Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Strong to the finich.

This year marks the 90th birthday of E.C. Segar's most famous creation "Popeye the Sailor", whose spinach-eating, pipe-smoking, Bluto-brawling exploits have burrowed their way deep into American pop culture. Though his brand value has faded slightly during the last several decades, Popeye was once a household name and appeared regularly in comic strips, books, cartoons, radio programs, and even a live-action film starring Robin Williams. Most folks older than the age of 30 can likely remember his cartoons in heavy rotation even before dedicated cartoon channels, YouTube, and streaming on demand, although we might not have realized how old the toons actually were at the time.

The franchise's first animated run began in 1933 under Fleischer Studios, starting with his appearance in a Betty Boop cartoon and his own series from that point onward. Mostly produced in black-and-white with striking animation, memorable voice work -- usually by Jack Mercer, who performed as Popeye for several decades -- and detailed backgrounds, these theatrical shorts are some of American animation's best productions and rival vintage Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera's run on Tom and Jerry. After Paramount took over Fleischer Studios in 1942, the newly named "Famous Studios" continued to churn out Popeye toons through 1957. Although they rarely reached the level of artistry achieved by the Fleischer shorts, Famous Studios' 122-episode run contains a healthy number of great moments, visuals gags, and classic brawls that mostly examine the turbulent love triangle between Popeye, Olive Oyl, and burly Brutus. (Popeye's nephews and Shorty show up too, but nobody likes those guys.)

During the 2000s, Warner Bros. heaped home video love on Popeye the Sailor with three multi-disc DVD volumes that included the complete run of Fleischer shorts (109 episodes, mostly black-and-white except for two longer theatrical cartoons) and the first 14 Famous shorts (all black-and white). Sadly, the run was abandoned after the third volume's release in 2008, but Warner Archive Collection picks up where their parent company left off with Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1. This one-disc Blu-ray serves up the next 14 Famous shorts (complete list and summaries are below), right when the series switched to full-time Technicolor, and goes one step further with beautiful 4K remasters of the original nitrate negatives. It's top-shelf work that will undoubtedly continue with strong enough sales...so if you haven't bought this disc already (or want to justify your purchase), do yourself a favor and keep reading.

• Her Honor, the Mare (1943) - Popeye's annoying quadruplet nephews Pipeye, Peepeye, Poopeye and Pupeye save a worn-out mare from "early retirement" and try to keep him as a pet.

• The Marry-Go-Round (1943) - Lovesick Popeye can't quite work up the nerve to ask Olive Oyl for her hand in marriage, so his sailor pal Shorty steps in to show him how it's done.

• We're on Our Way to Rio (1944) - Popeye and Bluto head to Rio de Janeiro and fall for Olive when she puts on a memorable performance. Naturally, things get competitive when she chooses Popeye, who's forced to bust out a few dance moves to seal the deal. It's a fun outing, and the first real winner on this collection.

• The Anvil Chorus Girl (1944) - Olive is the proprietor of a blacksmith shop and also in desperate need of some additional manpower...but she gets more than bargained for when Popeye and Bluto ask for the same job.

• Spinach Packin' Popeye (1944) - In the memorable short, Popeye donates an gallon of blood before his big boxing match with Bluto and loses in record time. Olive quickly falls for the bigger, stronger man, so Popeye's got to win her back. Although technically a "clip show" with short segments from the Fleischers' Sinbad and Ali Baba episodes, it's worth it just to see a preview of what they might look like on Blu-ray one day.

• Puppet Love (1944) - In this ridiculous (even by Popeye standards) but enjoyable outing, Bluto makes use of an incredibly lifelike Popeye marionette -- and respectable voice work -- to make our hero look like the worst boyfriend ever. Will Olive figure out his trick in time?

• Pitchin' Woo at the Zoo (1944) - Popeye and Olive enjoy a date at the zoo, but dedicated employee Bluto tries every trick in the book to ruin his afternoon. Copious animal abuse ensues.

• Moving Aweigh (1944) - Shorty returns to give Popeye a hand as he helps Olive move to a new apartment. Bluto's nowhere to be found, so a short-tempered policeman fills in as the adversary.

• She-Sick Sailors (1944) - Olive -- who reads comics now, apparently -- develops unrealistic standards when she scolds Popeye for not being as strong as Superman. Damn, girl. Naturally, Bluto poses as The Man of Steel to impress Olive...but will spinach prove to be his Kryponite? (It is green, after all.)

