I Don't Scare

Bluto and Popeye are both sailors in this animated short. Both are also vying for the public telephone booth to call Olive for a date. Each gets battered by the other in the contest to make the call, with Popeye winning.

Popeye enters with, "Hi ya, Olive. Here is your little 'ole lover beau!" Bluto is at the window, eavesdropping. Olive picks up a pin on the floor and says something about "good luck for the day," and Bluto thinks to himself, "So Olive is superstitious." He cooks up a plan, starting with ripping the calendar next to the window, changing the date from "Thursday the 12th" to "Friday the 13th." Olive sees that and changes her mind. "I'm not going out today," she says. Popeye answers, "There's nothing to them stupid-stitions. I'll show ya."

Bluto makes sure that is NOT the case.....and Olive, not Popeye, takes some bruisings. Then, the two-time Olive goes out with Bluto when the latter has booted Popeye out and shown her what the real date is.

The ending is smart, with Popeye taking those superstitions and using them against his rival in the last minute or so.

By the way, check out the decor in Olive's house. This is really wild - modern '50s, I guess.

Believe it or not, Popeye and Bluto are both trying to get Olive. How novel! Popeye has the date but Bluto moves in. It turns out that Olive his highly superstitious. As Popeye tries to show her how silly this is, he makes all her fears seem real. Of course, his giant adversary is behind everything. Not too bad.

I Don't Scare (1956)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Popeye and Olive Oyl are going out on a date but Bluto convinces her it's Friday the 13th and she's afraid of bad luck. After some chaos Olive ends up going on a date with Bluto, which isn't going to sit well with Popeye.

This Popeye short certainly isn't an awful film but at the same time it doesn't reach a very good level so it's really somewhat of a letdown. The best thing going for the film is its animation, which is of high quality. As far as the story goes, it's got a somewhat clever idea but there's really nothing overly fun done with it. The entire issue with broken mirrors and standing under ladders leads to some minor site gags but they're just not all that funny and the action level is rather low for a Popeye short.

Popeye beats out Bluto for a date with Olive Oyl, so Bluto changes the calendar from Thursday the 12th to Friday the 13th. Superstitious Olive won't go out, so Popeye tries to convince her not to be superstitious. Bluto interferes.

The usual good gags of this Famous Studios cartoon war not only with the inevitable Popeye-vs-Bluto plot -- and raises the question of why Olive is such an in-demand girl, which doesn't speak well to her character -- but the simplified artwork that the shrinking budgets of the late Popeye cartoons demanded. It's particularly evident in the simplified background work.

Popeye beats Bluto to asking Olive Oyl out on a date. It's Thursday the 12th. Bluto intends to sabotage their date. He rips out the page from the calendar and turns it to Friday the 13th. Being superstitious, Olive is reluctant to go out. Popeye can't convince her otherwise and Bluto continues to sabotage him. Eventually, Bluto shows Olive that it really is the 12th and takes her out on a date himself. Popeye decides to fight back.

This is a high maintenance Olive and I don't mind that. There is a difference between high maintenance and simply being the worst. The difference being her level of love towards Popeye. Does she even care about him? High maintenance can be funny if she loves him. The lack of love is a big gigantic problem and that's why she's the worst sometimes. This is the good side of that line.