Little Swee'pea

I remember Little See'pea as the debut cartoon for the Segar-created baby Swee'Pea. (Sock-a-Bye Baby was not Swee'pea's debut, though I at first thought that the babe whom Popeye was baby-sitting WAS Swee'pea.) This cartoon showed what Swee'Pea was like; when Popeye took him to the zoo (because Olive Oyl was too busy with housecleaning to go with Popeye), Swee'Pea crawled in and out of mischief, with Popeye in pursuit. With the aid of spinach, he spanked the hippo and threw him into the ground, then twirled a leopard, which lost its spots. The punching of the crocodile into suitcases, seen in several other Popeyes, was absent. At the end, Popeye gave Swee'pea a toy monkey, which led him to SQUALL! Olive Oyl thought that Popeye had FRIGHTENED Swee'pea, hit him with her broom. The REAL nitty-gritty was that Swee'Pea was squalling because he did not have his way. This was seen in later Popeyes featuring Swee'Pea, like Baby Wants a Bottleship and Thrill of Fair. All in all, a fine cartoon debut for Swee'Pea.

I grew up watching this Popeye and unlike the heroes the kids have to look up to today he was honest, truthful and always did the right thing even when it meant more trouble for his "predicamink". Granted Popeye never took himself to seriously but that's just another factor that endeared him for me. Just simply a great cartoon as all the old Popeye cartoons are. Oh and for those of you asking about Swee'Pea and where he came from, he was an orphan. One legend has it that Popeye found him in the Swee'Pea vines, thus the name. The other legend says he was left on the Oyle family's' doorstep. According to this version when first introduced to Popeye he "socked" him right in the eye and Popeye said he "layed me in the Swee'Peas!" Thus another origin for the name. Olive seemed to have became his adoptive Mother. So take your pick of origin legends but please allow this to put to rest any notion of Swee'Pea being an illegitimate child once and for all. Let us not tarnish the long standing respect for Popeye and his world.

Many fine cartoons were seen with Dave Fleischer. Ones that were amusing and charming, though over-cuteness did come through in some efforts and the stories were always pretty thin, with appealing characters, outstanding music and visuals that were inventive and with innovative animation techniques.

While not quite one of my favourite Popeye cartoons, 'Little Swee Pea' is still very well made and great fun, with plenty of amusement and managing to not be too cute. This is not a Popeye versus Bluto cartoon, and another change of pace for Popeye, which are every bit as enjoyable and in a good deal of them even more so than the Popeye versus Bluto efforts. The premise is not an original one, so the cartoon is on the formulaic side, but 'Little Swee Pea' has enough invention to stop it from becoming predictable and repetitive, or too much so at least. It is a fine example of why Popeye and his cartoon appeal a lot to me and what makes them work so well is all evident here.

Olive Oyl is on the bland and underused side, but Popeye and debuting Swee Pea are dead on. Popeye is very easy to like and is is amusing yet easy to feel sympathy for, but despite being a baby Swee Pea manages to be an even more interesting character, avoiding being obnoxious or too cute and is both adorable and funny. Their chemistry/interaction was essential for 'Little Swee Pea' to work and sparkles.

There are many clever and very amusing to hilarious gags, the cartoon is hardly short-changed in this regard. A highlight is the sequence with the hippo. The asides and mumblings are even funnier and helped by Jack Mercer's ever genius vocal delivery, just wish there was more.

Regarding the animation, it is very good as always from this period. It's beautifully drawn and with immaculate visual detail, that doesn't ever feel cluttered or static, and lively and smooth movement. The music likewise, lots of merry energy and lush orchestration, adding a lot to the action and making the impact even better without being too cartoonish. Fleischer's direction is always accomplished and his style is all over it.

Jack Mercer easily steals the show when it comes to the voice acting, for all the above reasons.

In conclusion, very nicely done Popeye cartoon and a worthy introduction to Swee Pea. 8/10

Little Swee'pea (1936)

*** (out of 4)

Popeye asks Olive Oyl to go to the zoo with him but she's busy so she says he can take Little Swee'pea. Popeye does so and quickly regrets it as the kid keeps wondering off and getting involved with various animals.

LITTLE SWEE'PEA is another winning short from Fleischer's series where there's once again some good laughs and plenty of nice action. The real highlight here is a sequence where the baby is walking underneath the elephant, which keeps coming close to stepping on him. There's also another funny sequence where the baby keeps walking into the mouth of an alligator. The animation itself is of high quality as you'd expect and the action helps keep the film moving.

I never did understand in what relation was this baby to Popeye. Was he (it is a boy, is it not?), Olive Oyl's illegitimate kid? She seemed to hang around the docks a lot, she dated both Bluto and Popeye, heck, she could have dated (wink, wink) the whole 7th fleet for all we know!! But, I digress. This cartoon is a cute one about Popeye taking Swee Pea to the zoo. Swee Pea decides to climb out of his stroller and get inside various animal cages. Swee Pea gets inside the elephant, alligator, hippo cages and is seen riding the leopard out of the zoo before being caught by Popeye and delivered back to Olive Oyl.

But, this is a funny little cartoon from the Fleischer Studios.