• Pop-Pie a la Mode (1945) - The Holy Grail of this set, for better or for worse, as its unflattering portrait of Africans as bloodthirsty cannibals (with their sights set on Popeye, who they fatten up for the kill) spoils what's an otherwise decent outing. Though closer to the bottom half of these cartoons than the top, I'm still thrilled this has been included in its fully uncut, original form that hasn't been shown on television for decades.

• Tops in the Big Top (1945) - Bluto serves as the wicked ringmaster of a three-ring circus in which Popeye and Olive Oyl are performers. Against all logic, Bluto attempts to sabotage his own show in front of a live audience have Olive all to himself. Not exactly the best outing, but its colorful atmosphere shines on Blu-ray.

• Shape Ahoy (1945) - Popeye and Bluto, peacefully co-existing on a remote island, are thrown for a loop when Olive washes ashore. This one's famous for its Frank Sinatra ex machina and "censored" ending.

• For Better or Nurse (1945) - Olive's new hospital gig earns her a few eager visitors as Popeye and Bluto compete for "worst self-inflicted injury". The upside-down mischief goes one step further, though, when Popeye sacrifices his own spinach supply to obtain the ultimate ass-whopping.

• Mess Production (1945) - Chaos descends in a massive, unnamed factory as employees Popeye and Bluto fight for Olive's attention while she's busy welding. The poor gal -- and later, Popeye -- end up going for separate strolls on heavy equipment after, respectively, a head injury and a big ol' smooch.

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The main selling point of Warner Archive's new Blu-ray collection of Popeye cartoons is, without question, its outstanding 1080p transfer. Reportedly sourced from 4K remasters of each short's original nitrate Technicolor negative (which, according to the studio's press release, went largely untouched for over 70 years), we're treated to a best-case scenario for animation purists: the amount of detail and natural film grain here is extremely pleasing, and likely makes this Blu-ray as close to a theatrical presentation as any classic animation disc in recent memory. In most cases, the level of quality here easily meets -- or even exceeds -- the high bars set by Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes Platinum Collections and the Tom and Jerry Golden Collection, both of which will hopefully continue after Popeye's promising Blu-ray sales during the past few months. It couldn't have happened at a better time, either: The 1940s, Volume 1 marks the franchise's permanent switch to full color, and Warner Archive's careful treatment of the delicate negatives reveals balanced, natural hues that far outshine those old pink-tinted masters used for TV broadcast during the last several decades. This is top-tier work and makes me all the more enthusiastic for future volumes, which may even include Blu-ray editions of all three earlier DVD sets (although they're back in print if you can't wait that long).

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio (mono) track marks a solid leap beyond earlier presentations, which were typically loaded with hissing, pops, crackles, and other age-related wear. Very little of that damage remains due to the careful treatment of said negatives, resulting in relatively clean audio and music cues. The material still shows its age in spots, while one short ("For Better or Nurse") makes use of the inferior A.A.P. (Associate Artists Productions) syndicated audio soundtrack which, according to animation historian Jerry Beck, was the only version located in the vaults. It's tough to complain about unavoidable problems. Overall, this likewise represents a best-case scenario for purists, as the clean original mono is maintained instead of faux-surround gimmickry. Even if the audio is doomed to trail behind Warner Archive's sparkling remasters, this is extremely solid work that fans should appreciate.

Optional English subtitles are included during all 14 shorts, although Warner Archive continues to use ugly yellow all-caps text for these. Can't somebody click a few options and change this?

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No bonus features have been included, which is customary for "new" Warner Archive Collection releases.

Popeye the Sailor: The 1940s, Volume 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Popeye the Sailor is an American institution for those within a certain age group -- and while Famous Studios' run rarely matches the artistry of the earlier Fleischer shorts, there are plenty of great moments here. Warner Archive deserves a big pat on the back for their commitment to quality on The 1940s, Volume 1: not only does this pick up right where Warner Bros.' DVD collections left off, but the 4K-sourced transfers are a revelation. Solid pre-orders and early sales have all but guaranteed future Popeye collections on Blu-ray (and possibly Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, also abandoned a few years ago), so keep the momentum going by picking this up if you haven't already.