The 1950s was not the best decade for the Popeye theatrical series or Famous Studios, the early-50s efforts being better and a little more consistent than those from the late-50s. The less polished animation quality, lower gag count and varying effectiveness of them and less fresh stories being the primary reasons for the inferior quality, compared to several of the 40s Famous Studios Popeye cartoons and Fleischer Studios' output.
'How Green is My Spinach' is in many ways one of the most interesting Popeye cartoons and certainly stands out in the series, there isn't another Popeye cartoon quite like it. It is on the most part one of the best early-50s cartoons and one of the ones that is deserving of a lot more attention. There is another Popeye cartoon that has a more vengeful Bluto and more vulnerable Popeye called 'Friend Or Phony'. For me though 'How Green is My Spinach' is by quite some way the superior cartoon, it's more inventive, it's funnier and it avoids being too mean-spirited (something that was a bit of a turn off in 'Friend Or Phony').
It is one of the shortest Popeye cartoons and part of me did feel that it was too short and that it could have ended not as abruptly as it turned out.
Not much wrong otherwise. As far as the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons go, 'How Green is My Spinach' is one of the most unique, the studio's Popeye cartoons tended to be quite formulaic but there is much less of that feel here. The differences are many. Not just that there is no Olive Oyl (which doesn't hurt the cartoon at all), but there is a live action sequence with a memorable cameo appearance and the characterisation is a change of pace. Popeye as said is more memorable and Bluto more vengeful, this was an interesting change and brought a dynamic not seen a lot before in the chemistry between Popeye and Bluto.
Bluto's treatment of Popeye is cruel but doesn't come over as overly-mean-spirited, like it did in 'Friend Or Phony' which was balanced out enough with laughs so it became quite depressing to watch. Whereas here, there were amusing and well-timed gags that were also quite clever, while what sounded like a not particularly tasteful concept on paper wasn't handled anywhere near as distastefully as it could easily have been. It goes along at a crisp pace too, if slightly rushed in places due to the short length.
Visually, 'How Green is My Spinach' is typically vibrant with the background art being especially impressive and the use of the gas cloud was an ingenious touch. The live action fit well and doesn't jar. The music is lush, dynamic and characterful. The voice acting from both Jack Mercer and Jackson Beck is very good.
Summing up, very good and one of the better early-50s Popeye cartoons. 8/10
'How Green is My Spinach' is in many ways one of the most interesting Popeye cartoons and certainly stands out in the series, there isn't another Popeye cartoon quite like it. It is on the most part one of the best early-50s cartoons and one of the ones that is deserving of a lot more attention. There is another Popeye cartoon that has a more vengeful Bluto and more vulnerable Popeye called 'Friend Or Phony'. For me though 'How Green is My Spinach' is by quite some way the superior cartoon, it's more inventive, it's funnier and it avoids being too mean-spirited (something that was a bit of a turn off in 'Friend Or Phony').
It is one of the shortest Popeye cartoons and part of me did feel that it was too short and that it could have ended not as abruptly as it turned out.
Not much wrong otherwise. As far as the Famous Studios Popeye cartoons go, 'How Green is My Spinach' is one of the most unique, the studio's Popeye cartoons tended to be quite formulaic but there is much less of that feel here. The differences are many. Not just that there is no Olive Oyl (which doesn't hurt the cartoon at all), but there is a live action sequence with a memorable cameo appearance and the characterisation is a change of pace. Popeye as said is more memorable and Bluto more vengeful, this was an interesting change and brought a dynamic not seen a lot before in the chemistry between Popeye and Bluto.
Bluto's treatment of Popeye is cruel but doesn't come over as overly-mean-spirited, like it did in 'Friend Or Phony' which was balanced out enough with laughs so it became quite depressing to watch. Whereas here, there were amusing and well-timed gags that were also quite clever, while what sounded like a not particularly tasteful concept on paper wasn't handled anywhere near as distastefully as it could easily have been. It goes along at a crisp pace too, if slightly rushed in places due to the short length.
Visually, 'How Green is My Spinach' is typically vibrant with the background art being especially impressive and the use of the gas cloud was an ingenious touch. The live action fit well and doesn't jar. The music is lush, dynamic and characterful. The voice acting from both Jack Mercer and Jackson Beck is very good.
Summing up, very good and one of the better early-50s Popeye cartoons. 8/10