1927 featured in the "Forging the Frame" documentary. They are mostly silent and all in B&W, but they offer a lot of interesting elements, especially the early Max Fleischer shorts on the final two DVDs. Disc one, in the meantime, presents "Colonel Heeza Liar at the Bat" (9:30), "Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing" (2:44) and "Domestic Difficulties" (8:18). J.R. Bray created Heeza Liar, the first notable ongoing animated character, a teller of tall tales whose adventures involved rhyming couplet intertitles. Krazy Kat was the first notable comic strip character, created by George Herriman. "Domestic Difficulties" features Bud Fisher's Mutt & Jeff, considered the first daily comic strip characters and whose particular exploits in this featured short involve them sneaking away from their wives for a night of drunken debauchery.

Disc two offers up Earl Hurd's "Bobby Bumps Puts a Beanery on the Bum" (4:37), which is surprisingly surreal and existential in its story about a boy and his dog being aided by the hand of their animator. It is the also one of the cartoons with musical accompaniment. "Feline Follies" (4:14) is the charming debut of the character who would eventually be known as Felix the Cat. And here we also get the first of the Max Fleischer "Out of the Inkwell" cartoons in the package, all of which feature the rotoscoped character Koko the Clown. "The Tantalizing Fly" (3:55) sets up the formula involving Fleischer drawing and interacting with Koko, with amusing results. Here, the two of them try to rid themselves of a pesky housefly by means of flyswatter and Max's own pen.

Disc three contains six more Koko episodes: "Modeling" (7:58), "Invisible Ink" (7:32), "Bubbles" (4:49), "Jumping Beans" (10:52), "Bedtime" (8:55), and "Trapped" (10:57). During these shorts, Koko breaks away from the drawing board usually to get revenge on Max after being tormented by his creator. On "Jumping Beans," for instance, Max coerces Koko into climbing a beanstalk that reaches up to some other dimension inhabited by a bizarre monster. After falling back down to Earth, Koko gets revenge by ordering an army of Koko replicas created with a carved-out stamp and an ink pad to get some Gulliver's Travels-inspired revenge. "Bubbles" is also highly amusing to me because of some really odd bits of humor. Most of these early Fleischer shorts also made use of stop-motion animation.

Disc four concludes with three more Koko cartoons: "Trip to Mars" (6:48), "Koko Trains ‘Em" (10:07) and "Koko Back Tracks" (9:05). These are also highly imaginative and smile-inducing shorts in which Koko & Max are jettisoned into space, interact with dogs and experience a space-time continuum disruption. Finally, there is "Let's Sing with Popeye," a bouncing-ball sing-along to the complete tune of "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man." This disc also houses two sets of previews, one accessible as a bonus feature and the other plays before the disc menu arrives. All discs include a warning about the political incorrectness of the cartoons and an explanation as to why these cartoons have not been duly altered.

Movie grade: 5 stars.
Video grade: 4 stars.
Audio grade: 4.5 stars.
Extras grade: 5 stars.
Final grade: 5 stars. These are some of the most exemplary creations in early animation history, with 60 specimens in a mere five years. The Popeye shorts demonstrated plenty of skilled drawing talent, amusing gags and musical highs. E.C. Segar's immortal comic strip characters were catapulted into the pop culture lexicon, and I still find them lovable today (even Bluto, too). These demonstrated a particularly New York style of animation, which would eventually shift with the move to Miami and eventual moments in the history of the toons, to be continued in Popeye the Sailor Volume Two: 1938-1940.