I’ve never quite understood the allure of Popeye. Over the years I’ve watched a lot of animation and have a great love for the art and many of the characters that have become superstars like Bugs, Daffy, Mickey and Donald. But for some reason I never really got into Popeye. I thought perhaps if I watched some of the shorts available on the new Koch Entertainment DVD release of the “Popeye: 75th Anniversary Collection” I might just ‘get it.’ I have to admit I still don’t, but you might. Popeye made his debut in 1929 in a strip known as “The Thimble Theatre” created by E.C. Segar. He wasn’t the main character by any stretch of the imagination and served as more of a side note to Olive Oyl’s family, who was more the main subject of the strip. As the strip continued Popeye started working his way into the forefront, becoming more and more popular. Around 1933, he made the jump to animation by way of the Max Fleischer studios.

It was the time we were living in, with the threats of war in our future that I think more than anything made him so popular. It wasn’t that he was funny, but more so that he was a hero that always came out ahead, but never let it go to his head. He became somewhat of a symbol to the nation; the fact that he was a military man didn’t hurt.

People seemed to love seeing him beat up the much larger Bluto, usually saving damsel in distress Olive at the same time. I guess there was a certain charm to the character, as I have seen a number of short films that were genuinely entertaining, but I think it’s the sheer glut of cartons available that hurts his stature, at least with me. There wasn’t a consistency of quality, like what you might find from the Disney or Warner studios of the 30s and 40s. Even the feature film that was made years later with Robin Williams (which was a sure fire bit of casting) failed to attract audiences. Though, to this day poor Shelley Duvall will be forever stereotyped as Olive Oyl.

Though the Fleischer Studios made hundreds of Popeye shorts, none of them made it onto this anniversary set. I imagine this had to do with various rights issues. Where do these particular 85 shorts come from might you ask? Well, Popeye was so popular that there were several studios that worked on a variety of animated shorts over the years. From 1960 – 1961, King Features Syndicate took the reigns and churned out over 200 of their own animated shorts. Again with an uneven consistency of quality. It was from these shorts, that the 85 were chosen as a representation of the best of Popeye in this set.

The shorts are spread out over three discs, and just as the quality of the writing and direction is inconsistent, so is the quality of the presentation. Some of the shorts look great, while others are marred by spots and glitches. Of course, looking at some of the worst offenders I doubt there was much that could be done to clean them up.

Though I may not be a fan of Popeye, I would still recommend the set to those who are really into the character. Choosing the ‘Best’ of anything always comes with its share of detractors who think they know better which ones are really the ‘best’ and there will be a lot of argument as to the choices. If nothing else, this 75th Anniversary set does get hardcore fans 85 shorts closer to having a complete collection.

Episodes:
DISC 1 –
Hits and Missiles
Plumbers Pipe Dream
Jeep Tale
Popeye’s Pep Up Emporium
Love Birds
Golden-Type Fleece
Coffee House
Mueller’s Mad Monster
Popeye and the Spinach Stalk
After the Ball Went Over
Popeye’s Car Wash
Muskels Shmuskels
Ski-Jump Chump
Popeye and the Dragon
Hamburger Fishing
Childhood Daze
Jingle Jangle Jungle
Incident at Missile City
Fashion Fotography
Sea No Evil
Popeye’s Junior Headache
What’s News
Voo-Doo to You Too
Matinee Idol Popeye
Popeye and the Giant
Mississippi Sissy
Sea Serpent
Little Olive Riding Hood
Invisible Popeye

DISC 2 –
Track Meet Cheat
Scairdy Cat
Popeye’s Trojan Horse
Aladdin’s Lamp
Crystal Ball Brawl
Out of this World
Swee’pea Soup
Two-Faced Paleface
Spare Dat Tree
Frozen Feuds
Weight For Me
Tiger Burger
Old Salt Tale
Seer-ring is Believer-ring
Popeye Revere
The Glad Gladiator
Jeep is Jeep
Strange Things Are Happening
Popeye’s Testimonial Dinner
Popeye the Ugly Ducklin
Giddy Gold
My Fair Olive
Kiddie Kapers
Popeye Thumb
Barbecue for Two
Popeye’s Used Car
Popeye’s Tea Party
The Wiffle Bird’s Revenge
Bullfighter Bully
Fleas a Crowd
County Fair
Popeye and Buddy Brutus
Lighthouse Keeping
Butler Up
Popeye’s Cool Pool
Oil’s Well That Ends Well

Disc 3 –
Motor Knocks
Popeye the Lifeguard
College of Hard Knocks
Duel to the Finish
The Medicine Man
Egypt Us
The Big Sneeze
Wimpy’s Lunch Wagon
Operation Ice-Tickle
The Mark of Zero
The Super Duper Market
Insultin’ the Sultan
Wimpy the Moocher
Popeye’s Double Trouble
Rags to Riches to Rags
Me Quest for Poopdeck Pappy
The Golden Touch
Gem Jam
Popeye’s Hypnotic Glance
Olive Drab and the Seven Sweepeas

Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Koch Entertainment
Release Date: Available
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Popeye: 75th Anniversary Collection a C.