Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936)

Ever since his debut in newspaper comics in 1929, and his debut in animation in 1933, Popeye the sailor has become a household name for his aggressive albeit hysterical attitude and tough natured charm. So in 1936, Max Fleischer and his studio decided to take a bold leap with the spinach packing sailor and create a cartoon longer than 10 minutes. The result was Popeye Meets Sindbad the Sailor, an Oscar nominated classic animated short that was even included at # 17 on Jerry Beck's book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons. I myself grew up with this short on a public domain vhs, so the quality was rather sub par, but seeing the cartoon in its restored and remastered glory makes it way more of a treat than before.The basic storyline is that Popeye must rescue his girlfriend Olive Oyl from the notorious Sindbad on his island of ferocious creatures. Pretty standard as far as a Popeye cartoon goes, but what elevates it from being your typical Popeye venture is how epic and grand it is. The setting of Sinbad's island is marvelous, complete with the Fleischer's legendary stereotypical backgrounds that create a lot of depth and dimensions, and one can definitely tell how much effort and care was put into crafting the island. The creatures themselves, whether it'd be lions, dragons, or even giants, are frightening but intriguing to watch, mainly by what predicaments Popeye ends up in with each animal. In particular, the roc is so majestic in terms of design and size that it's hard not to feel timid around the beast, especially when it takes off to fly (what a tremendously epic scene).In addition to how magnificent the island is, the music is utterly fantastic. Most of the score consists of suspenseful tracks that play whenever Popeye is in danger. The scores help accompany the already monumental and thrilling scenes to give them that extra flavor of tension. Not only that, but despite only one musical number playing afloat, Who's the Most Phenomenal Extraordinary Fellow is incredibly catching, and helps establish both the courageous character of Sindbad and his accomplishments overseas, with some humorous lyrics sprinkled throughout. Adding into that, Gus Wickie does a great job performing the speaking and singing voice of Sindbad, elevating his aggressive presence and pompous ego to new heights. Speaking of the voices, Jack Mercer, the longest running and most iconic voice of Popeye, performs the usual vigorous albeit humorous charismatic voice we've come to know and love, complete with witty ad libs, and Mae Questel carries through on making Olive truly sound like the damsel in distress without coming off as annoying. Needless to say, Popeye Meets Sindbad contains enough grand animation, tense music, and amusing voices to present sixteen minutes of pure thrilling entertainment. Whether you're a big fan of Popeye the sailor or not, check this cartoon out and have the time of your life. And just remember, there's only room for one brave sailor in this world, and I'm sure you know who that is.

'Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor' was the first of three Popeye specials in Technicolor; anticipating Disney's development of the multiplane camera for 'The Old Mill' (1937) by a year by animating its characters on glass in front of actual models lit in vivid colours. The resulting look is quite remarkable, notably during a lateral track following Popeye prowling through a cave - which along with the giant Roc and two-headed giant were probably the features that inspired the young Ray Harryhausen - and visually quite different from the results produced by Disney's multiplane camera; which instead separated flat cells into planes rather like a 3D movie.Due to the trouble and complexity involved the 3D scenes are in fact actually used only sparingly during 'Sindbad'. The exotic setting and Pop Art colours aside, the action itself is the usual scrap between Bluto (here playing Sindbad) and Popeye; and the very occasional medium shots of its characters remind one that animated films of the 30's still tended to follow the framing in long shot favoured by Méliès.The Fleischers' efforts were rewarded with a nomination for the 1936 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Subject; although as usual they lost out to Disney (for the Silly Symphony 'The Country Cousin'), and after two more 'specials' they went back to less technically flamboyant Popeye shorts while instead concentrating their artistic aspirations into their first feature, 'Gulliver's Travels' (1939), in which Popeye didn't appear.

Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (1936) *** (out of 4)Sinbad (Bluto) is singing a song talking about how great he is when he overhears someone else singing. He looks out to see and notices Popeye singing about how great he is. What catches Sinbad's eye is Olive Oyl so he kidnaps her and sure enough Popeye follows to get her back. This isn't your typical Popeye cartoon because not only is it a two- reeler but it was also filmed in Technicolor. Most of the Popeye shorts from this period were B&W and ran around six minutes long so this here is different in that way. With that said, the story itself is pretty familiar to a regular Popeye short as we have the two men fighting over Olive. There's really nothing fresh or original as far as the story goes, although the extended running time does make room for some supporting characters including loads of animals and a two-headed cyborg. What really makes this film stand out is the Technicolor, which looks downright amazing. Just take a look at the sky in the background during the opening sequence. Another catchy moment are the snakes at the start of the picture. The colors are just wonderful to look out and certainly help make up for the familiar story.

Along with the Ali Baba one this is my favourite Popeye cartoon, I must admit partly because it's 3 times as long as most of the cartoons in the Canon. It gave much more scope to the Fleischer's to ...fleish it out a bit, less frenetic movement - some of the time! All you should love about these Paramount Popeye's - if you're reading this - is here in spades (with Technicolour), from the marvellous panning 3d opening displaying Bluto's island and denizens to the incessant rambling mutterings of Popeye, Bluto, Olive and Wimpy. The storyline and animation are both amusing and inventive in the usual unusual Fleischer manner, and not a second is wasted. Although it's definitely not for the pc and over zealous animal rights activists! Best bit: The savage looking giant two-headed caveman crooning a sweet lullaby to Popeye lying dazed in his lap.