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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0883929020430
Format: Animated, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, NTSC
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: November 04, 2008
Running Time: 201 minutes
Sales Rank: 1804
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
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Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/04/2008
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Don't Fret!, Still Great!
Yes, Though this ushers in the end of the "Fleischer era", I can happily report that even the entrance of the "Famous Studio" series, isn't nearly as bad as I had exppected!
I purposely started watching a few of the cartoons near the end of disc 2, just to see how bad they could be. The first "good" sign was that they were still black and white, and though visually, the characters were beginning to look a little differant, the nice thing was that there were now some unique and differant stories.
The last of the Fleischer cartoons are the first two on disc two, and to me, they almost seem like a smooth transition into the "Famous Studios" look. In other words, everything seems to nicely meld, and again, these first "Famous Studio" ones aren't so bad after all! It seems to me as though the new company was nice enough to keep the same "vibe", so to speak, and were still well aware of the roots of their "bread and butter". Of course, all of disc one are pure "Fleischer", that is, as how they had evolved since the much larger company (by now), had set up shop in Florida.
This will probably be the last set for me, though, since I recall later on the series changed "too" much. But this one's still great!
Rating: - Popeye enters his next stage of evolution.
The start of the 1940s brought about many changes for Popeye. World War II had just begun, and as the United States prepared for its eventual involvement in the global affair, the country's animation studios sent out their best stars to fight for the cause and rally people's support for the troops. The Warners sent Bugs Bunny and Disney pushed out Donald Duck, both of whom found their stardom peaking in this decade. The Fleischers, naturally, drafted Popeye into the Navy. Along with this came changes: among other things, his regular outfit was replaced with a regulation naval uniform which he would wear throughout the rest of his screen career, and he and Bluto went through further design changes, both becoming more rounder and softer (especially in Bluto's case, if you'll notice his appearances in this set). At this point, the Fleischer Studios were in big trouble. They were in heavy monetary debt to Paramount, as their second feature, Mr. Bug Goes to Town, failed at the box office (being inconveniently released two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor), and their new Miami studio had been costly on its own, not just to move there, but to construct the facility and expand their workforce to work in feature films in the first place. And what's more, the studio was in the midst of its own war, as the co-founding brothers Max and Dave Fleischer grew increasingly estranged from each other for reasons that remain quite unclear to this day. The large debt and the equally large rift caused Paramount ... Read More
Rating: - Popeye Goes to War
Of the three Popeye collections this is the one I was looking forward to the least. Not that I wasn't eagerly anticipating it but there were some thing about volume 3 that I knew I wouldn't be thrilled with. First of all these cartoons were released in 1941 just as World War II was starting and after the 10th cartoon of disc one, `The Mighty Navy', Popeye spends much of his time on a Navy destroyer. I'm not that into the Popeye in the Navy cartoons and his switch to Navy dress whites isn't nearly as visually effective. However the biggest problem is the use of disparaging racial stereotypes as in `You're a Sap Mr. Jap'. The Japanese are shown as buck toothed; jibbering sneaks with coke bottle glasses. I'm particularly sensitive to these kind of offensive stereotypes given that my wife is Asian. `You're a Sap, Mr. Jap' also marks the beginning of the Famous Studio's years and the animation just isn't as appealing as what was produced by Fleischer Studios.
Bluto only appears in a handful of episodes as a navy shipmate of Popeye and Lord has the man let himself go. All the muscular mass has descended into his stomach and rear end. Seriously he looks more like Baby Huey than the classic Bluto. On the upside there is more Poopdeck Pappy this time and even Geezel makes a brief and awesome appearance in one episode. I was never a fan of Popeye's nephews but they only appear in a few episodes and they actually are more entertaining than I remember. Unfortunately Popeye's mooching friend Wimpy ... Read More
Rating:  - Many source prints grainy and too contrasty
All of the "ship door title and credits" cartoons seem to have the Paramount logo and "Paramount presents Popeye..." title cards digitally spliced in from a single source print, after which a grainier and much more contrasty print is used. Looks like somebody had the telecine on AUTO rather than trying to match the different source elements.
Some reasonable amount of digital noise reduction would have made a tremendous improvement in the look of these cartoons. The spocket wear jitter and rapid brightness changes (flickering) are all left as-is for your enjoyment...There is no reason for these newer cartoons to look WORSE than the 1930s cartoons on Vol 1 except for scrimping on the restoration.
The extras are skimpy and unimaginative. Enough with the silent Koko the Clown cartoons! It just takes ONE to show how much the Fleischers improved in just a few years! How about some sample episodes of the 1960-61 TV Popeyes or "Popeye and Son" or the sorta gay Minute Maid orange juice commercial, or a side by side running of an original B&W Popeye with a horrible retraced colorized Korean remake with the pink and mustard color scheme?
Still, these cartoons on Vol 3 are probably the most fun of the entire series, particular the politically incorrect ones.
Rating: - Popeye: A true American Icon
Is it kind of ironic that this DVD set was released on election day? I'm pretty sure I am in the majority that I bought this set on the day of its release, but did not have a chance to watch it until the day after due to the election. We were originally supposed to have this set on September 30, but it got delayed in order to prevent the issues that arose with Volume 2. While I was disappointed about the delay at first, let me just say it was worth the wait.
After watching disc 1 last night after work, and disc 2 this morning, I can't more than recommend this set to anyone who is a fan of Popeye or Golden Age animation. This set appeals to both the casual fan and the hardcore collector. And what is best about the format Warner's is following is the fact that they have chosen to release the Popeye shorts in chronological order, something they could've (and should've) done with Tom and Jerry.
Disc 1 starts off with 1941's "Problem Pappy" and ends with 1942's "Olive Oyl and Water Don't Mix". The first 7 on this disc are the last to have the ship-door opening title sequence. The remaining 11 cartoons on this disc (as well as the first 4 on disc 2) go to a new opening sequence that features a close-up of Popeye's pipe "toot-tooting" in sequence to the opening theme. Among the best shorts on this disc are "Problem Papp", "Quiet! Pleeze", "Child Psykolojiky", and "Pest Pilot", which have Popeye paired with his troublesome father Poopdeck Pappy. Also among the best on this disc are ... Read More
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