Let's Sing with Popeye

This early Popeye cartoon is not the normal fare for him. You know that when you first discover this is only two minutes long! After we see the sailor man exhibit his strength on-board a ship, as he sings, it turns into a sing-a-long for all of us.

"Sing along we me," Popeye exhorts and the screen turns black with the lyrics printed and, yes, we are to follow the bouncing ball.

"I'm Popeye The Sailor Man (toot) I'm Popeye The Sailor Man (toot) I Am What I Am And That's All What I Yam I'm Popeye The Sailor Man (toot, toot)"

We then get other verses which are unfamiliar but uninteresting. I don't know what the point of this was outside of introducing this cartoon character to audiences, although I am pretty sure Popeye cartoons began the year before in 1933.

Nearly a year after Betty Boop introduced this popular King Features comic strip character to the animated screen in the short named after him, Popeye the Sailor invited his thousands, perhaps millions, of movie-going fans to join in the bouncing ball for his theme song. If his voice sounds a little gruffer than what you're normally used to hearing, that's because his original portrayer was not Jack Mercer but William Costello. While Mercer added the little charming mutterings that gave the character added dimension later on, it's Costello that give him that familiar laugh that sparkles here. There's some visual humor like when Popeye punches a clock that splits into other little clocks but it's a little surprising since this is a Max Fleischer Bouncing Ball cartoon that the refrain at the end doesn't have the words turn into pictures that the words mean. Still, if you're a Popeye completist, I highly recommend this two-minute short Let's Sing with Popeye.

It is one of Popeye short animations reminding me the years of kindergarden. A song, its lyrics, the punches of hero making tiny objects and it is enough for elementary education. But , sure, the song just matters.

. . . of Existential Philosophy. As Brigitte Bar-Dot famously remarked, "Popeye gets more across to his auditors in under a minute than Al Camus and Gene Sartre manage to do in their 37 books." As the patron saint of yams, America's favorite tar is concise here, and to the point. He pledges NOT to suffer fools, and will take umbrage at any malarkey or balderdash. Therefore, Professor Popeye shines as the brightest guiding light of American Exceptionalism. When his creators fought the National Social Party a decade later in Real Life, losing director Will Blue Sky during the Battle of the Bulge, it was Popeye's Straight Arrow confidence and optimism that comforted and inspired our U. S. Homeland to Victory.

"I'm Popeye the sailor man (toot) / I'm Popeye the sailor man (toot) / I yam wot I yam / And that's all wot I yam / I'm Popeye the sailor man / I'm one tough Gazookus / Wot hates all Palookas / Wot ain't on the ups and square / Boy! I biffs 'em and buffs 'em / And always out-roughs 'em / But none of 'em gets nowhere / Now if anyone dasses to risk my "fisk" / It's "Boff" and it's "Wham" understan'? / So, keep good behav'or / It's your one life-saver / With Popeye the sailor man! / Oh! I'm Popeye the sailor man (toot) / I'm Popeye the sailor man (toot) / I'm strong to the "finich" / 'Cause I eats me "SPINACH" / I'm Popeye the Sailor Man (toot-toot)!"

You'll have to trust me; the lyrics are ten times more hilarious when being sung by Popeye, as he encourages everybody to follow the "bouncing ball" and sing along with him. This is the first Popeye cartoon that I've seen in years, and I've been assured that his films can only go uphill from here. Director Dave Fleischer must surely have had the best of intentions when he threw together this two-minute sing-along, presumably to precede a children's feature-film. If I close my eyes and think really hard, I can almost imagine a cinema-full of people chanting the words with gusto. Hell, even I decided to dispense with my dignity and sing-along with Popeye, that bouncing ball proving too irresistible to ignore. But the fact remains, this film is totally lame.

'Let's Sing with Popeye (1934)' appears to have been produced so cheaply that I wouldn't be surprised if it was tossed together from the deleted scenes of previous Popeye cartoons. There's some interest in the first minute or so, as Popeye rampages around his ship, sings about his strength and thoughtlessly tears his nautical equipment to bits, but the entire second half is just words against a black background (oh, and a bouncing ball!). For camp value, I suppose that this cartoon is worthing checking out, and the two minute running time makes the film forgiving enough, but comparing this hack-job to a Disney "Silly Symphony" of the same year just makes me want to laugh.