MAX & DAVE FLEISHER CONTI UED
Fleischers' work . Popeye proceeds ap· pre hensivel y past brightly-colored heaps o f jewels and go ld, a nd finds that O li ve and Wimpy have been ens laved by Hassan. Popeye pulls out h is spinach , sa ys " Open Sez-Me," and the can miraclI lously opens. His flexed bicep shows the fo rm of a tank within-a typicall y mechanis tic express ion of s trengt h . In a battle royal , he d e (cClts Ha ssan and the forty th eives, and returns in glory to the Arab town. All BABA was a di s tinct improvemen t over the first two- reel Popcye. It replaces Sindbad 's long, tedious musical introd uction , with a sho rt er introduction of Abu l-I aS5<ln that is intercut w ith the introduction of Pope ye. ALI U,\lM s how s much mo re verbal a nd ViS Uill wi t thrm il s pred ecesso r. And it ise nri cnt!d bv a reference to so me of the darker psychological themes of tht! e<lrlier works. Whe n Popeye firs t en ters Abu Il assan 's c<we, he remark s: " I don ' t like it in here a bit!" Th is is remini sce nt o f the anxil..·tie s of Ko- Ko and Bimbo in the cavt!s and hallw ays of KO -KO'S
HAu:-.:rED
H OUSE ,
BIMBO 'S
Pope ye's self-consciou s ness find s greate r expression in GOO N LAN D (1938). A climactic ba ttle between Popcye, his father, a nd the hostil e Goons is so fierce that the filn1 " breaks," and all o f the Goo ns fall off the scree n. Po peyc co mment s, "That was a lucky break!", pulls the two halves of the broken film together, and th e cartoon continues. Unlike all the ea rlier Fleischer characters , Popeye docs not need the in tercession o f an an imator to control his (at e. As the Betty Boop cha racte r became more domesticated in the late Thirties, he r popularity decl ined , and when Mae Questel refused to move with the s tudio to Mia mi in 1939, the series was dropped. The Popeye cha racter continued to chan ge as well, becomi ng increasi ng ly gentle, often to the point o f being foolish . In LEAVE WELL ENOUG H ALONE (1939) , Popeye frees all the animals in Olive's pet shop des pitea wise parrot's advice to leave well enough alo ne. Popeye realizes that he is wrong when the dog ca tche r round s up the hun gf)' s trays. In PUTrIN' O N T H E ACT (1940), Popeye and Oli ve polish up their routines after reading a newspaper art icl e o n th('
Con llnU.lllOn oi the lilllptJll.lO monl.18(' from GULLIVER'S TRAVEl S.
I N ITIAT ION,
and
SNO W WHITE .
The last o f the Popl..~ye s pecials was no t th e equal of the first two . AL ,\DDI :-.i A:,\D HIS WO NDERFUL LA~I P (1939), .1 Ho lI\'woodi zed version o( the Aladdin story, is 'interesting fnr two rl..·.lSOlb . Fir~ t , it Iltls a diffl..·rl..'nt tYI-"-' o( self -consciousness from th e silent Fl e~dw r film s. ;\) 0 a nimalt)r appl..·a rs in th l' Po p eyl..~ c.lrtoons, yet Pope;.'e is awa re th at he is in ,1 film. Whell he kis~e~ Oli ve in ALADD I:'\ , Po pt'Yl' hesit.lt es shy ly and Sc1YS, "Gosh, I've never dont' this in Technicolor before." This kind of self-consciollsness had occurred in 1'l)I'EY E H I E SAILOR, when a news paper proclaimed Popeye as a star. It was developed furthl..·r in H OLD THE W IRE (1 936), when he temp..H.lrily forgets his part. O live ha s to re mind him that he is s uppost'd to take his spina ch. " I never thought of that. " he replies. 54
JAN.-FEB . 1975
rena iss.ln ce of va ud ev ille. Swt'e'pea dam pe ns their en thusia sm when he points out that th(.· paper is several decades old . Popeye's se nile father, in Wlnl POOl'DECK I'A PPY (1940), want s to spend his nights ca ro us in g, but Popeye worries about thc old man 's health . After many attempts to get Pappy to bed, Popl'ye finall y chains him down . Popeyl' climbs into his own bl..'<i, turns o ut thc light, and says "Goodnihht P<lPPY." No answer. Popeye turns on thL' lig ht, a nd find s that he is chain ed to his bed , and the old ma n ha s esca ped. This was a far cry from the gruff cha racter of POPEY E THE SAILOR.
PNhaps part of the reason that the Fleisc hN cartoons c hanged wa s the impact o( " Disneyfication. " Many of the Fleischer staff o( the Forties had worked for Dis ney or Iwerks in the Thirties, often moving
from s tudio to s tudio. A strong Disney influence can be seen in thi.' "Color Classic" ,\ KIC K IN TJi\1 E (1940), a nimated by Shamu s C ulhan e and AI Eugster after their return to the Fleischers from Iwerks and Disney. S punky, a baby donkey, is separated from his mother Hu nky - a stock Dis ney theme, but un common in the Reischer film s. He is kidnaped a nd sold into s lavery in a scene that bears an amazing resemblance to the e nd o f th e Pleasure Island sequence in Disney's PI NOCCH IO. In A KICK IN TIME, the usual s tereoptical process was di scarded in favor o f a less effecti ve approximation of the Disney MuJtiplane ca me ra effect. Also tht' cha racters were mo re natural istic than the funk y originals developed by Myron Waldman. Many Fleischer characteris tics remained , however, including a long passage devoted to the process of harness ing S punky, a nd occasional Fleisc heresque lang uage, like " I'll be b.lck in a flash with the tra sh. " In 1938, the Fleischer St ud io moved to Miam i, where the s taff was swollen by the addit ion of hundred s of artis ts hired to wo rk on .1 so und featur e, GU LLIVER 'S TRAVELS.
\I US( U \\ or \\0.)[1{ .... ... RI fl L\I Sfl lI 'I ... RCIIIV(
Perhap s part of the reason that the Fleischer cartoo ns cha nged was the impact of " Disneyficat ion." Many o f the Fleische r staff o f the Fo rties had worked for Dis ney o r lwerks in the Thi rties , often movin g from studio to studio . A s trong Disney in fluence can be se('n in the "Color Classic" A KICK IN TIME (1940) , an imated by Shamus Culhane and AI Eugs tN after their return to the Fleischers from Iwerks a nd Disney. S punky, a baby donkey, is se pMated from hi s m o ther Hun ky -a s lock Disney the me , but un common in the Fleischer film s. He is kidnaped a nd sold into s lavery in a scene that bears an a mazin g resemblance to the end o( the Pleas ure Is land sequence in Disney's PI NUCCHIO. In A KiCK IN TIME, the us ual s tereopti ca l process was discarded in favor of a less effective approx imation of th e D isney Multipla ne ca mera effect. Also the charac ters were