We're on Our Way to Rio

I truly love this cartoon! Brings back a lot of nostalgia growing up!

Of all the Popeye cartoons made for Famous Artists from 1942-1957, this ranks as my favorite. It's a delight from start to finish.

This is just one of many attempts to incorporate FDR's Good Neighbor Policy into the cartoon industry. In fact, in the waning days of the Fleischer Studio, there had been one earlier attempt "Kicking the Conga 'Round" which is certainly a good cartoon.

"We're on Our Way to Rio" is even better. As Popeye and Bluto enter Rio (beautifully drawn) on burro singing the wonderful title song, one can't help but be reminded of Hope and Crosby on camel-back singing "The Road to Morocco".

Olive Oyl is playing an obviously Carmen Miranda-inspired nightclub singer. The laughs come quickly and the music as memorable as in the sadly departed Fleischer days.

Famous Studios would never again make a Popeye cartoon as memorable as this. Before much longer they seemed to give up even trying.

Like to love a vast majority of the Popeye cartoons. Also like Popeye himself. A likeable character whose chemistry and animosity with Bluto one that drives the cartoons with such fun and energy, always a highlight. Do have a preference for the Fleischer era cartoons, that are generally funnier, more imaginative and of higher quality, though many of the later Famous Studio offerings entertain, just inferior in quality.

A relatively early Famous Studios effort, as far as the Popeye cartoons go that is, 'We're on Our Way to Rio' is not quite one of my favourite Popeye cartoons overall, but it is close. It has everything that was so great about the best of the Fleischer output while not being quite as imaginative in the formula and humour. That is not saying at all that 'We're on Our Way to Rio' is unimaginative (the contrary), the setting for Popeye is a unique one and the way it's used is different and clever. By Famous Studios standards, 'We're on Our Way to Rio' is pretty inventive and liked that it focused both on the rivalry over Olive and the less than amicable chemistry between Popeye and Bluto, rather than one or the other, doing it in a way incorporating singing and dancing that stands out among other Popeye cartoons and certainly during this particular period of the series. It is a great cartoon and feel that it is one of the best Popeye cartoons from this period of the series and also one of Famous Studios' better Popeye cartoons overall.

One doesn't care so much that the story is on the thin and somewhat formulaic side, the outcome is never in question. Namely because there is enough creativity and variety to stop 'We're on Our Way to Rio' from being repetitive or predictable and the energy is constant and so infectious. It contains some of the cleverest and most interesting use of Olive of the series.

Many other fine things in 'We're on Our Way to Rio'. The animation cannot be faulted, the backgrounds have lost none of the meticulous attention to detail, it's fluid, Popeye still looks good and is recognisable in design and the colours are wonderfully vibrant, which really does make the setting come alive. Even better, and a contender for the thing that makes the cartoon (practically in a way it feels like it is the cartoon), is the highly characterful and toe-tapping music score, that not only fits seamlessly and enhances the action but it is like its own character.

Popeye is amusing and likeable still and Jack Mercer doesn't disappoint with the voice acting. Bluto is even funnier and the chemistry between the two sparkles and carries 'We're on Our Way to Rio' brilliantly.

'We're on Our Way to Rio' boasts lots of gags, namely revolving around Bluto's sabotage attempts, that are timed beautifully and are never less than very funny, Popeye's asides and mumblings are something of a hilarious art-form of its own, and the energy never wavers. The ending made my eyes water from laughing. The action is imaginative visually (dancing has seldom been synchronised and animated so well in a Popeye cartoon), crisply timed and non-stop without being exhausting. Dave Barry provides Bluto's voice beautifully.

In conclusion, great. 9/10

This animated minimovie was a tropical delight and proof that the Famous Studios POPEYES were not just kid stuff. The funny thing is that, this is clearly a take-off on the ROAD movies with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, but when the two animated sailors were singing the wonderfully Cole-Porteresque/Rogers and Hammersteinian title song, the guy who voiced Bluto sounded for all the world like Gordon MacRae! Too bad he didn't sing more here -- maybe do a "soliloquy!" (Too bad also, that the creators didn't draw Bluto to LOOK a little like Gordon to boot, like they did in "Shaving Muggs" and "Parlez-Vous Woo.") I'm a POPEYE fan from way back (especially Famous Studios Popeye) and I am a big fan of Gordon MacRae's movies, looks, and voice (in his heyday), and I say, ya gotta love a Bluto who sings like Gordon MacRae!

World War II brought cultural exchanges between the two America's. Many film studios dabbled into Latin American culture during this time. This lively Popeye short was one of his first in Technicolor and it benefits greatly with a brilliant use of color. Popeye and Bluto ride into Rio on an Ox and go to a nightclub, where they oogle over the Samba dancer (Olive Oyle). I can only wonder if this sequence was inspired by Tex Avery's RED HOT RIDING HOOD which caught moviegoers by storm the previous year. (A South American themed Avery short with Red, the Wolf, and Droopy would have been interesting).

The gags and timing are nicely executed. Popeye's impromptu Samba dancing is both impressive and funny. I wonder who voiced the Samba dancer. It couldn't have been Olive Oyle's regular voice at that time.

An excellent contibution to America's wartime Good Neighbor policy. Well worth seeking out and now available on Blu-Ray fully restored.