I was never a fan of the Popeye animated shorts. More WB fare.
But I do recall seeing them on TV.
Initially, in glorious black & white, and later in color, presumably from 16mm Eastman syndication prints.
And there was never anything special about them.
It’s taken half a century, but we can finally celebrate the Popeyes in startlingly beautiful new image harvests from the original camera negatives – SE exposures – and the resultant new Warner Blu-ray release is never less than startlingly beautiful.
This is the time for a revaluation of these Izzy Sparber works. He was also responsible for the Superman animated shorts, produced by Famous Studios, and also distributed via Paramount.
For those who truly love original (theatrical version) animated shorts, this is a must own.
Gorgeous color, proper grain, as one can only achieve from original elements.
With luck there will be more to come.
Image – 5
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Upgrade from DVD – Oh, yes!
Highly Recommended
RAH
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Who Replied?dana martin
Douglas R
Upgrade from DVD - Oh, yes!
These 1940s shorts have never been available on DVD have they? At least, not officially.
I'm really looking forward to these. My introduction to Popeye was in the 1950s on Pathescope 9.5mm films. I loved the inventiveness of them and how the animators broke the usual conventions of cartoon films. Later in the early 1960s in the UK there was a twice weekly 30 minute showing on one of the TV channels for a year or two. I used to eagerly rush home from college; which involved two different trains and a bus journey, in order to just about manage to catch the programme. I don't think the Popeye shorts had had any subsequent TV showings.
Patrick McCart
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lark144
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bigshot
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The New York animation scene was so influential in the 1930s, but that didn't last. By the 50s, the only interesting things going on in New York were TV commercials and industrial films. The Famous cartoons are interesting for me primarily for the animation of Jim Tyer and Bill Titla. But of all the golden age cartoon studios, it's the most wrong headed (with Mintz following a close second).
bobclampett
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I was glued to the TV every night and watched Popeye cartoons over and over. Indeed, when I bought the Popeye DVD sets, I saw that I already had all the cartoons memorized. As I said elsewhere, these new colour discs will be a must buy for me. I only know the trials and tribulations of the 1940s Popeye family in black and white.
Patrick McCart
I truly don't understand Warners logic when it comes to release choices. There are way too many Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies unrestored and unrealeased on Blu Ray. The Porky Pig set Warner released only rated a DVD release featuring old masters while Warner gives Paramount Popeyes the gold standard treatment. Still waiting for collections featuring the unreleased directorial efforts of Robert Clampett, Frank Tashlin, Arthur Davis or complete sets by the year. In complete agreement with everyone's assessment of the Famous Studio output.
From what was said in the Warner Archive podcast, the Famous cartoons seem to be part of a larger preservation effort because there's pretty much nothing besides the negatives and AAP's printing masters (which are just 35mm prints).
bigshot
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I truly don't understand Warners logic when it comes to release choices. There are way too many Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies unrestored and unrealeased on Blu Ray. The Porky Pig set Warner released only rated a DVD release featuring old masters while Warner gives Paramount Popeyes the gold standard treatment.
They think regular people don't want B&W cartoons, and they're probably right.
Lord Dalek
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If the sales of the old dvd sets are to be believed (they bombed IIRC), they're definitely right.They think regular people don't want B&W cartoons, and they're probably right.
bigshot
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Traveling Matt
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As for the Looney Tunes, roughly 1/3 of the library is already fully restored in HD. At this point the only thing that makes sense is to fully restore the remainder of it. That would allow Warner to:
- properly manage the asset, which is the most important thing
- prep the library for digital sale or license, which will require HD
- skip individual releases and publish a complete series set on about 25 Blu-rays for the collector
Lord Dalek
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I'm hoping that this sells well enough for WAC to treat classic animation like they do horror, sci-fi and musicals; those hardly sell "mainstream blockbuster" numbers, but have groups that buy them reliably enough to bank future releases.
Traveling Matt
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The bottom line is there are certain classic animation properties certain people still care about. Those certain people are in the extreme minority of the video-consuming public. Most of the time it's on Warner to figure out how to make these pieces fit together, but right now it's on us. I bought copies of Popeye to give away as Christmas gifts.
dana martin
The cartoon nerd market just isn't big enough to support comprehensive releases. I think there is a way to program the 30s B&W shorts for general audiences, but the way to do that would be to sprinkle them in for variety, not to stack them up one after another in chronological order.
right, just like the chronological Micky Mouse, B/W vol 1 & 2, or the four volumes of Donald Duck, that Disney did for the Treasures line, look at Amazon or eBay and see what a limited run will cost you now, per two disc sets with bonus features, i don't thank its just "cartoon nerds" that made the purchases when those were originally released. But it does come down to marketing and of course exposure. Apples and oranges in this case, Disney will always market its classics animation, its the very foundation that Walt built his empire on.
WB on the other hand, is doing something completely different, that have take a character who lets be honest, has gotten how much air time on TV in the last twenty years? and restoring the original theatrical shorts for a new generation. Many that will buy this are of a certain age, and hopefully view this with their children or grandchildren. to give them an appreciation of classic hand drawn animation. Or at least i hope they get a chuckle at some of the gags.
No these are not the zenith of Popeye cartoons, that most definitive was the Fleischer's, each studio had its strengths and weaknesses, as great as each were, they all were different, the gloss of the MGM toons, Universal' s jazzy music with Woody, Disney, all you have to do is look at the work and see the genius.
We both tread this and the other forum, and i know you are familiar with Thunderbean, who does wonderful work, along with other selected boutique releases. Part of the problem is the same one that has been the programming of the last 30 years, if its animated then well it must be for kids. Thankfully that is not always so, but it doesn't mean that people are going to jump on a title of something rarely seen.
Kino is releasing the DePate/Freeling cartoons including The Complete Pink Panther, when was the last time any of these were broadcast? i can't tell you, Cartoon Network and Boomerang both have their own programming, and the next generation is going to look at Teen Titans the way older generations looked at the Bugs Bunny/Road Runner show. Do i take animation serious, well i will let the numbers speak for it's self, clicked the tag and checked my profiler, looks like i own 603 animated title, and the damn mail man still hasn't delivered this release of Popeye yet.
off the soapbox, i would kill for a Tex Avery set, a best of MGM set, and the remaining Tom and Jerry done as originally planned, will it happen, who knows? another LT set, sign me up! The Fleischer Superman's from WB restored to original theatrical presentation, released on bul would be with out hesitation an instant purchase. it may all sound like folly, but hey everyone gets a Christmas wish.