While
I know some only like one particular incarnation of The Sailorman, and
I respect their opinions, I'd like to give you my own two cents worth.
To me, Popeye is like James Bond. The books that followed Ian Fleming's
were subtly different than the ones in his canon (ex. de-emphasizing the
travelogue aspects; having modern-day, high-tech threats; a female Q; more
military involvement in the cases; "Bond as paid assassin" sometimes downplayed;
etc.). And certainly the films are MUCH different than the books. And Pierce
Brosnan is not Timothy Dalton, who is not Roger Moore, who is not George
Lazenby, who is not Sean Connery. Each actor brought out certain aspects
of the character. While I still believe that Sean Connery IS James
Bond, I enjoy the others' performances and films as well. These different
incarnations have enough of the "real" Bond in them, so that I can appreciate
them all for what they are.
So it is with Popeye. While I agree that Segar's Popeye IS Popeye
and that Segar was a creative genius, I've also enjoyed the material I've
seen by Sagendorf and the much-maligned (unjustly so in my opinion) Bobby
London. The Fleischer films are full of laughs imagination, and manic energy,
with a Popeye who is very close to Segar's. The Famous Studios' babe-ification
of Olive Oyl and their making Bluto (or another guy) seem initially more
charming seems to me to be the natural evolution of the love triangle storylines.
The creators were trying to answer the questions of why guys were attracted
to Ms. Oyl and why she is tempted to dump Popeye and why we should worry
for our hero. And Popeye still overcame impossible odds, had super strength
and abilities even before he ate the spinach, and stayed loyal to his fickle
girl, as he had since his Segar days. The KFS toons were definitely hampered
by tight budgets, impossible schedules, and limited (very limited) animation.
Still, the best of them were either based on Segar's stories and/or characters
from Thimble Theater, or at least tried to capture Segar's spirit, or evoked
themes and memories of the Famous Studios' cartoons. (The worst of them
it's best not to talk about.) Fred Grandinetti's summaries of the
KFS toons in the THE
OFFICIAL POPEYE FANCLUB News-Magazine
and information he and fellow Fanclub member, Richard Ranke, provided me
have made me realize how much these cartoons were a pleasant part of my
growing up. Critics are definitely wrong to pan all KFS toons and
tar them with the same brush. (For my own summaries/quick reviews
of the KFS cartoons click here.)
All of the above incarnations had enough of the "real" Popeye in them to
satisfy me. I enjoy each for what it is.
The Hanna-Barbera incarnations of Popeye were the ones that didn't do it
for me. First, they returned to using very Thimble Theater, comic strip,
Fleischer-looking designs for the characters, but used stories that had
none of the wit or excitement of those earlier days. So to me, the
cartoons always seemed like only half-way attempts to recapture past glories.
And I couldn't stand Bluto's voice. It had none of the meaness and threat
of the Fleischer's Bluto and none of the clever, evil, con man intelligence,
or lust, of the Famous Studios' incarnation. Bluto always sounded dumb
and always reminded me of Sam The Butcher from The Brady Bunch. I wonder
why? :-) I hated Olive's voice as well. It wasn't funny, as the Fleischer's
Olive had been, nor as full of life as the Famous Studios' Olive was. It
was just annoying. Not to mention that the music was inferior to
the earlier cartoons.
And the essence of many characters was violated. Popeye and Bluto
not able to punch each other??!!??!! (Just what we needed. a politically
correct Popeye - NOT!) Olive Oyl and Alice The Goon in the army taking
orders from Joanne Worley!!??!!?? Then a Hawaiian-shirt-wearing Popeye
and a sweat-suit-wearing Olive married (talk about a dysfunctional family)
with a California surfer son??!!??!! Bluto looking like a Goodfella
and marrying a bruiser (what happened to his taste for skinny dames)!!??!!??
