Popeye Question: Me Musical Nephews/Riot In Rhythm

[Chris Mulwee]

How do you folks think this (these) Popeye cartoon(s) originally ended?
I don't know about Me Musical Nephews, but I think Riot in Rhythm( an ALMOST exact color remake) may have ended with the Paramount logo appearing on the
movie screen behind Popeyes nephews, and then the camera zooming up to the logo until it takes up OUR ( the viewers' )screen. What about the rest of you.


As for which cartoon I Like better, it is a toss up. Riot in Rhythm as smoother animation, and bright colors, but the musical score is inferior to that of Me Musical Nephews.

How do the rest of you pair thse two cartoons againsteach other?

[Ray Pointer]

I think you are onto something. Good catch! It would seem very likely that the group shot in the end, with Popeye's nephews around the bed would have been processed into a Paramount trademark ending much like the original endings of the Screen Songs. Towards the end of that series, bands of the Swing Era were featured, and the shorts were used as a promotion, playing one week before their live appearances at the theater. With this in mind, your theory could be correct.

As for the animation, it seems identical to my memory, certainly not drastically better or worse, but both certainly acceptable. Generally the orignal black and white animation was superior to the color remakes. But for me, they are both about the same. I'd agree that the music was better in the original though. I think that was because it was a fresh idea then. By the time the remake was made, it was something that had been done before, and less inspired.

[Daff Doc]

I believe that would be how it ended as it's simular to THE HUNGRY GOAT's original ending as seen restored on The Popeye Show. And to me the B&W's animation is better than the color remake and a WHOLE LOT better than the redrawn colorized.:eek:

:sailor: Everyone else miss THE Popeye Show?

[J Lee]

The remake was done in the period when Famous' shorts had gotten to the point where the animation was very smooth and polished, but at the expense of any sudden surprise movments that actually were funny. The story in the original cartoon (which itself was borrowed by Kneitel from his 1935 short "Kids in the Shoe") included several touches like Popeye's ultra-quick bedtime story or fast jaunt to the bathroom that were funny asides, and pretty much standard stuff for the World War II-era Fleischer/Famous shorts, and similar to the sudden shifts in pacing Warner Bros. was perfecting on the West Coast in the 1942-43 period.

The 1950 remake does away with those bits and smooths out the timing so that the pacing doesn't change nearly as much, which robs the cartoon of some of its humor. The story is strong, the gags that go with the music are still good in the remake (and there are parts of Sharples' new score I like just as much as Timberg's original), and yes, I also think the original ending had the Paramount logo behind the nephews playing on stage in both versions.

The color version is one of the better early-50s Popeyes, but it also suffers from the same problem that made so many of the other early-50s cartoons just bland six-minute time-fillers.