Official Popeye the Sailor, Vol. 1 (1933-1938) DVD Talkback Thread

[mobo85]

Th' third disk in the set I ordered from Ammyzon.com is defekteriv', so I'm ordering a new set...but th' other three disks werk jest fine! Taking a glance at them, I must say dat they are very impressiv'. I've only looked at the ferst couple of kartoons so far, but I was delighted with what I saw. Ali Baba looks byootiful, and I'm sure that Sindbad does, too. The dokumenterry about Popeye's histerry on the ferst disk was very informative and entertaining- I was surprised when I saw the clip of ZaSu Pitts how much she really does sound like Olive Oyl- although, of course, it's really the other way around. (There's only one flaw with the dokumenterry- when they were commenting on the King Features kartoons, I wish they wood've made a mention of the fact that KFS thought Bluto was a character created for the Perrymount kartoons and thus created a similar character called "Brutus," since I know that konfused a lot of people). The kommentaries are very interesting- the kreators of El Tigre had an interesting take on Blow Me Down! (It's sort of suprisering that Mexican-born folks are okay with Mexican sterryotpes, but then again, when you think back to the whole debakle, maybe it isn't that surprising). I wish the Popeye historian Glenn Mitchell had done more than two kommentarys- deskribing what's going on on screen while giving a few remarks and a few personal oppinyons doesn't sound like it would be entertaining, but Mitchell has a somewhat dry sense of humor that makes it work. My kongratulashuns to the whole gang at Warner Home Video for a splendid set- and an extry toot of me pipe to the folks at King Features Syndicate fer making it happen!

(One of the things about this set that isn't warned about on the packaging is that it makes you want to write and speak in Popeye-talk- or is that only me? )

[Sean Gaffney]

Got my DVD yesterday, and have watched the first 7 cartoons, plus listened to the commentaries. I'm very impressed. These cartoons look great! (No idea about DVNR, I don't notice it unless it's on a Droopy level, and after all the arguing on another animation board, I'm fairly sick of it anyway).

I was very amused by the first couple of cartoons, with Olive calling for help as she beats the tar out of the villain, thus making it clear that she doesn't really need it. Olive is one of the most interesting cartoon characters of the 30s, and one of the few successful recurring females.

Commentaries are about what I expected. Michael Barrier is informative yet dry. Glenn Mitchell was very talkative and interesting. The two Mexican animators were a lot of fun. I don't need this sort of commentary all the time, but it's always nice once in a while to get a commentary from someone who's laughing at the cartoon the entire time. It's clear these two had great fun watching Popeye in Mexico.

I also saw the EC Segar mimi-documentary, which was very well done. Nice to see Mort Walker and Jules Feiffer participating!

Definitely looking forward to more - these are great cartoons!

[Geezil]

Originally Posted by J Lee

Geez, don't get me wrong -- I still recommend everyone buys a copy of the DVD, and if a rouge meteor or some other misfortune was to crush my current copy into dust, I'd go out and buy it again in a heartbeat. My only point in listing those things was to say that while the color two-reelers are miles ahead of anything commercially available before now, there are still a few glitches on the B&W cartoons. But the good is better than the perfect, since when you're dealing with 70-plus-year-old flims that have been through five ownership changes, you're never going to get the perfect.

As at least a few much-wiser-folk-than-I have remarked over time, "amen"!

P.S.: Second mission accomplished, tin secured, and the Geezil critique will follow shortly. (Just a quick preview: Besides all the obvious Popeye gems, props to WHV for giving us Koko, Mutt & Jeff, and Bobby Bumps too in this raise-the-quality-bar-way-high set.)

[cpdavison]

Well, owing to car troubles and scheduling conflicts, I was not able to drive to Best Buy last night!

...maybe tonight..?

Craig D.

[peateargryphon]

Did anyone else notice the trailer for "The Smurfs: Season 1" on Disc 4 of this set? Has this been announced elsewhere, because I can't find any information on it?

[MarkTheShark]

Originally Posted by peateargryphon

Did anyone else notice the trailer for "The Smurfs: Season 1" on Disc 4 of this set? Has this been announced elsewhere, because I can't find any information on it?

Talk about aiming a promo right at its intended target audience! (Sheesh.)

[Stoons]

Originally Posted by MikeH0714

Here's the short version:

1) Paramount sells Popeye cartoons to AAP in 1956-57
2) AAP purchased by United Artists in 1957-58
3) United Artists merges w/MGM; early 1980's
4) Ted Turner buys MGM-UA; later sells it but keeps most of the film library (includes MGM, WB pre-48 and Popeye cartoons); mid-1980's
5) Turner merges w/Warner Bros, which acquires library; late 1990's

Of course, it's a bit more complicated, but that's the gist of it.

Michael

Thanks for clearing it up for me......

[Thad]

There are a lot of bonehead goofs on the titles (which I equate to the Mickey B&W sets), and they're just AAP transfers for the most part, so they're not from the original negatives.

It's still a great set though!

[Mike in Jersey]

Hi folks,

I picked up this set yesterday from Best Buy. From the restoration of the shorts, to the commentaries and other bonuses, this set reeks of quality...is that OK to say?

Mike

[Geezil]

In the first of our long series of fits-and-starts viewings throughout the four discs, Mrs. Geezil's favorite non-Popeye short registered as "Koko Trains 'Em" (with its live-action puppy guest star; she loves any film with baby animals in it, even if they were born in 191?). (BTW, I'm guessing that was Max Fleischer's pup as well.)

We both think "Popeye the Sailor" (jump cut aside ) and the next few early series entries following it on disc one have never before looked or sounded this good on a TV set. (I've seen at least a couple of those on the big screen, back in the late-'80s summer glory days of the Thalia in upper Manhattan, and that's my benchmark for comparison to the current presentation. Sorry, a.a.p.)

And for anyone who hasn't yet read the disclaimer that opens every disc, see if you feel it leaves any doubt that the way has been well paved for inclusion of all the Famous Popeye B&Ws when those come up in sequence!