Very Cool!!!

Instant Favorite.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Despite a brief (semi-nude!) appearance by Betty Boop as an exotic dancer at a fair, this cartoon by the Fleischer brothers introduced us to the popular figures of Popeye, Olive Oyl and Bluto – who would naturally take off in a long-running series of their own and basically eclipsed the career of the studio's afore-mentioned star attraction! It is interesting to note, at this juncture, that the essence – with respect to characterization, gag type and plot structure (not to mention, the equally iconic theme tune!) – was there from the outset. That said, while I admit to having sat through many of these during my childhood, much like the live-action stuff of The Three Stooges which yours truly sampled again a few years back (let alone their strictly kiddie-oriented animated fare!), I seem to have irrevocably outgrown this particular brand of comedy and now approach it with an inevitable measured step

While I have never been a huge fan of Popeye because the cartoons are so darn repetitive, this very first Popeye is well worth seeing--for historical reasons, because it was significantly better than the efforts of most other studios (which tended towards cutesy singing cartoons) and because it was so original at that time. However, the Fleischer Studios was a bit hesitant to just toss Popeye out there and hope that people will like him. Instead, they billed this as a Betty Boop cartoon on the title screen. Additionally, Betty makes a short but risqué appearance mid-way through the film--sort of like she was giving her seal of approval to the series.One big difference between this and most of the later Popeye cartoons is with Olive Oyl. Her voice was not provided by the usual Mae Questel (also the voice of Betty Boop). Olive's horribly annoying voice is not so annoying and Bonnie Poe's voice is noticeably deeper and less migraine-inducing! Aside from that, the cartoon is pretty much like any of the early Popeyes. The art work is the usual beautifully detailed black & white Fleischer animation that you can't help but respect. Bluto and Popeye do their usual routines, though Popeye does seem a bit more macho without his spinach than later films and so the difference that the spinach makes is less notable. Also, notice the final scene where our hero saves Olive--and possibly kills a train load of innocent people in the process! One sad thing in the film many won't notice is the carnival bit where Popeye and the rest are throwing balls at a guy's head. Such ball throwing booths were common back then and involved throwing baseballs at a Black man's face! While the guy in the cartoon is pretty cartoony, he is Black skinned and this is a sick little aspect of the 1930s that has been forgotten--and that probably isn't a bad thing at all.

Usually in old cartoons in which a cartoon character as a debut do not have the character on for very long, or they do not make a big thing of the character's personality. Here, unusually, Popeye and Olive Oyl, in their first episode, seem to already be very developed characters (almost definitely because of the comics). It was my first official time to watch a Popeye cartoon. I quite enjoyed it, but Popeye and Olive Oyl are not yet my favourite cartoon characters.Things I enjoyed about this episode were the great introduction of Popeye "the sailor-man" and his gal, Olive Oyl. I also liked the quick appearance of Betty Boop, the old style of the cartoon which was around in those days (in Fleisher, Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons), the basic plot-line and the fact that spinach works quicker for Popeye than drugs do on normal people. Go spinach! :-) Basically, in "Popeye the Sailor", we are introduced to Popeye as a strong sailor, on a boat, who likes his spinach. Then we meet Olive Oyl, in a quay, waiting for her love (Popeye) to arrive off the boat. While she is waiting a number of sailors eye her (as she is attractive to them). She punches them and they move away, except for one huge sailor who is not hurt by her kicks. Just then, Popeye comes along and takes her to the funfair, where the horrible sailor follows them...I am not sure whether this was aimed for children at the time, not all cartoons were, but if it was it is not exactly suitable for kids in this day and age. This is because the horrible sailor tries to seduce Olive Oyl a little and yet does truly horrible things to her. It does not seem so bad partly because it is in a cartoon.I recommend this to people who are interested in Popeye, to people who like old cartoons and to people who like cartoons with quite a lot of singing (yes, sorry, I forgot to mention this). Enjoy "Popeye the Sailor"! :-) 7 and a half out of ten.

Popeye the Sailor (1933) **** (out of 4) First film in the series of shorts was also the first I've seen of any of these early films. I watched some of the later ones when I was a kid and I wasn't sure what to expect out of these theatrical shorts but this first one was great. Popeye takes Olive Oyl to a fair when Bluto shows up to start trouble. There's a lot of great humor here and I really loved the animation style. The opening scene of Popeye singing his famous song is priceless as is the appearance by Betty Boop.Now available through Warner in a 4-disc box set.