In his day Dave Fleischer was the best of the best when it came to animation. The Nicola Tesla of cartoons if you like. (No, younger readers, that does not mean he made CARS). Some of the other reviewers nailed it when they pointed out, with props to both men, that, frame by frame Fleischer was better than Disney. (Of course, a century later, more or less, we see that Disney was the better businessman, which is why your kids aren't bugging you for a vacation to FleischerLand). The animation, the cell work, was astonishing. The concepts were astonishing. The blending of music and action were astonishing. Believe it or not, late in his career Fleischer experimented with a strange kind of "3D animation" (intended of course for 2D projection on theatre screens SINCE TV HAD NOT EVEN BEEN INVENTED.) And a decade after this film, he did a Superman cartoon which, as other reviewers on IMDb have acknowledged, was decades ahead of its time, and holds up well even for viewing today. Wow. What an artist.
Review of Popeye the Sailor
