oscaralbert Review of Popeye the Sailor

Popeye the Sailor (1933)

Parents saw little need to tell their kids about the . . .

[8/10 · 17 July 2019]

. . . "birds and the bees" during the early 1930s: They could simply expose these young whippersnappers to "Fleischer" cartoons, such as POPEYE THE SAILOR. This animated short crams nearly every bit of carnal knowledge charted by man into a running time well under ten minutes. Take the infamous dance scene of POPEYE THE SAILOR, in which some salacious topless chick called "Betty" writhes to erotic music on a carnie stage. Despite having his date "Olive" hanging on his arm, "Popeye" inexplicably bolts on stage to join Betty's exhibition, yanking "Madame Hari" the Bearded Lady's fuzz off to simulate Betty's hula skirt, as a large portrait of a similarly bare-breasted "Cleopatra" the Snake Lady looms over his shoulder. POPEYE THE SAILOR's producers, of course, use "Madame Hari" to evoke the notorious exotic-dancing German WWI spy, Mata Hari, infamously stripped to her waist by a French firing squad. (Legend has it that Betty and Mata were equally bereft of the stuff from which dreams are made!)