One of the benefits of catching old time cartoons on Turner Classics is that every once in a while, the TCM host will have a guest on who knows something about the subject's history. In this case, the grandson of Max Fleischer was interviewed by Ben Mankiewicz prior to the airing of this and another one of the Popeye shorts. In his statements, Mark Fleischer explained how his grandfather had a professional rivalry with Walt Disney (even though they never met), and how both men had a difficult time convincing studios to go with a feature length animated film. Max Fleischer was able to prevail upon Paramount to at least go beyond the one reel format with this sixteen minute story. Disney won the larger argument when his production company released "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" the following year.

Not having seen this one before, I was impressed with the colors and animation involved, particularly with the moving background that gave the picture a 3-D effect without the glasses! The beasts and plants on Sindbad's island were quite creative and gave Popeye and his crew a run for the money. The familiar characters of the Popeye franchise are on hand here, with Olive Oyl in her usual share of precarious predicaments, and J. Wellington Wimpy does all he can to maintain his hamburger supply. The temperamental bully Bluto is a stand-in for the title character Sindbad, (uncharacteristically spelled with a 'd" in the middle), who does his best to make life difficult for the Popeye crew.

Another interesting tidbit from Mr. Fleischer - the original Popeye comic strip showed Popeye gaining his increased fighting strength by rubbing the feathers of a chicken! Max Fleischer didn't think the concept would work in an animation format, so he came up with the can of spinach as a substitute. I'd say that was a pretty good decision, how many Moms do you think were elated that their kids would actually go for eating their spinach if it meant being as strong as Popeye?

Of course, most of the Fleischer Popeye cartoons were pretty much the same. In this one, a setting is created where Bluto can hold forth as Sindbad the Sailor. He is the master of a bunch of creatures from the Arabian Nights mythology, lions, the Roc, a fire breathing dragon, and some others. Of course, sometimes lust gets you in trouble. When he spots Olive Oyl, he can't resist her. If he had not intervened, he would have been fine. But, then, it wouldn't be a Popeye cartoon. One of the odd sidelights is Wimpy, chasing a duck with a meat grinder (the duck had stolen his last hamburger). There are a host of special punches used by our sailor. Anyway, lot's of interesting characters for us to enjoy.

Along with the Ali Baba one this is my favourite Popeye cartoon, I must admit partly because it's 3 times as long as most of the cartoons in the Canon. It gave much more scope to the Fleischer's to ...fleish it out a bit, less frenetic movement - some of the time!

All you should love about these Paramount Popeye's - if you're reading this - is here in spades (with Technicolour), from the marvellous panning 3d opening displaying Bluto's island and denizens to the incessant rambling mutterings of Popeye, Bluto, Olive and Wimpy. The storyline and animation are both amusing and inventive in the usual unusual Fleischer manner, and not a second is wasted. Although it's definitely not for the pc and over zealous animal rights activists!

Best bit: The savage looking giant two-headed caveman crooning a sweet lullaby to Popeye lying dazed in his lap.