I’m Strongs to Da Finish….
I’m on my way today for a very brief visit to my park operation at Six Flags New England, so little time to blog. However, here’s something I’ve been meaning to mention: The newly released Popeye DVD.
I’m not a big animation afficinado, but I regcognize good stuff when I see it. The early Popeye animated shorts from Max Fleischer studios are good stuff. Warner Brothers just released the first of several volumes of Popeye cartoons on DVD: “Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938 Vol.1“. This is something special for Popeye fans… the first 60 Fleischer shorts all remastered from the original negatives, uncut, shown in chronological order (by theater release dates) on four DVDs. The restorations are supposed to be spectacular.
I knew about the upcoming release because, among the several included commentaries by the likes of Mark Kausler, Jerry Beck and our old friend Mark Evanier, there is some commentary by long time MAD artist, current MAD art director and (unbeknown to me) lifelong Popeye fan Sam Viviano. Sam was very excited about the release… not about his commentary but just because this kind of collection was being produced at last. I think a lot of Popeye fans will be giddy over this collection.
This is something I will definitely be picking up. It’s true animation history.
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I just bought this box set at TARGET?√ᬨ√Ü last week….I’ve been watching them with my 2 sons, both young teenagers now. They were rolling on the floor laughing from all the random ass-kickins Popeye unloaded on everyone! In one of the early episodes, he was walking down the street just beating the hell out of anyone who looked at him..IT WAS AWESOME. You cant get that kind of Good-Ol-American entertainment anymore. These cartoons today are SO INCREDIBLY LAME..and badly animated, I might add. These days all they offer to the kids is teamwork bullshit and storys about helping friends with their problems..emphasizing how all kids are the same..CRAP,CRAP,CRAP….KIDS WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED!
Great Robin Williams drawing, by the way!!! Loved it!
I agree, that is good stuff. Also agree with Pat’s comments above…much of the animation, (served by the baleful on Cartoon Network, etc.), is poorly done in comparison to classic work like Popeye. I bought a piecemeal collection of Popeye for my seven-year old daughter last year and she laughs out loud at it. (Not the case with most of today’s animation.) We’ll have to pick up this new collection!
As soon as I saw this post, I followed the link to Amazon and ordered. I recently bought the superb, albeit inconveniently oversized, Popeye Vol. 1: “I Yam What I Yam” and I love it. The old Segar Popeye was outstanding and bizarre.
I really enjoyed Pat’s assessment above as well! Now I can’t wait for my delivery!
This is a great set indeed. Best Buy has it exclusively with a Tin.
So glad you’re talking about this treasure! I got the tin version. I’m a bad boy when it comes to these sets because I watch the extras first( kind of like having dessert first). Great interviews from so many great cartoonists ( including Mr. Viviano) and other experts ( Dennis Franz!). Kudos also to the great drawings of the Thimble Theatre crew by Stephan DeStephano! I highly recommend the commentaries from Eddie Fitzgerald, who tries to control his Olive lust! As much as I love the Looney Tunes collections and the Beany and Cecil Special Edition, this may be my favorite animation DVD set. My only regret is that my cartooning mentor, Gordon Sheehan, is not around to enjoy it. I hope the laughter floats up to him and the Fleischer brothers!